Monday, 7 January 2013

Visiting Tarquinia through phonetics


This week I'd like to offer my readers a phonetic transcription in IPA of (part of) an article by the American writer Daniel Foster which is about the town where I live in Italy: Tarquinia

The full text in English orthography can be found here. Please note that I've transcribed paragraphs 2-7 and that my transcription only represents the way I would pronounce the article myself in contemporary RP. Also, notice that, although all of the pronunciations represented below can be regarded as belonging to current RP, they are not always recommendable to the EFL teacher as these may sometimes have distinct disadvantages for the student to copy.

(Questa settimana voglio offrire ai miei lettori una trascrizione fonetica in IPA di un testo scritto dall'americano Daniel Foster che riguarda la città nella quale vivo in Italia: Tarquinia. L'intero articolo in inglese potete trovarlo qui. Si noti che la mia trascrizione riguarda i paragrafi 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 e 7, e che questa rappresenta soltanto il modo in cui io pronuncerei il testo secondo lo standard britannico contemporaneo.)


tɑːkwɪniər ɪz nɔːθ əv rəʊm ɪn ðə vɪtɜːbəʊ prɒvɪnts, əbaʊt ən aər ən θriː kwɔːtəz baɪ treɪn. ðə draɪvz slaɪʔli les, ɪksept ɒŋ krʌʃ sʌmə wiːkendz, wen rəʊmənz teɪk ðɛ hɒlədeɪ hɪər əlɒŋ sɪks maɪəlz əv biːtʃɪz strʌŋ wɪð restrɒnts, bɑːz əm wɔːkweɪz.


sʌm vɪzɪt tɑːkwɪniə əz ə deɪ ɔːr əʊvənaɪʔ trɪp frm̩ ə həʊm beɪst ɪn rəʊm. betə ðəʊ, tə spend fɔːr ɔː faɪv deɪz hɪə. ðər ə wɜːði deɪ trɪps frɒm tɑːkwɪniə ɪtself – tə sʌm ə ðə ɡrændɪs mænərɪs vɪləz ɪn ɔːl əv jʊərəp.


tɑːkwɪniə, nəʊn əz kɔːneɪtəʊ əntɪl ðə naɪntiːntθ sentʃəri, ərɪdʒn̩li stʊd ɪn æntɪkwəti ɒn ðə tʃɪvɪtɑː hɪl, dʒʌs nɔːθ əv ðə kʌrənʔ sɪti, jeʔ rɪtʃ ɪm mediiːvl̩ ɑːkɪtektʃə. mæsɪv laɪmstəʊn blɒks deɪtɪŋ tə ðə fɔːθ sentʃəri biːsiː kən stɪl bi vjuːd ət tʃɪvɪtɑː.   


tɑːkwɪniəz meɪn drɔː: peɪntɪd ɪtrʌskən tuːmz ðəʔ deɪʔ tə ðə sevn̩θ sentʃəri biːsiː kənteɪnɪŋ vɪvɪd siːnz əv hʌntɪŋ, fiːstɪŋ, dɑːntsɪŋ, ɔːdʒiz ən iːvn̩ flɒɡɪŋ. ðə kɒmbəneɪʃən əv seks, deθ n̩ spɪrɪtʃʊæləti wəz ə traɪd ən truː traɪæd fə ði ɪtrʌskənz, ə mɪks reɪs əv mɪdl̩ iːstən ɒrədʒɪnz.


əʊni tuː hʌndəd nəʊn ɪtrʌskən tuːmz wɪð peɪntɪd freskəʊz ɪɡzɪst, ən tɑːkwɪniə hæz ðə laənz ʃɛː – wʌn hʌndrd̩ n̩ fɔːti. ðə tɑːkwɪniə nɪkrɒpəlɪs, ɔːlsəʊ tɜːmd mɒntərɒtsi, ɪŋkluːdz ðə tuːm əv ðə lepədz, tuːm əv ðə bʊlz ən tuːm əv flɒɡɪŋ.


ðə nɪkrɒpəlɪs ɪz ə rɛːr ən fæsɪneɪtɪŋ ɡlɪmps ɪntu eɪnʃənʔ deθ m̩ mædʒɪk rɪtʃʊəlz. peɪntɪd ɪn rɪtʃ hjuːz əv blʌd red, əʊkər əŋ kəʊbɔːlt, meni əv ðə freskəʊz ə səpraɪzɪŋli ɪntækt – naʊ siːl bəhaɪŋ ɡlɑːs, ən əksesəbl̩ baɪ diːp kʌʔ stɛːweɪz bəniːθ ðə berjəl maʊndz. pres ə bʌʔn̩ nɪə ðə vjuːɪŋ wɪndəʊ ən ðeɪ laɪt ʌp.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the transcription, Alex. And you're very lucky to live in such a fascinating place.

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    Replies
    1. Many thanks, Emilio!
      PS: Why don't you come and visit Tarquinia?

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    2. Why thanks a lot! One day I will spend some happy weeks there.

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  2. I have to report that the link to the version in ord·nry spelling didnt work for me in Safari or even when I tried it in Firefox and Chrome. My main int·rest in trying to use it was to see whether Foster capitalised 'Mannerist' or not.

    At 'ðə ɡrændɪs mænərɪs vɪləz', if I'd been reading this aloud, I'd've prob·bly slowed down over such an unfamiliar word and so not elided its /t/ saying /`manəˏrɪst `vɪləz/.

    I'd've also favoured, as I think most peeple wou·d here, the vowelled weakform of 'from' and so sed / frəm ə `ˏhəʊm | beɪst ɪn ˎrəʊm/ as I think peeple gen·rally do (using /frm/ chiefly where the next sound is a consonant).

    I have to congratulate Alex on making the correct use of the IPA "triangular colon" (as Unicode call it) at "tɑːkwɪniəz meɪn drɔː:peɪntɪd ɪtrʌskən tuːmz..."
    When the writer wishes to follow it with an orthodox colon one of the weaknesses of this less than fully successful choice by the designers of the IPA alphabet is exposed by the reduced legibility entailed.

    Finally, the accentuational ambiguity of "tʃɪvɪtɑː" highlights one of the disadvantages of transcriptions that dont show even simple intonations. We can't know how the transcriber stresses it. It cou·d be /`ʧɪvɪtɑ, ʧɪ`vɪtɑ/ or /ʧɪvɪ`tɑ/ especially ending a sentence as it does here. I'd've sed /ʧɪvɪ`tɑ/ or rather /ʧivi`tɑ/ .

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    Replies
    1. Jack, thanks for your comments!

      The link should be ok now.

      "Finally, the accentuational ambiguity of "tʃɪvɪtɑː" highlights one of the disadvantages of transcriptions that dont show even simple intonations. We can't know how the transcriber stresses it. It cou·d be /`ʧɪvɪtɑ, ʧɪ`vɪtɑ/ or /ʧɪvɪ`tɑ/ especially ending a sentence as it does here. I'd've sed /ʧɪvɪ`tɑ/ or rather /ʧivi`tɑ/ ."

      I pronounce it with stress on the first syllable (compare Italian /ˈtʃivita/).

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