I am in receipt of a missive asking "How can you call what you do journalism?" Since I get this question from time to time, I thought it worth answering here.
"Journalism", as you probably know, starts with the voiced palatal approximant, so modish in the better languages these days.
A lot of people worry about it, but it couldn't be easier. Here's the trick: clench your teeth together, place tongue firmly behind the top teeth just where it joins your palate, and push a short, sharp voiced breath quickly over your tongue while opening your mouth.
Next we run into "our". A lot of people who grew up in languages with regularized spelling fall down here! But don't worry--with just a few simple preparations, we're going to get this on the first go.
Despite the irregular spelling, we're just dealing with a garden variety [ər] sound, which you'll probably know from words like "burn" and "learn". The lips push forward and the tongue retracts. But look sharp now, because we're headed into a consonant cluster!
Instead of taking a nice vowelly rest after we've rumbled our tongue through that post-alveolar approximant, we've got to get set up for an alveolar nasal. But don't get grumpy--if you turn that frown upside down, you'll find that consonant clusters can be fun!
(And what a good thing that is, because we've got *another* consonant cluster at the end! You're going to really feel like you've done something when we're finished, my friend.)
As soon as I begin the first consonant, I start looking ahead to where we're going next--remember, when it comes to consonant clusters, you can never be too prepared! Put the tongue right where the palate begins to arch and think about pushing the sound upwards.
You should really feel the consonant in your nose--don't swallow it.
All right, well done! We've earned ourselves a little rest with a nice long [ə] sound.
All right, well done! We've earned ourselves a little rest with a nice long [ə] sound.
Oh, I know, you ESL-speakers were expecting something that sounded like an "a" sound somewhere. Those medieval monks certainly were tricksy. And maybe also tipsy. But the nice thing about irregular spelling is that it gives you something to show off at parties.
All right, folks, almost home--just two consonants and a vowel to go. Remember, there is no "I" in team. But there is in "Journalism".
We're not there yet, of course. But I wanted to give you something to look forward to.
However, we can't start messing around with vowels until we've finished our consonant. So let's hurry through our alveolar approximant course.
However, we can't start messing around with vowels until we've finished our consonant. So let's hurry through our alveolar approximant course.
That's right, tongue right up against--and do pay attention, because this is a bit complicated--the *bottom* of your top teeth. You should aim to have it almost, but not quite, sticking out. Just a nice short sound, pushing off of the teeth, and straight on into our short I.
Wasn't that easy? And all we have left is one consonant cluster!
But we're going to have to take care to get through this one, because while the spelling suggests that the first consonant is a voiceless alveolar fricative, in fact the modern pronunciation is closer to a *voiced* alveolar fricative!
Oh, dear me, those medieval monks certainly were pranksters, weren't they? All in good fun, though.
Now, we've just got one consonant left, a nasal labial. Just as soon as you start your fricative, you should already be getting ready to push those lips together and sort of hum through your nose.
And that's it! WE'VE DONE IT! We've called what I do "Journalism!"
And that's it! WE'VE DONE IT! We've called what I do "Journalism!"
I hope that clears everything up for you. Thanks for writing.
