Some more sounds in American pronunciation
Want to clarify how the following should be pronounced. Im referring to the *American* accent only.
1. Poll/Toll - is it the aw-sound or the oU-sound ("pole")?
2. Freakin' - (informal word) is it the short-I (as in "frickin") or the long-ee as in "freeking"?
3. He'll - (he will) - is this form pronounced always as "hill" or "heel?" For some reason, I think I've heard both, with "heel" being used to emphasize the he-part. Are both of these possible?
I'm an American.
1. Both Poll & Toll rhyme with "pole" (oU-sound)
2. it's " Freekin' " (ee-sound) for me. " Frickin' " , which I also use, is a synonym with the same origin/or is a corruption of Freaking.
I use "freaking" as a verb: "I'm freaking out!"
and "frickin' " as an adj/intensifier: "No frickin' way dude!"
3. He'll is pronounced as "heel" generally. "Hill" sounds kuntry
1) poll [p_hoUl] toll [t_hoUl]. Like "pole" and "told", not "Paul" and "tall".
2) -in' generally means that they are transcribing dialect in English orthography. It means that the "g" is left off, although there really is no "g" to begin with--In other words it means to use [n] rather than the velar nasal. In my Northwestern dialect, I pronounce all unstressed -ing's as [in] (een) rather than the "ing" as in "sing". Thus there is no distinction between the final consonant in the words singing, and singin'. However if the word is purposely spelt with -in', then I would pronounce it with a lax "i", although even in very informal speech, I would not use [In] (in) for -ing words. (Nor would I pronounce (unstressed) -ing as -ing in my formal registers--it's always -een. However, sing, king, etc. are not affected). Most North American dialects have both -ing and -in' however. -ing is for formal speech, -in' for casual speech. Since "freaking" is a slang word, it would make sense that it gets the informal -in' form. More frequent use of -ing is also associated with the middle class, with the upper and upper middle class coming in second, and the working/lower class using -in' more frequently.
3) The distinction between tense and lax [I] [i] before an <l> or <r> is neutralized. To me, I think it usually sounds more like "hill" than "heel".
>> "Hill" sounds kuntry <<
I disagree.
<<3) The distinction between tense and lax [I] [i] before an <l> or <r> is neutralized.>>
You mean, in your dialect, right? This tense-lax neutralization is pretty much universal before /r/, except in the Northeast, but it's not nearly so common before /l/. Using [I5] in a word like "feel" or (stressed) "he'll" would definitely sound odd to me (even though I know it's common in some areas). Even unstressed "he'll" I think I usually pronounce with [i], although I suspect that there may be some people who use [I] there, as a simple reduced form, without otherwise having the tense-lax neutralization.
>> although I suspect that there may be some people who use [I] there, as a simple reduced form, without otherwise having the tense-lax neutralization. <<
Ah, that's what it might be. Sorry I made a mistake. I do not merge feel and fill. However, for some reason, I associate "he'll" with "hill" rather than "heal", which almost sounds like hee-ole.
<<I do not merge feel and fill. However, for some reason, I associate "he'll" with "hill" rather than "heal">>
Same here.
I'm from California and I also pronounce "he'll" the same as "hill" rather than "heal". I also pronounce "she'll" and "shill".
*I pronounce "she'll" and "shill" the same, as well.
<<*I pronounce "she'll" and "shill" the same, as well. >>
wow, I must be in the minority with "he'll" as "heel".
How do you pronounce "he's"? as "his"?
If you pronounce she'll" and "shill" the same way, then your English is too wrong.
'ee-eh as in pin
eh as in pen
A disk is not a desk.
A bitch is not a beach.
Study more about pronunciation, sirs!
Stop saying that Americans pronounce so badly like you do.
Such a shift occurs here, but it is really not a true merger of "he'll" and "hill" and "she'll" and "shill". While in careful speech "he'll" and "she'll" are ["hi:M:] and ["Si:M:], in everyday speech they are ["hI:M_^] and ["SI:M_^]. However, "hill" and "shill" are actually ["hI_-:M_^] and ["SI_-:M_^] (even though I usually transcribe [I_-] as just [I] for the sake of succinctness). This difference is not great, but it is still audible in the dialect here.
Texas we say "hill" instead of "heal" for "he'll."
The super winner is me, shit!