LINKING SOUND RULES

Prepared By Thu Luong

Linking sounds/ Connected speech

Words are not always pronounced the

same! In normal fluent speech the sounds
can change when words bump into each
other. The changes usually happen at the
word boundaries, particularly at the end
of words.
 #1: Consonant to vowel

When one word ends hold on

with a consonant sound
and the next word Sleep in
begins with a vowel
An egg
sound there is a smooth
link between the two.
A box of eggs
 #1: Consonant to vowel
Hold on a second. Can you pick up some milk for us at the
store.

He is an old friend of mine.

School was cancelled because of all the snow.

Could you take a look at this?

 #2: Same or similar consonants

When a word ends in a this style -> thistyle

consonant sound and the
following word begins with need to -> neeto/
the same consonant sound, needo
we don't pronounce two lot to -> loto
sounds - both sounds are
pronounced together as look cool -> lookool
one. nice sofa ->
 #2: Same or similar consonants

I'm a bit tired.

We have a lot to do.

I think this song is about the singers black cat.

You dont need to prove it to them.

#2: Same or similar consonants

The j sound // and Orange juice

ch sound // are the
only affricate sounds in
English. In a sequence
of identical affricates, Which chair
no special linking
occurs and the sounds
are pronounced twice
in a row. each choice
#3: Unreleased plosive consonants

Plosive consonants Would be

(t, d, p, b, k, g) + Stuck like this

consonants
The sounds can good news

be unreleased bad luck

#3: Unreleased plosive consonants

We allowed them to jump to the front of the

line.

I just dont want my kids to make the same bad

mistakes I made.
#4: Consonants cluster

When the sounds /t/ Just need

or /d/ occur
between two
consonant sounds,
they will often Diamond ring
disappear
completely from the
pronunciation. Kept going
 #4: Consonants cluster

I'm going next week

That was the worst job ever had!

Just one person came to the party!

I can'(t) swim
#5: n, s, z + th sound

n, s, z + th is that -> isat

sound
in there -> inere
th sound
can be dropped
#5: n, s, z + th sound

Yes, I guess that works for me.

I put an apple on that table this morning.

#6: nt sound

nt sound International ->

between vowels Inernational

t sound
can be dropped Sentimental ->
senimental
 #7: Vowel to vowel linking

When one word ends with Two apples

a vowel sound and the
next word begins with a W
vowel, another sound, a
/w/ or /j/ can be added He ask
depending on the
particular sounds to make
a smooth transition. J
 #8: Assimilation: changing sounds

Assimilation is a more drastic type of Don't you

coarticulation. Instead of "sharing" part of a
sound, the merged sounds are
pronounced as an entirely different sound. Did you
Assimilation occur when the 't sound' /t/ or
/d/ precede the 'y sound' /y/.