Intro to Linking: American English Pronunciation

Today I simply want to introduce the concept of linking.

今天我想簡單地介紹一下「連音」的觀念

I’ve had my blog for almost two years now,

我成立部落格至今大概已有 2 年的時間

and have yet to explicitly mention this in a video as a topic.

但還未以它為主題做成一段影片明確地簡述此事

It’s high time.

而現在是時候了

If everything else is pronounced correctly:

如果美語的每個部分都念得很正確：

stress, the particular sounds of a word, but words are not linked together,

重音，一個單字特別的讀音，而唯獨單字沒有連在一起

聽在英語人士的耳中還是很怪

it will still sound pretty strange to native speakers.

It will sound very choppy.

聽起來斷斷續續的

Let’s take for example the sentence, He told her to go to the park today.

我們以此句為例：「他跟她說今天要去公園。」

He told her to go to the park today.

他跟她說今天要去公園

He told her to go to the park today.

他跟她說今天要去公園 （註：單字間有極短的停頓）

That last time I said it, I tried to put a tiny pause between each word.

我最後一次的念法是這樣： 我試著在每個字之間放入 1 個極短的停頓

He told her to go to the park today.

他跟她說今天要去公園 （註：單字間有極短的停頓）

He told her to go to the park today.

他跟她說今天要去公園

Can you tell the difference?

你分得出來這個差別嗎？

It’s an important first step to be able to hear the difference.

能夠聽出此差別是很重要的第一步

To native speakers, this tiny gap between each word sounds very choppy.

對英語人士而言，這種每個字之間的微小間斷聽起來斷斷續續的

He told her to go to the park today.

他跟她說今天要去公園

在我聽來，此句講得很順

To me that is very smooth.

Can you hear that difference?

你聽得出來那種差別嗎？

My students sometimes tell me that

我的學生有時告訴我

when they pronounce wordsand sentences that way, that it feels very sloppy.

當他們以那種方式念單字或句子時，感覺非常的含糊隨便

We’ll that’s ok.

呃，那沒關係

If your native language is really different from English,

如果你的母語跟英語實在差太多

then when you pronounce English correctly,

那麼當你把英語念得很正確時

it might feel very strange in your mouth.

你嘴裡的感覺可能會很奇怪

Don’t be shy about that.

對此情形不要感到不好意思

Linking is related to reduction, or reducing sounds.

「連音」和「省音」或縮簡字音是有相關的

What is reduction? As you may already know from other videos,

什麼是「省音」？正如你可能早就從其他影片中所知

words in English will either be stressed or unstressed.

英文裡的單字不是重讀字，就是輕讀字

Unstressed words and syllables may be reduced.

輕讀字及輕音節可以被縮減

This means that a sound is either left out or changes.

這表示一個音不是被消音，就是變音

For example, the word ‘can’ has the ‘aa’ vowel sound.

如：單字「can」有aa [æ] 的母音

But, it might reduce.

但它可以省音

I can be there.

我可以到場

Cn, cn.

Kun，kun

There the word ‘can’ is actually pronounced with the schwa sound: cn.

這個字「can」實際上用弱化母音 [ə] 念成「kun」

So that is what I mean by reduction.

那就是我所謂的省音

I say that linking and reduction are related.

我之所以會說連音與省音是有關的

And that is because if you are reducing something,

那是因為如果你把某個字省音

you’re either leaving off a sound or substituting a quicker vowel

你會停念一個音，不然就用一個較快的母音代替

in order to make that word very short.

以便讓該字念得很快

If you’re making it very short,

如果你把字念得很快

you don’t want to make your phrase longer by adding gaps.

你當然不想增加一些間斷，而讓你的片語要念更久

So linking is the idea that you will take all the words of a sentence

因此，「連音」是這樣的概念：你會念出句子裡所有的字

and you won’t put any gaps between for a smooth and fluid sound.

但你不會在單字間放入任何間斷，以求聲音的平順及流暢

For example, in the sentence I can be there by three.

例如：在此句「我 3 點前可以到場。」

I-c, I-c: you can hear how the kk sound of the second word

I-c，I-c。你可以聽出第 2 個字的 "kk" 音

is attached to the first word: I-c, I-c.

是如何連到第 1 個字的後面。I-c，I-c

There is no break between those words.

那些字之間沒有停頓

I can be there by three.

我 3 點前可以到場

So keep this in mind as you listen to native speakers and do your best to imitate it.

所以，請將此觀念牢記心中： 當你聆聽英語人士說話時，盡全力去模仿其說話方式

There will be videos in the future that will cover specific concepts

日後還會推出一些影片，內容將涵蓋

「連音」及「省音」的具體觀念，以協助你做此練習

in linking and reduction to help you practice this.

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

就這樣，非常感謝使用 Rachel 的英文