VOA一分鐘英語：三種不一樣的 “輕聲說”： whisper, murmur, mumble

“Whisper、murmur” 和 “mumble” 作動詞時都可以表示 “小聲地說”，它們之間的區(qū)別是什么？哪個詞的意思是 “刻意壓低聲音，只讓身邊的人聽見”？想要說一個人 “小聲嘟囔”，應(yīng)該用哪個詞？
 
I’m Georgina from BBC Learning English. Do you ever wonder about the difference between whisper, murmur and mumble? They are all used to describe different ways of speaking quietly.
Whisper means to speak quietly, often on purpose, so that only someone very close can hear what you’re saying!
I don’t want everyone to hear! I’ll have to whisper.
I’ve got a secret to tell you. I’ll have to whisper it though.
Murmur means to speak quietly, often in a low continuous voice, so it’s hard to understand.
‘I love you’, she murmured in her sleep.
“Do you want to go for a coffee?”
I can’t understand what you’re saying. Stop murmuring!
Mumble means to speak quietly, often in a low voice, making it difficult to understand.
She’s always mumbling and complaining very quietly, so I can’t hear! It drives me mad!
“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have eaten the last biscuit!”
That was a really mumbled apology, I could hardly hear it!
Bye!
 
用法總結(jié)
1 “Whisper” 用來表示 “因?yàn)橹幌胱屔磉叺娜寺牭?，所以故意小聲說話”，類似于漢語里的 “說悄悄話”。
I don’t want everyone to hear! I’ll have to whisper.
I couldn’t hear what the children were whispering about.
 
2 “Murmur” 用來表示 “持續(xù)地低聲說，低語”。
‘I love you’, she murmured in her sleep.
He was murmuring continuously.
 
3 “Mumble” 用來表示 “小聲嘟囔”。
She’s always mumbling and complaining very quietly, so I can’t hear! It drives me mad!
I couldn’t understand what he was mumbling about.