2003-06-27 01:28:27charlessu

如何練習聽懂ICRT新聞---(三)

(三)語調頓挫藏玄機:書寫的英文,讀者可藉標點符號清楚瞭解訊息的意思。可說口語英語只能靠說話者的語調(intonation)及頓挫(juncture)來替代標點符號。因此聽者必須知道敘述句,問句和驚嘆句的語調,也要知道多長的頓挫代表無標點,逗點,或句點。國人對231↓及231↑兩種語調很熟悉,但對22→non→final 的語調較生疏,而non→final在口語英語中用的機會很多,宜多利用機會訓練。請看下列句子:

Other than the romance novelist Tsung Yao, San Mao is probably the only writer that has successfully penetrated the hearts of youngsters in mainland China. 說者在Tsung Yao後一定會稍停頓並以non→final→22 的語調說出:而that子句在本句子係限制子句,所以在writer與that之間也是non→final的語調,且中間頓挫極短促的。

Taro Ishibahi, who is the director of loan aid at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview that Pakistan could default on its debt became of the impact of the Gulf crisis.

Who 子句是非限制子句,因此在Who與其先行詞之間的頓挫就要比上句中的writer與that 之間的頓挫稍長,雖然仍然用non-final語調。

和意群一樣,聽者如何判斷頓挫長短而邊聽邊在腦海中加標點,必須有良好的文法底子像在下列這個例子:

The man was told he would have to take his daughter away. He complained. However. The KTVs have become venues for family amusement in Taipei. 三個簡單的句子,聽起來不會太難,但是,第二句的however不注意的話,很容易聽成引起第三句的連接副詞,意思就不同了。

(四)連音:連音在口語英語中是極普遍現象。如tons of, make an announcement tell (h)im, for (h)er等。

通常在一個意群中子音與母音很自然的便連了起來,如前面舉的一則有關日本外務省官員的例子said in an interview幾個字串連在一起,對聽者來說是極大考驗。

有時候播音員撥報速度極快,甚至可把不同意群的部分也可連音,如:

When the scaffolding began to shake, he unfastened his safety belt to try to escape.

在shake後,理當稍頓,但若播報速度快很自然便和he連,聽起來便像shaky.

由於新聞播報速度大部分都快,因此連音部分極多,對初學者來說造成許多困擾。

(五)弱化現象:口說美國英語中還有一獨特現象,就是在e, m, n 前有 [t]、[d]便成弱化音,如little, important, mountain, couldn’t, didn’t, medal, middle, battle等的[t]、[d]音幾乎變成[r] 音,這類字出現在新聞報導的頻率相當高,也是需要多加練習。