American Pronunciation, pt. 1
Jul 11th, 2008 by Micah Tillman | 3 Comments |
The other day, someone got to my blog through a search for: “American pronunciation of the word actually.” So — I figured — why not provide said pronunciation? Here it is:
actually = ac-tu-al-ly = AC-tyoo-uhl-lee
First syllable: “ac“
. . . is stressed or emphasized
. . . uses the short-A vowel sound
In British English, a’s are often pronounced as short-O sounds. For the Brits, then, the “ac” in “actually” might have the same vowel sound as “ox” or “stop.”
In America, however, the “ac” in “actually” uses a short-A sound, which is higher in the back of the mouth than the short-E sound, but lower than the short-I sound.
The short-O sound, on the other hand, is lower in the back of the mouth than the short-E sound, but higher than the short-U sound.
Second syllable: “tu“
. . . sounds identical to the word “chew.”
. . . or, it sounds like the word “you,” if you put a “t” on the front of it: “tyou”
The “ch” combination in English really should be written “ty,” where “y” is understood as a consonant (like in “yes,” “yank,” and “yarn”).
. . . uses the long-U sound (like in “do,” “too,” “through,” “knew,” etc.).
Third syllable: “al“
. . . uses the short-U vowel sound (as in “up,” “truck,” “pump,” etc.)
. . . rhymes with “gull” (the sea bird), but not “full”
“Full” sounds (almost) identical to “fool,” since the vowel sound in both is the long-U sound (as in “you,” “true,” “stew,” etc.). However, I think the long-U sound in “full” is ever-so-slightly different from than the long-U sound in “fool.”
You don’t purse your lips as much when you say “full.” (The only difference between the short-O or short-U sounds and the long-U sound is that you purse your lips while saying the long-U sound.)
(It’s close to, if not the same sound as in “good,” which is less pursed than than “food,” but lower in the back of the mouth than even “stud.”)
Fourth syllable: “ly“
. . . sounds identical to “Lee” in “Bruce Lee”
. . . sounds identical to “Li” in “Jet Li”
. . . uses the long-E vowel sound, not the long-I vowel sound
In other words, it does not rhyme with “lie.”
So there you have it. I’ll do other fun words in the future, so stay tuned!
Many Americans I know actually pronounce it AK-shuh-lee. I’m sure you have noticed that pronunciation.
Yay pronunciations! Sarah & I studied the IPA for the Hist. of Eng. class. The American short “a” is the “æ” character, a sound almost unique to English, I believe; and, believe it or not, it’s in the bottom front of the mouth, between the “a” of “father” (in English, usually the short “o”), which is middle low, and the short “E” of “egg,” which is front center, just below long “e” of “grey”. The “AK-shuh-lee” pronunciation is a simplification common in English. I really hate simplifications (laziness, it might be better labeled).
RG–
Indeed. I hadn’t thought of that. Hmmm.
Nathan–
I must be using “where” in the mouth the sounds are incorrectly then. It’s fascinating once you realize how complex the positions you have to put your lips, tongue, and throat (?) in to make what we think of as simple sounds.
And “laziness” sounds right to me, btw. Laziness is annoying.