The words woman and woman are pronounced differently. The difference is heard in the first syllable of the two words. However, in New Zealand English, many speakers pronounce the two words identically.
New Zealand English is a dialect which permits schwas in stressed position. As a result, the first syllable of women can be pronounced with a schwa. This produces a word which is pronounced very similarly to woman. Perhaps because of this similarity, many New Zealanders have neutralized the distinction of the two words and now pronounce them the same.
In New Zealand English, the words woman and women tend to be pronounced identically. This makes New Zealand English distinct from other varieties of English. The pronunciation of the two words is evidence of language change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Most English compound nouns are endocentric. This means that the central meaning of the compound is carried by the head. The head of English... -
The opera Turandot features an Asian princess who many men wish to marry. However, if they wish to do so, they must answer three riddles c...
-
All English sentences can be classified as canonical and non-canonical clauses. Canonical clauses are the most basic sentences we can constr...
No comments:
Post a Comment