Oldal 50 [50]
HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH
5. THE Top TEN
Good English pronunciation does not depend on correct articulation alone: as
described above, it also depends on lexical knowledge. One simply has to know
how to pronounce certain words. Many Hungarian learners and speakers of
English mispronounce the following words (“The Top Ten’). The reasons are
manifold, including a general contrast between English and Hungarian spell¬
ing (in Hungarian, letter to sound correspondences are more stable than in
English), the role of variable stress in English, false analogy, the influence of
the Hungarian pronunciation of international words, etc.
CHECK if you pronounce these words correctly, and DISCUSS the possible
reasons behind the common pronunciation mistakes committed by many
Hungarian learners of English.
The Top Ten or so Mispronounced Words
analyse /‘enolaiz/
analysis /o'nalısıs/
adjective ['aedziktrv]
adjectival [ ,zed31k 'tarval]
vowel /vaval, va:al/
determine /dr’t3:min/
determination /dı t3:mı’neıfn/
examine /Ig zæmin/
examination /1g,zæmi nerfn/
recognize / rekognaiz/
represent / repri zent/
vary /‘veort/
variable /'veorıobl/
variability /veorto bilott/
variety /voTraıstı/
various /'vearos/
comfortable /kamf(e)tabt/
vegetable /ved3tobl/
because /br kDz/
6. THE PRONUNCIATION OF LONG WORDS
The pronunciation of long words, especially those of Latin origin, may also
cause problems. Many of them are international words occurring in Hungar¬
ian, too, and the Hungarian pronunciation of the word taken together with
uncertainty about stress placement in their English counterparts may easily
mislead the learner. Here is a list to check and practise.
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