Segmental and Suprasegmental Analysis:

A Case Study of a Malay Learner’s Utterances of an

English Song

SRI KANDY PUTRI NARU ABDUL HAMID NARU a, and SHAFIQ HIZWARI MD HASHIM b

a,b
Centre for International Languages,
Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia
a
[email protected]
b
[email protected]

Abstract – Pronunciation mistakes are among the common belongs as one of the members of the Western
occurrences made by L2 Malay learners of English. Bahasa Group of the Austronesian family, where all the
Melayu and English vary in the numbers of vowels and
diphthongs, as well as the origin of the consonants (Goay and indigenous languages of Southeast Asia are related.
Choo, 2003). Despite having sundry disparities, both are This language is widely spoken among Malay-
phonetics languages and use Roman characters in the written speaking countries namely Malaysia, Singapore,
form (Wai, Siew and Roziati, 2007). Hence, this paper aims to
analyze the differences and similarities of English sound with Thailand, Brunei and the like (Abdullah, 1974;
Bahasa Melayu, by focusing on two features; Segmental and Swan and Smith, 2001; Wai, Siew and Roziati,
Suprasegmental (Prosodic Rules – Assimilation, Dissimilation, 2007). The varieties of Malay language used in
Insertion, Deletion and Linking). The analysis was gathered from
a case study, where a Malay subject’s utterances of an English these countries vary according to the assimilation
song was recorded and transcribed by using IPA transcription. process that the language has undergone. Such
An in-depth analysis was done by comparing the subject’s occurrence has brought along some major
written utterances to the original lyric of the song. The lyric was
also transcribed into phonetics transcription based on a standard differences in terms of its orthography as well as
Received Pronunciation (RP) of English. The findings indicate pronunciation.
that there are various notable features in the subject’s utterances
when compared to the RP of English and these features are
consistent and frequent among L2 Malay learners. Ergo, the Hence, this paper aims to analyze the differences
implication of this case study would be useful for academicians, and similarities of English sound with Bahasa
material developers, researchers; those who are involved in the Melayu, by focusing on two features; Segmental
teaching of English.
(Consonants and Vowels) and Suprasegmental
Keywords - L2 Learner, Pronunciation, Phonology, Segmental, (Prosodic Rules - Assimilation, Dissimilation,
Suprasegmental Insertion, Deletion and Linking).
INTRODUCTION
I.
It is important to note that the variety of
Malay language, the mother tongue of the Malay languages used for the whole of this paper is British
ethics group has been used as a medium of English. Meanwhile the Malay language adverts in
intergroup communication among the Malays ever this paper is Bahasa Melayu, the National Language
since its existence (Asmah, 1977). Going down in of Malaysia. It is also acknowledged as Bahasa
the history of Malay language, Bahasa Melayu

1
Malaysia, generally. Subsequently, the paper will The song “Better Together” by Jack Johnson,
also dwell on the discussion and illustration of some taken from his album “In Between Dreams” (2005),
possible problems that the Malay-speaking learners can be considered as a fast song with upbeat tempo.
might face in acquiring English as their L2. Since the subject relied on his memory while the
recoding was conducted, some of the wordings
Bahasa Melayu and English vary in the numbers might defer from the original lyric. (Refer to both
of vowels and diphthongs, as well as the origin of transcriptions to see the differences).
the consonants (Goay and Choo, 2003). Despite
having sundry disparities, both are phonetics
languages and use Roman characters in the written III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
form. Overall, as specified by Swan and Smith
(2001) English has twenty-two vowels and A. Vowels
diphthongs and forty-two consonants, whereas
According to Goay and Choo (2003), Bahasa
Bahasa Melayu has six main vowels, three
Melayu has six main vowels; comprises of two front
diphthongs, nineteen native consonants and eight
vowels /i/ /e/, two middle vowels /ə/ /a/ and two
loan consonants from Arabic and English sounds
back vowels /u/ /o/, and three diphthongs /ai/ /au/
(Goay Teck Chong and Choo Say Tee, 2003).
/oi/. English, on the other hand, has twenty-two
vowels and diphthongs and they are divided into
II. METHODOLOGY long and short vowels, a feature that is absence in
Bahasa Melayu.
A student from a local university in Malaysia
volunteered to participate in this case study. The Apart from that, the vowels of both languages
subject is a final year, degree student from the share great similarities. Goay and Choo (2003)
school of Business and Entrepreneurship. He is 25 claim that the complex vowels of Bahasa Melayu,
years old and currently finishing his final year which is also known as diphthongs, occur similarly
project. As a whole, his knowledge on English in English diphthongs. These vowels and
language can be categorized between intermediate diphthongs sounded quite similar to the ones in
and advanced level. He is Malay, born and raised in English. Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka (1983) has
Perlis, Malaysia and his spoken (informal) language illustrated some examples of these diphthongs; /ai,
oi, au/. For Bahasa Melayu the words are pandai
is the Northern dialect.
/pʌnda /, amboi /əmbɔ / and aurat /a rat/, while the

A video was recorded using a digital camera and English words are bye /ba /, toy /tɔ /, and now /na /.
the duration of the recording is 3:07 minutes long.
The subject was asked to sing a complete song and B. Consonants
to make him less tense and anxious, a guitar is
allowed and the song was chosen by the subject As stated earlier, Bahasa Melayu has nineteen
himself. The subject was also aware of the native consonants /p, b, t, d, k, g, , s, h, c, j, r, l, m, n,
recording. , ŋ, w, y/ and eight Arabic and English loan
consonants, where they are
Based on the Received Pronunciation (RP), the pronounced in a rather similar way as the English
original lyric of the song was transcribed into IPA consonants (Wai, Siew and Roziati, 2007).
transcription. Aside from that, the subject’s Ironically, despite having similar pronunciation,
utterances of the song have been transcribed into there are quite a number of differences between
phonetics transcription as well, and this is vital for these languages. Thus, to demonstrate the
the analysis purposes. phonological diversity between these two
languages, it is best to compare their manners of
articulation as well as the places of articulation.

2
 In the manner of articulation of plosive/stop, the / /,it is located at the palatal area with words such
phonemes involved in Bahasa Melayu are similar as monyet /mɔ et/.
with English, /p, b, t, d, k, g/. Apart from that, they
also share similar places of articulation such as The lateral phoneme /l/ can be found in both
bilabial, alveolar and velar. According to Swan and Bahasa Melayu and English as it shares the same
Smith (2001), the plosive/stop phonemes of Bahasa pronunciation and place of articulation that is
Melayu are always unaspirated as compared to alveolar area, for example lekas /ləkas/ and leg /leg/.
English. Hence, these Bahasa Melayu plosive According to Goay and Choo (2003) phoneme /r/
phonemes /p, t, k/ would sound more like /b, d, g/ in appears as roll in Bahasa Melayu but in English, it
English. As a result, English /p/ and Bahasa Melayu appears as approximant phoneme. This phoneme
/p/ are pronounced slightly different, for instance, comes from a different manner of articulation and
pot /p t/ in contrast with pasu /pasu/, where the has different places of articulation as well; palato-
English /p/ is aspirated while the Bahasa Melayu alveolar for English and labiodentals for Bahasa
/p/ is not. Abdullah (1974) avers that Bahasa Melayu. For instances in words such as red /red/
Melayu has one more additional plosive phoneme, and roti /r ti/.
which is / /, the glottal stop, as in pokok /pɔko /.
This phoneme is non-existence in English as it As mentioned above, the phoneme /r/ is
comes from Arabic influence. considered as roll rather than approximant in
Bahasa Melayu. Hence, Bahasa Melayu has only
There are nine phonemes in the areas of two semivowels or approximant; /w, y/, while
labiodentals, dental, alveolar, palate-alveolar and English has three, /w, r, j/ phonemes. Goay and
glottal of English and Bahasa Melayu fricatives and Choo (2003) categorized English /j/ phoneme as
one more additional phoneme in Bahasa Melayu. similar to Bahasa Melayu /y/ phoneme since they
They are /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, x, h/ and the additional have similar sound, regardless of the written form.
Bahasa Melayu phoneme is /x/ located in velar such For examples the word, yearn /jərn/ as compared to
as khatam /xatam/. The reason for sharing the same yang /yaŋ/. They share the same /w/ phoneme.
phonemes is because, Bahasa Melayu’s fricatives
are all loan words from English except /x, s, h/ C. The Possible Problems of Malay-Speaking
(Goay and Choo, 2003). Learners in Aqcuiring English
In the case of affricate, there are two English Mispronunciation among language learners is
phonemes, similarly with Bahasa Melayu with the considered normal when learning a foreign
same place of articulation that is palate-alveolar. language. According to Swan and Smith (2001) the
However, their symbols are written differently phonological system of Bahasa Melayu and English
despite having the same pronunciation; /c, j/ for is immensely different and because of this reason,
Bahasa Melayu and /tʃ,dʒ/ for English. As Malay-speaking learners might encounter some
suggested by Abdullah (1980), Goay and Choo problems in acquiring English as their second
(2003), with careful attention, one can notice the language.
exiguous different between the words cari /cari/ as Haja (2002) believes that one of the obvious
opposed to chain /tʃe n/, as the latter is more mistakes done by these learners is to pronounce
aspirated than the former. English words likewise when pronouncing Bahasa
Melayu words. They tend to follow the way the
With reference to Nik’s book (1988), Bahasa words are spelled, as they are unaware of the fact
Melayu has four nasal phonemes; /m, n, , ŋ/, while that English does not have a perfect match between
English has only three; /m, n, ŋ/. Both, Bahasa the orthography system and its words. The word
Melayu and English nasal phonemes are from the etiquette /ɛt kɛt/ is commonly mistaken as /ɛt kw ti/
same places of articulation; bilabial, alveolar and by these learners. The same applies when it comes
velar. For the additional nasal of Bahasa Melayu,

3
to spelling, thus word such as economy will be is clear to see that the subject struggled to gallop his
spelled like ekonomi, instead (Swan and Smith, utterances throughout the song. Consequently, the
2001). subject rushed in most part of the recording, which
resulted in many elided of words (as can be seen in
As mentioned above, Bahasa Melayu’s plosive the subject’s transcription).
phonemes are different with English, as they are
always unaspirated. As a result, the dubiety of these Apart from elision of words, the subject has also
words, pin-bin, tile-dial, and cot-got are greater as committed several errors such as in pronouncing the
learners are unable to know the differences. Low word here [h ə] (line 10) as it was pronounced as
proficient learners are inclined to pronounce the /p/ [jiə], from glottal-fricative to palatal-approximant
sound instead of the right sound, /f/ in any position and this is understandable since the latter required
and as a result, the word prefer and film will less effort and energy. The subject’s confusion in
become /preper/ and /piləm/. long and short vowels is serious as most mistakes
come from this aspect, for examples,
Apart from that, Malay learners have an
enormous tendency to drop certain English sounds, tonight (line 20) [tənʌ t] becomes [tuːnʌ t]
simply because those sounds do not exists in their postcard (line 2) [pə stkɑ:d] becomes [p skʌd]
native language. According to Abdullah (1980), shoebox (line 6) [ʃuːb ks] becomes [ʃuːbʌks]
accede to the former scholars Swan and Smith
(2001), Malay learners tend to drop the voiced stops This is very common among native speakers of
/b, d, g/, fricatives /v, z, ʃ/ as well as affricates Bahasa Melayu, as such vowels’ feature does not
/tʃ,dʒ/ especially when these phonemes appear at exist in that language. Similarly, the word
the final part of English words. Ergo, hand will combination [k mb ne ʃən] (line1) was pronounced
become (haan), old will be (oul) and ship might be as [k mbə ne ʃən], with the different lip rounding
(sip). Correspondingly, English fricatives like /θ, ð/ feature as the former is unrounded and the latter as
are always pronounced incorrectly as /t, d/ for rounded.
example, the word thousand /θa zənd/ would be
(tousan). The subject requires a lot of practice in
pronouncing consonants as his mistakes can lead to
The existence of short and long vowels in Bahasa misunderstanding of the intended words. In line 9,
Melayu marked another possible mistake as the the word heart [hɑːt] can be confused with hard [hɑː
confusion between deep /diːp/ as compared to the d] as the subject failed to distinguish between these
word, dip /d p/, is obscure. (Samsuri, 1972). two voiced and voiceless alveolar-plosive.
Sometimes, when the learners are faced with such
difficulty in struggling with certain sounds, they opt Since Bahasa Melayu lacks aspirated sound, the
to substitute the sounds. In this case, the sound /h/ subject is unable to produce enough aspirated sound
is exchanged to the sound / /. Unconsciously, the like a native speaker in the word, things [ θ ŋz]
wide opening of the glottis has caused a different (line5) as he can only produce [t ŋks], where the
quality from the English /h/ and thus, making an aspirated fricative has become voiceless plosive.
error in pronouncing certain words. Similarly, the aspirated sound is just not enough in
the word put [p t] in line 2.
Another clear mistake done by the subject is the
IV. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS word sleeping [sliːp ŋ] (line 44) as it was pronounced
A. Segmental Features (Vowels and Consonants) as [s pp ŋ] with the omission of the phoneme /l/.
Based on the transcribed song there are some
apparent segmental features produced by the subject
and these features can be divided into vowels and
consonants. Due to the upbeat tempo of the song, it

4
B. Suprasegmental Features: Prosodic Rules In progressive assimilation, the conditioning
(Assimilation, Dissimilation, Insertion, Deletion sounds precede and affect the following sounds.
and Linking) The regular plural and simple present /s/ and /z/
There are many prosodic rules, which can be alteration, depends on the final sound of the word
found in the subject’s utterances and they include (Fox, 2000). The word condition is the voiced or
Assimilation, Dissimilation, Insertion, Deletion as voiceless sound of the suffix. The s-ending of
well as Linking. For the sake of coherence and voiced suffixes such as /m, t, d, ŋ, r/ will cause the s-
intelligibility, each of the classification is dealt with ending to be pronounced as /z/ while voiceless
separately and the examples are organized in tabular suffixes such as /t, f, k/ will cause the s-ending to be
forms. pronounced as /s/. For the regressive, the voiceless
/t/ of the word to is the conditioning sound that
Assimilation
a) causes the voiced /v/ preceding it to assimilate and
Assimilation is the process where the speech become voiceless /f/. Finally, for coalescent, the
sound is influenced by the neighboring sound, final alveolar sound /t/ are followed by /y/, which
which resembles each other more closely. This resulted in palatalized affricate that is /tʃ/.
process can further be divided into three sub-
categories; progressive, regressive and coalescent b) Dissimilation
assimilation (Fox, 2000). Below are some of the
examples of assimilated sounds, which are Dissimilation process refers to two neighboring
presented in the song (Refer to the lines of the sounds that become less alike due to some features
lyric). (Crystal, 2011). In the song, there are two types of
dissimilation, which are fricative voiced and
TABLE I. EXAMPLES OF ASSIMILATION OF SPEECH SOUND voiceless. The word the [ðə] (line 2) is pronounced
as [də] due to fricative dissimilation that changes
Assimilations

Assimilated voiced fricative [ð] to [d]. The fricative [ð] becomes

Types of

Word / IPA Sound

Phrase (RP)
Sound (the less like the adjacent fricative consonant, by
subject)
changing the manner of articulation to stop, [d]. This
can be seen in words such as they [de ] (line 21),
words (line 1) [wəːdz] [wəːz] together [təgɛdə] (line 14), that [dət] (line 3) and
there’s [dːs] (line 1). The same can be seen in the
things (line 5) [θ ŋz] [t ŋks]
voiceless fricative [θ] in these examples; things
photographs (line 6) [fə təgrɑːfs] [fə tgrɑːfs] [t ŋks] (line 5) and beneath [b niːt] (line 35).
Progressive

questions (line 9) [kwɛstʃəns] [kwɛstʃənts]

stars (line 16) [stɑːz] [sətɑːz] c) Insertion

moments (line 19) [mə məntz] [mə mənz]
Insertion causes a segment not present at the
dreams (line 20) [driːmz] [dəriːmz] phonemic level to be added to the phonetic form of
[s ŋz] [s ŋz]
the word and it can be seen in three ways; voiceless
sings (line 22)
stop insertion, glottal stop insertion and insertion of
vowel (Fox, 2000).
Regressive

have to (line 26) [havt ] [hɛftə]

In the voiceless stop insertion, a voiceless stop
with the same place of articulation as the nasal is
Coalescent

night you (line 24) [nʌ tjuː] [nʌ tʃjuː]

inserted between a nasal and a voiceless fricative.
For examples, /t/ and /k/ are inserted between nasal
sounds /n, ŋ/ and fricative /s/.

5
 answer (line8) [ɑːnsə] becomes [ ɑːntsə] Thirdly, deletion can also occur when /ə/ is elided
questions (line9) [kwɛstʃəns] becomes [kwɛstʃənts] in unstressed syllables as can be seen in these
brings (line23) [br ŋs] becomes [br ŋks]
things (line 26) [θ ŋz] becomes [t ŋks]
examples;

photographs (line6) [fə təgrɑːfs] becomes [fə tgrɑːfs]

In the glottal stop insertion, / / is optionally we’re together (line14) [w ətəgɛðə] becomes [w təgɛdə]
inserted before a stressed word-initial vowel, such
as our [ a ə] (line5), answer [ ɑːntsə] (line8) and Finally, the rule of eliding /v/ can happen in the
always [ ɔːlwe z] (line12). Finally, a common non- word of, for example, only if it appears before a
native error is the insertion of vowel within existing consonant such as most of the [mə stədə] (line9)
strings of segments, which can be seen below, and all of these [ɔːlədiːz](line19).

stars (line 16) [stɑːz] mispronounced as [sətɑːz]

e) Linking
dreams (line 5) [driːmz] mispronounced as [dəriːmz] Speakers often link or join two vowel sounds in
real (line 5) [riːl] mispronounced as [riː l]
various ways such as by linking /j, w/ sounds and
try (line4) [trʌɪ] mispronounced as [tәrʌɪ]
this is common for non-rhotic speakers of English.
This linking process is done to ease the transition
d) Deletion (Elision) from one vowel to another. Below are the examples
Deletion means the disappearance of sound and for linking /j/ and /w/ (Fox, 2000).
there are four rules of this deletion and they are
elision of /t/ and /d/, simplification of complex
consonant cluster, disappearance of /ə/ in (i) these dreams might find their way into my day..(line 27-28)
unstressed syllables and finally, the disappearance [we nt ] becomes [we j nt ]
of /v/ in the word of before consonants (Fox, 2000).
(ii) with only two just me and you (line 32)

Firstly, the rule of elision of /t/ and /d/ can [miːənd] becomes [miːjənd]
happen when they appear in consonants clusters, for (iii) I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together (line14)
examples
[juːwʌn] becomes [juːwʌn]

(i) You look so pretty sleeping next to me (line44) (iv) …the mango tree now It's always better.. (line35-36)
[nɛkstt ] becomes [nɛkst ] (/t/ is elided between /ks/ and /t/) [na ts] becomes [na w ts]

(ii) Just might find their way into my dreams tonight (line20)
[fʌ ndðɛː]becomes [fʌ ndɛː](/d/ is elided between /n/ and /ð/or
/d/)
C. General Comments and Observations
Upon hearing the recording for the first time, it is
easily to detect and distinguish that the singer of the
Secondly, the rule of deletion also applies when
song is a non-native speaker of English. Some parts
complex clusters are simplified the examples below, of the song are very easy to understand while others
where /t/ and /d/ are elided to ease pronunciation.
require more patience and exigent demands of
postcard (line2) [pə stkɑːd] becomes [pə skɑːd]
attentiveness, since the pronunciation has diverted
moments (line19) [mə məntz] becomes [mə mənz] immensely from RP. This diversion might cause
words (line1) [wəːdz] becomes [wəːz] confusion in understanding the exact words said by
the subject.

6
 Judging the pronunciation of the subject as a V. CONCLUSION
whole, which is until the end of the song I would In short, there are many notable features of the
consider it as satisfactory and passable. This is due subject’s utterances as compared to standard RP of
to the fact that a great part of the errors and English. These features can be seen by looking at
mistakes done by the subject are common among the segmental and suprasegmental properties of
non-native speakers who speak Bahasa Melayu. both languages, in phonetics transcription. In
Non-native speakers can still understand a major general, pronunciation skill can be polished through
part of the song, even though it does not resemble strenuous practice by imitating the native speakers’
RP. way of pronouncing words. Based on the lengthy
discussion, it is opined that the absence of English
There are many possible factors which might features in Bahasa Melayu marks as a forewarning
contribute to the diversion of RP and one of them is for language teachers in teaching the learners about
the interference of mother tongue, which is Bahasa English phonological system. Since these features
Melayu (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, 2009). This are consistent and frequent among Malay-speaking
can clearly be seen when the subject followed a learners, it could serve as an advantage for teachers
very distinct feature of Bahasa Melayu that is in helping Malaysians to mastering English.
pronouncing every syllable clearly with equal Nevertheless, focuses should be on the intended
amount of stresses. Due to this, the utterances message rather than accuracy of each sound, as the
become choppy with tempestuous rhythm in the importance of intelligibility between speakers of
intonation. This has made the subject’s utterances as English is the vital purpose of communication
refined and unnatural. among any other pretexts.
Another factor which has let the subject’s
pronunciation to divert from RP, is the different REFERENCES
features of both languages (Fromkin, Rodman and
Hyams, 2009). These features do play a vital role in Abdullah Hassan. (1974). The morphology of
effecting the subject’s utterances. Unable to Malay. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa Dan
recognize and distinguish between long and short Pustaka.
vowels, voiced and voiceless consonants have made Abdullah Hassan. (1980). Linguistik am untuk guru
the words to sound differently as pronounced in RP.
Furthermore, features such as aspiration, glottal Bahasa Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar
stops and the like have contributed to the diversion Bakti Sdn. Bhd.
issue. Asmah Omar. (1977). The phonological diversity of
the Malay dialects. Bahagian Pembinaan Dan
Sociological as well as psychological factor Pengembangan Bahasa, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
might also hand out to such problem (Fox, 2000). Bahasa Dan Pustaka.
The subject’s anxiousness and alertness can cause
Crystal, D. (2011). The dictionary of linguistics and
the subject to over pronounce certain words. At the
same time, the subject’s pronunciation in this song phonetics (6th ed.). New York, USA: John
cannot be the benchmark to measure the subject’s Wiley & Sons.
delivery, since with lots of practice, one can have Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka. (1983). Daftar ejaan
the tendency to sound like a native speaker rumi Bahasa Malaysia (3rd ed.). Kementrian
particularly if s/he imitates the “sound” in a Pelajaran Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
particular song. A famous example is those Indian Bahasa Dan Pustaka.
singers from Malaysia, Alleycats, who can sing in
Bahasa Melayu, exactly like native speakers but
their polished skill is exposed as soon as they
converse in Bahasa Melayu spontaneously.

7
Fox, A. (2000). Prosodic features and prosodic
structure: The phonology of
“suprasegmentals”. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2009). An
introduction to language (9th ed.). Boston,
USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Goay, T. C. & Choo, S. T. (2003). Tekspra-U STPM
Matrikulasi Bahasa Melayu kertas
1.Petaling Jaya: Pearson Malaysia
Haja Mohideen Mohamed Ali. (24-26 September
2002). Getting students to use English with
fewer errors. International Conference
IPBA.
Ladefoged, P. (2006). A course in phonetics (5th
ed.). University of Carlifornia, Los Angeles:
Thomson Wadsworth.
Nik Safiah Karim. (1988). Linguistik transformasi
generatif: Suatu penerapan pada Bahasa
Melayu (Eds.). Kementrian Pelajaran
Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa
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Samsuri. (1972). Bahasa dan ilmu bahasa dan
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Swan, M., & Smith, B. (2001).Learner English: A
teacher’s guide to Interference and other
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University Press.
Wai, K.L., Siew, H. O, & Roziati Zainuddin.
(2007). Building a unit selection speech
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toolkit (HTK). CMU. J. Nat. Sci, 6(1), 149-
158.

8
APPENDIX A
Original Lyrics (RP s IPA Transcription)

Song Title: Better Together

Singer: Jack Johnson
Album: In Between Dreams (2005)

There's no combination of words

ðɛːs nə k mb ne ʃən əv wəːdz
I could put on the back of a postcard
ʌ k d p t n ðə bak əv ə pə stkɑːd
No song that I could sing
nə s ŋ ðət ʌ k d s ŋ
But I can try for your heart
bʌt ʌ kan trʌ fɔː jɔː hɑːt
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things 5
a ə driːmz ənd ðe ɑː me d a t əv riːl θ ŋz
Like a, shoebox of photographs
lʌ k ə ʃuːb ks əv fə təgrɑːfs
With sepiatone loving
w ð siːp ətə n lʌv ŋ
Love is the answer,
lʌv z ðiː ɑːnsə

9
 At least for most of the questions in my heart
ət liːst fɔː mə st əv ðə kwɛstʃəns n mʌ hɑːt

Like why are we here? And where do we go? 10

lʌ k wʌ ɑː wiː h ə ənd wɛː duː wiː gə
And how come it's so hard?
ənd ha kʌm ts sə hɑːd
It's not always easy and
ts n t ɔːlwe z iːzi ənd
Sometimes life can be deceiving
sʌmtʌ mz lʌ f kan biː d siːv ŋ
I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're
together
ʌ l tɛl juː wʌn θ ŋ ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə

[Chorus:]
MMM it's always better when we're together 15
hɛmm ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə
Yeah, we'll look at them stars when we're together
jɛː wiːl l k ət ðɛm stɑːz wɛn w ə təgɛðə

10
 Well, it's always better when we're together
wɛl ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə

And all of these moments

ənd ɔːl əv ðiːz mə məntz
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight 20
dʒʌst mʌ t fʌ nd ðɛː we nt mʌ driːmz tənʌ t
But I know that they'll be gone
bʌt ʌ nə ðət ðe l biː g n
When the morning light sings
wɛn ðə mɔːn ŋ lʌ t s ŋz
And brings new things
ənd br ŋs njuː θ ŋz
For tomorrow night you see
fɔː təm rə nʌ t juː siː
That they'll be gone too 25
ðət ðe l biː g n tuː
Too many things I have to do
tuː mɛni θ ŋz ʌ hav t duː

11
But if all of these dreams might find their way
bʌt f ɔːl əv ðiːz driːmz mʌ t fʌ nd ðɛː we
Into my day to day scene
nt mʌ de t de siːn
I'd be under the impression
ʌ d biː ʌndə ð mprɛʃən
I was somewhere in between 30
ʌ wəz sʌmwɛː n b twiːn

With only two

w ð ə nli tuː
Just me and you
dʒʌst miː ənd juː
Not so many things we got to do
n t sə mɛni θ ŋz wiː g t t duː
Or places we got to be
ɔː ple sez wiː g t t biː
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now 35
wiːl s t b niːθ ðə maŋgə triː na

12
 It's always better when we're together
ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə
Mmmm, we're somewhere in between together
hɛmm w ə sʌmwɛː n b twiːn təgɛðə
Well, it's always better when we're together
wɛl ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w ə təgɛðə

MMmmmm MMMmmmm Mmmmmm 40

hɛmmmm hɛmmmm hɛmmmm
I believe in memories
ʌ b liːv n mɛməriz
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
ðe l k sə sə pr ti wɛn ʌ sliːp
Hey now, and when I wake up,
he na ənd wɛn ʌ we k ʌp
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
juː l k sə pr ti sliːp ŋ nɛkst tʊ miː
But there is not enough time, 45

bʌt ðɛː z n t nʌf tʌ m

13
 And there is no, no song I could sing
ənd ðɛː z nə nə s ŋ ʌ k d s ŋ
And there is no, combination of words I could say
ənd ðɛː z nə k mb ne ʃən əv wəːdz ʌ k d se

But I will still tell you one thing

bʌt ʌ w l st l tɛl juː wʌn θ ŋ
We're better together.
w ə bɛtə təgɛðə

14
APPENDIX B
Subject s Utterances (IPA Transcription)

Song Title: Better Together

Singer: Jack Johnson
Album: In Between Dreams (2005)

There's no combination of words

dːs nə k mbə ne ʃən əv wəːz
I could put on the back of a postcard
ʌ k d p t n də bak əv ə p skʌd
No song that I could sing
nə s ŋ dət ʌ k d s ŋ
But I can try for your heart
bʌt ʌ kan tərʌ fɔː jɔː hɑːt
Our dreams, (and they) are made (out) of real things 5
a ə dəriːmz ɑː me d əv riː l t ŋks
Like a, shoebox of photographs
lʌ k ə ʃuːbʌks əv fə tgrɑːfs
With sepia(+n)tone loving
w t siːp əntə n lʌv ŋ
Love is the answer,
lʌv z diː ɑːntsə

15
 At least (for) most of the questions in my heart
ət liːst mə st ə də kwɛstʃənts n mʌ hɑːd

Like why (are) we here? And where do we go? 10

lʌ k wʌ wiː jiə ənd wɛː duː wiː gə
And how come it's so hard?
ənd ha kʌm ts sə hɑːd
It's not always easy (and)
ts n t ɔːlwe z iːzi
Sometimes life can be (deceiving) (+misleading)
sʌmtʌ mz lʌ f kan biː mɪsliːd ŋ
I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we('re)
together
ʌ l tɛl juː wʌn θ ŋ ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə

[Chorus:]
(MMM) (+Yeah) it's always better when we('re) together 15
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə
Yeah, we('ll) look at them stars when we('re) together
jɛː w l k ət sətɑːz wɛn w təgɛdə

16
(Well) (+Yeah), it's always better when we('re) together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə
Yeah, it's always better when we('re) together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə

(And) all of these moments

ɔːl ə diːz mə mənz
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight 20
dʒʌst mʌ t fʌ n dɛː we nt mʌ dəriːmz tuːnʌ t
But I know (that) another they('ll) be gone
bʌt ʌ nə ənʌdə de biː g n
When the morning light sings
wɛn də mɔːn ŋ lʌ t s ŋz
(And) brings new things
br ŋks njuː t ŋks
(For) tomorrow night you see
təm rə nʌ tʃjuː siː
That they'll be gone too 25
dət de l biː g n tuː
Too many things I have to do
tuː mɛni t ŋks ʌ hɛftə duː

17
(But) if all (of) these dreams might find their way
f ɔːl diːz dəriːmz mʌ t fʌ nd dɛː we
Into my day to day scene
j nt mʌ de t de siːn
I'd be under the impression
ʌ d biː ʌndə d mprɛʃən
I was somewhere in between 30
ʌ wəz sʌmwɛː n b twiːn

With only two

w t ə nli tuː
Just me and you
dʒʌst miː jənd juː
Not so many things we got to do
n t sə mɛni t ŋks wiː gɔtt duː
(Or places we got to be) [inaudible]
We('ll) sit beneath the mango tree now 35
w s t b niːt də maŋgə triː na

18
 It's always better when we're together
w ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə
(Mmmm) (+Yeah), we're somewhere in between together
jɛː w sʌmwɛː n b twiːn təgɛdə
(Well) (+Yeah), it's always better when we're together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
jɛː ts ɔːlwe z bɛtə wɛn w təgɛdə

(MMmmmm MMMmmmm Mmmmmm) 40

[omitted]
I believe in memories
ʌ b liːv n mɛməriz
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
de l k sə sə pr ti wɛn ʌ sliːp
(Hey) (+and) now, (and) (+when), when I wake up,
ənd na wənd wənd wɛn ʌ we k ʌp
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
juː l k sə pr ti s pp ŋ nɛks tʊ miː
But there is not enough time, 45

bʌt dɛː z n t nʌf tʌ m

19
 (And) there is no, no song I could sing
dɛː z nə nə s ŋ ʌ k d s ŋ
(And) there is no, combination of words I could say
dɛː z nə kə b ne ʃən əv wəːz ʌ k d se

But I will still tell you one thing

bʌt ʌ w l st l tɛl juː wʌn θ ŋ
We('re) better together.
w bɛtə təgɛdə

20