Many have said that sorry is the hardest word but they'd be wrong, linguistically speaking at least.
很多人說，“對不起”是最難說出口的詞。不過，他們其實錯了——至少從語言學的角度上說。
According to a poll, the word we find hardest to pronounce is 'phenomenon'.
根據投票調查發現，最難發音的單詞其實是“phenomenon”(現象)。
Next in the top 10 of tongue-twisters are 'remuneration', and 'statistics'.
在十個最拗口的詞中排在其后的是“remuneration”(報酬)和"statistics"(統計數字)。
Speakers also have a problem getting their tongue around ethnicity, hereditaryandparticularly, according to the body charged with recording public utterances.
根據一個負責對人們在公共場合講話進行錄音的組織發現，講話者在發音時會遇到困難舌頭打結的還有：ethnicity(種族)hereditary(遺傳的) 和 particularly(特別地)。
The British Institute Of Verbatim Reporters (BIVR) is the UK’s leading organisation for professionals involved in taking down speech at court and tribunal hearings.
英國速記人員協會是英國數一數二的專業速記人員團體，這些速記人員負責在法庭和法庭聽證會上進行速記。
A poll of its members found 10 words that Britons consistently find the most challenging to pronounce.
通過對其成員的一項調查，十個英國人認為最難發音的詞浮出水面。
Completing the list are conjugal, specific, processesand development.這十個詞中還包括：“conjugal”(婚姻的), “specific”(特殊的), “processes”(過程)和“development”(發展)。
Leah Willersdorf, of the BIVR, said: ‘We work with many different types of professionals and hear all kinds of voices during our work.
利亞•文德斯朵夫是英國速記人員協會的一名成員，她說：“我們和許多不同類型的專業人士合作，在工作中聽過各種不同的發音。”
‘However, when it comes to the English language it always seems to be the same few words that verbally trip people up, with the speaker having to repeat the word in order to get it right, or just abandoning their attempts and moving on.’
“然而，在英語口語中，人們總是在某幾個特定單詞上犯錯。有時講話者需要重復一遍單詞把音發對，有時就索性跳過這個單詞直接說下面的話。”
BIVR members were quizzed by the team behind the popular word game Scrabble.
調查團隊通過給英國速記人員協會的成員們玩拼字游戲的方式完成了這個小測試。
According to the words buffs, one in 10 players admit to being reluctant to producing words that they cannot pronounce.
根據拼字游戲的結果，有十分之一的玩家承認，要拼出他們不會發音的單詞有些困難。
Scrabble is a favourite with British families over the festive period, with an estimated 11 million going head to head on Boxing Day, according to its makers.
拼字游戲是英國家庭在節慶期間最喜歡的游戲。據該游戲生產商的估計，在節禮日約有1100萬人進行拼字游戲比賽。
University of York sociolinguistics expert Professor Paul Kerswill said the English language has evolved to compensate for tricky pronunciations but some words remain a challenge.
約克大學社會語言學專家保羅•凱斯維爾說，隨著英語的演化，一些拗口的單詞已經漸漸進化發展，但是一些很難發音的單詞依然存在。
He said: ‘People always find a way of simplifying words that they find difficult to get their tongues round, so that an everyday word like ‘handbag’ sounds like ‘hambag’.
他說：“人們總是能夠找到方法簡化那些難以順利發音的單詞，這樣，‘handbag’這種日常單詞會聽起來像‘hambag’。”
‘Our forebears simplified ‘waistcoat’ to ‘weskit’ - but we’ve turned our backs on that.
“我們的祖先把單詞'waistcoat'(背心馬甲)簡化成了‘weskit’——不過后來我們又放棄了后一種說法。”
‘We certainly don’t pronounce Worcester and Gloucester the way they are spelt any more. And ‘York’ used to have three syllables, not one.
“現在我們當然不會照著拼寫直接發'Worcester'和'Gloucester'的音。另外，‘York’以前也有三個音節，而非一個音節。”
‘And most people talk about ‘Febry’ and ‘Wensday’.’
“還有一些人把‘二月’讀成‘Febry’，把‘星期三’讀成‘Wensday’。” |
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