Liaisons/Pronunciation

Paul N.   Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:21 am GMT
What do you think of these sentences? Do they sound good?

1/They tell me that I’m easier to understand. = They tell me the dime easier to understand.

2/Sometimes I read out loud. = Sometimes I re-doubt loud.

3/I know that I need to read very often. = I know the dye need to read very often.

4/I spend all my father’s hard earned money. = I spend all my father’s hardened money.

I would be glad to see your comments on those alternative pronunciation/spelling forms.
Travis   Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:26 am GMT
For me at least, the pairs 1 and 4 don't work, as:

"They tell me that I’m easier to understand" : /De tEl mi D{t aIm "izi@` t@ "@nd@`st{nd/ -> ["De."t_hE5."mi."D{4."a:I~m."i:.zi.@`.4@."?V~:n.d@`.st{~nd]
"They tell me the dime easier to understand." : /De tEl mi D@ daIm "izi@` t@ "@nd@`st{nd/ -> ["De."t_hE5."mi.D@."4a:I~m."i:.zi.@`.4@."?V~:n.d@`.st{~nd]

and

"I spend all my father’s hard earned money" : /aI spEnd Ol maI "fAD@`z hArd @`nd "m@ni/ -> ["aI."spE~:nd."O:5."maI."fA:.D@`z."hA:r\d."@`~:nd."mV~:.ni]
"I spend all my father's hardened money" : /aI spEnd Ol maI "fAD@`z "hArdInd "m@ni/ -> ["aI."spE~:nd."O:5."maI."fA;.D@`z."hA:r\.dI~nd."mV~:ni]

One question though is what dialect do you have in question with respect to the above being homophonic, as I wonder in what dialects would they actually be homophonic. Clearly its some non-rhotic dialect, as shown by "hard earned" versus "hardened". Another note is that it is some dialect in which "that" has the same vowel as either the stressed or the unstressed version of "the", and I myself cannot identify any particular dialects which have such a feature, so I'm wondering in which dialect(s) would such a feature be present.
Paul N.   Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:06 am GMT
Travis,

Thank you for your quick reply.

My guess is, somehow the pair 1 is much closer to Standard North American English than to a dialect form. I found it on: http://www.americanaccent.com/liaisons.html

They say that those two sentences can be pronounced exactly the same no matter how they are spelled.

Each of the three remaining pairs has probably very little to do with dialects, too. I just arranged them on my own. I was curious whether or not they would work.

Anyhow, thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it.

Paul N.
Mxsmanic   Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:28 pm GMT
Try transcribing this:

http://www.mxsmanic.com/marsie.jpg

It's classic. Actually, it's a transcription of the refrain from a song of 1943, by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It's renowned for how difficult it is to figure out exactly what is being said.

Also try reading the story "Nothing But Gingerbread Left" by Henry Kuttner, if you can find it.
Young-Won Kim   Wed May 10, 2006 6:27 am GMT
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Jim   Thu May 11, 2006 6:14 am GMT
1/They tell me that I’m easier to understand. = They tell me the dime easier to understand.

No. I might voice the final consonant in "that" but I wouldn't reduce the vowel to /@/.

2/Sometimes I read out loud. = Sometimes I re-doubt loud.

Yeah, they sound similar enough.

3/I know that I need to read very often. = I know the dye need to read very often.

Yes, oddly enough the vowel this "that" could be reduced to /@/.

4/I spend all my father’s hard earned money. = I spend all my father’s hardened money.

Nope, and I'm non-rhotic. "Hard earned" would have stress on both syllables (/"h6:d."3:nd/) whereas "hardened" has stress only on the first (/"h6:d.@nd/).
MaintiensLeDroit   Thu May 11, 2006 12:12 pm GMT
Hi. I've also got a non-rhotic accent (from the UK) and I have to concur with Jim about the pronounciation of all of the above senteces.
Paul N.   Mon May 15, 2006 10:35 am GMT
Jim, Travis

How come that pair 3 works for both of you and pair 1 don't. I don't understand it. Is this "'m" after I, in pair 1 that makes it unacceptable? In other words, you simply can’t reduce the vowel to /@/ in "that" in pair 1 because of "'m" that goes after I. Or perhaps there's something else. Can you please explain that phenomenon? I’d be glad to get your reasoning.

Paul N.
Johnathan Mark   Thu May 18, 2006 4:38 pm GMT
1 and 4 also don't work for me.

Neither does 3. I don't pronounce That I and the dye the same. The t in "that" is reduced to a flap, whereas the d in "dye" is a full stop I believe.