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12 102 Weak forms Chapter 9 discussed the difference between strong and weak syllables in English. We have now moved on from looking at syllables to looking at words, and we will consider certain well-known English words that can be pronounced in two different ways, which are called strong forms and weak forms. As an example, the word “that? can be pronounced Óaet (strong form) or Ost (weak form). The sentence “I like thar” is pronounced atlaik Oeet (strong form); the sentence I hope that she will” is pronounced ar havp det fi wil (weak form). There are roughly forty such words in English. lt is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, and some foreigners do this. Usually they can still be understood by other speakers of English, so why is itimportant to learn how weak forms are used? There are rwo main reasons; firstly, most native speakers of English find an “all-strong-form”” pronunciation unnatural and foreign-sounding, something that most learners would wish to avoid. Secondly, and more importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms; since practically all native speakers of British English use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak forms to help them to understand what they hear. We must distinguish between weak forms and contracted forms. Certain English words are shortened so severely (usually to a single phoneme) and so consistently that they are represented differently in informal writing, e.g. itis — Us”; we have” - “we've”; “do not'— don't”. These contracted forms are discussed in a later chapter, and are not included here. Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category that may be called function words — words that do not have a dictionary meaning in the way that we normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to have. These function words are words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc., all of which are in certain circumstances pronounced in their strong forms but which are more frequently pronounced in their weak forms. It is important to remember that there are certain contexts where only the strong form is acceptable, and others where the weak form is the 12 Weak forms normal pronunciation. There are some fairly simple rules; we can say that the strong form is used in the following cases: 1) For many weak-form words, when they occur at the end of a sentence. For example, the word “of” has the weak form av in the following sentence: Tm fond of chips* arm 'fond 4Y 'tfips but when it comes at the end of the sentence, as in the following example, it has the strong form Dv: “Chips are what 'm fond ef”'tfps a 'wbt am 'fond bv Many of the words given below (particularly the first nine) never occur at the end of a sentence, e.g. “the”, “your”. Some words (particularly the pronouns numbered 10-14 below) do occur in their weak forms in final position. ii) When a weak-form word is being contrasted with another word, eg. “The letter's from him, not to him” da 'letez 'from Im not 'tu: im A similar case is what we might call a co-ordinated use of prepositions: I travel to and from London a lot' al 'traev] 'tu: en “from 'tanden a 'lot “A work of and about literature” 9 'w3:k 'pv en e'baut 'Irtritfe ii) When a weak-form word is given stress for the purpose of emphasis, e.g.: “You must give me more money” ju 'mast 'giv mi 'mo: “mani iv) When a weak-form word is being “cited” or “quoted”, eg: *You shouldn't put “and” ar the end of a sentence” ju 'Judnt put 'eend at di 'end av a 'sentens Another point to remember is thar when weak-form words whose spelling begins with “h” (e.g. “her”, 'have”) occur at the beginning of a sentence, the pronunciarion is with initial h, even though this is usually omitted in other contexts. In the rest of this chapter, the most common weak-form words will TU 12, be introduced. Exs 1 > 4 1. crm Weak forms: O9 (before consonants) “Shut the door” 'fat de 'do: Oi (before vowels) “Wait for the end” 'wert fa di 'end 2. “A, CAN” Weak forms: 9 (before consonants) Read a book” 'rizd a 'buk an (before vowels) “Eat an apple” 'i:ten '=epl 103 12 Weak forms we wi “How can we get there” 'hau ken wi 'get des “We need that, don't we? wi 'nizd Oaet 'deunt wi “You” ju “What do you think” 'wot de ju 'Bnk “You like it, do you” ju lark rt 'du: ju 11. Him” Weak form: im “Leave him alone' 'lizv mm 8'laun “Pve seen him” ar 'sizn im 12. “Her” Weak form: e (he when sentence-initial) “Ask her to come” 'a:sk a te 'kam Pve met her” arv 'met a 13. 'THEM” Weak form: dam “Leave them here” 'li:v Óam 'hro “Eat them” 'i:t dam 14. “us” Weak form: as Write us a letter” 'rart es a 'lete “They invited all of us” der n'vartid 'o:l av as The next group of words (some prepositions and other function words) occur in their strong forms when they are final in a sentence; examples of this are given. (19 is a partial exception.) 15. “ar” Weak form: at “Pli see you at lunch” all 'si: ju et *lanf In final position: ¿et “What's he shooting at? 'wots i “Ju:ten est 16. *FOR” Weak form: fa (before consonants) “Tea for two” 'ti: fo 'tu: far (before vowels) “Thanks for asking” 'Baenks for 'a:skin In final position: fo: “What's that for?” 'wots 'Oeet fo: 17. “FROM” Weak form: fram Tm home from work” aim 'haum frem 'w3:k 105 106 12 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Weak forms In final position: from “Here's where it came from” 'hiez wear 1 'kemm from “or” Weak form: av “Most of all! 'mevust av 'a:1 In final position: Dv “Someone Pve heard of” 'samwan arv "had pv o” Weak forms: te (before consonants) “Try to stop” 'tral te 'stop tu (before vowels) “Time to eat” 'tamm tu lit In final position: tu (It is not usual to use the strong form tuz, and the pre-consonantal weak form te is never used.) “I don't want to” al 'deunt 'wont tu as Weak form: az “As much as possible' az 'matj az 'posibl In final position: ¿ez “That's what it was sold as” 'Oaets 'wot rt waz 'seuld ez “SOME? This word is used in two different ways. In one sense (typically, when it occurs before a countable noun, meaning “an unknown individual”) it has the strong form: *I think some animal broke iv. ar 'B1k sam 'eenmm| *breuk rt It is also used before uncountable nouns (meaning “an unspecified amount of”) and before other nouns in the plural (meaning “an unspecified number of”), in such uses it has the weak form sem. “Have some more tea” 'haev sem 'mo: 'ti: In final position: sam “Pve got some” alv 'got sam “THERE” When this word has a demonstrarive function, it always occurs in its strong form des (Óesr before vowels), e.g. “There it is” 'Oeer tt 'z “Pur it there” 'putit 'dea Weak forms: 09 (before consonants) “There should be a rule” 03 'fud bi a 'ru:l 12 Weak forms likely to occur in its weak form than when it is being used in its more familiar sense of “obligation”. Weak forms: mes (before consonants) “You must try harder” ju mas 'trar 'ha:de mest (before vowels) “He must eat more” hi mast 'i:t 'mo: In final position: mast “She certainly must” Ji 's3:tnli 'mast 27, DO”, 'DOES” Weak forms: “po” da (before consonants) “Why do they like it?” “war de del "lark rt du (before vowels) “Why do all the cars stop? "war du o: 08 'ka:z 'stop “DOES” dez “When does it arrive?” 'wen dez rt a'ralv In final position: du:, daz “We don't smoke, but some people do” “wi: deunt 'smeuk bat 'sam 'pi:p| du: “I think John does? ar 'Bmk 'd3on daz 28. “AM”, ARE”, WAS”, WERE” Weak forms: em “Why am ] here” 'wal am ar 'hia a (before consonants) “Here are the plates” "hier a da 'plerts er (before vowels) “The coats are in there” Óe 'keuts ar m 'des waz “He was here a minute ago” hi wez 'hrer e 'minnt e'geu wa (before consonants) “The papers were late” 0 'perpaz we 'lert war (before vowels) “The questions were easy” Os 'kwestfonz war 'i:zi In final position: em, G:, WOZ, w3: “She's not as old as lam” fiz 'not ez 'auld az 'ar sem “T know the Smiths are” al 'neu ds 'smi8s a: 108 12 Weak forms “The last record was” 08 'la:st 'reko:d wbz “They weren't as cold as we were” del 'w3:nt ez 'kould ez 'wi: ws: 
