This essay is aimed to offer some personal observations about American English, which might help teachers of English in our country make our students’ English sound more like that of native speakers of American English. Five aspects are discussed, including the use of weak forms, some features of American English, assimilation and elision of English sounds and the latest trends in English pronunciation. These may not only enable Taiwanese learners to make themselves better understood in American English, but also enhance their understanding of the English spoken by native speakers or foreigners. A conclusion and some personal experience about how to apply the above-mentioned ideas to the everyday classroom teaching are offered in the end.
美語說得更漂亮
壹、前言如何幫助學生將英文說得更漂亮，聽起來跟母語人士更相像，相信是許多老師常在思考的問題。尤其是在訓練學生演講、口說能力時，我們總不免希望他們的發音可以很漂亮、很道地。眾所皆知，英語的聽講乃一體之兩面。因此，掌握母語人士平常說話的發音關鍵，不僅可以讓我們自身說的美語更道地，也才能夠讓我們更容易聽得懂他們在講什麼。或許大家都已注意到，有些時候一段簡單的英文用寫的，學生看得懂；母語人士將同樣的內容以正常講話速度說一遍，這時學生的理解卻可能出現問題。這就是因為日常會話，往往很多時候不是照著我們「認知」中的「字典發音」來唸出音說話，所以自然可能出現聽不出來對方究竟在說什麼的狀況。發音牽涉的範圍很廣，除了個別字的發音、字跟字之間的連音之外，與音調也大有關連。礙於篇幅之故，本文不觸及音調的相關議題，只討論字的發音本身。以下文章我會就五個方面來切入，跟大家分享一下幾個可能改善學生發音的要點。文中採用的音標以國際音標(IPA)為主，KK音標為輔
[1]。
貳、掌握美語發音的要訣一、善用弱母音英文虛字
[2](function words)—也就是冠詞、代名詞、介系詞之類的字—通常是
使用弱母音的輕讀形式(weak forms)，只有在特殊情況下，才會發強母音的重讀形式(strong forms)
[3]。輕讀形式即使是在正是場合還是會大量出現，所以非母語人士若能掌握、善用弱母音，講起英文來，外國腔便會少很多。常用虛字的重讀形式與輕讀形式，請見【表一】。
【表一】常見虛字的輕讀念法與相關語音資訊
輕讀形式
例子
重讀形式
例子
冠詞
the
[D@]
（子音前）
[Di](IPA)
（母音前）
Close the door.
Till the end.
[Di:](IPA)
a,
an
[@]（子音前）
[@n]（母音前）
Give me a hand.
Send me an e-mail.
[eI; e]
人稱
代名詞
me
[mi](IPA)
Look at me.
[mi:](IPA)
we
[wi](IPA)
We are a family.
[wi:](IPA)
you
[ju](IPA)
You are so nice.
[ju:](IPA)
she
[Si](IPA)
She is gone.
[Si:](IPA)
he
[i](IPA)
[hi](IPA)（句首）
Where did he go?
He went home.
[hi:](IPA)
us
[@s]
Give us a break.
[Vs]
her
[3`:; 3`]或
[@r; @`]
[h@r; h@`]（句首）
Tell her the story.
Her?
[h3`:; h3`]
him
[Im]
[hIm]（句首）
Bring him home.
Him?
[hIm]
them
[D@m]
Leave them alone.
[Dem; DEm]
所有格
your
[j@r; j@`]
This is your song.
[jU@r;
jU@`]
her
[3`:; 3`]或
[@r; @`]
[h@r; h@`]（句首）
I saw her sister at the shop.
Her sister is a nurse.
[h3`:; h3`]
his
[Iz]
[hIz](句首)
What is his name? His name is John.
[hIz]
指示詞
some
[s@m]
Have some more cake.
[sVm]
副詞
there
[D@r; D@`]
(虛主詞)
There is no way out.
[Der; DEr]
(地方副詞)
There she goes.
助動詞
can,
could
[k@n]
[k@d]
Can you tell me?
I could do that.
[k{n]
[kUd]
have,
has,
had
[@v]
[@z]
[@d]
What have you done?
She has been gone.
Jo had been here.
[h{v]
[h{z]
[h{d]
shall,
should
[S@l]或[Sl=]
[S@d]
What shall I do?
You should leave now.
[S{l]
[SUd]
must
[m@s]
（子音前）
[m@st]
（母音前）
I must find it now.
You must eat more.
[mVst]
do,
does
[d@]（子音前）
[du](IPA)
（母音前）
[d@z]
How do you do?
Why do Anne and Betty stop?
How does it work?
[du:]
[dVz]
am,
are,
was,
were
[@m]
[@r; @`]
[w@z]
[w@r; w@`]
I am here.
You are there.
She was home.
We were sad.
[{m]
[A:r;Ar]
[wVz]
[w3`:; w3`]
介系詞
at
[@t]
Is she at home?
[{t]
for
[f@r; f@`]
I’m looking for you.
[fO:r; fOr]
from
[fr@m]
From now on.
[frVm]
of
[@v]
First of all.
[Vf]
to
[t@]
Listen to me.
[tu:](IPA)
as
[@z]
As soon as possible
[{z]
連接詞
and
[@n(d)]
[n=]
And so forth.
Fish and chips
[{nd]
but
[b@t]
All but love is dead.
[bVt]
than
[D@n]
More than one.
[D{n]
that
[4][D@t]
She said (that) she couldn’t come.
[D{t]
關係代名詞
that
[5][D@t]
Her voice is the thing that surprises me.
[D{t]
輕讀形式多半是將原本重讀形式經由以下幾種途徑轉化而成。
1. 強母音變成弱母音，如at[{t]→[@t]。
2. 高母音(high vowel)的音長(duration)變短，用IPA音標標示時則以去掉長度符號「:」（length mark）來表現，如me[mi:]→[mi](IPA)。
除了極少數特定使用重讀形式的時機之外，【表一】幾乎沒有列出使用這些虛字重讀形式的例子。這是因為重讀形式其實不常用。所以僅利用下列篇幅，一併介紹重讀形式最常出現的時機：
1. 重讀(accent)這些字時：
例如：from [frVm] him, not to [tu:; tu] him （用於對比）；
to [tu:; tu] and from [frVm] work （對等結構）；
you must [mVst] try （用於強調）；
overuse of “and” [{nd] （先前已提過這個字）。
2. 因為句法上的移位或刪略而導致虛字留在詞語的結尾 (a syntactically stranded position)：
例如：She can do better than he can [k{n] _____.（句法上的刪略）；
Where do they come from [fVm] _____? （句法上的移位）；
The girl I’m talking to [tu:; tu] ______ is Jessica.（句法上的移位）。
3. 考量到音韻節奏時：若是介系詞位於弱音節(weak syllable)與代名詞中間時，為了讓音韻節奏更好聽，便會使用重讀形式。
例如： I have a letter for [fO:r; fOr] you.。
4. 特殊狀況：有些字可當虛字，亦可當實字。他們當實字使用時，則得使用重讀形式。
例如：Who is that [D{t] girl? （當指示詞用）；
I have [h{v] a dream. （當一般動詞用）；
Some [sVm] like coffee and some [sVm] don’t. （當不定代名詞用）。
另外歌唱也是常見的一種例外情況。唱歌時通常都是使用重讀形式。
[1] 由於有些語音現象只能用IPA來顯現，所以儘管大家對IPA較不熟悉（事實上很多英國出版社編的字典，像是牛津大學、朗文等出版社，都是使用IPA），還是不得不引用這套國外較通用的標音系統。本文的音標皆為先列出IPA，再列出KK，如dog [dO:g; dOg]。若兩者標示方法相同，則只列出一種如list [lIst]。若部分字只能用IPA表達，則只用IPA，此時並會註明所使用的是IPA，如bottle ["bA:4l=](IPA)。
[2] 此乃相對應於「實字」(content words)而有的譯法，也有人稱function words為「功能詞」。
[3] 亦有人將輕讀、重讀形式分別稱之為reduced forms與full forms。
[4] That當連接詞使用時，通常用輕讀形式，重讀形式很罕見。
[5] 當關係代名詞的that通常只有輕讀形式。亦有人將這種當連接詞與關係代名詞的that詞性稱之為補語標記詞(complementizer)。
