Ful or fl

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Rachel Adams

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Hello.

When you pronounce the ending ''ful'' in ''beautiful'' do you pronounce it as ''ful'' in spoken English or as ''fl''? Because I hear it as ''ful.''
 

GoesStation

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The ending /fl/ can't be pronounced in English. It needs a vowel. The vowel in the suffix -ful is a schwa.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Yes, it's a schwa. There might be regional differences in pronunciation. I do pronounce it fl — like waffle.
 

Rachel Adams

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Yes, it's a schwa. There might be regional differences in pronunciation. I do pronounce it fl — like waffle.

Yes, that's what I was interested in. If native speakers ever say "ful" in "beautiful"?
 

Tarheel

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Yes, that's what I was interested in. If native speakers ever say "ful" in "beautiful"?

I pronounce the last syllable exactly like the word full and stress the first syllable.
 

Rachel Adams

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Some will pronounce the -ful with the full /ʊ/, some with a schwa, and some with a syllabic vowel.
So it can be pronounced as /fl/, /ful/, and with a schwa, but how do you transcribe and pronounce it when it is pronounced with a schwa and which pronunciation is standard?
Ful as /fl/ as a syllabic /l/
Ful as /u/
Ful with a schwa /?/
 

GoesStation

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People who aren't familiar with phonetic transcription won't know how to pronounce "/fl/". Did you notice the IPA symbol in Piscean's transcription, "/fl̩/"?
 

Rachel Adams

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People who aren't familiar with phonetic transcription won't know how to pronounce "/fl/". Did you notice the IPA symbol in Piscean's transcription, "/fl̩/"?

Yes, it would be very helpful to read about those signs. I often see commas in different places in phonetic transcription. But how would a native ranscribe and pronounce it with a schwa?
 

GoesStation

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Yes, it would be very helpful to read about those signs. I often see commas in different places in phonetic transcription. But how would a native ranscribe and pronounce it with a schwa?
I'd write BYOO-tih-full as an approximate transcription. That's a good example of why the IPA exists, though: it could be read a number of ways.

I don't think the descending line in /fl̩/ is a comma. It's just a symbol indicating that the L is syllabic.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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So it can be pronounced as /fl/, /ful/, and with a schwa, but how do you transcribe and pronounce it when it is pronounced with a schwa and which pronunciation is standard?
Ful as /fl/ as a syllabic /l/
Ful as /u/
Ful with a schwa /?/
As you can see, you have some choices. All the pronunciations we've mentioned are standard (and very close to each other).
 

Rachel Adams

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As you can see, you have some choices. All the pronunciations we've mentioned are standard (and very close to each other).

I see. The dictionary gives only ''fl''. If I transcribe ''ful'' with a schwa as ''f[FONT=&quot]ə'' would it be correct?[/FONT]
 
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