happy belated birthday (21st sept)

dear my dearest wife,

happy belated birthday 9 days ago, on 21st sept 2008. sorry for not having an entry for that sooner. it's been a while since i last updated this blog. sorry for the absence of cake, card and whatever items associated with birthday. sorry that we could not be together on your birthday. you had already taken your mc for 1 week before this week (week of raya holiday) in kt. and i had to go to work 110++km away from there last week. our daughter also had to go to school 110km away from there last week. maybe next year all 4 of us (now) can have it better & proper...

happy belated nth birthday. may your age be prolonged to deservedly serve Allah & His Messenger Muhammad s.a.w.. may your halal fortune be dwindled by Allah. may blessings be showered upon you by Allah in this world and the hereafter. may great health be rewarded to you by Allah.

regards,

your humble hubby.

�welcome to the wild world part ii

that's me. a little bit over 1 day old... & a little bit chubby too...

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here i come, papa & mama!

(ed. a.k.a. welcome to the "wild world")! i was born on 28 september 2008. equivalent to 28 ramadhan 1429. it was a fine sunday evening. the time was 6:16 pm. i was 3.8 kg at that time. my length was 56 cm. my head size was 36 cm. i'm a baby girl! my mama had to have caesarean section in order to let me out into the world. i'm still at the only specialist hospital in kt & terengganu now. with my mama. and papa as well. this is our 2nd (ed. boring) night. papa, don't forget to settle the fitrah tithe for me since i was born way before the maghrib time of 1 syawal 1429 (30 september 2008). i know that mama & papa have thought of a nice name for me. so, papa, don't forget to register me at the nearest national registration department. when you have the time. when mama & i have been discharged. my grandparents, most of my uncles, of my aunties, and of my cousins, have come to pay me a visit. my 8-year old sister, the only sister, and the only sibling, so far, has come as well. twice. last night. and tonight. aren't you interested to know my name? the name is wan nur izzah.

this really strikes me hard to the heart (as well as to the brain)!

it's so damn difficult to unlearn what you have learned (& pronounced) for years...

Click here from thestar.com.my or read it here below.

Wednesday September 3, 2008

Don’t pronounce everything!

By LUKE TEOH

It is very common not to hear some of the vowels when we pronounce some words. These are called unstressed vowels.

A MALAYSIAN man who was on holiday at his sister’s in Toronto asked for an envelope from his niece but she could not comprehend what he wanted.

He repeated the word “envelope” a few times, yet his niece did not know what he wanted so he enunciated, “En-ve-luhp.”

But the Canadian-born girl was still puzzled so she went to ask her Malaysian-born mother what her uncle wanted.

The lady said, “He’d like an onv-luhp.”

What had confused the niece was that her uncle was unaware of the unstressed vowel in the word envelope and had pronounced it giving the word three syllables instead of the usual two.

What are unstressed vowels?

It is very common not to hear some of the vowels when we pronounce some words. These are called unstressed vowels. Such a vowel is shown in dictionaries as an italicised schwa or a bracketed schwa which tells you that the vowel is not usually pronounced in the word.

Here are examples of some words with the unstressed vowel missing in each word.

1. bre_kfast

2. veg_table

3. bus_ness

4. diff_rent

5. int_rest

6. myst_ry

7. sep_rate

8. choc_late

9. di_mond

10. ev_ry

11. hist_ry

Here are the pronunciations of some words with an unstressed vowel missed out in each word. Did you know the words? Check in a dictionary for the italicised or bracketed schwa.

1. temprature

2. mathmatics

3. camra

4. factry

5. poisnous

6. cemetry

7. Wensday

Here are some common phrases with an unstressed vowel in each phrase:

1. sister-in-law – sistrin law

2. mother-in-law – mothrin law (_thrin assimilated and pronounced as _drin)

3. father-in-law – fathrin law

4. brother-in-law – brothrin law

5. daughter-in-law – daughtrin law

6. Mr & Mrs – mistruhn misiz

Silent letters

Some letters in certain words are not pronounced, i.e. they are silent. Here are some common silent letters, showing where they occur:

1. b

o plumber, plumbing

o bomber, bombing

o climber, climbing

o debt, debtor

o subtle

o doubt, doubting

2. c

o scent

o science

o scythe

o rescind

o sceptre

o descend

3. k

o knob

o knack

o knight

o knuckle

o knell

o knead

4. g

o gnat

o gnash

o sign, design

o align, alignment

o gnaw

o gnarled

5. h

o exhibit

o exhaust

o heir

o honour, honourable

o honest, honesty

o vehicle

6 . l

o salmon

o almond

o yolk

o walk

o alms

o palm

7. w

o wrath

o writhe

o wreck

o wracking

o wriggle

o answer

8. p

o raspberry

o pneumatic

o psychology, psychiatry

o pneumonia

o pseudonym

o psalm

9. s

o isle

o aisle

o viscount

o debris

o island

10. t

o fasten

o listen, listener, listening

o often

o glisten

o christen

o jostling

11. u

o guitar

o circuit

o guillotine

o guilt, guilty, guiltless

o biscuit

o guard

Elisions

Elision – the ‘missing out’ of a consonant or vowel or both is also very common in informal speech.

1. elision of a vowel

o go away (go way )

o try again (try gain)

o run along (run long)

o may as well (may-s well )

o get another (get nother)

2 . elision of a consonant

t

o must be

o left turn

o next day

o post office

o went up

d

o stand still

o a thousand ringgit

o could be

o bold face

o found out

o loved traveling

This is just a very simple and rather superficial explanation on the eliding of sounds in pronunciation as I am unable to use the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) on the computer.

For a more detailed explanation, one can refer to books on spoken English or pronunciation.

I have referred to Modern Spoken English by Thomas Lee Crowell, Jr (Late Professor of English, Columbia University and Hunter College), Listening to Spoken English by Gillian Brown (Professor of English as an International Language, University of Cambridge) and An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English by A.C. Gimson (formerly Professor of Phonetics, University College, London).

A dictionary is one of the most frequently used books for getting information and I have found the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English quite adequate for everyday use. Should you have any questions on the pronunciation of English or phonetics, do contact me – luketeoh2@yahoo.com

search's mungkinkah tertawa guitar chord (kod gitar)

never found it anywhere on the net. so here's my own interpretation of the transcription:

C Bm F G
C Bm F G
F
[guitar intro]

C Am F G
Haruskah ku padamkan...
C Am F G
Dengan titis air mata...

G-G#-Am

Am G# G F#m F G C
Atau ku biar dalam...

C Am F G
Haruskah diriku...
C Am F G
Di depan dirimu...

G-G#-Am

Am G# G F#m F G C
Mungkinkah tertawa...

Bm-Em

F Em Am G
Aku bertanya pada
F G C
Diri oh mengapa

Bm-Em

F Em Am G
Mengapa bisa terjadi
F G
Begini rupa
F G
Aku terseksa

C Dm F G
Sejambak kasih...
Terhapus di pertengahan...
Gugur bagaikan...
Tercemar kehormatan...

G-G#-Am

Am G# G F#m F G C
Apa salahku hingga...

Bm-Em

F Em Am G
F G C

Bm-Em

F Em Am G
F G
F G C

Bm-Em
[guitar solo]

F Em Am G
Aku bertanya pada
F G C
Diri oh mengapa

Bm-Em

F Em Am G
Mengapa bisa terjadi
F G
Begini rupa
F G
Aku terseksa

C Dm F G
Sejambak kasih...
Terhapus di pertengahan...
Gugur bagaikan...
Tercemar kehormatan...

[repeat last verse until you get exhausted]

full lyrics can be found here.

the song is at the top. gonna be there for a while...

1st day of fasting...

went great without any anomaly. received my radiohead t-shirts. fit me fine. the plan is to wear them during aidilfitri. went to ramadhan market. soooooo many people that i just visited & bought take-away dinner for iftar from 3-4 stalls only and headed straight away back home. i hate crowded places! at last, went to the surau after about 1 year of absence. it has a new look now. been renovated to accommodate more people. good for it (& us & me if i can take good advantage of it).