[General] Pronunciation of "says" in the kid song

Status
Not open for further replies.

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
You will hear some speakers using that pronunciation.
It sounds a bit odd to me- music often makes for strange pronunciation, but there's no reason here that I can see for it. She might be over-emphasising a bit to try to sound clearer.
 

jack4321

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Bihari
Home Country
Bangladesh
Current Location
Bangladesh
This word would be in a musical way.....
 

EngFan

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Quechua
Home Country
Qatar
Current Location
Argentina
You will hear some speakers using that pronunciation.
It sounds a bit odd to me- music often makes for strange pronunciation, but there's no reason here that I can see for it. She might be over-emphasising a bit to try to sound clearer.

This song comes from the well-known educational publisher, it teaches young children to learn phonics, it should be accurate in all pronunciations, so I feel so strange how come she pronounces the Says sound like this, I don't know if I should play this CD to my baby daughter, please advise.
 
Last edited:

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
This song comes from the well-known education publisher, it teaches young children to learn phonics, it should be accurate[STRIKE]d[/STRIKE] in all pronunciations, so I feel so strange how come she pronounces the Says sound like this, I don't know if I should play this CD to my baby daughter, please advise.

You cant say 'should'; English doesn't work like that. An educational publisher may have various aims at various times. On this occasion, their aim seems to be to show how some speakers actually speak. It would be impossible, anyway, to be 'accurate in all pronunciations'; one speaker can only produce one pronunciation.

I don't know, as I never visit sites that have 'free' and 'ringtone' in their name, but this may be an example of a song preserving an old sound to produce a rhyme - that is, it was pronounced [seɪz] in the dialect of the first singer and has stayed that way in the context of the song.*

My advice is to use the CD if the music is good. There will be plenty of opportunities for your daughter to learn the right sound from other sources.

b

*PS I can't think of an example from a song, but here's one from a poem:
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good she was very very good
But when she was bad she was horrid.
The rhyme depends on a pronunciation of 'forehead' (/'fɔrɪd/) which is dying out - my grandfather used it but my children don't. My own usage varies
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
And not all people pronounce the same word the same way. It sounded harmless enough to me, though I know next to nothing about small children. ;-)
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
I know next to nothing about small children. ;-)
Avoid them, if at all possible. They are loathesome animals.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top