• octoperson@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I have posted an audio clip up there ↑ in this very thread!

    All those examples are the same sounds to me. With how English spelling is, there are ‘au’ words I say differently (I say “because” like “b’cuzz”), but I can’t think of any that would rhyme with cross

    • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’ve also heard giraffe pronounced “girarffe” by a Brit. (Or at least implied since it was rhymed with “scarf” in a Julie Donaldson book.) Maybe there’s some rule regarding “R” sounds on the ends of certain vowel sounds.

      • octoperson@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Aha! You have discovered the non-rhotic accent. Most, but not all Brits (along with Aussies and some rural Americans) do not usually sound out r’s unless they’re followed by a vowel. In my northern England accent, giraffe and scarf have different a sounds, but also scarf has no audible r. I’d guess Julia Donaldson speaks more Southern or RP so giraffe would rhyme with scarf would rhyme with half.

        • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Aww, you silly Brits.

          My buddy (we’re from Canada) went to Australia for some time. He was a smoker, and lived with a bunch of other smokers. In Canada, if you want to ask someone for a smoke, you say “Can I bum a smoke?”. In Australia, it’s “Can I get a removed?” In the spirit of international cooperation, the expression soon became: “Can I bum a removed?” Much maturity.

    • Pyro@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I thought about this a little and I agree that I don’t think there’s any English words other than “because” that have the ɒ sound for “au”. They’re basically all ɔː.

      You can look up the pronunciations for those symbols by searching for “IPA English”. It helps for describing vocal sounds.