1. ASPECTS OF
CONNECTED
SPEECH
ELISION
ASSIMILATION
COMPRESSION
LINKING
JUNCTURE

2. WORDS AND CONNECTED SPEECH
 SPEECH
 AS A MANIFESTATION OF LANGUAGE
 TWO LEVELS OF INVESTIGATION
 PHYSIOLOGICAL
 PHYSICAL
 FROM A PHONETIC POINT OF VIEW
 EVER-CHANGING CONTINUUM :
 QUALITIES- QUANTITIES-PITCH AND INTENSITIES
 PHONETIC/PHONEMIC ACCOUNT
 ARTICULATORIY ANDD ACOUSTIC FEATURES
 PHONEMES - ALLOPHONES
 WORDS / CONNECTED SPEECH
 PHONEMES COMBINE IN WORDS
 CITATION FORMS OF WORDS CHANGE IN
CONNECTED SPEECH.

3. ELISION
 The nature of Elision may be stated
simply: under certain circumstances
sounds disappear.
 A phoneme may be realised as zero or
have zero realisation or be deleted.
 It is typical of rapid, casual speech.
 It is not random and follows certain rules.

4. ELISION
 OLD ENGLISH-
 PRESENT ENGLISH

5. ELISION
OLD ENGLISH- PRESENT
ENGLISH
 OLD ENGLISH  PRESENT ENGLISH
 Same process of
 Weakly accented
syllables reduction, with
resultant
process of contraction.
reduction:  Two cases of
elision
 Loss:  established in
 Phonemes the language for
 Vowels some time.
 current only
recently.

6. ELISION: WORD INTERNAL
VOWELS
 ESTABLISHED
 Loss of vowels under weak accent:
 Initially: state- scholar
 Medially: Gloucester-evening-forecastle
 Finally: time- name- hands
 ALLOPHONIC VARIATION:
 CLOSING DIPHTHONG+ VOWEL:
hyaena /haɪ i: nə/ >[ha ` i:nə] – layer / leɪ ə/
= lair / /leə/ mower / məʊ ə/ = myrr /mэ: /

7. ELISION: WORD INTERNAL
VOWELS
 Sequence of unaccented
syllables: /I/ or /ə/  Pre-nuclear:
 Post-nuclear:  /ə/ +/r/ of the weak syllable
 C+ /ə/ +/r/ + weak especially when the
vowel: preferable /prefr primary accented
əbl/-temporary /tempr syllable : /l/ or /r/ : police-
parade- correct- believe
əri/
 Continuant C + /ə/ +/r/ + C
 /r/ +weak vowel+C: ( other than /l/ or /r/) :
Dorothy /drɒθi/ phonetics- supporter-
 Weak vowel + C+ suppose
/l/:family-carefully  Elision / ə/ in perhaps-
 Loss of syllabicity in  Elision of / ɪ/geography-
present participles: geometry.
 Lighten /laɪtņ/> /laɪtnɪŋ/

8. ELISION: WORD INTERNAl
CONSONANTS
 Established
 Loss of consonants through vocalization
 OE hlaford> lord – OE wealcan> walk
 Loss of allophones /h/ brought- night
 Reduction of consonant clusters:
/wr,kn,gn,hl,hr,hn/: write,
know,gnaw,loaf,ring,nut
 Medial /t/ + /n/ or /l/ : fasten-listen-
often-castle
 Final /mb,mn/ : lamb- hymn

9. ELISION: WORD INTERNAl
CONSONANTS
 Present Colloquial
 Loss of alveolars /t,d/ when medial in a
cluster of 3 consonants: handbag-
kindness-exactly-landscape
 Dentals/θ/ : asthma- isthmus
 velar/k/ asked
 lateral/l/ only
 [ł] always /ɔ:wIz/ already /ɔ: redi/
 Sequence of [ r] sounds: library /laɪbri/-February

10. ELISION:
WORD BOUNDARY
VOWELS
 ALLOPHONIC VARIATION:
 Go away /gɜ :`weɪ ] –I may as well / aɪ meəz`
wel/ try again [tra ə`gen][tra: `gen]
 PHONEMIC ELISION:
 Word- final consonant+Initial /ə / +
continuant: not alone [not`ļəun]-get another-
run along
 Final /ə / + linking /r/ +word-initial vowel:
after a while /a:ftrə`waIl/

11. ELISION:
WORD BOUNDARY
CONSONANTS
 Alveolars:word final /t/ or /d/ preceded and
followed by C( voiceless continuant +/t/ or
voiced continuant +/d/ ): next turn- first
day- cashed them- send two-served drinks-
cold day
 Alveolar /t/ of the negative /-nt/ + C: you
mustn’t lose it / ju mʌsn `lu:z ɪt/
 Labio-dental /v/:give me a cake /gɪ mɪ ə
`keɪk/ lots of them- waste of money
 Glottal /h/ : woudn’t he come? / wudn ɪ
`kΛm/ George has seen her

12. ASSIMILATION
 The process by which sounds are influenced by
neighbouring sounds and come to share some
or all of their phonetic characteristics (Finch-
Ortiz Lira)
 These adjustments are the result of an
unconscious propensity towards ease of
articulation and economy of effort.
 It is a type of coarticulation.
 Two types of assimilation:
 Regressive: the phoneme that comes first is
affected by the one that comes after it.
 Progressive: one phoneme influences the
following phoneme,
 It can occur at two levels:
 Allophonic: within a word or word boundaries
 Phonemic: within a word or word boundaries

13. ASSIMILATION
ALLOPHONIC VARIATION
WORD INTERNAL- WORD
BOUNDARIES
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
 VOICE
 LIP POSITION
 POSITION OF THE SOFT PALATE:
NASAL RESONANCE

14. ASSIMILATION
ALLOPHONIC VARIATION
WORD INTERNAL
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
 Vowels: /Λ/ retracted in result- influence [ ł]
 /u:/ centralized in music ( influence of [ j ]
 Consonants
 /t/ post –alveolar in try (influence of ɹ) dental in eighth
(influence of Ө) -/k/ advanced ( pre-velar) key- /n/ dental
in tenth- /m/ labiodental in nymph, infant.
 VOICE
 Voiceless C +/l,r,w,j/- devoiced : cry- quite-plight
 Voiceless C+ / m,n,ŋ/ : smoke- snow- open- bacon
 LIP POSITION: under the influence of adjacent vowels or
approximants /j, w/ - lip- spread or lip-rounded
 Pea-pool / tea- two/ keep- cool/ mean- moon / leave-
bloom/ read- rude/ feel – fool/ seat- soon/ he- who
 NASAL RESONANCE
 Nasalization of vowel +/m,n/ ham – and
 Nasalization of vowel between nasal C: man – men- innermost
 Nasalization of short vowels between nasal C: any – sunny-
 /l/ + nasal C: helmet- wrongly.

15. ASSIMILATION
ALLOPHONIC VARIATION
WORD BOUNDARIES
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
 /t/ denta- not that ( influence of [  ]- /d/ dental – hide them
(influence of [  ] -/m/ labiodental – tne forks- (influence of [ f
] - /s/- retracted – this road ( influence of ɹ)
 VOICE
 Voiceless C + / l,r,w,j/- devoiced- eg: at last- at rest- at
once-see to it- thank you
 Word final voiced plosive or fricative C+ silence or plosive C +
silence: What can you give?- Can you breathe? It’s his- Near
the bridge-They’ve come- with some-very good-
 LIP POSITION
 Labialized /t,k,n,ŋ,l,s/ + initial /w/-eg: that one- thin one- wrong one-
this way- shall we-
 NASAL RESONANCE
 /ə,І/ Vowels > nasalized by nasal C – eg: bring another- come in
 /l/ > nasalized by a nasal C – eg: tell me

16. ASSIMILATION
PHONEMIC VARIATION
 VOICED/VOICELESS
 PLACE
 MISCELLANEOUS
 COALESCENT ASSIMILATION

17. ASSIMILATION
PHONEMIC VARIATION
 VOICED /VOICELESS VARIATION
 W.f-Voiced fricatives + W-i-voiceless C> Vless
Fricative- // with > /Ө / with thanks - /z/ >/s/ he was sent-
/v/> /f/ of course- we’ve found it-
 C lenis + fortis > fortis eg: those people
 PLACE
 REGRESSIVE
 Alveolar C + bilabial > bilabial
 /t/> /p/ + /p,b,m/ eg: that pen- that boy- that man
 /d/ > /b/ + /b,p,m/ good pen- good boy- good man
 Alveolar C + velar > velar
 /k/ + /k,g/ that cup- that girl
 /g/ + /k,g/ good concert- good girl
 /n/ >/ŋ/ + / k,g/ ten cups- ten girls
 /n/ > / ŋ/ + long vowels – I’ve been gardening- She’ll soon come

18. ASSIMILATION
PHONEMIC VARIATION
 PROGRESSIVE – relatively uncommon
 Plosive + nasal
 /n/ > /m/ after /p,b/ eg: happen-urban
 /n/ > / ŋ/ after /k,g/ eg: second chance- organ-bacon
 MISCELLANEOUS
 /s/>/∫ / before / ∫ , t∫, dʒ, j / eg: this shop- cross
channel- this judge- this year-
 /z/ > /ʒ / before / ∫ , t∫, dʒ, j / eg: those young
men- cheese shop- those churches- has she?
 /t,d,n/ +/w/ > /p,b,m/ eg: in winter-

19. ASSIMILATION
PHONEMIC VARIATION
 COALESCENT ASSIMILATION or YOD COALESCENCE
 A fusion of forms takes place
 Historically it is the origin of the /tʃ / eg: nature or
/dʒ/ eg: soldier ; also in fricatives /sj> /ʃ/ /zj/ > / ʒ /
eg: /ʃ/ pressure- delicious- patient- Russian- or /ʒ / in
measure-
 Word Internal: depends on the following vowel ( strong- weak)
 Strong vowel u:/ or /ʊə/NRP- eg: tune- endure
 Weak Vowel /u / or / ə / factual- educate
 Word Boundaries:
 It mainly affects phrases involving you or your
 Alveolars /t / + /j/ > /tʃ / eg: What you want?
 Alveolar / d / + /j/ > /dʒ / eg: would you?
 Fricatives /s/ + /j/ > / ʃ / I eg. in case you need it
 Fricatives /z/ + /j/ > / ʒ / eg. has your letter come?

20. COMPRESSION
 A given articulation, either a vowel or consonant, is
performed in a shorter period of time. (Finch- Ortiz
Lira)
 A sequence of sounds has two possible
pronunciations: as two separate syllables or
compressed into a single syllable (LPD-Wells)
 Uncompressed version is more usual:Rarer words
 Slow or deliberate speech
 The first time a word is used in a given
discourse
 Compressed version is more usual:
 In frequently used words
 In fast or casual speech
 If the word has already been used in the
discourse

21. COMPRESSION
 VOWELS
 TRIPHTHONGS
 DIPHTHONGS
 VOWELS
 CONSONANTS
 SYLLABIC CONSONANTS
 GEMINATED CONSONANTS

22. COMPRESSION
VOWELS
 TRIPHTHONGS
 /aɪə/ > /aə/ eg. Scientist / saɪ ənt ɪst/ > / saənt ɪst/
 /aʊə / > /aə/ eg. Nowadays
 DIPHTHONGS
 /aɪ / > /ʌ / I’m not
 /ɪə / > / ɜ :/ Here in the café
 / aʊ/ > /a/ How are your pets?
 VOWELS
 Short Vowels
 /ɪ / > /j / brilliant
 /ə / > /w/ influence
 Long Vowels
 /i:/ > /ɪ/ agreeable
 /u:/ > /ʊ/ ruinous

23. COMPRESSION
CONSONANTS
 SYLLABIC CONSONANTS
 Syllabic C > non- syllabic C eg. Doubling-
totally- library-… trouble is
 GEMINATED CONSONANTS
 Compression of double consonants- eg. In
my class / ɪ maɪ `klɑ:s/ take care /teɪ `keə/
some more /sə`mɔ:/

24. LINKING
 RP introduces word-final post-vocalic /r/ as a linking form
when the following word begins with a vowel:
 Far off- four aces- answer it- fur inside- near it- wear out-
 Intrusive /r/
 Many examples of linking /r/ occur where there is no /r/.
It is an undesirable speech habit.
 In order to avoid using it speakers tend to make use of a
pause or glottal stop.
 It is mainly used in the case of /ə/ ending.
 Russia and China- drama and music
 Less frequent after final / ɑ: ,ɔ:/ eg. Law and order- raw
onion-

25. LINKING
 The insertions of the /r/ is:
 Obligatory: before a suffix beginning with a vowel. It
is historically justified
 Optional: before a following word beginning with a
vowel. It is historically justified
 After [ə] an intrusive /r/ is used before a following
word. It is historically unjustified.
 After /ɑ: / /ɔ:/ an intrusive /r/ is avoided before a
following vowel.
 The insertion of intrusive /r/ before a suffix is
strongly stigmatized.

26. LINKING
 LINKING [ j,w ]
 Vocalic junctures
 Words ending in / i:,ɪ,eɪ,aɪ,ɔɪ / + /j/ between
two vowels- eg. My arms- may ask- he ought-
annoy Arthur
 Words ending in / u:, əʊ, aʊ /+ vowel. Eg.
Window open- now and then- you aren’t-
 This type of linking may be replaced by a
glottal stop. Eg. Very angry-

27. JUNCTURE
 The relationship between one sound and
the sounds that inmediately precede and
follow it.
 Close juncture: my turn / maɪ tɜ:n / = /m/
+/aɪ /
 External open juncture: /m/ preceded by
silence - /n/ is followed by silence
 My turn / might earn
 /t/ > [tʰ]
 /aɪ/ shorter in might