美式發音練習

In this American English pronunciation video, we"re going to take a look at the question: Is the Flap T really a D sound?在這個美式英語發音視頻中，我們要來看一下這個問題：閃音T真的是一個D音嗎？It"s not unusual for people to ask my why I say the flap T is a D sound.They will say it"s not the same as a D sound in, for example, "day."經常會有人問我，為什麼我會說閃音T是一個D音。他們會說，比如，它和單詞「day」裡面的D音不一樣。My answer to them: you"re right.But, the Flap T, or T between vowels, is the same as a D between vowels.我給他們的回答是：你說的對。但是，閃音T，或者是母音中間的T，它和母音中間的D是一樣的。So basically what I"m saying is that a D between vowels is not the same sound as the D in other cases, though they both use the same IPA symbol.所以，大致來說，我的意思是，在母音中間的D和在其他情況下的D是不一樣的，即使在國際音標里，它們用的是相同的符號。Let"s take a look at an example word: "dad."For that beginning D, there is a stop: "dd, dd."讓我們來看一下示例單詞：「dad」。對於這個詞首的D，有一處停頓："dd, dd."D is a stop consonant, so I let air build up a little bit in my throat -- "dd, dd, dd, dd" -- and then release it.D是一個停頓輔音，所以我讓氣流在我的喉嚨里聚積了一下——"dd, dd, dd, dd"——然後再釋放出來。

It"s the same with a D at the end of the word, though a little more subtle."Dd, dd, Dad-d-d", but you can still hear, "dad-d-d", there is a stop.它和詞尾的D是一樣的，但是要更模糊一點。"Dd, dd, Dad-d-d"，但是你仍然能夠聽到，"dad-d-d"，有一處停頓。Well, let"s take a slightly different word, "Daddy."Now we have a D sound between two vowels."Daddy, Daddy."好了，讓我們來看一個稍微不同的單詞，「Daddy」。現在，這個D音在兩個母音中間。"Daddy, Daddy."I"m going to stretch out the vowel sound before and after to make that D more noticeable.我要把D音之前和之後的母音拉長，以此來使這個D音更加明顯。"Daaaaaadyyyy."Did you hear a stop?There wasn"t one."Daaaaaadyyyy.""Daaaaaadyyyy."你聽到停頓了嗎？並沒有停頓。"Daaaaaadyyyy."Between vowels, or after an R and before a vowel, it"s a different sound, because there isn"t a stop.在母音中間，或者在R之後、母音之前，它是一個不同的音，因為沒有停頓。If I pronounced both D"s with a stop, it would sound like this: "dad-dy, dad-dy."如果我發這兩個D音的時候都停頓一下，它聽起來就像這樣："dad-dy, dad-dy."But it doesn"t. It sounds like "daddy, uhh", no stop in the airflow.This is true of the Flap T as well.但它不是這樣的。它聽起來像"daddy, uhh"，氣流中沒有停頓。這同樣適用於閃音T。As I said before, if you look up the word "daddy" in a dictionary, both of the D sounds, though different, will have the same symbol.就像我之前說過的那樣，如果你在一本詞典中查找單詞「daddy」，儘管兩個音是不同的，但它們的符號是相同的。This is why I have chosen to say that Flap T is just like the D sound -- it is like one kind of D sound, the D between vowels.這就是為什麼我選擇說閃音T就像是D音一樣——它像是D音中的一種，也就是母音中間的D音。So, "matter" equals "madder". Pronounced the same way.When we pronounce a T or D this way, it smooths out speech.所以，「matter」就等於「madder」。它們的發音方式是一樣的。當我們這樣發T音或D音時，它能夠使我們的講話更加通順。It takes out a stop, which is why you"ll hear so many Americans flap their T"s.它沒有停頓，這就是為什麼你會聽到這麼多美國人發閃音T。We love to smooth out the line.So, this was a long explanation about why I use the (d) symbol for a Flap T.我們喜歡把句子讀得通順一些。所以，關於為什麼我要使用(d)符號來表示閃音T，這是很長的一段解釋。The most important thing to take from this video, though, is that both the T and D between vowels, or after an R and before a vowel, don"t have a stop component.但是，這個視頻里最重要的一點就是，在母音中間的T音和D音，或者在R之後、母音之前的T音和D音，它們都沒有停頓。They do not interrupt the flow of the line, they smooth out the speech.One last comment.它們不會打斷整個句子，它們會使講話更通順。最後說一句。Sometimes, regarding the Flap T, I"ll get a comment from a student.That sounds like an R sound to me. It is an R sound?有時候，關於閃音T，我會收到來自學生的評論。對於我來說，它聽起來就像是一個R音。它是R音嗎？Well, depending on your native language, yes, it is.The alveolar flap is in many languages, usually represented by the letter R.取決於你的母語，是的，它是一個R音。齒槽閃音存在於很多語言當中，通常用字母R來表示。For example, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, to name a few.So you may ask, why don"t I use that IPA symbol?舉幾個例子，比如，阿拉伯語、日語、韓語、葡萄牙語、西班牙語、土耳其語。所以，你可能會問，為什麼我不用那個國際音標的符號呢？Two reasons: you won"t see that symbol in a dictionary of American English.有兩個原因：在一本美式英語的詞典中，你找不到那個符號。And, I"m not fluent enough in any of those languages to say: yes, definitely, I know it is absolutely the exact same movement of the tongue,並且，在那些語言的任何一個當中，我都達不到足夠流利的程度來說：是的，絕對是，我知道，對於這個音來說，舌頭的動作完全一樣，touching exactly the same spot at the roof of the mouth.舌頭在上顎接觸的位置完全相同。So whether it is exactly the same sound or just very close, it may be very useful for you to think of the Flap T or D between vowels as the R sound from your native language.所以，不論它是完全相同的音，還是非常接近，把母音中間的閃音T或D音當作你母語中的R音，這可能對你來說非常有用。But, just keep in mind that it is not at all related to the R sound in American English.但是，要記住，它和美式英語中的R音一點關係都沒有。"RRRR", where you can hold out that sound, and the front part of the tongue must not touch the roof of the mouth.「RRRR」，在美式英語中，你可以發出這個音，而舌頭前面的部分不能接觸上顎。That"s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel"s English.這次的學習就到這裡，非常感謝使用Rachel"s English。