A is for ACORN: Weird?!? Not sounds like an APPLE..
By Shavkat
@Shavkat (140395)
Philippines
December 11, 2018 5:16pm CST
Perhaps you are wondering why I claimed that acorn sounds weird. It is because of how you pronounce 'acorn' /'æp·?l/ as compared to 'apple /'æp·?l/.' In learning the English language, we need to consider knowing the principle usage of an International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). If not, then we cannot able to pronounce the English words properly. It will be totally weird for those native speakers.
"Do you find a hard time pronouncing the English words?"
"Do you think we need to learn the proper pronunciation of these English words?"
Image Credit: media.istockphoto.com
19 people like this
19 responses
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
@playertwo I assumed that you are from America. Is it?
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
@LadyDuck I personally think that you are lucky. I didn't study or learn the English language in an international school. But I humbly say that I had learned it by self-studying. In my school days, we just learn the grammar rules and not the proper pronunciation of the words. The American soldiers were long gone since the language was being introduced to Filipinos.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29411)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 18
I know that English, with all its idiosyncrasy can be a difficult second language to learn.
2 people like this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
14 Dec 18
there are words that had pronunciations before, but now, their pronunciation have changed.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
18 Dec 18
@ridingbet You did a great job. There are some people who really don't know how to pronounce the medical terms right.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
17 Dec 18
@Shavkat when the students had their grand case presentation, the presenters pronounced the word PETECHIAE as PE-TI-SHAY, and i could not believe they were inventing pronunciation of words, so i and my colleague Miss Cata searched in the dictionary about how the word should be uttered. it is actually how i pronounce it since time immemorial, so i corrected them right there and then.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
I think there are some online sites that can help us enhance the speaking part. I used to read some English magazines for about 10 to 15 minutes every day. If I am not sure with the pronunciation part, then I will check them on an e-dictionary.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43903)
• Cambridge, England
11 Dec 18
Yes, unfortunately the letter 'a' can have at least four different sounds and there seems to be not rhyme or reason to it.
The short sound as in 'apple', 'cat' and so on is the standard or most usual sound but it can also represent the even shorter sound 'uh' (or 'schwa', written as an upside down 'e' in IPA) in 'ago' and can be the longer 'ah' sound in 'after' and 'pass'. Usually when it makes the 'ei' diphthong sound (as it does in 'acorn' ) it is combined with the 'i' or 'y' ('pail' and 'hay', for example) or with the silent 'e' after the next consonant ('late', 'fate', 'gate').
And that is just the beginning of the glorious mess that is English spelling!
It's all because, when English was first written down it was not only pronounced very differently from the way it is today, but over time we have borrowed words from other languages like Latin and French which used the same letters but pronounced them differently and we kept the original spelling and, to an extent, the original pronunciation!
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
You had explained it well, my friend. I do think that we need to familiarize ourselves in using the IPA symbols. If not, we really cannot pronounce the words properly. We also need to determine the differences between other countries' accents.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
12 Dec 18
I use a site like 'howtopronounce' if I don't know how to pronounce a word in English. Sometimes I am surprised to discover the prononciation. The same thing happens in my local language. The letters are pronounced in more than one way. Sometimes the pronounciation changes the meaning.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
13 Dec 18
@Shavkat It is easier to find the pronounciation today. In the past I had to find the pronounciation in a dictionary and it isn't always easy to understand the things they write. It is much easier now that we are able to listen to the pronounciation.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
13 Dec 18
@Porcospino Indeed, my friend. During my school days, we tend to rely on listening to English songs and watching films. These days, we can able to check the proper pronunciation through the use of e-dictionaries.
@allknowing (144290)
• India
12 Dec 18
English has no method in its madness and so the only way is to mug it all up be it spelling meanings and pronunciations.
1 person likes this
@japanesesamurai (2196)
• Japan
12 Dec 18
for me the biggest problem is pronounciations depends on the country..
in the use,uk or australia , you can hear different pronunciations even the word is same..
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (140395)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
I will totally agree with you. I am also grateful that the American soldiers introduced the English language in my country before. If not, it would be confusing to learn the language. Now, I humbly say that it is my bread and butter to teach it to non-native speakers online.
1 person likes this
@KOLAMsegaran1 (4137)
• Bekasi, Indonesia
13 Dec 18
I new only saw this kind of thing this time, what it was, and for what. . .
I ask because I consider this very interesting
