英语单词大师：Where Spoken Languages

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: expanding on reductions². When speakers compress³ a phrase like "going to" into "gonna," or "what do you" into "whaddaya," that's a reduction¹. We mentioned their importance when we talked last week about the natural rhythms⁴ of spoken American English. To explain more, we found a segment⁵ we did with Slangman David Burke where he talked about reductions. DAVID BURKE: "One of them is 'you.' Instead of saying you, we just say ya. Instead of saying `How are you?' [we say] `How are ya?' If I were to say to you 'Didja eat yet?' and you replied `No, didju?' we would understand that. 'Didja eat yet?' Did you eat yet?

"We talked about ya which is a reduction of you, but after the letter d the you or the ya becomes a 'ja' sound always after the letter d. `Would you like to come to the movies?' `Wouldja like to come to the movies?' `Did you eat?' `Didja eat?' And, for some reason after the letter t the ya becomes 'cha' -- `I'll let you come with me.' `I'll letcha come with me.' `What's that you have in your hand?' `Whatcha have in your hand?' So, we have about four different ways of saying `you' which is 'ya,' 'ja,' 'cha' and even 'ju.'"AA: "This is spoken English, right? Now if you were writing a report or something for work, you would want to be more careful about using the formal non-reduced forms."DAVID BURKE: "Absolutely. But, I would have to say yes and no, because reductions are used typically in speaking; however, a lot of times when we are writing to friends or especially in comic books we'll see the reduced form.

"True, in a formal report, you do not want to use reductions, but when we are writing a letter to somebody we might say in the beginning of the letter `How are ya?' and spell y-a for ya. That's pretty common."AA: "Also on the most-often-heard reduction list are the reduced forms of going to and want to. They become gonna, g-o-n-n-a, and wanna, w-a-n-n-a."RS: "As in 'I'm gonna be late,' or 'Do you wanna go with me?'"DAVID BURKE: "And what's a little bit difficult to understand about `gonna' [is that] `gonna' is the reduction of `going to' only when it is something that is happening in the future.

"But when it indicates going from one place to another you cannot reduce it. For example, `I'm going to the movies tonight.' You can't say `I'm gonna the movies tonight.' Or `Are you going to the market?' You can't say 'Are you gonna the market?' So, it's only used to indicate the future, and it's really popular."AA: "Sometimes, when reduction takes place, two different words are reduced to the same sound."RS: "That happens with 'and' and 'in'."DAVID BURKE: "'And' is pronounced 'n': `Rosanne n Avi.' The word `in' -- 'Let's go inside' -- it's pronounced absolutely the same. `Put the pencil 'n' the box.' It sounds like `Put the pencil and the box.'"AA: "So someone coming to this country who is not used to the fast-speaking ways of your average American is going to be confused by these `wannas, gonnas -- "RS: "Can't ya, don'tcha."DAVID BURKE: "Absolutely. In fact just now you said a very common reduction, `used to' - `usta' means to be accustomed to, to be acclimated⁶ to. I'm usta getting up early. He usta be my best friend. We would never say `used to.'"RS: "The question I have for you is that given the fact that Americans speak with reductions, how do people who speak English as a foreign language learn to tell the difference? How do they learn these reductions?"DAVID BURKE: "The only way they can learn is to live in this country, and of course when they arrive they will be absolutely shocked and all of a sudden someone comes up and says, `How do ya do?' not `How do you do?' They are stunned⁷."  AA: Slangman David Burke, talking about reductions in a segment from two thousand. You can learn about his language teaching⁸ materials at slangman.com. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. Archives are at voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail is [email protected]. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

MUSIC: "Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy?" / Chris LeDoux/Garth Brooks

1 reduction   

n.减少，减低，减缩；减少，减低

参考例句：

• Reduction in income tax will be welcomed with open arms.减少所得税将受到热烈欢迎。
• You will have a reduction for cash.付现金可以打折扣。

2 reductions   

减少( reduction的名词复数 )； 降低； [数学]约简； [摄影术]减薄

参考例句：

• Many companies have announced dramatic reductions in staff. 许多公司已经宣布大幅裁员。
• The forthcoming talks hold out the hope of real arms reductions. 即将举行的会谈给实现真正的裁军带来了希望。

3 compress   

vt.压紧，压缩

参考例句：

• Wood blocks may compress a great deal under pressure.木块受压时可缩小很多。
• Can you compress your speech into five minutes?你能不能把讲话压缩至5分钟？

4 rhythms   

节奏( rhythm的名词复数 )； 规则变化； 规律； 节律

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• Stylistically, the term implies loose, rapid painthandling, large rhythms and broken colour. 从风格上来说，这个名称意味着松散而迅速的绘画笔触，奔放的格调，使用强烈配色。

5 segment   

n.切片，部分，段，节

参考例句：

• The company dominates this segment of the market.这家公司控制着这一部分市场。
• Give me a segment of a tangerine to taste.给我一瓣柑橘尝一尝。

6 acclimated   

v.使适应新环境，使服水土服水土，适应( acclimate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The rice has been acclimated in this area. 水稻已能适应这一地区的环境。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Have you become acclimated to Taiwan yet? 你已适应台湾的环境了吗？ 来自辞典例句

7 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

8 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。