The pronunciation of collocation "can always"
Hello, I've just heard a women speaking words can always like
[kæn ɔweɪz ], so, I can't here the [l] sound. I'm just wondering if it's a common reduction and she really didn't pronounce it or I've misheard ?
The recording is on the site of British Council, 1:13
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/advanced-c1/an-interview-about-two-books
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Answers · 6
3
Yes, this is a common feature of many British English accents.
The 'l' sound is fully released before a vowel (a 'clear/light 'l' as in 'like') but when it comes at the end of a syllable (a 'dark l' as in 'all'), the 'l' often sounds more like a 'w'. Just listen to how the announcer says 'Council' at the very beginning of the recording.
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By the way, a common mistake among Russian speakers is to use the dark 'l' in all positions in English words. When English-speaking actors want to imitate Russian accents, the first thing they do is replace the light 'l' at the beginning of words with a dark 'l' and..... voila! You have a Russian accent.
0
There is an easily heard [l] in "always" at 1:13.
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