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Table 2.8 The Result of the r Sound Production in the Medial Position Word
Standard Production
Singer
World w
ɜːld wo
ɾld Singer 1
w ʌɾd
Singer 8 wo
ɾd Singer 9
Word w
ɜːd w
ʌd Singer 6
wo ɾd
Singer 9 Girl
ɡɜːl ɡɑːɾ
Singer 6 Pretty
pr ti pr ti
Singer 3 pr ti
Singer 6 Everyone
evriw ʌn
ev ɾiwʌn
Singer 8 ev
ɾiwʌn Singer 9
From the result on Table 2.8, the problem appears since the r sound in the word word
is omitted by Singer 6. Overall, the English r sounds in the word world, girl, pretty and everyone
are also pronounced as alveolar flap ɾ.
c. The r Sound in Final Position
The writer also tried to analyze the English r sound in the final position produced by Japanese female singers. The result is the English r sounds in the final
of the words are often omitted. Table 2.9 shows the list of the words which are ended by English r sound.
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Table 2.9 The Result of the r Sound Production in the Final Position Word
Standard Production
Singer
More m
ɔːr m
ɔːəɾ Singer 1
m ɔːə
Singer 6 m
ɔːə Singer 7
For f
ɔːr f
ɔːɾ Singer 3
fo ʊ
Singer 8 f
ɔːɾ Singer 9
Refrigerator r ˈfr dʒəre tər‟ ɾ ˈfr dʒere tʌ
Singer 7 After
ɑːftər aft
ə Singer 4
Power pa
ʊər pa
ʊa Singer 5
Based on the result in Table 2.9, most of the r sounds in the final position of the words are not pronounced by Japanese female singers. It can be seen that the r
sounds are omitted by Japanese female singers. In the English language system, the r sounds in the final position of the words are usually vocalized. It shows that the r
sound is vocalized in the final of the words if there is a vowel before it. According to Knowles 1987, “what has happened is that a short vowel has coalesced with a
following r to produce new varieties of long vowel” as cited in Akihiko, 2014, p. 63.
3. The Analysis of the Pronunciation Errors
From the pronunciation of English liquids l and r sounds which are produced by Japanese female singers, the pronunciation error comes from the English
l sound. The l sound pronunciation errors are mostly found in the medial and final
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24 of the English words. It happens because there are some differences in sound systems
of English and Japanese languages that influence Japanese female singers in pronouncing English l sounds. On the other hand, the English r sound is clearly
pronounced initially and mostly medial. However, the r sounds in the final position of the English words are often omitted. For all, the writer will try to analyze the
causes of the English l sound pronunciation errors by Japanese female singers in the initial and medial positions. Besides, the writer will analyze why the r sound is
omitted in the final position of the words by Japanese female singers. The writer takes some of the words which are problematically pronounced by Japanese female
singers from the result.
a. The English l Sound
Firstly, the writer will discuss the errors which are found in the pronunciation of l sound in the middle of the English word; they are: the l sound pronounced as
ɾ sound, the l sound pronounced as ɾ sound and followed by a vowel „u‟, and the l sound omitted.
