xkcd #2942: Fluid Speech

https://xkcd.com/2942

explainxkcd.com for #2942

Alt text:

Thank you to linguist Gretchen McCulloch for teaching me about phonetic assimilation, and for teaching me that if you stand around in public reading texts from a linguist and murmuring example phrases to yourself, people will eventually ask if you’re okay.

  • @[email protected]English
    20•6 months ago

    We English wouldn’t only drop the first t, we’d drop the h and the final t as well, 'o pota’o… innit

    • @AceticonEnglish
      1•6 months ago

      And in my experience (or at least how I as a foreigner was taught the English RP pronounciation), often also the spaces between words.

      • 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦English
        2•6 months ago

        RP drives me crazy with its bizarre pronunciation rules. Like never pronouncing ‘R’ unless it’s not there.

        “Law and order” under RP approximates “lo ran doh duh” where literally every ‘R’ in the phrase is not spoken, but they jam one in place of the ‘W’.

        ARGH! THE SPIDERS ARE EATING MY EYEBALLS FROM THE INSIDE!