2010年3月1日 星期一

原來老師都會錯:英語讀音

一年一度的書店春節大減價又開始,趁著週六晚有空,便到書店逛逛,看看有沒有荀貨可入。


之前在書店相中一本病句改正手冊,但嫌貴沒買。今次重看,發現書中內容,跟家中藏書類近,決定作罷。


原先打算買的沒買到,便看看別的書,最後給栗子妹發現寶:



栗子妹覺得這本書是寶,是因為書中序章便教朗讀英國名城。Greenwich 大家該不會感到陌生,但可知這個地名該讀 gren-nich 而非 green-witch?另外位於英格蘭東南部的 Reading,正確讀音又是甚麼?翻開書便自有分曉。


除了教讀英國名城,書中還列舉了六大誤讀陷阱,條理分明:


一、輕重音不分,例:information
二、誤讀字首,例:confirm
三、誤拼不發音字母,例:castle
四、錯讀字母組合,例:orchid
五、難發讀音與同字異音,例:coupon
六、不識外來字詞,例:chef


附錄列舉了14個難讀名牌和75個難讀洋名,實用有趣。總的來說,這本書編排好,價錢又相宜 (78元,附CD一張),是一本很值得買回家的參考書。


5 則留言:

  1. 第二絕對係差唔多九成人都會讀錯lor...
    有時真係聽到我好抆呀!!!唔該聽吓d外國人點讀英文la!!!
    [版主回覆03/03/2010 21:07:00]九成人<- 包括我在內
    之前上過堂,但一不留神又會說錯

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  2. Us yanks pronounce Greenwich "green-wich"
    Reading is Red-ding
    On the other 6, the first two are a matter of the schwa, yes?
    t and e are silent in castle
    orhid must be Greek, so the ch sounds like chemistry
    chef is French, so the ch is sh
    coupon is tricky.  dictionary has it as /ku:/, but /kju:/ is so common nowadays among native speakers that it's a matter of time before the dictionaries accept it.  so where's the 同字異音   here?
     
    Speaking of oddball pronunciation, does it had "courier" in there?
    [版主回覆03/03/2010 21:14:00]Green-wich ... I used to pronounce the word like this
    Reading <- Correct!
    Probably. I think no. 1 is more about stress?
    Chemistry <- Good example! I never question why the word begins with a /k/.
    On coupon, yes, it's just a matter of time. Maybe in a couple of years.
    同字異音 <- increase (n./v.), present (n./v.)
    Yes, the pronunciation of 'courier' is queer. Is it because it is from old French?

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  3. 有無其他書值得買呀 ??
    [版主回覆03/03/2010 21:15:00]那要看閣下需要甚麼。我另外買了一本教寫商務電郵的書,也不錯。

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  4. In my former life, all my colleagues and I pronounced the stress Courier /k3:/, until several of my students here jumped on me, then LC agrees with them...

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  5. Even in England they have many different accents, and you don't think they speak English? Don't get yourself too deep into a corner.
    [版主回覆04/05/2010 10:54:00]其實是虛榮。一口牛津口音是身份的象徵
    況且我覺得正音其實頗為重要,如果讀錯了,別人聽不懂,溝通出現問題就麻煩。

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