I wonder how an American pronounces…
without
/wɪ-ˈðawt/
Before we begin, let’s learn the secret of
pronouncing American English /ð/,
as in the word without.
First, stick your tongue out.
Don’t say anything as you do this.
Then, as you pull your tongue back in,
that is when you pronounce written th…/ð/
It’s important to learn to pronounce th /θ, ð/.
It’s never reduced.
It never changes to another sound when we link.
There’s no escaping th. 🙂
without
/wɪ-ˈðawt/
Appearances can be deceiving.
That means that what looks easy…isn’t always easy.
The word ‘without‘ falls into this category.
In writing, we separate the syllables … with-out
In pronunciation, we say … wi–THOUT
Stress is on the second syllable … /wɪ-ˈðawt/
Do you take coffee with sugar or without?
In natural speech, however, we
don’t say words separately.
We connect words together. We link them.
Sometimes we move the t at the end of the
word ‘without‘ to the beginning of the following word.
When do we do that? Let’s see.
t + vowel sound
[linking pattern #1]
without a … without an
/wɪ-ˈðaw–də/ … /wɪ-ˈðaw–dən/
without ever … without eggs … without us
/wɪ-ˈðaw-ˈdɛ–vɚ/ … /wɪ-ˈðaw–dɛgz/ … /wɪ-ˈðaw–dəs/
I can’t live without a computer.
without a doubt
/wɪ-ˈðaw–də-ˈdawt/
Giraffes are, without a doubt,
the tallest animals in the world.
without a care
/wɪ-ˈðaw–də-ˈkɛ–ɚ/
I finished my project.
Now I can go on vacation
without a care in the world.
without a paddle
/wɪ-ˈðaw–də-ˈpæ–dəl/
If I don’t do a better job, I’m going to get fired.
Then I’ll be up the creek without a paddle.
without an umbrella
/wɪ-ˈðaw–də-nəm-ˈbrɛ-lə/
Don’t leave the house
without an umbrella! It’s raining.
without ever
/wɪ-ˈðaw–ˈdɛ–vɚ/
We can talk to people all over the world
without ever leaving home.
Can you make a cake without eggs? I don’t know.
The men finished the job without us.
t + y = /t͡ʃ/
without you … without your
/wɪ-ˈðaw–t͡ʃuw/ … /wɪ-ˈðaw–t͡ʃɚ/
Hurry up. I don’t want to
go shopping without you.
without you
/wɪ-ˈðaw–t͡ʃuw/
I couldn’t have done it without you.
Don’t go out without your
umbrella and boots. It’s raining.
You never leave the house
without your cell phone, do you?
Now you know the secrets of this much-used word.
1. say the /ð/ as
you pull your tongue back in
2. stress is on 2nd syllable
3. look for possible linking patterns
t + vowel sound … t + y = /t͡ʃ/
I would still be baffled with native american, especially colloquial pronunciation of English without Eva’s explanation of linking and reduction.
Thank you!
Potpuno se slažem s tobom…nema sumnje. 🙂