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Can We Help?: Efficient speech: the process of language change

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Presenters sit on set, text overlay reads "'What is the correct pronunciation of the word 'says''?"
Can We Help?: Efficient speech: the process of language change

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  7–8


Wassup, bro?

Well 'pparently I ain't speakin' right., Will thou ha' the truth on't?

We often think that only young people speak in abbreviated forms, but the truth is people have been doing this since Anglo-Saxon times!

In this clip discover with Professor Kate Burridge some words that belong to the 'zero plurals' group, why we pronounce some words the way we do, and the effect the letter 'w' has on the vowels that follow it.


Things to think about

  1. 1.How do you pronounce the word 'cause'? What about 'because'? Chances are you say 'becoz' or even just 'coz'. What other words can you think of that you pronounce differently to the way they are spelt?
  2. 2.What is the reason why 'says' and 'said' are pronounced differently to say? What is the origin of the words 'woman' and 'women'? How does Peter pronounce 'pronunciation'? Do you think he is correct?
  3. 3.Explain how words such as 'said' and 'women' end up being pronounced differently to their original base words. What does this tell you about the evolution of language?
  4. 4.People have been streamlining English since Anglo-Saxon times. See if you can find out some contractions from this period. 'Text speak' is a modern example of streamlining. What does the use of text speak tell you about a person? Who probably wouldn't use text speak? Create a text speak dictionary to explain some of the terms to other people.



Date of broadcast: 27 Jun 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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