Exposing Your Pronunciation Uniqueness

[PJ]

Do you have any distinct pronunciation patterns?

For example, some people always pronounce "s" as "th".

Personally, I have a tendency to pronounce "s" as "sh", if it's in the middle of a word (but not at the beginning or end of a word).

For example, understand, I would pronounce similar to undershtand.

I only know about this after listening to my own voice recording. It sounds different than what I thought I said!

[sniffles]

Do you have any distinct pronunciation patterns?

For example, some people always pronounce "s" as "th".

Personally, I have a tendency to pronounce "s" as "sh", if it's in the middle of a word (but not at the beginning or end of a word).

For example, understand, I would pronounce similar to undershtand.

I only know about this after listening to my own voice recording. It sounds different than what I thought I said!

Voice recordings will always sound different than what you hear through your ears. Your voice is partly being conducted through the bones of your skull when you speak, so it has a different resonance to your ear than it does when it's recorded. But you probably knew that already.

If a person always pronounces 'S' as 'TH', that person may have speech impediment know as a lisp. I think (I'm no expert) that the transposition of 'S' and 'TH' is a fairly common speech impediment. Lots of people have trouble with sibilant sounds like 'S'. But if a person pronounces the sound that way because English is their second language, that's a different situation.

In the UK, of course, people have an entirely different pronunciation of an 'R' sound at the end of a word than people in the US. That's a regional accent, though, not a speech impediment. But if a person says 'W' instead of 'R', I think that's considered another form of lisp.

Someone might say I pronounce certain words strangely, but a lot of it is my regional accent. I grew up in Texas so I have remnants of a Southwestern drawl, which is similar to a Deep South (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) accent but has some different sounds.

[Han Solo]

I can't pronounce any word with 'v'. It ended up sounding like 'w'.

Han Solo

[jadebunny9]

Hmmm...when I say "want you" or something along that line, in the middle of a sentence, I can't say it correctly when I'm speaking fast.

"I want your food." sounds like "I want choor food."

[Suet Seung]

I could never pronounce the word "inevitable" properly, that 's about as unique as I go in pronouncing words.

[PJ]

I can't pronounce any word with 'v'. It ended up sounding like 'w'.

Han Solo

That's so funny -- I had an intuition about this quality from you

[Han Solo]

That's so funny -- I had an intuition about this quality from you

OT: Must be from my photo- lips of a great kissers etc.

On topic: It is so freaking frustrating, cause i need to say things like vital signs in my daily life, and i have to change it to observation signs.


Han Solo

[HuangYushi]

I can't pronounce any word with 'v'. It ended up sounding like 'w'.

Han Solo

If you can say "/f/" without much problem, you can try to learn to say "/v/".
Put your upper teeth gently against your lower lip (as if you have a bad overbite), and blow through it. You will get an "/f/"-like sound. Then, while blowing, make an "/u/" sound (as in the Malay word "udara"). If you do it right, it does come out sounding like a "/v/".

[sniffles]

I can't pronounce any word with 'v'. It ended up sounding like 'w'.

Han Solo

There's a British regional accent where everyone does that.

Hmmm...when I say "want you" or something along that line, in the middle of a sentence, I can't say it correctly when I'm speaking fast.

"I want your food." sounds like "I want choor food."

Lots of people do that when they speak quickly. It's also typical of a Bronx accent.

My mother could not pronounce the word "statistics" correctly. Whenever she tried to say it she always said "stastistics".

[JamesG]

My mother could not pronounce the word "statistics" correctly. Whenever she tried to say it she always said "stastistics".

I wonder how many people say pronounciation instead of pronunciation?

[Ken Cheng]

For years and years, I tried to teach my grandmother how to pronounce "orange juice" correctly.

But no matter what, it still always came out, "oran-cha joo see!"

[sniffles]

I wonder how many people say pronounciation instead of pronunciation?

Quite a few from what I've observed.

But not as many as those who say "nucular" instead of "nuclear".

[HuangYushi]

For years and years, I tried to teach my grandmother how to pronounce "orange juice" correctly.

But no matter what, it still always came out, "oran-cha joo see!"

I get students who say "oran-che" or "oran-cha" every year!
And some of them leave my class at the end of the academic year still saying it that way.

Another problem word is "vegetables".
A lot of my students say it as "vhere--geeee--tables" (as in furniture) instead of "veg-t'bles".
One who tried to pronounce it correctly ended up saying "b'b'bles", much to his own amusement.

[warlock110]

Do you have any distinct pronunciation patterns?

For example, some people always pronounce "s" as "th".

Personally, I have a tendency to pronounce "s" as "sh", if it's in the middle of a word (but not at the beginning or end of a word).

For example, understand, I would pronounce similar to undershtand.

I only know about this after listening to my own voice recording. It sounds different than what I thought I said!

For some reason I come out with a slight southern accent, and I don't even know anyone that's from the south. I really don't know wtf happen, I started living in the US in california when I was 11/12 and for some reason I pick up a southern accent, that crap develop itself naturally.

[sniffles]

For some reason I come out with a slight southern accent, and I don't even know anyone that's from the south. I really don't know wtf happen, I started living in the US in california when I was 11/12 and for some reason I pick up a southern accent, that crap develop itself naturally.

But if you actually went to the South no one would think you had a Southern accent. Real Southern accents don't sound like the ones people use in movies or on tv shows.

[Bubblegum]

When I say a word that starts with "th" I sound like "fr". So "three" becomes "free" and "through" becomes "frough". I say "dis" instead of "this".

[JamesG]

But if you actually went to the South no one would think you had a Southern accent. Real Southern accents don't sound like the ones people use in movies or on tv shows.

Except for the mumbling dude on King of the Hill. During a year long stint in Houston I used to watch a fishing show out of Fort Worth and the host of the show sounded much like him. By the time I left Texas I could actually understand him.

[sniffles]

Except for the mumbling dude on King of the Hill. During a year long stint in Houston I used to watch a fishing show out of Fort Worth and the host of the show sounded much like him. By the time I left Texas I could actually understand him.

That's because Mike Judge is geniunely a Texan. Thankfully there aren't that many Texans who talk like that!

[blueberry]

I can't say "sheet" - it always sounds like 'sh1t"