Hey everyone, it's Hadar.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Today we are going to listen to a podcast episode that is going to teach you how to
pronounce a few legal terms in English.
So, if you like legal shows, or if you study law, you are
going to love this episode.
If you don't know the InFluency Podcast, it's my podcast where I share the
audio of the videos that I share here, but also episodes that I don't always
share here on my YouTube channel.
And this is why if you want to get access to all those extra
additional lessons, then I invite you to subscribe to the InFluency
Podcast on your favorite platform.
Are you ready?
Let's listen.
Okay.
So the first word is, of course, "law", "law".
It's a one-syllable word, it's really short, but it could be
confusing because of the spelling.
So, it's spelled with 'LAW'.
A lot of times when we see that W we think it means that it's a changing
vowel - a diphthong, and therefore people sometimes pronounce it as a 'low', 'low'.
"low" is a different word and a different vowel.
There it's the 'ow' as in go, but here it's the /ɔː/ sound
- /lɔː/, /lɔː/ as in daughter.
Or even the /ɑː/ as in father, if you totally relax your lips and
relax your mouth - '/lɑː/, /lɑː/.
/lɔː/ - can you hear the difference?
/lɑː/ - /lɔː/.
In the second one I rounded the lips just a bit, but my
mouth was very open for both.
The tongue is relaxed and pulled back just a bit - 'lah'.
"It's against the law, I'm telling you."
Law.
Law studies.
"I studied law."
Okay.
The next word is "prosecute", "prosecute".
The primary stress here is on the first syllable - /ˈprɑː/, /ˈprɑː/, /ˈprɑː/.
"prosecute".
To prosecute, by the way, is to, according to the dictionary,
"Institute legal proceedings against a person or organization".
So, you prosecute someone for something that they did.
And "prosecute" starts with a PR, and then the /ɑː/ as in father
- /ˈprɑː/, primary stress, as I said.
Then we have a schwa - /sə/, /sə/, /sə/, and then /kjuːt/.
The T - I released it here, but it could be a held T - /ˈprɑːsəkjuːt̚/ - where
you just hear that abrupt stop of air.
But I don't like those confusions, especially since, you know, native
speakers of English may pronounce it with a T or may pronounce it
without the T - with a held T.
So, just do whatever is easier for you and makes it clearer for other people to
understand what it is that you're saying.
So, "prosecute".
And the person who is prosecuting is called a "prosecutor".
A prosecutor, by the way, is usually a public official.
It's on the person suing, but a public official that is prosecuting, prosecuting.
The next one is a "jury" "jury".
We start with a /dʒ/ sound, and then it's the /ʊr/ as in poor.
It's not an 'uw' sound, it's not an 'o' sound, it's somewhere in between - /ʊr/.
/ˈdʒʊri/, /ˈdʒʊri/.
Make sure you pronounce the 'd' sound at the beginning - /dʒ/, and
not /ˈʒʊri/, but /ˈdʒʊri/, /ˈdʒʊri/.
Some people might reduce the sound and just pronounce it as /ˈdʒɝːi/ - with
an /ɝ/ as in "stir" - /ˈdʒɝːi/.
But both are okay, whatever is easier for you.
The next one is "attorney".
"I needed to get a good attorney".
"attorney".
Here, even though we have the letter O, we don't really hear an 'o' sound.
So, we start with a schwa sound: /ə/, /ə/, then /tɝː/, /tɝː/ as in Turkey,
and then /ni/ - /əˈtɝːni/, /əˈtɝːni/.
"She's my attorney."
"I'm an attorney at law."
"attorney".
The next word is "affidavit".
"affidavit".
Listen to the sounds here: /æfəˈdeɪvɪt/.
An affidavit is a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation
for use as evidence in court.
Affidavit - a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation
for use as evidence in court.
The first sound is /æ/ as in cat, then we have /fə/ /fə/
/fə/ - an F sound and then a schwa.
The spelling, in the spelling you'll see the letter 'i', but
it's actually a schwa sound /æfə/.
Then /deɪ/.
that's the primary stress.
/æfəˈdeɪvɪt/ - /vɪt/, it's like "David", but with a T.
/æfəˈdeɪvɪt/.
"Where is your affidavit, David?"
"affidavit".
The next word is a "felony" "felony".
A felony is a crime that usually involves violence.
And it's usually more serious than a misdemeanor.
Misdemeanor is breaking the rules without serious implications.
Something not too serious, but still, you know, it's not the right thing to do.
So a felony is something more serious than that.
So, to pronounce it, you start with /ˈfe/ - that's the primary stress:
and F sound and the /e/ as in red.
Then /lə/ - and L and a schwa - /ˈfelə/, and then /ni/ - /ˈfeləni/.
"felony".
The next word is "warrant".
/ˈwɔːrənt/, or /ˈwɑːrənt/.
/ˈwɔːrənt/ or /ˈwɑːrənt/.
We'll talk about the pronunciation in a sec.
Just to clarify, a warrant is a document issued by a legal or government
official, authorizing the police, or some other body, to make an arrest.
Or sometimes even to search the house.
I remember from watching "Law and order" - /lɔː/, "Law and order".
And there was always the question: "Do you have a warrant?"
"We need to get a warrant".
"Where's the warrant?
I want to see the warrant."
So, you can't really do anything, the police can't do anything,
really, without a warrant.
So, that's a warrant.
And we start with a /w/ sound, then it's the /ɔːr/ as in four, and then /rənt/,
/rənt/ - there is a schwa sound there.
/ˈwɔːrənt/.
After the W you can also open your mouth more for an /ɑ/ sound, just like
the difference between /lɔː/ and /lɑː/.
You know, these two sounds are very similar: /ɑː/ as in
father, in /ɔː/ as in daughter.
In some dialects in the US you don't hear a distinction, both of them
are merged to the /ɑː/ sound, /ɑː/.
And this is why I always tend to teach it with the /ɑː/ sound cuz
it's just more general and easier for people to understand when
there's one sound and not two.
But if it's easier for you to pronounce it with a more rounded
mouth - /ˈwɔːrənt/, then go for it, because it's a valid pronunciation.
The next word is "subpoena".
Subpoena.
The word is spelled with a B sound, and then there is an O there somewhere.
So if you heard this word for the first time, you probably didn't
imagine that there was a B and an O in this word - "subpoena".
Subpoena is a written form, ordering a person to attend a court.
"I'm going to subpoena you" - so you can use it as a verb.
Or, "I received a subpoena" - and then it functions as a noun.
How efficient?
Subpoena.
You start with an /s/ sound, then a schwa - /sə/, /sə/; then /piː/ as in pizza.
I know what you're thinking.
No, I was thinking about pizza.
/səˈpiːnə/, /-nə/, /-nə/, /-nə/ - an N sound and a schwa at the and - /səˈpiːnə/.
The next word is "testimony".
Testimony.
You start with a T sound, then it's the /e/ as in red - /ˈte/.
Close it with an S - /ˈtes/, /ˈtes/.
And then /tə/ - schwa - /tə/.
/ˈtestəmoʊ/ - /oʊ/ as in go.
/ˈtestəmoʊni/.
Testimony.
So, a testimony is a formal written or spoken statement, and it's especially
one that is given in the court of law.
Testimony.
"I gave my testimony."
Okay.
The next phrase...
I had another one on the list, but I changed it to this one
cause I love saying it so much.
The next phrase is "Objection, your honor!"
When I was a child, I always practiced saying it out loud.
"Objection, your honor!"
"I object!"
Objection.
So, the reason why I want to talk about the word "objection", cause it has a
fun little schwa at the beginning - /ə/, even though it's spelled with an O, /ə/.
/əbˈdʒekt/.
"I object".
/əbˈdʒek-/ and then /ʃən/, /ʃən/, /ʃən/.
/əbˈdʒekʃən/.
The, "your" is reduced to /jər/, /jər/.
And then "honor", even though it's spelled with an H, we pronounce it without an H.
/jər ˈɑːnər/, /jər ˈɑːnər/.
/əbˈdʒekʃən jər ˈɑːnər/.
"Objection, your honor."
Okay, that's it.
These were the 10 legal terms, or words, that we constantly come across
when we watch all those legal shows.
And thankfully, there are many.
So now we talked about how to pronounce them.
To make sure that what your mouth is doing is aligned with how you hear the
word - and even moreso, if, how you hear the word is actually aligned with
how the word is meant to be pronounced.
There's always confusion around there.
It's like there are so many moving pieces when it comes
to pronouncing a single word.
It's not only how it's supposed to be pronounced, but also how
it's perceived, and then how it is performed by the speaker.
So, this is why we've got a lot of work to do, but we're trying
to keep it fun cause it is.
Okay.
If you enjoyed this podcast episode, come on over to Instagram and
let me know if you'd like more of those, and if you have other ideas
for similar pronunciation series.
So, you can find me at @hadar.accentsway on Instagram, as I said.
And you can also take 30 seconds, if you like this podcast and rate the
podcast, and even write a review to help people understand what this podcast
is all about if they don't know it.
Okay.
So, thank you so much in advance.
I sincerely appreciate it, your honor.
And, uh, and that's it.
I'm going to put on my cape right now and take my law
books, and continue with my day.
Have a beautiful, beautiful day, my friends, and I'll see you, or
speak to you, in the next episode.
Bye.