#1  
Old 10-Jun-2005, 22:55
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Default days of the week

Are the days of the week promounced with an short /i/ at the end or with
/deI/? Are both ways correct and possible? If not, which one is correct?
Thanx!
  #2  
Old 15-Jun-2005, 09:49
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Default Re: days of the week

The final sound in "day" is called a diphthong. A diphthong (pronounced dif'thong, not dip'thong) is made up of two sounds: one sound is always a vowel, and the other sound is always a glide, either [j] ("y") or [w].

If the glide comes first, the diphthong is called an onglide (start on a glide), and if the glide comes last, the diphthong is called an offglide (end off with a glide), like this,

Onglide: [ja] ("ya")
Offglide: [aj] ("eye")

As for the word "day", the letters "ay" are pronounced [ej], as on offglide, and it's currently written as [eI].

All the best,
  #3  
Old 15-Jun-2005, 15:07
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Default Re: days of the week

ok. In my dictionary it says that Monday is pronounced /mʌndi/;
why not /mʌndei/?? Would that be a wrong pronunciation? BTW, I know what a diphthong is, I teach English as a foreign language, and when I went to school they taught us /mʌndei/, but our university teachers said different, and Longman's dictionary says different. So, I'm curious if both are possible and correct.
Thanx
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Old 15-Jun-2005, 18:39
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Default Re: days of the week

Maybe it's the dialect? I've heard about 3 versions from native speakers.
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Old 16-Jun-2005, 10:24
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Default Re: days of the week

Mon[deI] is the standard, the long form, and Mon[di] is one of its variants, or its short form. The difference between the two is not a matter of dialect variation. (I use both.) The difference has to do with ease of speech, and a processes called Reduction.

The offglide [eI], also written [ej], has two parts: a vowel [e] and a glide [j]. The vowel [e] is omitted, leaving the glide [j], like this,

Mond|ej| => Mond|j| => Mond[i]

Note, the symbols [I] and [j] represent the same sound, a palatal glide. When that glide functions as a vowel, it's written [i]. That's the sound we hear in reduced Mond[i].

All the best,
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Old 16-Jun-2005, 15:03
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Default Re: days of the week

Thank you for clearing it up for me too. I've just realised I use both variants (never noticed until I read this topic)
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Old 16-Jun-2005, 17:25
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Default Re: days of the week

Thank ya all
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Old 17-Jun-2005, 13:15
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Default Re: days of the week

Welcome.
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Old 17-Jun-2005, 17:17
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Default Re: days of the week

Quote:
Originally Posted by Casiopea
If the glide comes first, the diphthong is called an onglide (start on a glide), and if the glide comes last, the diphthong is called an offglide (end off with a glide), like this,

Onglide: [ja] ("ya")
Offglide: [aj] ("eye")

As for the word "day", the letters "ay" are pronounced [ej], as on offglide, and it's currently written as [eI].
Can I have a question too? What if someone pronounces ... say 'today' [to-die]. I think I do it most of the time .

Last edited by ElectricDemon; 20-Jun-2005 at 19:16.
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Old 20-Jun-2005, 10:42
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Default Re: days of the week

Quote:
Originally Posted by ElectricDemon
Can I have a question too? What if someone pronounces ... say 'today' [to-die]. I think do it most of the time .
Actually, it'd be written, [tu'dai] ([ai] as in the sounds represented by the underlined portion in "pie".)

It's a dialect variant, that's all. Keep on using it.
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