An(a)esthetists and hospitals

As far as I know (please, correct me if I'm wrong!), my book on English for medical science is the only published work to contain the following pronunciations for GB:

1) an(a)esthetist əˈniːθətɪst (p. 155)

2) hospital ˈhɒspɪdl̩ ~ ˈhɒspɪdəl (p. 30)

As you all know, traditional GB pronunciations for the term an(a)esthetist are əˈniːsθətɪst ~ æˈniːsθətɪst, but əˈniːθətɪst appears now to be becoming more common. Same thing with hospital, which alongside the usual ˈhɒspɪtl̩ ~ ˈhɒspɪtəl, now also seems to have acquired the variants indicated in 2) above. 

Listen to this Hardtalk podcast of the 23^rd October 2013. In it British surgeon David Nott can be heard to say əˈniːθətɪst at 8:52 and 8:55, and ˈhɒspɪdl̩z at 7:15.

Anestesisti e ospedali

Per quanto ne so, il mio libro è l'unico testo pubblicato a contenere le seguenti pronunce per il GB:  

1) an(a)esthetist əˈniːθətɪst (p. 155)

2) hospital ˈhɒspɪdl̩ ~ ˈhɒspɪdəl (p. 30)

Come saprete tutti, il termine an(a)esthetist ('anestesista') è tradizionalmente pronunciato in GB əˈniːsθətɪst ~ æˈniːsθətɪst; tuttavia sembra che la variante əˈniːθətɪst stia diventando più frequente. Stessa cosa per hospital ('ospedale'), solitamente pronunciato ˈhɒspɪtl̩ ~ ˈhɒspɪtəl, ma ultimamente anche ˈhɒspɪdl̩ ~ ˈhɒspɪdəl, come indicato al punto 2) sopra. 

Ascoltate questo podcast della trasmissione della BBC Hardtalk con Stephen Sackur del 23 ottobre 2013: il chirurgo inglese intervistato, David Nott, utilizza la variante əˈniːθətɪst al minuto 8:52 e 8:55, e ˈhɒspɪdl̩z al minuto 7:15.

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Intorcia, E. & Pepicelli, E. (2012). English for Success. Aracne

Born with an ear for accents

Are expert phoneticians born with particular predispositions, or are they made through experience? 

"wi ɪɡzæmɪn breɪn strʌkʧər ɪn ekspɜːʔ fəʊnətɪʃn̩z | ɪndɪvɪdʒuəlz | hu ə haɪli treɪn tu ænəlaɪz ən trænskraɪb spiːʧ || wi faʊnd ə pɒzətɪv kɒrəleɪʃn̩ bətwiːn ðə saɪz əv left pɑːz əʊpɜːkjəlɛːrɪs | ən jɪəz əv fənetɪk trænskrɪpʃn̩ treɪnɪŋ ɪkspɪːriənʦ | ɪləstreɪtɪŋ haʊ lɜːnɪŋ meɪ əfekt breɪn strʌkʧə || fəʊnətɪʃn̩z wər ɔːsəʊ mɔː laɪkli tə hæv mʌltɪpl̩ | ɔː splɪt left trænzvɜːs ʤaɪraɪ ɪn ði ɔːdətri kɔːteks ðn̩ kəntrɒʊlz | ən ði əmaʊnt əv fənetɪk trænskrɪpʃn̩ treɪnɪŋ dɪd nɒʔ prɪdɪkt ɔːdətri kɔːteks mɔːfɒləʤi || ðə trænzvɜːs ʤaɪraɪ ə θɔːʔ tə bi ɪstæblɪʃt ɪn juːtərəʊ || ɑː rəzʌlʦ ðʌs səʤest ðəʔ ðɪs ɡrəʊs mɔːfəlɒʤɪkl̩ dɪfrənʦ meɪ əv ɪɡzɪstɪd bɪfɔː ði ɒnset əv fənetɪk treɪnɪŋ | ən ðət ɪʦ prezn̩ʦ kənfɜːz ən ədvɑːntɪʤ əv səfɪʃn̩ mæɡnəʧuːd tu əfekt kərɪː ʧɔɪsɪz || ðiːz rəzʌlʦ səʤest kɒmpləmentri ɪnflʊənʦɪz əv dəmeɪn spəsɪfɪk priːdɪspəzɪʃn̩z ən ɪkspɪːriənʦ dɪpendənt breɪn mæliəbɪləti | ɪnflʊənʦɪz ðəʔ laɪkli ɪntərækt ɪn dɪtɜːmɪnɪŋ nɒʔ əʊni haʊ ɪkspɪːriənʦ ʃeɪps ðə hjuːmən breɪn | bət ɔːsəʊ | waɪ sʌm ɪndɪvɪdʒuəlz bəkʌm ɪŋɡeɪʤ baɪ sɜːʔn̩ fiːlʣ əv ekspətiːz ||"

(For the full text in orthography see Golestani, Price, & Scott, The Journal of Neuroscience, 16 March 2011)

A couple of 'screenshots' of my book

I thought my readers might find it useful to have a look at some of the pages from my newly published book before they decide whether they want to buy it or not. So here goes. Below you can see pp. 90-91, where I discuss stress placement in English words and in frequent Italian medical terms.

(Ho pensato che i miei lettori troveranno utile dare un'occhiatina ad alcune delle pagine tratte dal mio ultimo libro prima di decidere se acquistarlo o no. Quindi questa settimana vi offro pp. 90-91, dove tratto della posizione dell'accento lessicale in inglese e in alcuni frequenti termini medici dell'italiano. Enjoy!)

Please note the following abbreviations:

GB General British
GA General American
PGI Pronuncia Generale Italiana (= 'General Italian')
LPD Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

The words of an expert phonetician

In this week's post I offer you a link to John Maidment's blog, where you can find an enthusiastic review of my newly published book (see last week's article). Many thanks, John!

Nel post di questa settimana vi sottopongo la dettagliata ed entusiastica recensione del mio ultimo libro (vedi l'articolo della scorsa settimana) scritta dal fonetista inglese John Maidment (foto a destra). Buona lettura!