Welcome to the InFluency Podcast. I’m Hadar, and this is episode number 136. And today we are going to talk about legal vocabulary.

Hey, hey everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in for another episode of the InFluency Podcast. Today we are going to talk about words; and not just words – legal words. Some of these words I knew before I knew anything about pronunciation. Because I used to be a fan, as a teenager, of all the legal drama that was available back then.

I think my favorite one was “Law and Order”, and “Ally McBeal”, if you remember. I was obsessed with it. And in particular, I was obsessed with imitating the prosecutors when they were in court. So this is why I know a lot of legal vocabulary, even though there is no real need for me to know this. Because I don’t have a lot of experience in real courtrooms, thankfully. And I haven’t studied law, which is probably a good thing for the legal system, because I don’t think I’d make a good student.

Anyway. So, today I decided to select 10 very common words and talk about the meaning, or the pronunciation, or both. Because some of them are very deceiving in terms of pronunciation. So, we’re going to talk about those words, definition, and just have fun in this legal conversation. So, are you ready? Let’s start.

Okay. So the first word is, of course, “law”, “law”. It’s a one-syllable word, it’s really short, but it could be confusing because of the spelling. So, it’s spelled with ‘LAW’. A lot of times when we see that W we think it means that it’s a changing vowel – a diphthong, and therefore people sometimes pronounce it as a ‘low’, ‘low’.

“low” is a different word and a different vowel. There it’s the ‘ow’ as in go, but here it’s the /ɔː/ sound – /lɔː/, /lɔː/ as in daughter. Or even the /ɑː/ as in father, if you totally relax your lips and relax your mouth – ‘/lɑː/, /lɑː/. /lɔː/ – can you hear the difference? /lɑː/ – /lɔː/. In the second one I rounded the lips just a bit, but my mouth was very open for both. The tongue is relaxed and pulled back just a bit – ‘lah’. “It’s against the law, I’m telling you.” Law. Law studies. “I studied law.”

Okay. The next word is “prosecute”, “prosecute”. The primary stress here is on the first syllable – /ˈprɑː/, /ˈprɑː/, /ˈprɑː/. “prosecute”. To prosecute, by the way, is to, according to the dictionary, “Institute legal proceedings against a person or organization”. So, you prosecute someone for something that they did.

And “prosecute” starts with a PR, and then the /ɑː/ as in father – /ˈprɑː/, primary stress, as I said. Then we have a schwa – /sə/, /sə/, /sə/, and then /kjuːt/. The T – I released it here, but it could be a held T – /ˈprɑːsəkjuːt̚/ – where you just hear that abrupt stop of air. But I don’t like those confusions, especially since, you know, native speakers of English may pronounce it with a T or may pronounce it without the T – with a held T. So, just do whatever is easier for you and makes it clearer for other people to understand what it is that you’re saying.

So, “prosecute”. And the person who is prosecuting is called a “prosecutor”. A prosecutor, by the way, is usually a public official. It’s on the person suing, but a public official that is prosecuting, prosecuting.

The next one is a “jury” “jury”. We start with a /dʒ/ sound, and then it’s the /ʊr/ as in poor. It’s not an ‘uw’ sound, it’s not an ‘o’ sound, it’s somewhere in between – /ʊr/. /ˈdʒʊri/, /ˈdʒʊri/. Make sure you pronounce the ‘d’ sound at the beginning – /dʒ/, and not /ˈʒʊri/, but /ˈdʒʊri/, /ˈdʒʊri/. Some people might reduce the sound and just pronounce it as /ˈdʒɝːi/ – with an /ɝ/ as in “stir” – /ˈdʒɝːi/. But both are okay, whatever is easier for you.

The next one is “attorney”. “I needed to get a good attorney”. “attorney”. Here, even though we have the letter O, we don’t really hear an ‘o’ sound. So, we start with a schwa sound: /ə/, /ə/, then /tɝː/, /tɝː/ as in Turkey, and then /ni/ – /əˈtɝːni/, /əˈtɝːni/. “She’s my attorney.” “I’m an attorney at law.” “attorney”.

The next word is “affidavit”. “affidavit”. Listen to the sounds here: /æfəˈdeɪvɪt/. An affidavit is a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation for use as evidence in court. Affidavit – a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation for use as evidence in court.

The first sound is /æ/ as in cat, then we have /fə/ /fə/ /fə/ – an F sound and then a schwa. The spelling, in the spelling you’ll see the letter ‘i’, but it’s actually a schwa sound /æfə/. Then /deɪ/. that’s the primary stress. /æfəˈdeɪvɪt/ – /vɪt/, it’s like “David”, but with a T. /æfəˈdeɪvɪt/. “Where is your affidavit, David?” “affidavit”.

The next word is a “felony” “felony”. A felony is a crime that usually involves violence. And it’s usually more serious than a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor is breaking the rules without serious implications. Something not too serious, but still, you know, it’s not the right thing to do. So a felony is something more serious than that.

So, to pronounce it, you start with /ˈfe/ – that’s the primary stress: and F sound and the /e/ as in red. Then /lə/ – and L and a schwa – /ˈfelə/, and then /ni/ – /ˈfeləni/. “felony”.

The next word is “warrant”. /ˈwɔːrənt/, or /ˈwɑːrənt/. /ˈwɔːrənt/ or /ˈwɑːrənt/. We’ll talk about the pronunciation in a sec. Just to clarify, a warrant is a document issued by a legal or government official, authorizing the police, or some other body, to make an arrest. Or sometimes even to search the house.

I remember from watching “Law and order” – /lɔː/, “Law and order”. And there was always the question: “Do you have a warrant?” “We need to get a warrant”. “Where’s the warrant? I want to see the warrant.” So, you can’t really do anything, the police can’t do anything, really, without a warrant. So, that’s a warrant.

And we start with a /w/ sound, then it’s the /ɔːr/ as in four, and then /rənt/, /rənt/ – there is a schwa sound there. /ˈwɔːrənt/. After the W you can also open your mouth more for an /ɑ/ sound, just like the difference between /lɔː/ and /lɑː/.

You know, these two sounds are very similar: /ɑː/ as in father, in /ɔː/ as in daughter. In some dialects in the US you don’t hear a distinction, both of them are merged to the /ɑː/ sound, /ɑː/. And this is why I always tend to teach it with the /ɑː/ sound cuz it’s just more general and easier for people to understand when there’s one sound and not two. But if it’s easier for you to pronounce it with a more rounded mouth – /ˈwɔːrənt/, then go for it, because it’s a valid pronunciation.

The next word is “subpoena”. Subpoena. The word is spelled with a B sound, and then there is an O there somewhere. So if you heard this word for the first time, you probably didn’t imagine that there was a B and an O in this word – “subpoena”. Subpoena is a written form, ordering a person to attend a court. “I’m going to subpoena you” – so you can use it as a verb. Or, “I received a subpoena” – and then it functions as a noun. How efficient?

Subpoena. You start with an /s/ sound, then a schwa – /sə/, /sə/; then /piː/ as in pizza. I know what you’re thinking. No, I was thinking about pizza. /səˈpiːnə/, /-nə/, /-nə/, /-nə/ – an N sound and a schwa at the and – /səˈpiːnə/.

The next word is “testimony”. Testimony. Testimony. You start with a T sound, then it’s the /e/ as in red – /ˈte/. Close it with an S – /ˈtes/, /ˈtes/. And then /tə/ – schwa – /tə/. /ˈtestəmoʊ/ – /oʊ/ as in go. /ˈtestəmoʊni/. Testimony. Testimony. So, a testimony is a formal written or spoken statement, and it’s especially one that is given in the court of law. Testimony. “I gave my testimony.”

Okay. The next phrase… I had another one on the list, but I changed it to this one cause I love saying it so much. The next phrase is “Objection, your honor!” When I was a child, I always practiced saying it out loud. “Objection, your honor!” “I object!” Objection.

So, the reason why I want to talk about the word “objection”, cause it has a fun little schwa at the beginning – /ə/, even though it’s spelled with an O, /ə/. /əbˈdʒekt/. “I object”. /əbˈdʒek-/ and then /ʃən/, /ʃən/, /ʃən/. /əbˈdʒekʃən/.

The, “your” is reduced to /jər/, /jər/. And then “honor”, even though it’s spelled with an H, we pronounce it without an H. /jər ˈɑːnər/, /jər ˈɑːnər/. /əbˈdʒekʃən jər ˈɑːnər/. “Objection, your honor.”

Okay, that’s it. These were the 10 legal terms, or words, that we constantly come across when we watch all those legal shows. And thankfully, there are many. So now we talked about how to pronounce them. To make sure that what your mouth is doing is aligned with how you hear the word – and even moreso, if, how you hear the word is actually aligned with how the word is meant to be pronounced.

There’s always confusion around there. It’s like there are so many moving pieces when it comes to pronouncing a single word. It’s not only how it’s supposed to be pronounced, but also how it’s perceived, and then how it is performed by the speaker. So, this is why we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re trying to keep it fun cause it is.

Okay. If you enjoyed this podcast episode, come on over to Instagram and let me know if you’d like more of those, and if you have other ideas for similar pronunciation series. So, you can find me at @hadar.accentsway on Instagram, as I said. And you can also take 30 seconds, if you like this podcast and rate the podcast, and even write a review to help people understand what this podcast is all about if they don’t know it.

Okay. So, thank you so much in advance. I sincerely appreciate it, your honor. And, uh, and that’s it. I’m going to put on my cape right now and take my law books, and continue with my day.

Have a beautiful, beautiful day, my friends, and I’ll see you, or speak to you, in the next episode. Bye.