さて、新年の「書き初め」ならぬ「音読初め」をやってみようと思います。以前旧ブログのほうで実践したことがある英文ですが、旧ブログは音源を聴くことができなくなってしまいましたので、再度音読しようと思います。General British (BG) と General American (GA) の両方で朗読します。
まずは、英文に出てくるいくつかの単語を、General British と General American で発音しますので、違いを感じ取ってみてください↓
One day last year, when I was driving back to work after I’d had lunch, I had an amazing and unforgettable experience. It must have been two o’clock — or perhaps a quarter of an hour later, a quarter past two. It was an incredible thing, really. I was sitting there at the steering wheel of my new car, waiting for the lights to change, when all of a sudden the car started to shake this way and that, rocking from side to side, throwing me backwards and forwards, up and down. I felt as if I was riding a bucking horse.
/-tl+母音/ の場合、もうひとつのバリエーションとして、/t/ の部分を glottal stop で代用することが General British ではとてもよく起こりますし、General American でもときどき耳にします。上の単語で実践してみます。イメージを理解してもらうために Glottal stop の部分を少し大げさに発音してみます。（General British で発音します）
Today’s my singing
今回は ‘If Every Day Was Like Christmas’ という美しいクリスマス・ソングを歌ってみます。歌詞に出てくる ‘sweetly’ と ‘endlessly’ の部分では非常にソフトに側面開放を行なっています。
I hear the bells
Saying Christmas is near
They ring out to tell the world
That this is the season of cheer
I hear a choir
Singing sweetly somewhere
And a glow fills my heart
I’m at peace with the world
As the sound of their singing fills the air
Oh why can’t every day be like Christmas
Why can’t that feeling go on endlessly
For if everyday could be just like Christmas
What a wonderful world this would be
I hear a child
Telling Santa what to bring
And the smile upon his tiny face
Is worth more to me than anything
次は /-tl-, -dl-/ を含んだセンテンスを使っての発音練習です。（発音は General British です。）↓
• Fortunately, they all escaped immediately.
ˈfɔːtʃənətli | ðeɪ ˈɔːl ɪˈskeɪpt | ɪˈmiːdiətli ||
• Audley sent them a bundle of flowers.
ˈɔːdli ˈsent ðəm | ə ˈbʌndl əv ˈfla(ʊ)əz ||
• Sadly, the hospital was damaged badly in the battle.
ˈsædli | ðə ˈhɒspɪtl wəz ˈdæmɪdʒd ˈbædli | ɪn ðə ˈbætl ||
• He settled down in a little village in the middle of May.
hiː ˈsetld ˈdaʊn | ɪn ə ˈlɪtl ˈvɪlɪdʒ | ɪn ðə ˈmɪdl əv ˈmeɪ ||
次は、前回と同じ Ernest Cameron著 Natural Singing and Speaking の冒頭文の続きを少し音読してみます。
まずは、今回の英文に出てくる単語のいくつかの発音を確認します。（発音は General British）↓
The human voice, used naturally, would be much too powerful for a room. After years of artificial modulation the full resonant tone which all voices should possess is generally more or less lost. This means that the vocal cords are not being used in the correct manner so as to employ them to the fullest extent. In a short time the ability to use the full natural tone is entirely gone, and the voice has acquired one or many of the disagreeable qualities commonly associated with inferior voices.
This may take the form of huskiness, a harsh rasping sound, a nasal twang, or a woolliness which renders it almost inaudible. Herein lies the reason why actors and public speakers, when first called upon by their vocation to speak with the full, natural voice, frequently find themselves unable to do so without strain and undue effort, the result being loss of voice, laryngitis, and post nasal or laryngeal catarrh.
Today’s my singing
今回は、とても古いカントリーの名曲 “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” に挑戦しました。この曲は1944年のミュージカル映画 Sing, Neighbor, Sing のために Scotty Wiseman が作った曲ですが、多くの歌手によってカバーされています。歌の中で何度も出てくる ‘lately’ /ˈleɪtli/ は側面開放の練習になりますね。
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Could I tell you once again somehow?
Have I told with all my heart and soul
How I adore you?
Well, darling,
I’m telling you now
Have I told you lately when I’m sleeping
Every dream I dream is you somehow?
Have I told you why the nights are long
When you’re not with me?
Well, darling,
I’m telling you now
My heart would break in two if I should lose you
I’m no good without you anyhow
And have I told you lately that I love you?
Well, darling
I’m telling you now
feel /fiːl/, sale /seɪl/, full /fʊl/, people /ˈpiːpl/, circle /ˈsɜːkl/, help /help/, silk /sɪlk/, fault /fɔːlt/, realm /relm/, self /self/
次は /l/ を含んだセンテンスを使っての発音練習をしてみましょう。（発音は General British）↓
• Leave me alone because I want to sleep well.
ˈliːv mi əˈləʊn | bɪkəz aɪ ˈwɒnt tə ˈsliːp ˈwel ||
• At last lots of people have flocked to the building.
ət ˈlɑːst | ˈlɒts əv ˈpiːpl | əv ˈflɒkt tə ðə ˈbɪldɪŋ ||
• Billy can’t help feeling that it’s real.
ˈbɪli | ˈkɑːnt help ˈfiːlɪŋ | ðət ɪts ˈriːəl ||
• It’s been a long, long time since I last saw Hellen.
ɪts bin ə ˈlɒŋ lɒŋ ˈtaɪm | sɪns aɪ ˈlɑːs(t) sɔː ˈhelən ||
次は、Ernest Cameron著 Natural Singing and Speaking の冒頭部分を音読してみます。
まずは、今回の英文に出てくる単語のいくつかの発音を確認します。（発音は General British）↓
Contrary to popular belief, the voice used in ordinary conversation is not the natural voice. It is a modulated form dictated by the usages and requirements of civilization.
We are most of us born with strong, clear voices; but then the trouble begins. A child learns to produce voice by imitation, and if, as is almost invariably the case, the nurse or mother who may be in attendance has very imperfect voice, the defects of production which make it so, will be acquired by the child. Production means the particular adjustment of vocal muscles used to emit sound. We therefore see that a child learns voice production at a very early age.
It’s impossible to tell the sun to leave the sky
It’s impossible
It’s impossible to ask a baby not to cry
It’s just impossible
Can I hold you closer to me
And not feel you going through me?
But the second that I never think of you
Oh, how impossible
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore?
It’s impossible
If I had you could I ever ask for more?
It’s just impossible
And tomorrow, should you ask me for the world
Somehow I’d get it
I would sell my very soul
And not regret it
For to live without your love
Is just impossible