pronunciation: /k/ likes, contact (2024)

Hello!

I've learned the IPA and I'm wondering how native speakers pronounce the verb "likes", as in "She likes me."

Is there a slight 'k' sound?
For example, when you pronounce the alphabet "x", do you pronounce a small, tiny 'k' sound before you pronounce the s sound sound?

Please tell me.

Thank you!

Hello,

Why do you use the words "slight" and "tiny"? I pronounce the "K" and don't know anyone who doesn't.

There is a huge great big 'k' sound, not a slight, small, tiny one.

/laɪks/
If you look up likes at http://www.wordreference.com/definition/likes there are pronunciation buttons where you can hear the word both in US and UK versions.

Oh. I thought it was just a small k sound, so it is actually a big, normal one?
I pronounce the k sound in "exactly". Is it the same concept here?

Thanks again.

What about the k in 'contact'?
Like "A fear of physical contact."

I think native speakers always pronounce the k sound, and then pronounce the t sound.
But I was taught people left out the k sound in this word.

Thank you again!

Amber_1010 said:

What about the k in 'contact'?
Like "A fear of physical contact."

I think native speakers always pronounce the k sound, and then pronounce the t sound.
But I was taught people left out the k sound in this word.

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If we left it out, it would sound like "contat", and I have never heard that. The consonant cluster in this word does not pose a problem to native speakers.

pob14 said:

I pronounce "exactly" as if it started with "eggs." This may be a Midwesternism; I'm not sure.

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No, that's no abnormalism. Even the dictionaries think that's how it should be said.

I kind of understand. But I'm still quite confused.
Would you mind telling mind how you pronounce the underlined words here, whether you pronounce the 'k' sound?

1. I

it. (Do you say the 'k' sound here?)
2. I have lost

with her. (Do you pronounce the 'k' sound before saying the with?)
3. Please

us. ( In 'contact us', when you pronounce it, linking up the words, does it sound 'conta(kus)' (with the k sound, t sound disappears) or 'contatus' (links with the t, without the k sound?)

Thank you very much!

cyberpedant said:

There is a strong /k/ in all of those words. Are /k/s pronounced softly in your native language?

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Do you mean there is a strong k sound in all of the words in post 9?
In my native language, we don't pronounce it.
Thanks again.

Check this site out. It has excellent graphics and clear sound:

Phonetics: The Sounds of American English

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

There's always a k.

UK phoenetics: |lʌɪks|
US phoenetics: |laɪks|

Amber_1010 said:

Do you mean there is a strong k sound in all of the words in post 9?
In my native language, we don't pronounce it.
Thanks again.

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I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. In our native language (if you are referring to Cantonese), there

a k sound. What you mean, I think, is that when a lot of people here say the word "contact", for example, they just don't realise the existence of the k sound before the t sound.

Not at all, brian.

What I mean is that it's normal for you to perceive a difference between the first "c" and the second.

GS

The first /k/ is common to English and Cantonese - it's only those at the ends of syllables that can cause problems. In Cantonese a final /k/ is unreleased - there is no release (explosion/aspiration) after it. It is possible to say English /k/ like this too, in words like like or book, though we more usually give it release. Phonetically, this is probably quite similar to how we say /k/ before another stop, as in act. The mouth shapes the vowel to approach the [k] sound, then changes to [t] and only releases on the [t]. Before a fricative, as in likes, there would be explosion: the [k] is released into the [s].

Like all the Chinese languages, Cantonese has no clusters, so English groups like /ks/ and /kt/ are hard to hear and to produce. My advice would be to practise by over-emphasizing the /k/ rather than being tempted to leave it out.

Giorgio Spizzi said:

Not at all, brian.

What I mean is that it's normal for you to perceive a difference between the first "c" and the second.

GS

Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying, GS

entangledbank said:

Like all the Chinese languages, Cantonese has no clusters, so English groups like /ks/ and /kt/ are hard to hear and to produce. My advice would be to practise by over-emphasizing the /k/ rather than being tempted to leave it out.

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Thanks for the explanation. Good advice indeed!

I was once taught that when a plosive (e.g. /k/) is followed by a consonant, the plosive is often pronounced in an incomplete manner, i.e. we block the airflow (e.g. close the glottis in the case of /k/, or close the lips in the case of /p/), build up pressure, but without the final release of air.

Have I been taught wrongly?
Of course I trust you guys more since you are native speakers.