What does English sound like?

I've just been reading the posts of another discussion forum about what English sounds like to non-native speakers.

It was strange to notice that lots of them, from different countries, said that it sounds as though English speakers say "ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra", like dogs, because of the way we pronounce the "R" sound.

One way to know what English sounds like to non-native speakers who can't speak the language is to "Get someone to spout gibberish in English. They'll talk with their regular accents and cadences, thus providing the aesthetic sense without the meaning."

When you listen to them, you'll have some idea.

"with all their T's and their sharp delivery, those people sound like they're spitting, all right! "

But we pronounce our T's as T's, and not as D's as Yanks do.

>>But we pronounce our T's as T's, and not as D's as Yanks do.<<

But those are not Ds but rather alveolar flaps, which are a wholly different matter even if they sound similar.

The British often use the term "Yanks" for all americans. Someone in the south might get offended by that as they use the term "yankees" to describe northerners (those crazy people that put sugar in their grits). Also I might add that the "d" pronunciation of "T" and also "TH" is not and "american" way of pronunciation. It is common with more uneducated persons and in colloquial dialects. Some Rednecks, Urban lower city Yankees, and blacks commonly do this.

>>Also I might add that the "d" pronunciation of "T" and also "TH" is not and "american" way of pronunciation. It is common with more uneducated persons and in colloquial dialects.<<

If by "d" here you really mean the alveolar flap, in the case of the realization of /t/, yes, that very much *is* standard in spoken North American English, and anyone who thinks otherwise is utterly ignorant of NAE phonology, to say the least.

As for the use of [d]/[d_d] as a realization of /D/ (what you mean by "th"), such is actually quite common in NAE dialects, via the assimilation of /D/ to preceding stops across word boundaries. As for the actual direct realization of (at least word-initial) /D/ as [d]/[d_d]/[d_dD] besides mere assimilation, while that may not be present in much of NAE, it is very common in parts of the Upper Midwest, such as here in Milwaukee, WI, in all but markedly formal speech. As for the idea that such is "uneducated" is utterly ridiculous, considering that the use of such has absolutely nothing to do with such, and is present throughout the population in general here.

Anyways, I would suggest you go and actually learn something about NAE phonology and actual sociolinguistics before you speak a single word more on the subject here.

Grits are nasty no matter what you put in them.

Travis must be really smart!

i want the sounds of all letters in english

mail to :kri_shnan2001@yahoo.co.in

'It was strange to notice that lots of them, from different countries, said that it sounds as though English speakers say "ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra", like dogs, because of the way we pronounce the "R" sound.'

Adam,
Yes, for me this is how it sound like! And all like one word what doesn't have a pause between the next one, or the preceding. But, I like very much english and it can be a beautiful language I think.

What languages _do_ have pauses between words, Pauline?

'What languages _do_ have pauses between words, Pauline? '

Guest,
I mean that all the sounds, they don't separate, so therefore it's very difficult to identify the words. In french, it's clear I think where are the begining and ending of the words, in italian also, it's clear, so it's possible for understand it. Many languages sound more clearly than english.

Well, unlike French, Italian uses stressed and unstressed syllables like English, though this causes minor vowel changes in English. However, French is spoken with a regular and even tempo. So for you, and the average French person, it is just as important to listen out for the way syllables are partitioned, not only individual words.

Lord George Noel Gordon Byron once wrote in one of his verses (unfortunately I do not know the original, I am translating back from the Russian translation):

"..Our disharmonious language
Got into the way of hissing, whistling, spitting..."

I do not agree however.

English sounds not so much different than most germanic language, especiallty the British form of it. The American English sounds less harsh and more "unpronounced" - giving the impresion that every sound is "mixed" or showllowed and very unintelligible for us.