Hi, and welcome to tweeters, language corner st right pronunciation course. That's right, lesson number six. And this lesson, we are going to be taking a look at unspoken syllables. Okay, so So far we've looked at syllables we've looked at word stress. We've also even looked at silent letters. But guess what letters are not the only thing that can be silent syllables can also be silent.

Alright, so I want to just take the time out to thank you for joining me thus far on this journey. It's been a lot of fun and it's been some great information here. And so I really hope that it's been helping you. But this unspoken syllables lesson is probably one of the most important lessons you will receive in the state right pronunciation course. So let's go ahead and get started with the review. Okay, so if you You remembered we did a lesson on syllables.

And in that lesson we defined what syllables were. So let's recap and recount to make sure that that information has been solidified. So what exactly is a syllable? Well, a syllable can best be defined as the beat of a word. Remember that each language has a rhythm, there is a sound. And that sound is what we call the beat.

And that beat is what comprises the rhythm. Think of a song write, a song has the beat, and that's what gives you the rhythm. Same thing happens when it comes to language, and words and sentences. Now, in that syllable or that beat, remember that it is always comprised of vowel combined consonants. So it's vowels plus combined consonant. But the thing that you have to remember is that each syllable can only have one and only one vowel sound.

That's how you are able to identify that it is a syllable because of that one unique vowel sound. Okay, so let's take a quick example. You may remember this example from our lesson on syllables. The word similar. So the word similar has how many syllables? I hope you said three, because it does have three syllables.

Sim, a lawyer, right. And in each of those syllables, you noticed that there is a vowel sound, e in the first one. So Sim, a, a again, and R, which is the letter A are controlled vowel. So that's how we get three syllables. So how exactly does unspoken syllables come into play? Well, unspoken syllables versus spoken syllables.

You've probably figured out from the title here, unspoken versus spoken. And you know what the word speak means, you know, speak means to talk, so their sound. And you guess you figured out that unspoken would be the reverse that you're not talking. There's no sound. That's exactly what's happening with the unspoken syllable. So what exactly is an unspoken syllable?

Know that in an unspoken, unspoken syllable, it's not just about the individual letter, it's actually about the beat. So it's the beat of the word that is without sound. And that caused a lot of difficulty because the word will be spelled differently from way that it sounds right. So the word doesn't sound as if, how it is spelled right there on the paper. And remember that this is a common thing to remember about teams. Language, this language does not have a one to one sound correlation.

So what does that mean? That means that each and every letter is not always represented by sounds. And the same goes for syllables. Each and every syllable is not always represented by some. So, the thing to take away from this is oftentimes, it's going to be the vowel sound. That is the unspoken syllable because vowels can exist without consonants.

They can be a syllable on its own, they can be a beat, all on its own. So because of that, oftentimes, those unspoken syllables are vowel sounds. So we're not talking about silent letters, right? Because oftentimes, silent letters are Your what? Your consonants. No, we're going a little bit deeper than that.

We're talking about those big vowels that have this big presence in this big sound, and they can exist on their own but In the case where it's unspoken, they do not shine. They have no sound. Okay, so let's continue here and let's take a look at some examples of unspoken syllables. Are you ready? Okay, so here we go. We have the word comfortable.

Everybody's probably very familiar with the word comfortable. Yes. Okay. So, I am going to say the word and I want you to try to figure out what syllable is not produced. Okay? What speed?

Are you not hearing in this word? Okay, here we go. comfortable. comfortable. comfortable. Okay, so the word has three syllables.

Okay. And how do we get those three syllables? Well, we get the three syllables because the Oh income dribble is not spoken. Now, if it was spoken, you would have comfortable, right and that would make it four syllables. comfortable. And oftentimes when people are learning the language, they look at that word, and they say, Oh, I know how to say this word comfortable, but it's not comfortable because that oh is unspoken, it is silent.

That is your silent syllable. And that is how we get come to a ball. Come, double. Okay, let's look at another example. several, several. Okay, so several, how many syllables Do you hear?

And which syllable do you think is unspoken several several welcome This one has two syllables sub roll. That's what I said. But if you look at this word, you would think it's Savile Row. Because look at all the vowels. There's three vowels, right? So there should be three syllables.

Nope. Guess which syllable is not spoken. You got it. It's the the one in the middle. So you get seven, roll. Instead of seven vo roll, you get some roll.

All right, let's see if we have one more here. No, but have some tips. Okay, you ready? So how do we identify this? Well, tip number one. Oftentimes, these unspoken syllables happened with long words, okay.

Long words can be quite difficult to say and so oftentimes, a syllable or two may be missing but I Another thing to recognize is that, um, when I talk about long words, it doesn't just have to be words like, um, ammunition or Onomatopoeia, right? It can be three basically generally word, three or more syllables, right? If it's a two syllable word we tend to pronounce every single syllable because it's already short word as it is. But longer three or longer, it begins to be a little bit difficult, which leads me to my next tip, which is rapid link speech, okay? Oftentimes when we're speaking, we oftentimes leave out pings right? Now, is it wrong for you to say several or comfortable or what other Other word that has a syllable that's unspoken.

No. If you want to take your time and you want to say several, that is perfectly fine, but I'm going to warn you, it probably won't sound natural to your listener. And it probably could be a little bit more difficult for you to continue with what you're saying after because of those amounts of syllables. If you're in a rapid speech and you're in a fluid speech, things tend to flow, right? And how do we get that flow? Well, that flow happens with linking and also unspoken syllables.

So these tips and this lesson is not to make you speak like this. That's your choice, but it's for you to be able to recognize when speakers are speaking to you, and they are cutting out some of those syllables. You know exactly what That word is okay. Okay, so I hope this information helps you. But guess what time it is? Practice.

That's right practice time it is because practice makes you improve. I won't say perfect, but I will say it does bring about improvement. Okay, so for this practice activity, this is what's going to happen. I am going to say a word. And a syllable is going to be unspoken. And what I would like you to do is try to figure out which syllable isn't spoken before I give you the answer.

Are you ready? I know you can do it. These are some of the most common words that you hear that have been spoken syllable. And then after this video lesson, please make sure that you do your spoken practice activity because it's a great option. opportunity for you to practice. And don't forget the practice quiz.

This week's practice is a game and it's a little prize. So I get to see who gets the highest points. And at the end of our eight week cycle for this course, whoever wins there will be a prize available to you. Okay, so get in on the practice getting on the gate. Okay, here we go. Let's start with our first practice.

Separate. Separate, separate. Okay, which syllable is unspoken? separate? I hope you said that. A Yes.

It's the A. I didn't say set up, Rhett. I said separate. That a is unspoken. That syllable is unspoken. Okay. Let's look at another example.

Camera. Camera. Camera. Camera. Which syllable is unspoken? Is it the cam it or the raw?

Is correct. That's how we get camera camera instead of camera camera, which also plays a factor in your word stress. And that's how you get the accent right? And if you're trying to minimize your accent if you're trying to reduce your accent, this unspoken syllable is going to help you with that because the stress changes. Okay, listen to the difference between camera and camera. camera camera.

Right you hear the little accent you hear that that a different sound when I say camera instead of camera. Okay, I have one more Practice example for you. Here we go. Ooh. This is a name. It's a woman's name.

And we pronounce this name as Margaret. Margaret. Margaret. Margaret. Is it a mark? Is it a?

Ah Is it a ret? Which syllable is not pronounced? Guys? It is indeed that a. We don't say Margaret, we say Margaret. Okay, so one more thing I would like to bring to your attention.

If you weren't aware, you will have noticed that a lot of the unspoken syllables happened within the middle of the work. Now, this is not a rule of thumb. This is not always. But this is a trend that you may notice with a lot of words, does it mean it's gonna happen with all words? Absolutely not. The key is you got to listen, you got to listen for what's missing.

But in all three of our examples here, we noticed a trend. And that train was that the middle syllable was the one that's most likely to be unspoken. Alright, so take this knowledge and this information with you as you do your practice for this week. I always want to thank you so much for supporting me here at this language corner. And I look forward to seeing you for our next lesson. See you soon.

And remember, great job and everything that you do. See ya