《博贊學習技巧》 十二章 基本記憶法
-----軟音和硬音的區別
What are hard/soft vowels/consonants?
Terminology varies based on the language described, but there ARE some typical patterns
The MAIN use of "hard" and "soft" applies to CONSONANTS
In most cases, when VOWELS are called "hard" or "soft" it is based on
how the CONSONANT just before them is typically pronounced. (The
terminology tends ONLY to be applied to the vowels when the pattern is
common and extensive. Thus, if only a COUPLE of consonants are
involved, the vowels are not described this way -- as is the case in
English.)
Typical use of "hard" or "soft" for consonants -- In MOST languages we
use this terminology for refers to a distinction between "stops" and
"fricatives", with the stops being considered "hard" consonants, the
fricatives "soft".
To clarify -- A "stop" is, as the name might suggest, a consonant sound
made by completely STOPPING the flow of air, usually by blocking it
with the tongue or lips. The main stops include b,p, t,d, k and g.
"Fricatives" only partially block the air flow (think "friction") --
examples, related to the stops just listed: f, v, th (with or without
the voice), the "ch" sounds of German "ich" or Scottish "loch", as well
as the "sibilants" (= "s-sounds" -- s, z, sh and the "zh" sound of the
z in "azure").
The MAIN use of the terms "hard" and "soft" in ENGLISH is to
distinguish two ways of pronouncing "g" and "c". Here they are, with
examples:
HARD g (the stop) = garden, go, gum
SOFT g (like English "j") = gem, giraffe, gym
HARD c (stop /k/) = carpet, coin, cup
SOFT c (/s/ sound) = ceremony, civil, cycle
Now, note the vowels that come AFTER these hard and soft consonants.
This is the general pattern -- the "soft" c and g, when used, come
after e, i and y (though not in ALL instances of these vowels), but
these consonants are ALWAYS "hard" after the remaining vowel sounds.
Again, since this is such a limited and INCONSISTENT feature (since the
consonants are NOT ALWAYS "soft" after e,i, y), we do NOT speak of soft
and hard VOWELS. But for other languages, in which this sort of thing
is more common, that kind of terminology IS sometimes used.
參考鏈接：
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071117181005AA78xnG
