Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
-
- Yellow Belt
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Wed May 02, 2018 10:36 am
- Languages: English (N), Japanese (N4/N3)
- x 109
Re: Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
I listened to it a few times on my tablet without headphones and I'd say that she does say the "a"... But I'm not so much hearing it as picking it up from the prosody of the sentence.
2 x
-
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 989
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:08 am
- Languages: English (N), German (B2), French (B1)
- Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7786
- x 3786
Re: Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
I think she absolutely says “a” Teddy Bear. But, I’ve had lots of exposure to British English which I think is helpful in this case.
2 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
:
Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
:
Pimsleur French 1-5
:
niveau debutant
:
Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
:
Pimsleur French 1-5
:
- Ani
- Brown Belt
- Posts: 1433
- Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:58 am
- Location: Alaska
- Languages: English (N), speaks French, Russian & Icelandic (beginner)
- x 3842
- Contact:
Re: Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
I hear the "a" easily.
The obvious solution is to switch to listening to American English where they'd be no risk of double enunciated "t"s, and the expiration after a "t" sounding like another word. Both cases would only have a single /t/ sound for Teddy
"It isn't Teddy Bear" would have a nice word like "itisin" and "it isn't a teddy bear" would get it's own word "itisinnuh"
The obvious solution is to switch to listening to American English where they'd be no risk of double enunciated "t"s, and the expiration after a "t" sounding like another word. Both cases would only have a single /t/ sound for Teddy
"It isn't Teddy Bear" would have a nice word like "itisin" and "it isn't a teddy bear" would get it's own word "itisinnuh"
2 x
But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
- kanewai
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 753
- Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 9:10 pm
- Location: Honolulu
- Languages: Native: English
Active: Italian
Maintenance: Spanish, French
Priors: Chuukese (Micronesian), Indonesian, Latin, Greek (epic and modern), Turkish, Arabic - x 3221
- Contact:
Re: Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
I absolutely do not hear the 'a,' with or without headphones. This reminds me of the "what color is the dress" meme. If I heard the sentence out of context I would have thought it was a proper name, i.e. "It isn't Teddy Bear."
What accent is this, anyways? I know it's some kind of British accent, but there seem to be so many for one small island.
What accent is this, anyways? I know it's some kind of British accent, but there seem to be so many for one small island.
1 x
Super Challenge - 50 books
Italian:
Spanish:
French:
Italian:
Spanish:
French:
-
- Black Belt - 3rd Dan
- Posts: 3535
- Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:04 am
- Location: Scotland
- Languages: English(N)
Advanced: French,Spanish, Scottish Gaelic
Intermediate: Italian, Catalan, Corsican
Basic: Welsh
Dabbling: Polish, Russian etc - x 8810
- Contact:
Re: Why "It isn't teddy bear" is correct?
I'm on the side of "a" -- it's very heavily reduced, but I reckon it's there. Splitting Ts isn't something that's generally done, even in careful speech. Moreover, the way she's pronouncing "teddy bear" sounds to me like a compound noun, not a name.
2 x
Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests