AEE 2690：美国人在发音方面做的3件奇怪的事，来自Happy English的Michael

这里是All Ears English播客，第2690集，美国人发音时的三件怪事，由Happy English的Michael带来。

This is an All Ears English Podcast, episode 2690, Three Strange Things Americans Do with Pronunciation, with Michael from Happy English.

欢迎收听All Ears English播客，下载量已超过两亿次。

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.

我们相信连接，而非完美。

We believe in connection, not perfection.

由你的美国主持人Lindsay McMahon，以及今天的特邀嘉宾，来自美国科罗拉多州丹佛市的嘉宾共同呈现。

With your American host, Lindsay McMahon, and today's featured guest coming to you from Denver, Colorado, USA.

想要每周通过邮件获取文字稿，请访问allearsenglish.com/subscribe。

And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com/subscribe.

美国人在发音时有三件怪事。

Americans do three weird things when they pronounce words and phrases.

你不必模仿那种口音，但你需要理解它。

You don't have to mimic the accent, but you do need to understand it.

今天，来自Happy English的Michael将为你展示从纽约到加州，乃至全美各地，你需要知道的一切，助你成功。

Today, Michael from Happy English shows you exactly what you need to know to succeed from New York City to California and everywhere in between.

你有没有在英语对话结束后想：“为什么我没多说几句？”

Do you ever leave a conversation in English thinking, "Why didn't I say more?"

你明明知道那些词，但就是找不到合适的时机插话，展现个性，或者真正建立联系。

You knew the words, but you couldn't find the right moment to jump in, show your personality, or really connect.

这正是我们推出全新课程《英语社交》的原因。

That's exactly why we created Socializing in English, our brand-new course.

我们迫不及待想让你去看看。

We can't wait for you to check it out.

你会学到大多数英语课程从不教的那些不成文的社交技巧，这样你就能不再感到尴尬或隐形，开始用英语做真实的自己。

You'll learn the unwritten social skills that most English courses never teach, so you can stop feeling awkward or invisible and start feeling like yourself in English.

现在报名已经开放了。

Enrollment is open now.

访问 allearsenglish.com/social。

Go to allearsenglish.com/social.

仅限本周，你可以享受最高100美元的折扣。

This week only, you can save up to $100 off the normal price.

再说一次，去 allearsenglish.com/S-O-C-I-A-L。

One more time, go to allearsenglish.com/S-O-C-I-A-L.

你好，迈克尔。

Hello, Michael.

欢迎回到 All Ears English。

Welcome back to All Ears English.

你最近怎么样？

How have you been?

嘿，林赛。

Hey, Lindsay.

非常感谢。

Thank you so much.

很高兴来到这里。

Good to be here.

我挺好的。

I've been good.

在日本有点热，还出了汗，但除此之外——

A little hot and sweaty in Japan, but other than that-

是的

Yes

对，确实。

Yeah, for sure.

日本有时候会非常热。

It can get very hot in Japan.

所以我想花点时间介绍一下你——

So I'm going to take a minute to introduce you-

好的

Okay

……给那些还不认识你的新听众。

... for any of our new listeners who don't know you.

你已经上过这个节目好几次了。

You've been on the show a number of times.

各位，今天我的节目请到了迈克尔·迪贾科莫。

But guys, today I have Michael Di Giacomo on the show.

他是Happy English的创始人，也是Happy English播客的主持人。

He is the founder of Happy English and the host of the Happy English podcast.

他从1994年开始教英语，帮助了来自世界各地的学习者，让他们在日常对话中说得更自然、更自信。

He's been teaching English since 1994 and has helped learners from around the world to speak more naturally and confidently in everyday conversations.

迈克尔来自纽约市，现在定居在日本。

Michael is from New York City and now is based in Japan.

所以，再次欢迎你，迈克尔。

So again, welcome, Michael.

非常感谢。

Thank you so much.

是的。

Yes.

谢谢。

Thank you.

很高兴来到这里。

It's good to be here.

你来自哪个区？

Which borough are you from?

你在纽约哪里长大的？

Where did you grow up in New York?

我在一个地方长大——

I grew up in a place-

曼哈顿还是皇后区？

Manhattan or Queens?

——叫长岛。

... called Long Island.

长岛——

Long Island-

好的

Okay

就在纽约旁边，他们说话更像这样。

... is next to New York, and they talk more like this.

是的。

Yes.

我在电视上听过。

I've heard it on TV.

所以它有点像纽约市的郊区。

So it's kind of like the suburbs of New York City.

我很高兴你给我们展示了一点那里的口音。

I'm glad you showed us a little bit of the accent there.

非常有特色。

It's very distinctive.

当我在电视上听到时，我就知道那是长岛口音。

When I hear it on TV, I know that's a Long Island accent.

没错。

That's right.

这和曼哈顿的口音都不一样，对吧，迈克尔？

It's even different from Manhattan, right, Michael?

挺有意思的。

It's interesting.

它有——

It's got-

这就是我——

That's why I-

……它自己独特的地方。

... its own unique thing.

如果你知道辛迪·劳帕——

If you know Cyndi Lauper-

对

Yes

……歌手辛迪·劳帕——

... the singer Cyndi Lauper-

是的，当然。

Yes, of course

你去看她的任何采访，她说话就是那样。

... and you check any of her interviews, she talks like that.

她就是这么说话的。

That's how she talks.

我在长岛长大，而且我是个歌手。

I grew up in Long Island, and I'm a singer.

对，她确实是这样。

Yes, she does.

我觉得她也演过几部电影，而且她把那种口音也带进了电影里。

She's been in a couple movies, I think, too, and she brings the accent into them as well.

我很喜欢。

I love it.

所以那是感受那种口音的好方法。

So that is a good way to sample that accent.

去找找辛迪·劳珀的片段吧。

Go find clips of Cyndi Lauper.

或者兔八哥。

Or Bugs Bunny.

或者……哦，好吧，兔八哥。

Or... Oh, okay, Bugs Bunny.

有意思。

Interesting.

嗯，兔八哥的口音更偏向布鲁克林或纽约市的口音。

Well, Bugs Bunny has more of a Brooklyn or New York City accent.

不过确实。

But yeah.

对，稍微更偏向布鲁克林口音。

Yeah, slightly more of a Brooklyn accent.

所以我们今天要聊口音了。

So we're getting into accents today.

但我们要再进一步，聊聊为什么美式英语即使你认识所有单词，也还是很难听懂。

But we're going to bring it one level up and talk a little bit about why American English is difficult to understand, even when you know all the words.

我们很多听众觉得自己词汇量挺大的，但有时候就是听不懂美国人说话。

Many of our listeners feel they do know a lot of vocabulary, but sometimes have trouble understanding when American English speakers speak.

那么，迈克尔，美国人在日常对话中常用的三种发音模式是什么呢？

So what are three of the pronunciation patterns that Americans tend to use in everyday conversation, Michael?

嗯——

Well-

你觉得哪些比较难？

What would you say that are tricky?

缩略、单词被压缩、挤在一起。

Reductions, reduced words, words squeezed together.

连读。

Linking words.

对。

Yes.

把它收起来，就像那样。

Put it away, like that.

是的。

Yes.

然后美国人跟字母T的关系真的很特别。

And then Americans have this really unusual relationship with the letter T.

对，这挺有意思的。

Yeah, that's interesting.

有时候我们会把它省略掉。

Sometimes we drop it.

有时候我们会让它听起来像弱化的D音。

Sometimes we make it sound like a weak D.

所以所有这些加在一起，有些人会说，或者很多人会说，“哦，美国人说话太快了。”

And so all these things together, some people say, or a lot of people say, "Oh, Americans talk too quickly."

我觉得不是速度的问题。

I don't think it's the speed.

我觉得更多的是——

I think it's more-

好的

Okay

……是风格问题，这就是我今天想和你的听众分享的。

... the style, and that's what I wanted to share with your audience today.

对，我很喜欢。

Yeah, I love it.

说得好，迈克尔。

Well said, Michael.

所以与其说是速度，不如说是风格。

So it's not so much the speed, it's the style.

但如果我们知道该注意什么，我觉得这才是关键。

But if we know what to look for, I think that's the key piece.

如果我们提前让耳朵准备好，知道该听什么、该看什么，那当它迎面而来的时候，我们就能听懂了，对吧？

If we've primed our ears for what to actually listen for and look for, we'll understand it when it hits us right in the face, right?

因为英语，尤其是美式英语，听起来的样子通常和写在纸上的样子完全不一样。

Because English, and I think especially American English, the way it sounds is usually totally different from the way it looks on the paper.

对。

Yes.

所以如果你的耳朵能稍微灵活一点——

And so if you can have a little bit of a flexibility in your ears-

别太依赖眼睛——

... and don't rely on your eyes very much-

对

Yes

你就会开始用一种更好的或者全新的方式去听英语，我觉得。

... you'll start to hear English from a better way or a new way, I think.

那么从学生或者听众的角度来看，这为什么真的很重要呢？

And so from a student perspective, from a listener perspective, why does this really matter?

当你的听众，我们的听众，就是听不懂的时候，会发生什么？

What happens to your listeners, to our listeners, when they're just not able to understand?

那会带来什么样的影响？

What does that create in terms of-

那会让人感到恐慌，还有……

So what that does is that creates panic and-

……失去信心。

... loss of confidence.

所以你在跟人聊天的时候——

So you're having a conversation-

没错。

For sure

——对方说了句话，然后呢？

... with somebody, and they say something, and what?

就是听不懂——

It doesn't-

你的耳朵告诉大脑：“我听到了这个”，然后大脑就在它学过的短语小档案里翻找——你说什么？

Your ear tells your brain, "I heard this," and the brain's looking through its little file of phrases that it learned- What ya?

我不知道，什么呀。

I don't know, what ya.

那是个新词吗？

Is that a new word?

是的。

Yes.

所以这就是问题所在。

So that's the problem.

如果你能习惯理解美国人说话的方式，那么当你和别人交谈、购物，甚至看电影或电视节目时，就不会出现那种恐慌的情况了。

And if you can get used to understanding how Americans speak, then when you have a conversation with people, when you're shopping or even watching a movie or a TV program, you're not going to have that panic situation.

对，百分之百。

Yes, 100%.

是的，这个比喻很好，把大脑想象成一个文件柜，我们翻找文件，看看那个词在不在里面。

Yeah, that's a good analogy to imagine that the brain is like a file, and we're going into our files, and is that word in the file?

哦，不在，所以我慌了。

Oh, no, so I panic.

里面没有这个词。

It's not in there.

但实际上只是听起来和我们在课本上学到的有点不一样。

But it actually just sounds a bit different than how we learned it in the textbook.

那好吧。

So, all right.

我觉得我们的听众已经准备好了解这三种不同的地方了。

I think our listeners are ready to get into what these three kind of differences are.

你在节目开头提到了它们——

You mentioned them at the top of the show-

迈克尔，但让我们再深入一点，也许练习一下。

... Michael, but let's go a little deeper into them and maybe practice a little bit.

那么，缩略。

So reductions.

给我讲讲缩略吧。

Tell me about reductions.

好的。

All right.

缩读现象就是我们在英语中把几个音连在一起读。

Reductions happens when we take a couple of sounds in English.

比如说——

For example-

“what are you”

... what are you?

“你明天打算做什么？”

What are you doing tomorrow?

这是一个非常基础的句子，你在课堂上或者课本里可能会学到。

Now that's a very basic sentence that you might learn in a classroom or in a textbook.

但是“what are you”……

But what are you...

美国人有一个特点，就是不喜欢词与词之间有停顿。

One thing about Americans, we don't like a space between words.

对。

Yes.

如果你弹过钢琴，这有点像钢琴上的踏板。

If you've ever played the piano, it's kind of like the pedal on the piano.

你弹一个键，然后在你弹下一个键的时候，那个音还在延续。

You play one key, and that keeps going while you play the next one.

这非常——

It's very-

……流畅，我们就喜欢这种感觉。

... smooth, and we like that.

对。

Yes.

所以我们想尽一切办法确保单词之间没有空隙。

And so we do everything that we can to make sure that there's no gap between the words.

所以“what are you”就是——

So what are you?

什么呀？

What ya?

什么呀？

What ya?

什么呀。

What ya.

比如像，你在做什么？

So things like, what are you doing?

你在想什么？

What are you thinking?

你在看什么？

What are you looking at?

迈克尔，你觉得这种缩略形式是不是更常见，比如说，在美国东海岸、中西部，还是西海岸？

Michael, do you think this is more common, these reductions are more common, let's say, on the East Coast versus Middle America versus the West Coast of the US?

对于地域差异有什么看法吗？

Any thoughts on regional differences?

我觉得大多数人可能都这么说话，但东海岸可能更常见一些。

I would say probably most people speak this way, but it probably happens more on the East Coast.

我就是东海岸来的——

I'm from the East Coast-

……所以——

... and so-

对。

Yep

……

...

我也不知道，可能是因为冬天冷，我们想快点把话说完，嘴巴不用动太多。

I don't know, maybe because it's cold in the winter, we try to get the words out quickly without having to move the mouth too much.

我觉得确实是这样。

I think that's true.

我觉得尤其是在纽约。

I think in New York especially.

纽约、波士顿，这些我也长期住过的地方，人们说话真的很快，就是一种不停往前冲的感觉。

New York, Boston, places where I've also lived for extended periods of time, people speak really quickly, and it's just a real kind of just go, go, go.

我觉得这和生活方式有关，你觉得呢？

I think it ties in with the lifestyle, don't you think?

完全同意。

Absolutely.

差不多是这样。

Something like that.

完全同意。

Absolutely.

因为节奏——

Because the pace-

……我们管那叫“纽约一分钟”。

... we call that a New York minute.

“纽约一分钟”发生的事，意思就是——

Something happens in a New York minute means-

对

Yes

……非常快。

... really quickly.

而这又体现——

And that comes-

对

Yes

……在我们的语言中。

... out in our language.

确实。

For sure.

那我们是不是来个小角色扮演，迈克尔，给听众们展示一些例子？

So should we do a little role play, Michael, just to show our listeners some examples here?

在开始之前，我想提一下——

And before we do that, I just want to mention that-

是的

Yes

……你听起来像什么，像“ya”这样的。

... what are you sounds like what ya.

是的。

Yes.

你说什么——

What do you-

是的，确实如此。

Yes, it does

……“ya”，还有“what do you”。

... what ya, what do you.

所以“what ya”这两种情况都适用。

So what ya works for both cases.

好的。

Okay.

比如说，我可能会问：“你是做什么的？”

So for example, I might say, "What do you do?"

明白了。

I see.

你是做什么的？

What do you do?

好的。

Okay.

Lindsay，你是做什么的？

Lindsay, what do you do?

你是做什么的？

What do you do?

我是做什么的？

What do I do?

我教英语。

I teach English.

我是一名英语老师。

I'm an English teacher.

你是做什么的？

What do you do?

你现在在做什么？

What are you doing?

对。

Yes.

嗯，迈克尔，我现在正在采访你，录一期播客。

Well, right now I'm interviewing you for a podcast episode, Michael.

所以——

So-

好的。

Okay.

这很重要。

That's important

……你做什么，你在做什么，听起来都像‘what ya’。

... what do you do, what are you doing, both sounds like what ya.

你这么说我真的很高兴。

I'm really glad you said that.

我们差点就跳过这个了。

We almost skipped over that.

这真的很重要。

That's really important.

这是两个完全不同的短语。

This is two totally different phrases.

‘What are you’和‘what do you’都会变成‘what ya’。

What are you and what do you both create what ya.

太好了。

Excellent.

我喜欢这个。

I love it.

这就引出了另一个关键点，就是你可能会觉得这些词都挤在一起，不知道他们在说什么，但上下文会帮你理解。

Which brings us to another key point, which is you might feel like all these words squeezed together, I don't know what they're saying, but the context is going to help you understand that.

还有——

And-

对

Yes

……关于“what do you do”或“what do you do”还有一点。

... just one more thing about what do you do or what do you do.

这是我们自然询问别人工作的方式。

That's how we naturally ask someone's job.

我们不会说“你的工作是什么？”

We don't say, "What is your job?"

对。

Yes.

我们会说“你是做什么的？”

We say, "What do you do?"

所以——

So-

这点说得很好

That's a good point

……你是做什么的，或者你是做什么工作的？

... what do you do or what do you do?

哦，我是一名英语老师。

Oh, I'm an English teacher.

对。

Yes.

你在做什么？

What are you doing?

对。

Yes.

哦，你在做什么？

Oh, what are you doing?

你在做什么？

What are you doing?

你在做什么？

What are you doing?

就是现在这个时刻。

That's like right now.

对。

Yes.

所以——

So-

在词汇方面，我发现我住在纽约的时候，很多人问我那个问题，对吧？

And on the vocabulary side, I found that when I lived in New York, a lot of people asked me that question, right?

你是做什么的？

What do you do?

你是做什么的？

What do you do?

你是做什么工作的？

What do you do for work?

但现在我住在丹佛，人们就不太会问这个问题了。

But now that I live in Denver, people don't ask that question as much.

所以我觉得在东海岸，用职业来定义自己是很常见的事情。

So I think it's a much more common thing to identify with your career on the East Coast.

不过这个话题还是留到以后再说吧。

But that's for another episode for another day, I think.

当然。

For sure.

当然。

For sure.

你会说英语，但在社交场合中，你是否仍然觉得自己慢半拍？

You speak English, but do you still feel one step behind in social situations?

也许你听不懂笑话，难以加入对话，或者不确定自己分享得太多还是太少。

Maybe you miss the joke, struggle to enter a conversation, or wonder whether you're sharing too much or not enough.

问题可能不在于你的英语。

The problem may not be your English.

而在于那些没人教过你的不成文社交规则。

It may be the unwritten social rules that no one ever taught you.

我们的新课程《用英语社交》会教你如何读懂当下情境，知道下一步该怎么做。

Our new course, Socializing in English, teaches you how to read the moment and know what to do next.

课程还提供每周两到三次的开口说英语的机会，让你实时练习。

It comes with speaking opportunities up to two to three times per week to practice your English live.

现在就加入我们，访问 allearsenglish.com/social。

Join us now at allearsenglish.com/social.

在本周晚些时候优惠结束前，最高可节省100美元。

Save up to $100 before this offer ends later this week.

前往 allearsenglish.com/social。

Go to allearsenglish.com/social.

好了，Michael，我们进入第二个话题，美国人说话时做的那些奇怪的事情。

All right, Michael, let's get into the second thing, weird thing that Americans do when they speak.

他们是怎么做的？

What do they do?

我们不喜欢字母T。这可能是因为历史上美国曾是英国的殖民地，我们之间有过一些小冲突。

We don't like T. And it could be because historically, America was a British colony, and we had a little conflict.

我们把茶叶扔进了海里。

We threw the tea off the ship.

这开启了美国的独立。

And that started America's independence.

但字母T，对吧？

But the letter T, right?

T会发生一些变化。所以单词末尾的T常常听起来像弱化的D，它被弱化了。

Things happen with T. And so the T at the end of a word quite often sounds like a weak D. It's reduced.

这种情况尤其发生在下一个单词以元音开头的时候。

And so this happens especially when the next word starts with a vowel sound.

所以，把它收起来。

So put it away.

把它收起来。

Put it away.

如果你按字面读，就是“put it away”。

If you say that the way it's written, put it away.

这样不流畅。

It's not smooth.

所以我们只需要——

So all we do-

对，完全不流畅。

Yeah, not at all

——把结尾的D音连起来，变成“put it away”。

... is we take the D at the end, put it away.

把它收起来。

Put it away.

把它收起来。

Put it away.

这样一来就——

And that makes it-

对，完美。

Yep, perfect

……这样嘴巴就不用那么费力，气流也更顺畅了。

... that makes the mouth work less, and it makes the air smoother.

是的，我很喜欢这个。

Yes, I love that.

还有没有其他类似的例子，就是我们处理这个D音的时候——

Are there any more examples of these things that we do with the D-

当然有。

Absolutely

……你能跟我们分享的吗？

... that you could share with us?

而且这个技巧你在日常英语中也能用得上。

And this is something you could use in your everyday English.

你昨天做了什么？

What did you do yesterday?

哦，我买了一辆新车。

Oh, I bought a new car.

“I bought a new car”听起来像“I bought a new car”。

I bought a new car sounds like I bought a new car.

“I bought a”。

I bought a.

对。

Yep.

“I bought a”。

I bought a.

所以那个T听起来像弱化的D，而且和后面的a连起来了。

So the T sounds like a weak D and kind of connects with a.

“I bought a new car”。

I bought a new car.

我买了一辆新车。

I bought a new car.

或者——

Or-

对，或者那个免费的。

Yeah, or the free.

好的，请继续。

Mm-hmm, go ahead.

抱歉。

Sorry.

或者如果你是棒球迷，对吧？

Or if you're a baseball fan, right?

他打了一个球。

He hit a ball.

不，我们不会那么说。

No, we wouldn't say that.

我们会说，他打了一个球。

We would say he hit a ball.

他打了一个球，对。

He hit a ball, right.

他打了一个球。

He hit a ball.

有趣的是，这听起来也像“hide”，就是“藏”那个动词，过去式是“hid”，对吧？

And it's funny because it also sounds like hide, the verb to hide, the past tense of hid, right?

但我们可以推断，我们大概不是在说把球藏起来。

But we can infer that probably we're not saying to hide the ball.

我们是在说打球。

We're saying to hit the ball.

我们可以从上下文猜出来。

We can kind of guess that from context.

朋友们，上下文才是王道。

Context is king, my friends.

语境为王。

Context is king.

对。

Yes.

他击了一个球。

He hit a ball.

对。

Yes.

然后像我们之前说的，把它收起来。

And put it away, like we said before.

所以这些是我的——

So those are my-

好，明白了。

Yes, okay

……这些就是我的例子。

... those are my examples.

把它收起来。

Put it away.

好的。

Okay.

所以奇怪的事情发生了，T变成了D的音。

So strange things happening with the T turning into a D sound.

完全正确。

Absolutely.

而且美国人还有第三个奇怪的习惯。

And there's a third weird thing that Americans do.

他们做什么？

What do they do?

迈克尔，我们的第三点是什么？

What's our third piece here, Michael?

第三点就是一瓶水。

The third piece is a bottle of water.