Pronounciation of k sound in electricity

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anhnha

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Hi all,
Could you help me with the pronounciation of k sound in /ilek'trisiti/ of electricity?
I have listened it many times but I still get stuck with k sound.It appears the k sound is pronounced different from k sound in clock?
Thanks a lot.:)
 

5jj

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/k/ directly before another plosive, such as /t/, is not audibibly released. In normal conversation, you don't really hear the /k/ at all. In 'clock', the /k/ is released laterally, over the sides of the tongue.

The result is that we produce and hear two different versions (allophones) of the phoneme /k/. Both of these allophones are different again from the /k/ in, for example 'cat', in which it comes before a vowel and is fully released.

Incidentally, 'electricity is usually transcribed in Br E as /ɪlekˈtrɪsɪti/
 

anhnha

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Thank you very much.
It is very useful for me.Could you give me more detailed explaintation about how can I know the pronounciation of each
version when pronoucing a word?
 

5jj

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It is very useful for me.Could you give me more detailed expla[STRIKE]i[/STRIKE]nt[STRIKE][/STRIKE]ation about how can I know the pronounciation of each
version when pronouncing a word?
Not really. It would take several pages to describe in detail all the possible allophonic variations of one single phoneme. Many native speakers are not even aware that they are producing different sounds.

Just to give you a slight idea:

/k/ tends to be aspirated (released with an audible puff of air) when it is the first sound in a word and precedes a vowel or approximant (/l/, /r/, /w/, /j/): cup, chemist, clock, cram, queen, curious.
It is not aspirated after /s/: skip, scheme, score.
There is often no audible release when it is the final sound in a word, or is followed by another plosive: brick, bake, doctor.
It is released nasally when followed by a nasal consonant: sickness, pacman
 
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