2017-01-16 英式英语与美式英语：发音的区别

你有没有仔细想过英式英语和美式英语在单词的发音上有哪些区别？如果单词的拼写相同，而在英式英语和美式英语中的重音却不同，那么这还是同一个词吗？本期《英语小测验》从单词发音的角度帮你分辨英式英语和美式英语的区别。

1. ‘Thank you for being so hospitable!’
A British English speaker would say this with the word stress ‘hosPITable’. How would an American English speaker pronounce it?

a) HOSpitable

b) hosPITable

c) hospitAble

d) hospitABLE

2. The word ‘versatile’ is pronounced differently in British and American English. Which option below is correct?

a) British: /’vɜ:sətaɪl/
American: /’vɜrsətl/

b) British: /’vɜ:səteɪl/
American: /’vɜrsətl/

c) British: /’vɜ:sətaɪl/
American: /’vɜrstæl/

d) British: /’vɜ:səteɪl/
American: /’vɜrstæl/

3. ‘Better’, ‘water’, ‘writing’, ‘native’, ‘bottom’ and other words with a middle ‘t’ are pronounced differently in British English and American English. What is the difference?

a) British English pronounces the ‘t’ but American English does not.

b) British English pronounces the ‘t’ fully, whereas American English pronounces the ‘t’ closer to a ‘d’.

c) British English does not pronounce the ‘t’ at all, but American English does.

d) British English pronounces the t like a double /tt/ but American English only pronounces one /t/.

4. ‘Adult’, ‘ballet’, ‘brochure’, ‘garage’ – what difference in word stress, if any, exists for two syllable nouns in British and American English?

a) British English and American English stress the first syllable.

b) British English stresses the first syllable, American English stresses the second.

c) British English stresses the second syllable, American English stresses the first.

d) British English and American English stress the last syllable.

5. Globalization comes from the verb globalize (Br: /’gləʊbəlaɪz/ Am: /’gloʊbəlaɪz/). How does adding the suffix ‘ization’ change the vowel sounds in British and American English?

a) The vowel sounds stay the same in both British and American English.
British: /gləʊbəlaɪ’zeɪʃən/
American: /gloʊbəlaɪ’zeɪʃən/

b) The vowel sounds in British English change, but they do not change in American English.
British: /gləʊbələ’zeɪʃən/
American: /gloʊbəlaɪ’zeɪʃən/

c) The vowel sounds in American English change, but they do not change in British English.
British: /gləʊbəlaɪ’zeɪʃən/
American: /gləʊbələ’zeɪʃən/

d) The vowel sounds change in both British and American English.
British: /gləʊbələ’zeɪʃən/
American: /gloʊbələ’zeɪʃən/

6. ‘Advertisement’ in American English is stressed in this way: Advertisement. How is it stressed in British English?

a) advertiseMENT

b) adverTISEment

c) adVERtisement

d) ADvertisement

答案

1) a, 2) a, 3) b, 4) b, 5) c, 6) c.