Aspects of Connected

Speech
I went to the station and
booked two tickets for my
father and his best friend.
Fluent speech flows with a rhythm,
and phoneme sounds or words are
connected to each other rather
than in isolation.
To make speech utterance smooth,
the pronunciation of the end and
beginning of the neighbouring
words is modified.
The modification depends on the
neighbouring phonemes.
Aspects of Connected Speech

Assimilation
Elision
Linking
Intrusion
Rhythm
 Word Boundary
…. f | i….
 .… Cf | Vi…. = Link Vi to Cf
 Ex. a box of eggs = /ə bɒk səvegz/

 ….Vf | Vi…. (Linking /w/, /j/, /r/)

 Ex. Go in = / gəʊ w ɪn /
 Say it = /seɪ j ɪt/
 father and mother = /fɑːðə r ænd ˈmʌðə/
 China and Japan = / ˈʧaɪnə (r) ən(d) ʤəˈpæn/
 Intrusive /r/
 .… Cf | Ci…. (Same consonant, we hear one
only)
 Ex. A bit tired

 .… Cf | Ci…. (Different neighbouring

consonants)
 Elision =
 Ex. Next day = /neks deɪ/
 Assimilation =
 Ex. Ten boys = /tem bɔɪz/
Elision
a sound is omitted from pronunciation of the word
mostly found in case of consonant cluster

1 Alveolar consonants /t/ and /d/ when ‘sandwiched’ between

two consonants (CONS – t/d – CONS), e.g.

next day….
Her last car…
Hold the beg!
Send Frank a gift.
consonant + affricate elision

This can also take place within affricates /tS/ and /dZ/
when preceded by a consonant, e.g.

Strange doll
My lunch time
Elision of ‘not’
The phoneme /t/ is a fundamental part of the
negative particle not,–may easily disappear and
the only difference between the positive and the
negative is a different, longer vowel sound in the
second:

+ I can speak…. /ai k@n spi:k/

- I can’t speak… /ai ka:nspi:k/

Rules of elision

 /t/ and /d/ (when appear within consonant clusters)

 We arrived the next day.
 /t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/

 When we reached Paris, we stopped for lunch.

 /t/ elided between /ʧ/ and /p/
 /t/ elided between /p/ and /f/

 We bought a lovely carved statuette.

 /d/ elided between /v/ and /st/
Rules of elision

 Complex consonant clusters are simplified.

 She acts like she owns the place!
 ӕkts/ to /ӕks/

 Teachers use authentic texts to teach from.

 /teksts/ to /teks/

 George the sixth’s throne

 /sɪkθs θr/ to /sɪks θr/
Rules of elision

 /ə/ can disappear

 I think we should call the police.
 I’ll love you forever, promise. Well, perhaps.
 It’s a question of collective responsibility.
 Are you coming out tonight?
 That’s an interesting idea.
 Have we got any vegetables?
Rules of elision

 /v/ can disappear in of, before consonants

 It’s my birthday on the 11th of November.
 It’s a complete waste of time!
 That’s the least of my worries!
Assimilation

Assimilation can be:

of Place
of Voicing
of Manner
Assimilation
1. What happens
 How sounds modify each other.
 Could you pass me that book please.
 /t/ assimilates to /p/
 Anticipatory assimilation
 One sound changes to another because
of the sound which follows.
 Coalescent assimilation
 Two sound combine to form a new one.
Assimilation of Place
The most common form involves the
movement of place of articulation of the
alveolar stops /t/, /d/ and /n/ to a position
closer to that of the following sound.
Example:
ten cars, the /n/ - alveolar to velar position,
the tongue will be ready to produce the
following velar sound /k/.

ten boys the /n/ alveolar to bilabial position,

/tem boɪz/ to prepare for the articulation of
the bilabial /b/.
 BEFORE A VELAR (/k/, /g/)
/n/  /ŋ/
e.g. ten cars = /teŋ kɑːz/
/d/  /g/
e.g. good girl = /gug g3:l/
/t/  /k/
e.g. that kid = /ðæk kɪd/
 BEFORE A BILABIAL (/m/, /b/, /p/)
/n/  /m/

e.g. ten men /tem men/

/d/  /b/

e.g. bad boys /bab boɪz/

/t/  /p/

e.g. hot mushrooms /hɒp ˈmʌʃrʊmz

 ASSIMILATION OF VOICING

The vibration of the vocal folds is not something that

can be switched on and off very swiftly, as a result
groups of consonants tend to be either all voiced or
all voiceless. Consider the different endings of ‘dogs’
/dogz/ and ‘cats’ /kats/, of the past forms of the
regular verbs such as ‘kissed’ /kist/ and ‘sneezed’
/sni:zd/.
The assimilation of voicing can radically
change the sound of several common
constructions:
have to /hav tu:/ /hæf tə
has to /haz tu:/ /hæs tə/
Ex. I have to go! /aɪ hæf tə gəʊ/

used to /ju:zd tu:/ /juːstə/

Ex. I used to live near you.

/aɪ juːstəlɪv nɪə juː/
Rules for assimilation

 The phonemes /t/, /d/ and /n/ often becomes bilabial

before bilabial consonants /p/, /b/ and /m/
 He’s a rather fat boy. (/t/ assimilates to /p/)
 She’s got an apartment in Manhattan. (/t/ assimilates /p/)
 He’s a very good boy. (/d/ assimilates to /b/)
 There are ten men in the class, and two women. (/n/
assimilates to /m/)
Rules for assimilation

 /t/ assimilates to /k/ or /g/. /d/ assimilates to /g/

before /k/ or /g/
 Where has that cat been all night? (/t/ assimilates to /k/)
 Can you see that girl over there? (/t/ assimilates to /k/)
 It was a very good concert. (/d/ assimilates to /g/)
 She’s a very good girl. (/d/ assimilates to /g/)
Rules for assimilation

 /n/ assimilate to /ŋ/ before /g/ or /k/

 I’ve been going out too much lately.
 He’s bringing his own car.
 /s/ can assimilate to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/
 I really love this shiny one over here.
 /z/ can assimilate to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/
 We found this lovely little cheese shop in Paris.
Rules of assimilation

 /t/ and /j/ coalesce to form /ʧ/

 You went to France last year, didn’t you?

 /d/ and /j/ coalesce to form /ʤ/

 Would you like a cup of tea?
Describing Assimilation Process

1. Transcribe the phrase/words given before and

after assimilation
2. Identify whether the assimilation is regressive or
progressive
3. Explain regressive/progressive assimilation
4. Explain the change that takes place after
assimilation by stating the place/manner/voicing
of the final and initial sounds before assimilation.
5. State the changes –the new sounds and the
similarities.
 ten cars - /ten kɑːz/ = /teŋ kɑːz/

The above phrase shows a regressive assimilation

because the final sounds follows and become more
like the initial sound. For example final sound /n/
becomes more like /k/ sound.
The above phrase also demonstrates assimilation of
place. Before assimilation the place of articulation
for the final sound /n/ is alveolar while initial sound
/k/ is velar.
After assimilation, /n/ sound is changed to /ŋ/ and
both sounds have the same place of articulation
which is velar.
Get them- /get ðem /
Linking and intrusion

 Linking /r/
 Rhotic /ˈrəʊtɪk/
 The letter r appears after a vowel (car, carve)
 /r/ is pronounced. /kɑːr/ /kɑːrv/
 American English, Irish English

 Non-rhotic
 /r/ is not pronounced
 /kɑː/ /kɑːv/
 Received Pronunciation (RP)
Linking and intrusion

 Written r at the end of a word and it occurs between

two vowel sounds
 /r/ is used by non-rhotic accent speakers to link the
vowels.
 Her English is excellent. (/r/)
 Her German is absolutely awful, though! (/ø/)
 My brother lives in London. (/ø/)
 My brother always phones at the wrong time. (/r/)
Linking and intrusion

 Intrusive /r/
 Two vowel sounds meet and there is no letter r.
 /r/ is used in non-rhotic accent to ease transition.
 First word end in /ə/, /ɑː/ or /ɔː/
 Princess Diana was a victim of media exploitation. /əre/
 The media are to blame. /ərаː/
 It’s a question of law and order. /ɔːrən/
 I saw it happen. /ɔːrɪ/
 Drawing /ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/ (but not all)
Linking and intrusion

 Linking /j/
 A word ends in /iː/
 Diphthong which ends in /ɪ/
 Speakers often use /j/ to ease transition.
 I agree, wholeheartedly. /аɪjə/
 I think, therefore I am. /аɪjӕm/
 I am, therefore I ought to be. /аɪjӕm/ /аɪjɔːt/
 They aren’t, aren’t they? /ðeɪjɑːrɑːnt/

 This happens because in order to form /iː/ and /ɪ/, the

mouth is in the position of /j/
Linking and intrusion

 Linking /w/
 When a word ends /ʊ/
 Diphthong that ends in /ʊ/
 Speakers often use /w/ to ease transition.
 Go on! Go in! /gəʊwɒn/ /gəʊwɪn/
 Are you inside, or are you outside? /juːwɪn/ /juːwаʊt/
 Who is? /huːwɪz/
 You are. /juːwɑː/