The September 2026 episode of Paul’s In a Manner of Speaking podcast explores colloquial and vernacular speech. English, being a stress-timed language, is known for its casual, informal way of speaking. Listen to Paul explore and explain why this type of speaking is more “proper” than you might think.
This discussion will be particularly helpful for those seeking to successfully turn the written into the spoken word and for those whose first language is not English.
Below you will find the text (with phonetic transcription) of Paul’s demonstrations:
“Let’s take a sentence like, How would you like it if I cooked you some eggs? Colloquially, the three words, How would you are reduced to the lexeme [haʊd͜ʒə]. If you haven’t come across the term lexeme, it’s a useful one. A single meaningful unit comprising perhaps just one, but, as in this case, several words. We simply don’t need to hear each word of a lexeme to understand it. We get it from the rhythm and the intonation. The two words, cooked you become the lexeme, [kʰʊk̚t͜ʃə] The k-t-j consonant cluster reduces to an unreleased k and the t and j coalesces to [t͜ʃ].”
And here is the phonetic transcription of the overheard conversation:
The first person said [ˈd͜ʒiʔ̚ ˈjɛʔ̚]?
The second person replied [ˈnaː ‖ lɛsːɡwiʔ̚]
The full “Dead Parrot” sketch referenced in this episode:
Lastly, go here for the text and phonetic transcription of the Edmund speech from Shakespeare’s King Lear that Paul performs in Original Pronunciation (OP) in this episode.
To contact Paul and follow Paul Meier Dialect Services on social media, go here.
(Bach’s Cello Suite #1 in G Major BMV 1007 Prelude (by Ivan Dolgunov) is courtesy of Jamendo Licensing.)
