Syria 4

Listen to Syria 4, a 30-year-old man from Al-Hasakah, Syria. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 30

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/06/1990

PLACE OF BIRTH: Al-Hasakah, Syria

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Kurdish

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: bachelor of arts degree in English and American studies

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject lived in northern Iraq for five years and, at the time of this recording, had been living Germany for three years.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

He is a Kurdish native speaker and has studied English, American studies, and journalism. The subject says his accent of English is more American than British, which he attributes to his association with his American friends and his interest in American movies and media.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: subject

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 09/11/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: 

wɛɫ hɛɹɪz ə stɔɹi fɐ ju sɛɹə pʰɛɹi wɑz ʔə vɛtəɹɪnɹi hu hæd bɪn wɜ˞kʰɪŋ deːli ʔætʰæn ʔoldzu ʔɪn ə dəzɜɾtɪd‿dɪstɹɪkt̚ ʔɒ̜v ðə tʰɪɹətʰɔ̜ɹi sːo ʃɪ wəz vɛɹi hæpi t̪ʊ stɑ˞t ɛ nju d͡ʒɑb̚ ʔæt̚ d̪ə səpɜ˞b̚ pɹaɪvət̚ pɹæk̚tʻɪs ɪnːɒθ skwɛə˞ ni˞ ðə djukstɹit‿tʰaʊə ðɛt̚ ʔɛɹɪə wəz mʌt͡ʃ nɪɹə˞ fɔ̜˞ hɜ˞ ɛnt mɔ˞ t̪ʰu̜ hɜ˞ laɪkʰɪn ɪvn̩ so ʔɒn hɜ˞ fɜ˞st̚ mɔ˞nɪŋ ʃi fɛɫ stɹɛst̚ ʃɪ ʔeːɾ ə baʊlɒv̥ pɔɹɪt͡ʃ t͡ʃɛk̚tʰɐsɛɫf  ɪnˑ ə mɪɹɐ˞  ənd wɔ̜ʃt hɜ˞ fɛɪs ʔɪn ə hʌɹə̆ ðɪn ʃɪ pu̜tʻ ɒnə blɛɪn jɛlɒ̜ dɹɛs ɛnd ə flis d͡ʒɛkət̚ pʰɪk̚ tɐp hɜ˞ kʰɪtʰ ɛnt hɛdɪd̚ fɔ wɜ˞kʻ wɛn ʃɪ gɑt̚ dɛə˞ ðɛ wɑz ə wumə̆n wɪð ə guːs wɛɪt̪ʰɪŋ fɐ hɜ˞ ðə wʊmə̆n geɪv̥ sˑɛɹə ʔæn ʔɒfɪʃɫɛdɐ˞ fɹɒm ðə vɛtʰ ðə lɛɾəɹɐ ʔɪmpʰlaɪdæði ænɪmɔ kʰʊd bi sʌfɹɪŋ fɹɒ̜m ə ɹɛɪə˞ fɔ˞m ʔɒv̥ futʻ ʔɛənt maʊθ dɪz̥ɪz̥ wɪʒ̥ wəs‿səpɹaɪzɪŋ bɪkəz no˞məli jɐ wʊtʰ ʔonɪ ʔɪks pɛg̚ də siɪtʰ ʔɪn dɔə̆g̥ ɒ˞ ʔə goˑtʰ sɛɹə wɑs‿sɛnɪmɛnɫ sːoə̆ ðɪz meˑd̥ həɾ fiɫ sːɔ̜ɹi fɔ˞ ðə bjʊ̜ɾɪfə bɜ˞d̚ bɪfɒ˞ ɫɒŋkʻ ðæt̚ ʔɪt͡ʃɪ guːs bɪgæn t̪ʊ stɹɑ̝t̪ʰ əɹaʊ̆n ði ɒ̜fɪs laɪk̚ ʔə lunətʻɪk̚ wɪt͡ʃ meˑdɪn ænsænɪt̪ʰɔ̜ɹi mɪs ðə gusɪs ʔoˑnɐ˞ mɛːɹi hæɹɪsə̆n kʰep̚tʻ kʰɔˑlɪŋ kʰomɐ kʰomɐ wɪtsːsɛɹə θoʊtʻ wəz ən ʔɒˑd̚ t͡ʃɔɪs fɒ̆ɹə neˑm kʰomɐ wɒs‿stɹɒˑŋgən hju̜d͡ʒ̥ so ʔɪtʰ wu̜ˑ tʰeɪk̚ sɐm fɔ˞s t̪ʰʊ tɹæpʰə bətsɛɹə had ə dɪfɹə̆ntʰaɪdiə fɜ˞st̚ ʃi tɹaɪd͡ʒɛnʔliːstɹɒ̜kɪn ðə gusiz̥ loə˞ bæk̚ wɪð hɜ˞ pɑːm ðɛn sɪŋgɪn ʔɐ t͡ʃu̜ːn fɔ̜˞ hɜ˞ faɪnɫ̩ɪ ʃi̟ ʔɐdmɪnɪstɜ˞ ʔɛθə hɛ˞ ʔɛfɔ˞ts wɛ˞ nɒ̜t̚ fju̜tʰaɪɫ ɪn‿noʊ tʰaɪm ðə guˑs bigæn tʰə tʰaɪə˞ so sɛɹə wəz̥  ʔeˑbɫ tʊ hɔɫd ʔɑnt̪ʊ kʰɒ̜mɐ æ̝nt gɪv̥ hɜ˞ ʔə ɹəlæksɪŋ bæ̆θ wʌns‿sɛɹə hæd mænɪd͡ʒ̥ t̪ʊ bæˑθ‿ðə gus ʃi waɪp̚tʰəɹɒf wɪθ ə kɫɒθ æn leɪd̥ hɛ˞ ɹaɪtsaɪd̥  ðɛn sɛɹə kʰənfɜ˞m ðə̆ vɛˑts daɪgnosəs ʔɒlmost ɪmidɪət̚li ʃɪ ɾɪmɛmbə˞d̚ ænɪfɛk̚tɪv̥ tɹiʔmənt̚ ðætɾɪkwaɪə˞d̥ hɜ˞ t͈ʰu̜ mɛʒəɹaʊt̚ ʔɫɒdəv mɛdɪsə̆n sɛɾə wɜ˞nd̚ dædiˑs kʰɔə˞s ʔɒv̥ tɹit̚mɛntʻ mɔɪʔ bi ɪkspɛnsiv̥ iðə faːɪv ʔɔ˞ sɪks tʰaɪmz̥ ðə kʰɔst ʔɒv̥ ˈpʰɛnɪsɪlə̆n kʰænɑtʻ ɪmæd͡ʒɪn peɪn so mʌt͡ʃ bʌt̚ mɪsɪs hæɹɪsə̆n ʔɐ mɪlɪənə˞ lɔ̜jə˞ θɔtʰɪˑwɒz ə fɛə˞ pɹaɪs fɔ̜ɹ ə kʰjuə˞

TRANSCRIBED BY: Paul Meier

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/25/2022

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Syria, in the province of Al-Hasakah. At the age of 18, I started my studies at the University of Damascus. In 2012, I have moved to the city of Erbil in Iraq Kurdistan region. In 2017, however, I have moved to Germany. And I am currently studying English and American studies at the University of Augsburg.

I think what really affected my pronunciation was my mother tongue, Kurdish. In the Kurdish language, you have more vowels than the Arabic language, which made it easier for me to properly pronounce words in other languages that I’ve acquired. We also have many other sounds in Kurdish which you cannot find, for instance, in the Arabic language. For example, the letter “P.” As you do not have the sound P in Arabic, it is so hard for an Arabic native speaker to pronounce it properly.

As you can realize, my accent is more American than British. And that is because I had many American friends and I was influenced by the American media and movies, as most of them where in an American accent.

TRANSCRIBED BY: subject

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 09/11/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

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