a, e, i, o, u

A、E、I、O、U

But these are the letters we use to write with

但這些是我們用來寫作的字母

not the actual sounds we say

不是我們說的實際聲音

In fact, the same letter can represent different sounds

事實上，同一個字母可以代表不同的聲音

Listen to how I pronounce the letter “a” in this sentence:  

聽聽我在這個句子中如何發音字母 "a"。

In my accent - Standard Southern British English

用我的口音--標準的英國南部英語

this letter represents a different vowel sound in each word

這個字母在每個詞中代表不同的元音

So I'd like you to forget about letters, and focus on the sounds

是以，我希望你忘掉字母，專注於聲音。

To make it easier to compare vowels across accents

為了便於比較不同口音的元音

we're going to use lexical sets

我們將使用詞彙集

A lexical set is a group of words in which a particular vowel

詞組是指一組有特定元音的詞。

is pronounced in the same way

發音方式相同

For example, in my accent the words

例如，在我的口音中，這些詞

"face", "say", "wait" and "eight" have the same /eɪ/ vowel sound

"臉"、"說"、"等 "和 "八 "有相同的/eɪ/元音

and the words "goat", "snow", "hope" and "though" have the same /əʊ/ vowel sound

而 "山羊"、"雪"、"希望 "和 "雖然 "等詞有相同的/əʊ/元音

Linguists group these words accordingly and give them names:

語言學家對這些詞進行了相應的分組，並給它們命名。

the FACE lexical set

FACE 詞集

and the GOAT lexical set

和GOAT詞彙集

Whereas I pronounce all the words in the FACE lexical set with an /eɪ/ vowel sound

而我在FACE詞組中的所有單詞都用/eɪ/元音來發音

other people in the UK will use different sounds

英國的其他人會使用不同的聲音

If you're aware of this vowel sound variation

如果你意識到這種元音的變化

you'll find it easier to understand a wider range of native English speakers

你會發現更容易理解更多的英語為母語的人。

In this video, I'll explain 5 vowel differences between UK accents

在這個視頻中，我將解釋英國口音的5個元音差異

with the help of the following lexical sets

藉助於以下詞組的幫助

Words like "last", "chance", "ask" and "laugh" belong to the BATH lexical set

像 "最後"、"機會"、"問 "和 "笑 "這樣的詞屬於BATH詞組。

These words are pronounced with a short /a/ vowel sound in most of the UK

這些詞在英國大部分地區都是以短元音/a/發音的。

But in the south of England,

但在英格蘭南部。

many people pronounce these words with a longer vowel sound

許多人用較長的元音念這些詞

that's made further back in the mouth: /ɑː/

這是在嘴裡更靠後的地方做的。/ɑː/

This longer vowel sound developed in the south of England in the 17th century

這種較長的元音是17世紀在英格蘭南部發展起來的。

whereas elsewhere the short /a/ remained

而其他地方的短音/a/仍然是

Here are some more examples of this longer /ɑː/ vowel in the south

這裡還有一些南方的長/ɑː/元音的例子

This is a map produced by the University of Cambridge in 2016

這是劍橋大學在2016年製作的一張地圖

Yellow marks areas where speakers are more likely to use a  shorter /a/ vowel in the BATH lexical set  

黃色標誌著在BATH詞組中，說話者更有可能使用較短的/a/元音的區域。

Green marks areas where speakers are more likely to use a longer /ɑː/ vowel

綠色標誌著說話者更有可能使用較長的/ɑː/元音的區域。

The shades of colour between green and yellow

綠色和黃色之間的顏色深淺

indicate that not everyone in the south will have this longer vowel

表明並不是南方的每個人都會有這個長元音

Geography is not the only factor that influences how people sound

地理環境並不是影響人們聲音的唯一因素

Accents also vary according to

口音也因人而異

socioeconomic background, age and ethnicity among others

社會經濟背景、年齡和種族等等。

In my accent, the words "look", "stood", and "put" belong to the FOOT lexical set

在我的口音中，"看"、"站 "和 "放 "都屬於FOOT詞組。

and the words "luck", "stud", and "putt" belong to the STRUT lexical set

而單詞 "luck"、"stud "和 "putt "則屬於STRUT詞組。

In southern England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

在英格蘭南部、威爾士、蘇格蘭和北愛爾蘭

most speakers will have these two separate lexical sets

大多數說話人都會有這兩個獨立的詞組

with two different vowel sounds

有兩個不同的元音

But speakers in the midlands and north of England

但在英格蘭中部和北部的發言者

may pronounce the words in the FOOT and STRUT lexical sets

可以給FOOT和STRUT詞組中的單詞發音

in the same way or very similarly

同樣地或非常相似地

The exact pronunciation varies from place to place

準確的發音因地而異

Here are some clips of speakers from the midlands and north of England

下面是一些來自英格蘭中部和北部的演講者的片段

saying words that belong to the STRUT lexical set

說屬於STRUT詞集的詞

Listen to how the vowel sound is different to my southern /ʌ/ vowel

聽聽這個元音與我的南方/ʌ/元音有什麼不同？

Here's another map from the University of Cambridge in 2016

下面是劍橋大學2016年的另一張地圖

Blue marks areas where speakers pronounce the words

藍色標記的是說話者發音的區域

put and putt with a different vowel sound

換韻母的放和推

like in my accent from the south of England

就像我來自英格蘭南部的口音一樣

Orange marks areas where speakers pronounce them with the same vowel sound

橙色標記的區域，說話者以相同的元音發音。

When a survey was conducted in the 1950s  

在20世紀50年代進行的一項調查中

the number of people who rhymed put and putt in England was much greater

在英國，用put和putt押韻的人要多得多。

compared to 2016

與2016年相比

We can divide vowel sounds into two groups:

我們可以把元音分為兩組。

monophthongs and diphthongs

單韻母和雙韻母

A monophthong is one vowel sound

單音是指一個元音

like the /ɔː/ vowel in my pronunciation of the word "jaw"

像我的 "jaw "一詞的發音中的/ɔ/元音一樣

/ɔː/

/ɔ

A diphthong describes a movement from one vowel quality towards another

雙元音描述了從一個元音品質向另一個元音品質的移動。

like the /ɔɪ/ sound in my pronunciation of the word "joy"

像我的 "joy "一詞的發音中的/ɔɪ/音。

/ɔɪ/

/ɔ/

Here you can feel the movement of the diphthong

在這裡你可以感受到雙元音的運動。

the tongue starts back in the mouth and moves forwards: /ɔɪ/

舌頭從口腔後部開始，向前移動。/ɔɪ/

Words like "go", "no" and "so" belong to the GOAT lexical set

像 "go"、"no "和 "so "這樣的詞屬於GOAT詞組。

You're more likely to hear these words being pronounced with  a diphthong

你更有可能聽到這些詞用雙元音發音的情況

in the south of the UK

在英國南部

The further north you go,  

越往北走。

the more likely it is you'll hear a monophthong,

你就越有可能聽到單音。

or a diphthong with very little movement

或運動量很小的雙元音

Here are some clips of speakers saying words from the GOAT lexical set

下面是一些演講者說GOAT詞組中的單詞的片段

moving from south to north

從南到北移動

Notice the change in the vowel sound

注意元音的變化

This pattern of diphthongs in the south and monophthongs in the north  

這種南方的雙元音和北方的單元音的模式

is a generalisation

是一個泛化

and of course there are exceptions

當然也有例外的情況

For example, you may hear monophthongs – or  diphthongs with little movement – in South Wales.

例如，在南威爾士，你可能會聽到單音詞--或幾乎沒有動作的雙音詞--。

Words like "say", "day" and "may" belong to the FACE lexical set.

像 "說"、"日 "和 "可能 "這樣的詞屬於FACE詞集。

Similar to GOAT, the further south you are in the UK

與GOAT類似，你在英國越往南，就越是如此

the more likely it is you will hear a diphthong

你就越有可能聽到雙元音

Whereas the further north you go, the more likely you will hear a monophthong  

而你越往北走，就越有可能聽到單音的聲音。

or a diphthong with little movement

或運動量小的雙元音

Here are some clips of speakers saying words from the FACE lexical set

下面是一些說話者說FACE詞組中的單詞的片段

moving from south to north

從南到北移動

Notice the change in the vowel sound

注意元音的變化

Again, this pattern of diphthongs in the south or monophthongs in the north

同樣，這種南方的雙元音或北方的單元音的模式

is a generalisation

是一個泛化

In South Wales you may hear monophthongs – or diphthongs with little movement

在南威爾士，你可能會聽到單音詞--或幾乎沒有動作的雙音詞

The word "okay" has GOAT in the 1st syllable and FACE in the 2nd

"好 "字的第一個音節是GOAT，第二個音節是FACE。

"okay"

"好的"

In the south both vowels are more likely to be diphthongs

在南方，兩個元音更可能是雙元音

And in the north both vowels are more likely to be monophthongs

而在北方，這兩個元音更可能是單音。

Words like "funny", "cookie" and "taxi" belong to the happY lexical set

像 "滑稽"、"餅乾 "和 "計程車 "這樣的詞屬於happyY詞組。

The final vowel of these words is pronounced differently around the country

這些詞的最後一個元音在全國各地的發音是不同的

In Wales and southern England, you'll hear the vowel sound in FLEECE

在威爾士和英格蘭南部，你會聽到FLEECE的元音

In northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland,  

在英格蘭北部、北愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭。

you are likely to hear the vowel sound in KIT, FACE or DRESS

你可能會聽到KIT、FACE或DRESS中的元音

Two exceptions in northern England are Merseyside and the area around Newcastle

英格蘭北部的兩個例外是默西塞德郡和紐卡斯爾周圍地區。

where you'll hear the vowel sound in FLEECE

在這裡你會聽到FLEECE的元音

The English language has evolved differently in different parts of the country

英語在我國不同地區的發展情況不同

For this reason, we have variation in vowel sounds

由於這個原因，我們有元音的變化

There is nothing incorrect about saying "face" (diphthong) or "face" (monophthong)

說 "臉"（雙元音）或 "臉"（單元音）都沒有什麼不正確的。

They just belong to different varieties of English

它們只是屬於不同的英語品種

If you're aware of this phonetic diversity,

如果你意識到這種語音的多樣性。

you'll find it easier to understand native speakers

你會發現更容易理解母語者的意思

Expect to hear:

期待聽到。

The next time you listen to a native speaker from the UK,  

下次你再聽一個來自英國的母語人士講話時。

see if you can identify some of the features listed in this video

看看你是否能識別這個視頻中列出的一些特徵

If you're a non-native English speaker

如果你是一個非英語母語的人

and you want to improve your English pronunciation skills,

並且你想提高你的英語發音能力。

then sign up for my online course

然後報名參加我的在線課程

It's tailored to your native language

它是為你的母語量身定做的

prioritises sounds that improve your clarity

優先考慮能提高你清晰度的聲音

and uses SSBE as its model

並使用SSBE作為其模型

Click the link to find out more

點擊鏈接，瞭解更多

Make sure you subscribe and click the notification bell

請確保你訂閱並點擊通知鈴

so you know when I release my next video

所以你知道我什麼時候發佈我的下一個視頻