REDUCTION. ASSIMILATION.

Reduction. The length and strength of articulation of vowels in unstressed formal words and pronouns is reduced. When the weakness of vowels in unstressed positions is rather big they can loose their quality. Such process is called reduction. Reduction can be of two types -- qualitative and quantitative: / æ kæt -- ə kæt/,/ wi: -- wi /.

Assimilationis a type of coarticulation. It is the alternation of a speech sound to make it more similar to its neighbors. In English it mainly affects place of articulation.

The alveolar consonants t, d, nwhen they occur at the end of a word or syllable, can optionally assimilate to the place of articulation of the next syllable ('regressive' assimilation): /da:k ga:dn – da:g ga:dn/, /wu:d ju: -- wu:d ju:/.

Thus ncan become mbefore p, b, mas in the examples:

ten men [‘ten 'men] - [‘tem 'men]

downbeat ['daυn bi:t] - ['daυm bi:t].

Similarly, [n]can become [ ŋ ] before k, g,as in

fine grade [‘fa n 'gre d] - [‘fa ŋ 'gre d]

incredible [ n'kredbl] - [ ŋ'kredbl]

In the same way dcan change to band grespectively, as in

red paint [‘red 'pe nt] - [‘reb 'pe nt]

It is also possible for tto change to pand k,though a more frequent possibility is for t,when followed by another consonant, to be realized as a glottal stop.

eight boys [‘e t 'b z] - [‘e p 'b z]

In the same way sand z can change to / ∫/and / /respectively, but only before / ∫ / and /j /at the beginning of the next syllable. In you, you’re the /j/may then disappear.

this shape [ Ә s '∫e p] - [ Ә ∫' ∫e p]

unless you … [ Λn 'les ju] -[ Λn'le∫ (j)u]

as you see [‘əz ju 'si:] - [‘ə (j)u 'si:]

Assimilation can also sometimes operate in the other direction: that is, a consonant can assimilate to the place of articulation of the consonant at the end of the preceding syllable ('progressive' assimilation). In English this applies only to syllabic n,changing it to syllabic [m].

ribbon (['r bən]) ['r bn] - ['r bm]

This assimilation can operate only if the words are said without a phonetic [ ə ] between the plosive and the nasal. Furthermore, it cannot apply if the sound after the nasal is a vowel.

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Study the rules for the following consonants and practice them in proverbs.	\|	Study the rules for the following consonants and practice them in proverbs.

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