Silent Letters
- Thread starter Cornholio
- Start date
Make it two of us! 
It's a little bit more than just that. In the above case, "pause" and "paws" have an o-sound similar to "off", but "pores" and "pours" have a somewhat different o-sound similar to "before".
This is true, except to me, if you were to pronounce them all phoenetically, "aren't," "aunt," and "ant" would have 3 different pronunciations.
I mean, it's fine that you pronounce things the way you do. I just think it's weird that you don't even seem to have the "aw" sound that I am familiar with in your language. I really don't think I can explain it without speaking to you in person.[/QUOTE]
I don't remember, do you watch Farscape?
Just think back to how in "Durka Returns", half the cast was calling him "Durka" and the other half was calling him "Durker".
I'm going to assume you mean that the former two have the "or" sound, because trying to imagine the latter two with a short o is just strange.
I"d call the sound in "before" a "medium" o; there are words with a longer one, like "road", but it's definitely not the same as "off".
After doing a little research (i.e. looking at Wiki) I think it is the other way round.
Prof Yaffle gets his name because he is loosely based on the Green Woodpecker. Yaffle is a folkname for the Green Woodpecker.
The Green Woodpecker
other names for this bird include Laughing Betsey, Yaffingale, Yappingale and Jack Eikle.
I suppose the word 'yaffle' to describe a talkative person came from this bird.
No, Im saying that here, pause, paws, pores and pours are homophones.
In "oa" words, the "a" modifies the "o" in the same way that the "e" modifies the vowel in _a_e, _e_e, _i_e, _o_e or _u_e words, (eg rode as in he rode his bike) Or as they used to tell us in Primary school the "e" on the end of the word makes the vowel "say its name, not its sound."
Yes, I get that, I'm just trying to figure out what they actually sound like. Do any of them sound the way I'd expect them to, providing a point of reference? Or are they all different?
They all rhyme with doors. Or Floors.
^^ Yeah, but what do doors and floors sound like? 
Wicked seriously.Seriously.Nobody outside of Boston knows how to talk right.
Okay, so "pores" and "pours" sound pretty much like they do over here then. It's just the other two that are mysteriously different.
Correct. I say them how Trilliam says them - so they all sound the same when I do it, but I can hear what you describe about the way to say paws and pause. I could never replicate it, but I can hear it in my head.
Hospital - equal stress on all syllables and a "h" at the start?
And why do US seem to say "going to the hospital/ in the hospital"? Do you say "going to the work" or "going to the home"? We usually say "I'm/they're going to hospital" , like "I'm going home" or I'm going to work".
And why do US seem to say "going to the hospital/ in the hospital"? Do you say "going to the work" or "going to the home"? We usually say "I'm/they're going to hospital" , like "I'm going home" or I'm going to work".
what sound unnatural to me is when people are talking about vomiting and they say "I was getting sick" whereas Australians would say "I was being sick". The first time I heard 'getting sick' was when Charlie said it said it on LOST.
I though to myself "Charlie was English and wouldn't have said it that way". The English people here could tell me if that is true.
Americans can tell me if they say "I was getting sick" or "I was being sick" (when they have been vomiting).
I though to myself "Charlie was English and wouldn't have said it that way". The English people here could tell me if that is true.
Americans can tell me if they say "I was getting sick" or "I was being sick" (when they have been vomiting).
Well, "work" and "home" are singular ideas which are understood to be different for various people, and yet well-defined locations for any one person.
A hospital, however, is the same location for everyone in a given area, hence "the". If the notion of finding medical care is more important than the reference to a particular location, then we might say "a" hospital. Or at least that's all I've come up with.
As far as pause-paws goes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZsyk1-yJU
End of the very first line. That's the American pronunciation.
A hospital, however, is the same location for everyone in a given area, hence "the". If the notion of finding medical care is more important than the reference to a particular location, then we might say "a" hospital. Or at least that's all I've come up with.
As far as pause-paws goes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZsyk1-yJU
End of the very first line. That's the American pronunciation.
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But don't you say "My kids are going to school" rather than say "My kids are going to the school". If you were going to the school (as a non-student) you would say "I am going to the school".
Is someone is a student they say "they are going to school', if someone is a patient they say they are 'going to hospital"
If I am visiting a friend in hospital I would say "I am going to the hospital to visit me friend" but I could say "My friend is in hospital" (because my friend is a patient).
Is someone is a student they say "they are going to school', if someone is a patient they say they are 'going to hospital"
If I am visiting a friend in hospital I would say "I am going to the hospital to visit me friend" but I could say "My friend is in hospital" (because my friend is a patient).
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