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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Heart and hurt
Heart and hurt
Adriportes
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Heart and hurt
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Hi! I need some help! A student of mine asked me today about the pronunciation of "heart" because he heard somewhere that it was the same as "hurt". I guess it was a Slipknot song. I �ve always taught it like in "car". I listened to part of the song, I couldn �t listen to everything... :) and I was confused. Could anyone help me?
Thanks
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20 Jun 2009
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alien boy
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STudents (& teachers) need to be careful if using songs or poems as models for pronunciation. Along with differences produced simply because one speaker has a different accent to another, sometimes the pronunciation is distorted/warped/ �fudged � in order to produce the desired rhyme, rhythmic effect or characterisation.
So - you are correct about the pronunciation for standard English. The student �s example may be due to the accent of the speaker/singer or as a device used in the song or poem.
Cheers, AB
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20 Jun 2009
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Adriportes
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Thank you, Alien Boy. That �s what I had thought too but I felt a little insecure. Students here in Brazil simply love songs in English. I totally agree with you that we should be careful about using them in class. Thanks a lot for your help!
Adri
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20 Jun 2009
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libertybelle
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Americans on the west coast pronounce heart - like cart. My British friends pronounce it closer to hot.
Americans use a retroflective R sound - the British R is more truncated.
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20 Jun 2009
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alien boy
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I take it that means closer to �hot� with a rounded sound as distinct from a shortened �o�?
Australians tend to talk more like British than Americans & we have a distinct difference between the sounds produced when saying �hot � and �heart�. The �eart� is pronounced the same as the word �art� - complete with truncated �r�. �hot� sounds more like �shot� than �hart�.
Some Irish folks I�ve met pronounce �heart� closer to �hurt� but that is consistent with other speech patterns within their dialect.
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20 Jun 2009
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Adriportes
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Hi Libertybelle!
Thank you! I liked the words you used to compare the sound.
I don �t know about other non-native English teachers but sometimes the students hear things then they have doubts and ask questions. English is all around them. I always check things here: www.thefreedictionary.com, and if I don �t find the pronunciation they heard, I tell them that it must be a different accent or variation.
Well, I never had a chance to say that before, but I love this site! Thank you all!
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20 Jun 2009
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Zora
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I would say...
Heart - like hart
Hurt - like hert
There you go easy peasy..
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20 Jun 2009
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Adriportes
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Great! Thanks for the tips!
I �ll check the links. |
20 Jun 2009
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