What's a BURRITO? American English Pronunciation

I recently did a Word of the Week on the word 'burrito'. And I had some people ask me, what

is a burrito? So today, we're going to eat one.

Let's go eat our burritos!

First, a quick stop to pick up laundry.

>> You don't do your laundry at all anymore?

>> I don't because I don't have a washer/dryer in my building. [2x]

Let's take a look at this sentence. Can you hear how Lynne doesn't pronounce the T in

'don't' as a True T? Often with these N'T contractions like don't, can't, and won't,

that's the case. Instead, we mix the N and Stop T to make a nasally Stop sound: nn, nn.

Don't, won't, can't. nnn. Don't.

I don't [3x]. I don't because I don't have a washer/dryer in my building.

Lynne takes all of these less important words: because, I, don't, have, and a, and says them

very quickly, all linked together.

because I don't have a [6x]

This is what we do with the words that aren't as important to the meaning, the function

words. The nouns 'washer' and 'dryer' are stressed, so they're longer and more clear.

washer/dryer [3x]

In this sentence, the words 'washer' and 'dryer' take about 50% longer to say than all of the

words 'because I don't have a'. So always remember, function words will generally be

very fast, even if there are a lot of them to- gether. With content words, take a bit more time.

I don't because I don't have a washer/dryer in my building. [3x]

>> That's true. >> So.

>> Thank you. There it is. Bye. Have a good day. >> Bye!

>> That's a huge burrito, Beads. >> It's huge! So big. I think I'm going to

eat half now and half later. >> That's very smart.

>> I think so.

I think I'm gonna eat: what are the stressed syllables there? da-DA-da-da-da-DA. 'Think'

and 'eat' are just a bit longer. 'Going to' is reduced to 'gonna'. Also, do you notice

the Stop T in 'eat'? it's not 'eat', with a released, True T. Eat, eat. You must stop

the air to make the stop T. Otherwise it sounds like 'eaaaa'. Too long, and the voice comes

down in pitch. We don't want that. It will be a little more abrupt and straighter in

pitch when you stop the air, eat, eat. That's how we hear it as a Stop T.

I think I'm gonna eat [3x] half now and half later.

I think I'm gonna eat half now and half later. >> That's very smart.

>> I think so.

>> Now people were asking, what is a burrito? So, as you can see, it's a big flour tortilla

with good things inside. >> What did you get?

>> I got a beef burrito. >> I got just the vegetable. I've been feeling

vegetarian lately. But I think I'm going to be like you and cut mine in half.

>> I think that's a good plan. >> Right at the beginning.

>> Mm. Yummy. So it looks like this has rice, beans, guacamole, and I think sour cream and

lettuce. You know what, the peas must be in the rice.

>> Probably, yeah. >> Yeah. I think you're right.

>> Mm. That is very good guacamole. >> Guacamole is made with, the main ingredient

is avocado. It looks like they also have cilantro, tomato, probably some lime juice, don't you think?

Did you hear how I combined the T with the Y sound of YOU to make the CH sound? Lots

of native speakers will do this when the word 'you' is preceded by the T. Don-chew. [2x]

Listen again.

>> Don't you think? [3x] >> Yes, probably.

>> And... >> Onion.

>> Onion. >> I'm going to zoom the guacamole directly

to the camera.

>> So, when I posted my video about burrito, I got a couple comments about 'Well, that's

not how it's actually pronounced', because we do borrow it from Spanish. And of course,

in Spanish, they might roll their R, and they certainly don't make a Flap T like we do.

>> Yeah. >> And I thought it was a really interesting

discussion that happened online. When one language absorbs the word of another language,

is it ok to, in our case, Americanize it, use your own speech habits, or is that an

insult, is that wrong? I mean, I think it's really a matter of opinion.

>> Um, yeah, I think it's a matter of opinion. Sometimes I think that when you try... In

my experience, when I've tried to pronounce words as if they were in the other language,

like an Italian word, or a Spanish word, sometimes other Americans think it's funny.

>> It's true. >> Yeah, they think that I'm, they make fun

of me a little bit. >> Right. Well, Lynne has studied a lot of

foreign language, as have I, both being singers of, you know, Italian, French, German, etc.

So it comes more naturally probably, to us, to pronounce things in their native language.

But, you're very right. It's not uncommon to say 'Bach', for example, and have someone

think you're being a little snooty. >> Yeah. A little bit pretentious.

>> Right. That's a good word. Because the truth is, in American English, it is burrito.

>> Yes! >> And a lot of people eat burritos. It's

not like, I mean, it's almost as ubiquitous as the hamburger. Not quite, but, it's getting

there. >> Yes. It's a common food that Americans

eat often. >> Well, yeah. I appreciate your perspective.

>> Thank you. >> And I appreciate all the conversation about

the pronunciation of that word that happened on Facebook.

>> Yeah. >> Ok, we're going to finish our burritos.

>> That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.