Anchor Phrases

Modern RP / SSBE

So sorry to ask, but is Harry's tutor's mirror a lot better than all yours?

Phone-by-phone notes

so
GOAT: This diphthong starts with a shwa (centred flat-tongue vowel) with no tension at the back of the tongue (except when followed by an /l/),
then the back of the tongue raises a little as the lips round.

sorry
LOT is short and has no r-colouring. Lips must be rounded.
Final vowel (happY) is short but tense as in ‹pea›. It has a little diphthong movement [ɪ̝i] in Modern RP.

to ask
‹to› is usually unstressed and short.
Things are changing regarding how it links with a word starting with a vowel sound...
Option 1 (original): same as ‹two›, using a glide /w/ to link into ‹ask›; Option 2: (heard more among younger speakers) glottal 'attack' [təʔɑːsk].
BATH vowel in [ɑːsk] (further back and longer than TRAP).

but
STRUT when stressed, otherwise schwa [ə].
Mod. RP usually realises final /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ], the consonant you hear in the word ‹uh-oh›.

Harry's
TRAP, short vowel, no r-colouring.
happY, short but tense as in ‹pea›.

tutor's
GOOSE, somewhat fronted, somewhere between [u] and [i]; tyu- → 'chew' /du- → 'Jew'/ nyu-.
/t/ between vowels is NOT tapped but usually aspirated [tʰ].
/r/ not immediately followed by a vowel sound → dropped.

mirror a
KIT, not r-coloured, distinct from ‹mere›. Same quality as ‹mid›.
-rr- followed by vowel sound → pronounced.
final ‹r› is usually dropped, but here something must link into the immediately-following 'schwa' (flat-tongued vowel) for ‹a›, using either...
Option 1: Linking /r/, Option 2: (heard more among younger speakers) glottal 'attack' [ʔ].

lot
LOT, some lip rounding/protrusion
Mod. RP usually realises final /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ], the consonant you hear in the word ‹uh-oh›.

better
DRESS vowel followed by aspirated [tʰ] between vowels, NOT tapped.
Final ‹r› is dropped.

than
Usually unstressed with a barely-audible shwa /ə/

all
The THOUGHT set does not contain the same vowel as the LOT set. It is a) long, b) said with rounded lips/slightly protruding lip corners, and c) the back of the tongue is higher. This makes it the same vowel as the one in the next word. Note: ‹court› is a homophone of ‹caught› (not ‹cot›) in this accent!

yours
NORTH vowel is long, rounded. No following vowel sound = no /r/ being pronounced.

Modern RP / SSBE

The courtier's daughter isn't owed that man's gold.

Phone-by-phone notes

courtier's
FORCE: long monophthong. Eventhough this word has two ‹r›s, neither is heard as neither one is followed by a vowel sound. It sounds the same as "caught ears" in this non-rhotic accent.

daughter
THOUGHT is as long and as rounded as the stressed vowel in ‹courtier's›, i.e. they should have the same quality.
The final ‹r› would usually be silent, but here it is followed by the vowel sound beginning the next word.
Be sure NOT to rhotacize the final lettER vowel, which should always have the same quality but with the /r/ added on as if the next word were "rizzn't".

isn't
The ‹t› is final, and so it will usually be glottal (like the stop in ‹uh-oh›).

owed
The GOAT diphthong in RP starts with the central flat-tongued schwa [ə], and then the back of the tongue simultaneously rises slightly as the lip corners protrude a little.

that
As this usage of the word is demonstrative, it has a full open-front TRAP vowel with a cupped tongue (more open/cupped than older speakers).
Again, the ‹t› is final, and so it will usually be glottal or a little like an unreleased ‹p› if the lips come together early in preparation for the first consonant of the next word...

man's
As with other British accents, there should be NO /æ/ raising, so the TRAP vowel should be just as open (and have no tension) as the ‹a› in ‹cat› or the previous word in this anchor sentence.

gold
Because this GOAT vowel is followed by a dark/velarized /l/, this version of the diphthong starts with a further-back, rounded quality, not unlike that heard in Generican accents.