学会适当连读
会连读是发音地道的标志之一,可以帮助提高说话流畅度,也能有效地提高语速。尤其在听力当中,很多迷惑考生的地方就在于说话者使用了连读。在剑桥六的一篇听力当中,考题问一样东西的价钱,正确答案是“280”,几乎所有的同学都听成了“290”,因为说话者在“two hundred”之后把“and”弱读并且省音读作了“n”,再与后边的“eighty”连读成了[neity],所以很多同学误听成了“ninety”。所以不注意连读的学习和练习甚至还会导致在听力方面丢分。而学习连读的话,要注意连读的条件:相邻的两词在意义上必须密切相关,同属一个意群。朗阁雅思培训中心的专家总结,连读可以分为以下四种:
1.辅音+元音
如果相邻两词中的前一个词是以辅音结尾,后一个词是以元音开头,这就要将辅音与元音连起来拼读。例如:
give~up
take~out
turn~off
Take~it~easy.
Bears~are fuzzy.
Cats~eat fish bones.
Joe bought~a book.
I’m~an~English boy.
It~is~an~old book.
Let me have~a look~at~it.
other bowl~of rice
I called~you half~an~hour~ago.
Put~it~on, please.
Not~at~all.
Please pick~it~up.
I’d like~an
Ms Black worked in~an~office yesterday.
其中也有一些特殊情况,如以辅音结尾的单词+h开头的单词h不发音,与前面的辅音连读,例如:
Tell~her I miss~her.
What wil(l he) [wili]do?
Ha(s he) [zi] done~it before?
Mus(t he) [ti] go?
Can he [ni] do it?
Should he [di] ….?
Tell~him to ask~her….
Lea(ve him) [vim].
“r/re+元音”,如果前一个词是以-r或者-re结尾,后一个词是以元音开头,这时的r或re不但要发/r/,而且还要与后面的元音拼起来连读。例如:
for~ever
more~over
remember~it
a pair~of shoes
answer~it
a pair~of socks
on your~own
father~and son
Cheer~up!
as far~as
I do it for~him.
2.辅音+半元音
英语语音中的/j/和/w/是半元音,如果前一个词是以辅音结尾,后一个词是以半元音,特别是/j/开头,此时也要连读。例如:Thank~you.
音的同化也是一种连读的现象,两个词之间非常平滑的过渡,导致一个音受临音影响而变化。[t] [d] [s] [z]+[j]要发生音变:
Ø辅音[t]与[j]相邻时,被同化为[t∫]:[t] + [j]→[t?]
Nice to meet~you.
Can’t~you do it?
I’ll let~you know.
Is that~your car?
No, not~yet.
Ø辅音[d]与[j]相邻时,被同化为[dЗ]:[d] + [j]→[dЗ]
Did~you get there late~again?
Would~you like~a cup~of tea?
Could~you help me, please?
Ø辅音[s]与[j]相邻时,被同化为[∫]:[s] + [j]→[?]
God bless~you.
Can~you dress~yourself?
I miss~you.
Ø辅音[z]与[j]相邻时,被同化为[З]:[z] + [j]→[З]
How was~your vacation?
He says~you’re good.
3.元音+元音
如果前一个词以元音结尾,后一个词以元音开头,这两个音往往也要自然而不间断地连读到一起。例如:
Do~I?
You’re[ju?]so~honest.
I~am Chinese.
He~is very friendly to me.
She wants to study~English.
She can’t carry~it.
How~and why did you come here?
It’ll take you three~hours to walk there.
The question is too~easy for him to answer.
4.辅音+辅音
爆破音/p/,/b/,/t/,/d/,/k/,/g/和摩擦音/f/,/v/,/W/,其中任意2个相临时,前一个音会轻音化,即由相关的发音器官做好这个发音的姿势,稍做停顿后即发后面的音。如果这些音在词尾,也要轻音化。例如:
Si(t) down.
contac(t) lens
Da(d) tol(d) me.
hu(ge) change
goo(d) night
The girl in the re(d) coat was on a bla(ck) bike jus(t) now.
The bi(g) bus from the fa(c)tory is full of people.
Wha(t) time does he get up every morning?
This is an ol(d) pi(c)ture of a bi(g) car.
The ol(d) do(c)tor has a ca(t), too.
如果前词尾辅音与后词尾辅音相同,前辅音省略。
I was× so happy.
I have got× to go.→I have gotta go.(to轻音化为ta)
Do~you want× to dance?→do you wanna dance?(to轻音化为na)
当然,也有一些不可连读的情况:
当短语或从句之间按意群进行停顿时,意群与意群之间即使有两个相邻的辅音与元音出现,也不可连读。例如:
Is~it a~hat or a cat?(hat与or之间不可以连读)
There~is~a good book in my desk.(book与in之间不可以连读)
Can you speak~English or French?(English与or之间不可以连读)
Shall we meet at~eight or ten tomorrow morning?(meet与at,eight与or之间不可以连读)
She opened the door and walked~in.(door与and之间不可以连读)
注意强读和弱读
很多同学在说英语的时候每一个发音都很重,就像说汉语一样。然而,说英语的时候,每个词的发音没必要都要一板一眼的读出来,就好像读音标一样。现在的词典,在一个单词的后边也会有一个以上的发音,例如“of”,词典的音标就有四个[?v, ?v, v, f],重读的时候,也就是强调的时候读[?v],弱读就是后边三种,最弱可以简化成一个简单的[f]。
弱读的规则一般是:元音音节弱化成[?]。
比如说如下几个单词:at、of、the、to、as、than、and、or、his、a、an、but、been、for、her、we、be、shall、was、them,弱读的频率达到90%,其中a、an、the、than极少用强式。查字典会发现这些词都至少有两种读音,如for,重读时[f?:],弱读时[f?]。
I have been waiting for you for a long time.
He is in the room.
He has done it well.
I have seen it.