schwa in bribery

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
The schwa ə in bribery /braɪbəri/ is marked as an italic in some pronunciation symbol like "student /stu:dnt/" 's reduced sound between d and n.(Sorry, I can't find it on computer and post it here)
Do native speakers pronounce sometimes /braɪbəri/ (like ʌ)and sometimes /braɪbri/ (removed, zero sound) depending on their mood or is it a personal or regional difference?
In Korean, we also pronounce some words like /gəji/ meaning beggar as /gji/ with ə sound removed.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
The Cambridge EPD transcribes the word with only two syllables - i.e., no schwa. The LPD gives the schwa as optional. I think that I always pronounce the word with three syllables; it is difficult to be sure, unless one has access to a spectogram.
 

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
It was also difficult for me to choose either schwa-ed pronunciation or schwa-less one for so many words with schwa whenever I had to, so I always hesitated in some pronunciations. I couldn't explain it to Koreans well, either.
I can't also judge if schwa-ed or schwa-less pronunciation for some Korean words is right, but either might be okay as long as we can understand the meaning.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
If asked in a formal context how many syllables the word "bribery" has, I would always answer "3". When I say it, it's more like 2.5 syllables! I know that's not possible but it really doesn't sound like the full three, yet it's not quite squashed up enough to only be two.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
If asked in a formal context how many syllables the word "bribery" has, I would always answer "3". When I say it, it's more like 2.5 syllables! I know that's not possible but it really doesn't sound like the full three, yet it's not quite squashed up enough to only be two.
I think the idea of a 'half-syllable' can be very useful for learners.
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
In any case, schwa before r is an almost unanswerable question, given that rhotic /r/ is almost a semi-vowel in character, in many regions. Schwa before a nasal is also a dicey thing to answer, since nasal consonants can be sustained, like vowels. So, it's very hard to say where schwa ends and /r/ or /n/ begin in these words.

I pronounce bribery with three syllables and a half-schwa half /r/ in the second syllable. The two-syllable pronunciation sounds almost impossibly posh, like a false RP.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top