ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH. Assimilation

In connected speech, the usual aim is for ease of communication rather than complete accuracy. Sometimes speakers make adjacent sounds more like each other (assimilation), sometimes sounds are left out altogether (elision) and other times an unrelated sound is inserted to ease the transition from one sound to another. ASSIMILATION (change). Adjacent sounds often influence each other so that they become more alike, or ASSIMILATE. These effects are more common in rapid speech, but some degree of assimilation will be fond in all spoken styles. The reason for assimilation is because the tongue cannot always move quickly enough to get from one position to another in order to articulate the next sound. So it approximates the sound before moving on to the next segment of sound. In most cases assimilation affects consonants. In REGRESSIVE(or ANTICiPATORY) assimilation, a sound is influenced by the sound which follows it. In the phrase TEN BALOONS, /ten/ is likely to be pronounced /tem/, anticipating the following bilabial consonant. In the greeting GOOD NIGHT, /gʊd/ is usually pronounced /gʊn/, as sometimes shown in writing: G’NIGHT. Nasals and /l/ become dental before /θ/ and /ð/, as in TEN THISTLES, or TELL THEM. /ʃ/ affects any /s/ or /z/ that comes before it. E.g., THIS SHOE /ðiʃ ʃu:/, THOSE SHOES /ðәʊʃ ʃu:z/. HAVE TO is said with an /f/ sound rather than the /v/ (/hæf tә/), as the voiced fricative is followed by a voiceless consonant.

In PROGRESSIVE assimilation, a sound is influenced by the sound which precedes it. The second word in BRIDGE SCORE would typically emerge (in RP) as /ʃkɔ:/, because of the influence of the palatal element /d/ in the preceding affricate /ʤ/. Similarly, the second word in CHURCH STREET would be said as /ʃtri:t/. A third possibility is COALESCENCE – a mutual influence, where two sounds fuse into a single new segment. In WON’T SHE, the final /t/ and initial /ʃ / mutually assimilate to produce /ʧ/ resulting in the fused unit, /wәʊnʧi/. /tj/ and /dj/ are often assimilated to /ʧ/ and /ʤ/; /ʧu:n/ rather than /tju:n/ for TUNE, or /ʤu:/ instead of /dju:/ for D’You.

15. ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH.Elision.Linking

ELISION: As speech speeds up, sounds and even syllables are likely to be left out, or elided. This is especially so when clusters of consonants occur. We are unlikely to hear all three consonants articulated at the end of the first word in ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, /æks/ is normal. Similarly, NEXT DAY is pronounced as /neks dei/, LOOKED BACK is /lʊk bæk/ and GOVERNMENT is /’gʌvәmәnt/.

Whole syllables may be elided, especially when there is a repeated consonant, as in British English pronunciations of LIBRARY and PARTICULARLY: /’laibri:/, /pә’tikjәli:/.

Weak vowels are lost after /p/, /t/, /k/, as the aspiration of initial plosive takes up the whole of the vowel: POTATO /pʰ’teitәʊ/, TOMATO /tʰ’ma:tәʊ/, PERHAPS /pʰ’hæps/, TODAY/tʰ’dei/

Some phonemes are especially prone to elision, such as /v/ in OF before consonants , as in CUP O’TEA /kʌp ǝ ti:/ LOTS O’PEOPLE /lɒts ǝ pi:pl/ WASTE OF TIME /weist ǝ taim/. Other examples include GONNA (=going to), WANNA (=want to) and the weak forms of auxiliary verbs.

Linking (Joining) People talk not in individual words, but in groups of words, or phrases. Words are said without a break, as if it were one word. Within a phrase, and often between adjoining phrases, if a word begins with a vowel, the consonant at the end of the preceding word is joined to it. E.g., AN APPLE – A NAPPLE; THIS IS IT – THI SI SIT; FULL OF INK – FU LLO FINK. In RP the phoneme /r/ can not occur in syllable-final position, but when a word’s spelling suggests a final ‘r’, and a word that follows begins with a vowel, RP speakers pronounce the final /r/. E.g., HERE /hi ǝ / but HERE ARE/ hi ǝ r a/, FOUR /fɔ:/ but FOUR EGGS /fɔ:r egz/. Furthermore, when two vowels meet over a word boundary, an extra sound is frequently added in order to help the transition. This has been called INTRUSIVE /r/, and although some people regard it as sub-standard pronunciation, INTRUSIVE /r/ is widespread. E.g, /ðæts ðɪ aidiǝr ɒv ɪt/ rather than /ðæts ðɪ aidiǝ ɒv ɪt/.

While /r/ is the most common linking sound, /w/ and /j/ can also be activated between two vowels.

/w/ is added after /ǝʊ/, /aʊ/, /u:/ and /ʊ/. E.g.: HOW OFTEN /haʊw ɒfn/ SO EMPTY /sǝʊw empti/ YOU ANSWER /ju:w ɑ:nsǝ/. /j/ is added after /ei/, /ai/ and /ɔɪ/. E.g. TRY IT ON /traj it ɒn/, SAY IT AGAIN /sej it ǝgein/, THE ANSWER /ðɪj ɑ:nsǝ/

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