This American English
reduction is formed when you combine and reduce
the following words.
wanna =
want + to
This American English
reduction is used in the following way.
I really
wanna
find a better job.
This American English
reduction has the following meaning.
I really
want to
find a better job.
Examples:
"wanna" (reading and
reductions)
Do you wanna
hang out together today?
(Meaning:
Do you want to do something together today?)
Does she wanna
move to San Diego, California?
(Meaning:
Does she want to move to San Diego, California?)
Does he wanna
go to the game today?
(Meaning:
Does he want to go to the game today?)
I really wanna
ask her out on a date.
(Meaning:
I really want to ask her out on a date.)
We wanna
go with you.
(Meaning:
We want to go with you.)
From
YOUR Teacher:
Wanna and Kids
Travel to America and visit a playground for kids. You
will be able to listen to the reduction "wanna" over and
over.
I wanna eat some snacks.
I wanna play longer.
Note:
Reductions
Remember the following:
Reductions are reduced forms of English
words.
Reductions, such as wanna are not real words in English.
You need to use reductions in order to sound
more natural.
You need to know reductions in order to
understand conversations between native English
speakers.
Reductions are used extensively in American
TV, movies, music, literature, and in
conversations among native English speakers.
Reductions In Music and TV
Britney Spears - I Wanna Go
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an
American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in McComb,
Mississippi and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, she appeared in stage
productions and television series, before signing with Jive Records
in 1997. Spears's first two studio albums, ...Baby One More Time
(1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), were global successes and
made her the best-selling teenage artist of all-time. Referred to as
the "Princess of Pop", Spears was credited with influencing the
revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
This video is a good example of the usage of "wanna",
an English language reduction.
Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
Lyrics
Lately I've been stuck imagining
What I wanna do and what I
really think
Time to blow out
Be a little inappropriate
'Cause I know that everybody's thinking it
When the lights out
Shame on me
To need release
Uncontrollably
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
Whoa oh oh
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
Lately people got me all tied up
There's a countdown waiting for me to erupt
Time to blow out
I've been told who I should do it with
To keep both my hands above the blanket
When the lights out
Shame on me
To need release
Uncontrollably
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
Whoa oh oh
Shame, on me (shame on me)
To need, release (to need, release)
Uncontrollably (uncontrollably lably lably lably)
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
I I I wanna go o o all the
way ay ay
Taking out my freak tonight
I I I wanna show o o
All the dir ir irt
I got running through my mind
Whoa oh oh
Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop
Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa, Salt 'N
Pepa) are an American hip-hop/rap trio from New York City, New York.
The group, consisting of Cheryl James ("Salt"), Sandra Denton ("Pepa")
and originally Latoya Hanson (also known as Latoya Pamela Greene),
who was replaced in 1987 by Deidra Roper ("DJ Spinderella"), was
formed in 1985 and was one of the first all-female rap groups. The
group won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or
Group.
This video is a good example of the usage of "wanna",
"kinda", "getcha",
and "betcha" English language
reductions.
Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
Lyrics
Hey, yeah, I wanna shoop,
baby
Ooh, how you doin', baby?
No, not you
You, the bow-legged one, yeah
What's your name?
Damn, that sounds sexy uh
Here I go, here I go, here I go again (again?)
Girls, what's my weakness? (Men!)
Ok then, chillin', chillin'
Mindin' my business (word)
Yo, Salt, I looked around, and I couldn't believe this
I swear, I stared, my niece my witness
The brother had it goin' on with somethin'
kinda, uh
Wicked, wicked (ooh) had to kick it
I'm not shy so I asked for the digits
A ho? No, that don't make me
See what I want slip slide to it swifty
Felt it in my hips so I dipped back to my bag of tricks
Then I flipped for a tip, make me
wanna do tricks for him
Lick him like a lollipop should be licked
Came to my senses and I chilled for a bit
Don't know how you do the voodoo that you do
So well it's a spell, hell, makes me
wanna shoop shoop shoop
Shoop shoop ba-doops shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop
Ba-doop shoop ba-doop shoop
Ba-doop shoop ba-doop, ba-doop, ba-doop
Umm, you're packed and you're stacked 'specially in the
back
Brother, wanna thank your
mother for a butt like that (thanks, Mom)
Can I get some fries with that shake-shake boobie?
If looks could kill you would be an uzi
You're a shotgun, bang! What's up with that thang?
I wanna know how does it
hang?
Straight up, wait up, hold up, Mr. Lover
Like Prince said you're a sexy mutha well-a
I like 'em real wild, b-boy style by the mile
Smooth black skin with a smile
Bright as the sun, I wanna
have some fun
Come and give me some of that yum-yum
Chocolate chip, honey dip, can I get a scoop?
Baby, take a ride in my coupe, you make me
wanna
Shoop shoop ba-doop (Baby, hey)
Ba-doop, ba-doop, ba-doop, ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop
(Don't you know I wanna
shoop, baby)
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop
Ba-doop shoop, ba-doop, ba-doop
Ba-doop shoop, ba-doop, shoop
Ba-doop shoop, ba-doop, ba-doop, ba-doop
Well let me bring you back to the subject
Pep's on the set
Make you get hot, make you work up a sweat
When you skip-to-my-lou, my darling
Not falling in love but I'm falling for your (super
sperm)
When I get ya betcha
bottom dollar you were best under pressure
(Yo, Sandy, I wanna like,
taste you) Getchagetcha lips wet 'cause
it's time to have Pep
On your mark, get set, go, let me go, let me shoop
To the next man in the three-piece suit
I spend all my dough, ray me cutie
Shoop shoop a-doobie like Scoobie Doobie Doo
I love you in your big jeans, you give me nice dreams
You make me wanna scream,
ooh ooh ooh
I like what ya do, when you do
What ya do, you make me wanna
shoop
Shoop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop
Ba-doop shoop ba-doop shoop
Ba-doop shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop
(Oh, my goodness, girl, look at him
He's the cutest brother in here
And he's comin' this way! Ooh!)
S and the P wanna kick
with me, cool (uh-huh)
But I'm wicked, G, (yeah) hit skins but never quickly
(that's right)
I hit the skins for the hell of it, just for the yell I
get
Mmm mmm mmm, for the smell of it (smell it)
They want my bod, here's the hot rod (hot rod)
Twelve inches to a yard (damn) and have ya soundin' like
a retard (yeah)
Big 'Twan Love-Her, six-two,
wanna hit you
So what you wanna do? What
you wanna do? Mmmm, I
wanna shoop
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop (Oh you make me
wanna)
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop (hey yeah I
wanna shoop baby)
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop (Oh you make me
wanna)
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop (hey yeah I
wanna shoop baby)
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop (oh, you make me
wanna)
Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop (hey yeah, I
wanna shoop you baby)
Shoop ba-doop ba-doop, ba-doop
Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001. The band consists of
lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic
and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively. The
group sold 6.5 million albums. The band dissolved in 2012, but
reformed in 2016.
This video is a good example of the usage of "wanna",
and "gonna" English language
reductions.
Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
Lyrics
Go!
So one, two, three, take my hand and come with me
Because you look so fine
That I really wanna make
you mine
I say you look so fine
That I really wanna make
you mine
Oh, four, five, six c'mon and get your kicks
Now you don't need that money
When you look like that, do ya honey
Big black boots
Long blonde hair
She's so sweet
With her get back stare
Well I could see
You home with me
But you were with another man, yeah!
I know we
Ain't got much to say
Before I let you get away, yeah!
I said, are you gonna be
my girl?
Well, so one, two, three, take my hand and come with me
Because you look so fine
That I really wanna make
you mine
I say you look so fine
That I really wanna make
you mine
Oh, four, five, six c'mon and get your kicks
Now you don't need that money
With a face like that, do ya
Big black boots
Long brown hair
She's so sweet
With her get back stare
Well I could see
You home with me
But you were with another man, yeah!
I know we,
Ain't got much to say
Before I let you get away, yeah!
I said, are you gonna be
my girl?
Oh yeah, oh yeah, c'mon!
I could see
You home with me
But you were with another man, yeah!
I know we
Ain't got much to say
Before I let you get away, yeah!
Uh, be my girl
Be my girl
Are you gonna be my girl?
Yeah
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
The Black Eyed Peas (originally simply Black Eyed Peas) is an
American musical group, consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap
and Taboo and singer Jessica Reynoso. Originally an alternative hip
hop group, they subsequently changed their musical sound to pop and
dance-pop music. Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in
1995, it was not until the release of their third album, Elephunk,
in 2003, that they achieved high record sales. Since that time, the
group has sold an estimated 76 million records (35 million albums
and 41 million singles), making them one of the world's best-selling
groups of all time. As of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the
Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all
time for downloaded tracks, behind Rihanna, with over 42 million
sales.
This video is a good example of the usage of "wanna",
"gonna", and "gotta"
English language reductions.
Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
Lyrics
I gotta feeling that
tonight's gonna be a good
night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
A feeling that tonight's gonna
be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
A feeling, woohoo, that tonight's
gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
A feeling, woohoo, that tonight's
gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
Tonight's the night, let's live it up
I got my money, let's spend it up
Go out and smash it like oh my God
Jump off that sofa, let's get, get off
I know that we'll have a ball
If we get down and go out and just lose it all
I feel stressed out, I wanna
let it go
Let's go way out spaced out and losing all control
Fill up my cup, Mazel Tov
Look at her dancing, just take it off
Let's paint the town, we'll shut it down
Let's burn the roof, and then we'll do it again
Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it
And do it and do it, let's live it up
And do it and do it and do it, do it, do it
Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it
Cause I gotta feeling,
woohoo,
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
A feeling, woohoo, that tonight's
gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
Tonight's the night (Hey! )
Let's live it up (Let's live it up)
I got my money (My pay)
Let's spend it up (Let's spend it up)
Go out and smash it (Smash it)
Like oh my God (Like oh my God)
Jump off that sofa (Come on!)
Let's get, get off
Fill up my cup (Drink)
Mazel Tov (L'chaim)
Look at her dancing (Move it, move it)
Just take it off
Let's paint the town (Paint the town)
We'll shut it down (Let's shut it down)
Let's burn the roof
And then we'll do it again
Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it
And do it and do it, let's live it up
And do it and do it and do it, do it, do it
Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, do it, do it, do
it
Here we come, here we go, we
gotta rock (Rock rock rock rock rock)
Easy come, easy go, now we on top (Top top top top top)
Feel the shot, body rock, rock it, don't stop (Stop stop
stop stop stop)
Round and round, up and down, around the clock (Rock
rock rock rock rock)
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday, Saturday, Saturday to Sunday
Get, get, get, get, get with us, you know what we say,
say
Party every day, p-p-p-party every day
And I'm feelin', woohoo, that tonight's
gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night
A feelin', woohoo, that tonight's
gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good night
That tonight's gonna be a
good, good night, woohoo
Rihanna - Lemme Get That (Audio)
Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born 20 February 1988) is a
Barbadian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Saint Michael,
Barbados, and raised in Bridgetown, she was discovered by American
record producer Evan Rogers in her home country of Barbados in 2003.
Throughout 2004, she recorded demo tapes under the direction of
Rogers and signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings after
auditioning for its then-president, rapper and hip hop producer
Jay-Z. In 2005, Rihanna rose to fame with the release of her debut
studio album Music of the Sun as well as its follow-up A Girl like
Me (2006). Both albums peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard
200 and respectively produced the successful singles "Pon de
Replay", "SOS" and "Unfaithful".
This video is a good example of the usage of "wanna",
and "lemme" English language
reductions.
Use a
dictionary
to look up words you do not understand.
Lyrics
I got a house, but I need new furniture,
Why spend mine when I could spend yours
The truth is I will love you the same
But why complain you buying Gucci babe
You might see me in the spot
Ya boy think I'm hot
So I came up in here to get what you got
I'm hot like the block
Ugh Huh you like that
Know you wanna bite that
Ugh Huh yea right there
They love the young girl
They wanna give it to me
Wish I was in a flick
And I ain't talking movies
If ya young, if ya hot girl
Shake what ya got girl
I keep 'em singing Lemme hit that (Huh?)
(Justin What you got up in them jeans? Put it on me, or
get lonely) Lemme get that (Huh?)
(Rihanna You know, 5 car garages, name on your bank
account, all day massages) Lemme hit that (Huh?)
(Justin I wanna put it on blast) Lemme get that (Huh?)
(Rihanna Better slow down, for I make you crash boy)
Got what you want
Baby got what you need,
But we can't proceed
Unless you got that for me
I got a house, but I need new furniture,
Why spend mine when I could spend yours
The truth is I will love you the same
But why complain you buying Gucci babe
I'm a put you on the spot
Keep the sheet in knots
I bought me a Benz,
You buy me the yacht
A girl need a lot,
The girl need some stocks
Bonds is what I got, bonds is what I got (ya get it?)
They love the young girl
They wanna give it to me
Wish I was in a flick,
And I ain't talking movies
If ya young, if ya hot girl
Shake what ya got girl
I keep em singing
I got a house, but I need new furniture,
Why spend mine when I could spend yours
The truth is I will love you the same
But why complain you buying Gucci babe
Oh, oh, oh
Boy I know you want my love
Oh, oh, oh
Nothing is free in this world
Oh, oh, oh
Unless my love is your love
Oh, oh, oh
I'm not a gold digger
I got a house, but I need new furniture,
Why spend mine when I could spend yours
The truth is I will love you the same
But why complain you buying Gucci babe
Reduction Tips
Audio Program
(Beginner - Listening)
Wanna, Gonna, Hafta: Getting Relaxed With Reduced Forms
of Speech - A five minute audio program of the written script below. The English is spoken at 75% of normal
speed.
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on
Wordmaster: reduced forms in spoken American English.
RS: We're talking about forms like whaddaya -- meaning "what do
you," as in "whaddaya say?" "Whaddaya Say?" is also the title of a
popular teaching book on reduced forms by Nina Weinstein.
AA: She did extensive research on the subject as a graduate student
at the University of California, Los Angeles, and as a teaching
fellow at Harvard.
NINA WEINSTEIN: "There were a lot of assumptions. People felt that
maybe it was a sort of uneducated kind of speech or maybe it was
caused by informality or things like this. So my master's thesis is
actually on what causes reduced forms.
"And what I found was speed of speech was statistically significant
as a cause for reduced forms, not informality. Though in informal
speech we tend to speak more quickly, and so we think it's the
informality, but actually it's the speed of speech."
RS: "What do you find? Do you find certain patterns of reductions?
Is there a way in which you can almost predict, if you are a speaker
of English as a foreign language, that you can almost predict when
or how it's going to happen?"
NINA WEINSTEIN: "Yes, yes -- in fact, you can learn the reduced
forms before. There are fifty to seventy common reduced forms that
everyone should know from a listening point of view. Sometimes, I
think, teachers feel that students will just pick this up. And they
do pick up some, but they don't pick up all of them."
AA: "Can you give us a few of the most common reduced forms?"
NINA WEINSTEIN: "The three most common reduced forms are wanna,
which is the spoken form of 'want to'; gonna, which is the spoken
form of 'going to' plus a verb; and hafta, which is the spoken form
of 'have to.' And one of these forms will occur about every two
minutes."
AA: "On average in a conversation?"
NINA WEINSTEIN: "Yes, in unscripted spoken English."
AA: "That's amazing. And we're talking about common, everyday
speech. And yet I could see maybe some students who are learning
English who want to maybe apply for a job or meet with an employer
or someone, a professor, and maybe they're afraid that they're going
to sound uneducated or that they're too informal. What do you say
about that?"
NINA WEINSTEIN: "Informality -- informality actually is a very, very
large part of American English. And as I tell my students, the
majority of English is informal, though we do have situations that
call for formality. I don't think that students should worry about
their own use of the reduced forms because non-native speakers
generally don't reach the speed of speech to have reductions. And so
their speech will not reduce naturally.
"I don't advise students unnaturally adapting these forms because,
as I said, they're a natural flow of spoken English. But what I do
suggest that they do is, if they want to sound more natural,
regardless of whether it's an interview situation or just in
everyday speech, they could adopt the three most common reduced
forms in their speech because these are almost like vocabulary
items. They're that common.
"As far as the job interview goes, as I said, I don't think students
should adopt the fifty to seventy common reduced forms in their own
speech. But they need to understand the interviewer, who will be
using reduced forms."
RS: "Now beyond these top three, is there a top ten?"
NINA WEINSTEIN: "I wouldn't say there's a top ten. If I were to just
give you some really common ones, one of the more common question
forms would be 'what do you/what are you' changing to whaddaya. You
can put that together with want to -- 'what do you want to' would be
naturally pronounced as whaddaya wanna: 'Whaddaya wanna do?' 'Whaddaya
wanna have?' Of course, we talked about gonna, which is 'going to'
plus verb.
"We've got gotta, which is 'have got to': 'I've got to do this.'
'I've got to go there.' I think those are common, but I think the
ones that are represented in 'Whaddya Say?' are really the most
common. And I can't cut it off at ten, because actually in my
research I found three hundred and five reduced forms."
A: Nina Weinstein, the author of "Whaddaya Say? Guided Practice in
Relaxed Speech," speaking with us from VOA's Los Angeles bureau.
RS: And we gotta go. That's Wordmaster for this week. To learn more
about American English, visit our Web site, voanews.com/wordmaster.
AA: And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. With Rosanne Skirble,
I'm Avi Arditti.
Audio Program
(Beginner - Listening)
To Master Rhythms of English, You Really Hafta Learn
Reductions - A five minute audio program of the written script below. The English is spoken at 75% of normal
speed.
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: expanding
on reductions. When speakers compress a phrase like "going to" into "gonna," or
"what do you" into "whaddaya," that's a reduction. We mentioned their importance
when we talked last week about the natural rhythms of spoken American English.
To explain more, we found a segment 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 acclimated 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
stunned."
AA: Slangman David Burke, talking about reductions in a segment from two
thousand. You can learn about his language teaching materials at slangman.com.
And that's WORDMASTER for this week. Archives are at voanews.com/wordmaster. And
our e-mail is word@voanews.com. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.
MUSIC: "Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy?" / Chris LeDoux/Garth Brooks
Reduced
Forms
Broadcast on "Coast to Coast": January 16, 2003
AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble and this week on Wordmaster, English
teacher Lida Baker explains some of the shortcuts that work their way into
conversational American speech.
RS: They're called reduced forms, or reductions. And, since it was noon when we
spoke to Lida, she served up the perfect lunchtime example:
BAKER: "So tell me, jeet yet?"
RS: "No we haven't eaten yet (laughter)."
BAKER: "See, you understood what I said, 'jeet.' Now if we were to pronounce
that the way it's written, we would say 'did you eat yet?' But in rapid, spoken
English, the 'did you' gets reduced. Do you see how the nature of the consonants
changes, it's not 'did you,' it's 'juh' Let's suppose that you had already eaten
lunch, so I could ask you 'hoodjeet with with?'"
RS: "Who did you eat with?"
BAKER: "That's right. Whadja eet?"
RS: "'What did you eat?' to translate."
BAKER: "Right. The reductions occur in words that are not stressed. So going
back over those three examples, which admittedly are rather extreme -- and we'll
go back and look at a few cases that are less extreme -- notice that it's the
auxiliary verb, which is 'did,' and the pronoun 'you' gets reduced, and the word
'eat,' which is the verb in this sentence, is the stressed word. The word 'yet'
is unstressed; it's an adverb. So it comes out 'jeet yet?'
Now let me give you some examples of reductions that occur frequently, or even
all the time. One example would be the preposition 'to,' which we normally in
spoken language pronounce 'ta,' 'I hafta go,' 'I hafta,' right? Haf-ta. It's not
'to.' Same thing with the word 'you.' How does that get reduced?"
RS: "Ya."
BAKER: "That's right, it becomes 'ya.' So instead of 'how are you doing,' we say
'how ya doin'?"
AA: "You drop the g on doing."
BAKER: "We drop the g. So that would be -- remember, there are two changes that
occur in pronunciation when forms are reduced. One is that consonants change or
disappear, and other one is that there's a change in the vowel quality. So 'how
ya doin',' the word 'are' disappeared all together, the 'you' changed to 'ya'
and on the word 'doing' the g dropped."
RS: "It would sound really strange if I would say in casual conversation, 'how
are you doing?'"
AA: "Unless you're talking to someone who's hard of hearing or you know doesn't
understand the language very well."
BAKER: "Yeah, it would be very unnatural. Think of other forms like 'gotta.' 'I
gotta go.' We don't say 'I have got to go.' The word 'have' drops, 'got to'
becomes 'gotta.' Notice 'got to,' when we pronounce them together, the 't' in
American English changes to a ‘d.’ So there's a example of where, as I said
before, consonant quality changes."
RS: "And we see this with 'going to,' 'I'm gonna go.'"
BAKER: "And very interesting, because most of my students, even at a low
intermediate level, are familiar with 'gonna.' They've heard it so many times in
movies and in songs and so on, so much so that I'll receive essays where the
students have written g-o-n-n-a. But what I'm teaching people is academic
English, and so I have to teach them that it's not OK to write reduced forms.
It's OK to say them, but you shouldn't write them."
AA: "So is any of this related to social class or to education?"
BAKER: "I think the use of reduced forms is tied more to the situation. You'll
find that when people are talking with their friends in a more casual situation,
where we're feeling more relaxed, we tend to use more reduced forms -- because,
one of the reasons that we do reduce forms, that we do have so many reductions
in our speech, is that it's just much easier to pronounce words. Whenever we
pronounce consonants, the mouth has to be in a certain position, and to move
from one position to another requires a certain amount of muscular effort."
RS: Lida Baker teaches at the American Language Center of the University of
California at Los Angeles. She also writes textbooks for English learners.
AA: You'll find our previous Wordmaster segments with Lida on our Web site,
voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. Or write us
at VOA Wordmaster, Washington DC 20237 USA. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi
Arditti.
MUSIC: "What You Gonna Do"/The Jeanette Williams Band
Pronunciation Tips
Are You How You Talk?
(Beginner - Listening,
reading)
A video lesson to
help with your understanding of American dialects.
The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page.
Are You How You Talk?
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American dialects. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program.
Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your
Ears
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your
pronunciation and English language
reductions. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed. Great English pronunciation tips.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program.
