The Doppelgänger, Part 2: Shadowing Luke Thompson’s British Connected Speech

Part 2: where we left off

• Alex: This is part two of our pronunciation and shadowing breakdown of The Doppelgänger, read by the one and only Luke Thompson.
• Alex: If you haven’t seen part one yet, go check it out first. We covered up to <mark>line seven</mark>.
• Alex: Luke reads the full story brilliantly. Do yourself a favour and listen to the whole thing.
• Luke: …because your other hand was clasping the hand of the woman opposite.
• Alex: Your other: this is called the <mark>linking R</mark>. It’s only pronounced before a vowel sound.
• Alex: <mark>Clasping</mark>: a long /ɑː/ as in bar or star.

8. Your heads were too close.

• Luke: Your heads were too close.
• Alex: <mark>Your</mark>: no R, because <i>heads</i> starts with a consonant. In American English you’ll hear it.
• Alex: You’ve got to do that <mark>at the same time</mark>. That’s shadowing!

9. She was laughing.

• Luke: She was laughing.
• Alex: <mark>Laughing</mark>: the long /ɑː/ as in clasp, star, car. In the US most people say it with the cat vowel.

10. That abandoned laughing you do when you’re totally in the moment

• Luke: That abandoned laughing you do when you’re totally in the moment…
• Alex: <mark>That</mark>, pronounced with the same vowel sound as in cat.
• Alex: An instance of <mark>catenation</mark>: tha-tabandoned.
• Alex: <mark>Laughing</mark> is treated as a noun here: the activity of laughing.
• Alex: <mark>You’re</mark> totally: no R before a consonant.
• Alex: <mark>Totally</mark>: in American English the T sounds like a kind of D. In Luke’s accent it’s a clear T.

11. Totally in love.

• Luke: …totally in love.
• Alex: In American English you get the <mark>flap T</mark>, shown in dictionaries with its own symbol.

12. I walked on.

• Luke: I walked on.
• Alex: <mark>Walk</mark>: the L is silent, in British and American English.
• Alex: Catenation again: walk-ton. The -ED is a /t/ and it joins <i>on</i>.
• Alex: <mark>On</mark>: British /ɒn/; in American English you’ll often hear something closer to /ɑːn/.

13. Heels tapping out a staccato rhythm…

• Luke: Heels tapping out a staccato rhythm…
• Alex: <mark>Heels</mark>: a long /iː/ and a final Z sound.
• Alex: <mark>Tapping</mark>: the first syllable rhymes with cats. Then we connect: tapping-out.
• Alex: Catenation once again: tapping-out-a.
• Alex: <mark>Staccato</mark>: a long /ɑː/ in British English.
• Alex: In American English the T at the end is a flap T. In British English it’s what some YouTubers call a <mark>true T</mark>.

14. …as I no longer wanted to look at the you who wasn’t you.

• Luke: …as I no longer wanted to look at the you who wasn’t you.
• Alex: <mark>As I</mark>: the Z connects the two words.
• Alex: <mark>Longer</mark>: no R before <i>wanted</i>. And wanted ends in /ɪd/.
• Alex: <mark>Want</mark>: British /ɒ/, American /ɑː/. The usual dichotomy, like lot.
• Alex: <mark>At the</mark>: we anticipate the TH, so the T becomes dental.
• Alex: We <mark>stress the pronouns</mark> to make a contrast: I didn’t do it. YOU did it.
• Alex: Wasn’t you: the T is normally dropped, but here Luke doesn’t drop it.
• Alex: T + Y gives you CH: want you → wanchu. This is called <mark>coalescent assimilation</mark>.
• Alex: There are other songs with it too: <i>ignite your bones</i> → ignichor bones.
• Alex: And D + Y gives you J: <mark>need you</mark> → neeju.

Well done!

• Alex: Big thanks again to <mark>Luke Thompson</mark> for the original reading. Go support his work and check out the full episode.
• Alex: Which line was trickiest? What word are you most proud of <mark>nailing</mark>?
• Alex: Are you interested in me shadowing a particular speaker? Let me know!

Bonus: a live chat about British vs American English

• Alex: We’re talking about the main <mark>distinctions</mark> between British and American English.
• Alex: The <mark>intrusive R</mark> pops up between two vowel sounds: coma-r-is.

Bonus: interested vs interesting

• Alex: Do you know the difference between <mark>interested</mark> and <mark>interesting</mark>?
• Alex: -ING: it <mark>causes the feeling</mark>. An interesting film makes you feel interested.
• Alex: -ED: it’s <mark>the feeling</mark> people have.

Bonus: The Tell-Tale Heart

• Alex: I’m going to read you a story by <mark>Edgar Allan Poe</mark>: The Tell-Tale Heart.
• Alex: …How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

See you next time!

• Alex: This has been Alex’s Adventures in English. Cheers, and keep shadowing, mate!