Words in connected speech

WORDS INWORDS IN
CONNECTED SPEECHCONNECTED SPEECH

Words in Connected SpeechWords in Connected Speech
Every utterance is a continuous, changing, pattern of sound quality with associated
(prosodic) features of quantity, accent, and pitch. The word (consisting of one or several
morphemes) is, like the phoneme, an abstraction from this continuum and must be
expected to be realized in phonetically different ways according to the context.
If the word is admitted as an abstracted linguistic unit, it is important to note the differences which may
exist between its concrete realization when said (often artificially) in isolation and those which it has
when, in connected speech, it is subject to the pressures of its sound environment or of the accentual
or rhythmic group of which it forms part.
The variations involved may affect the word as a whole, e.g. weak forms in an unaccented situation or
word accentual patterns within the larger rhythmic pattern of the complete utterance; or may affect
more particularly the sounds used at word boundaries, such changes involving a consideration of the
features of morpheme and word junctures, in particular, ASSIMILATIONS, ELISIONS, and LIAISONS.
In addition, it will be seen that the extent of variation depends largely upon the casual or formal nature
of the utterance, the more formal and careful (and probably the slower rate of) the delivery the greater
the tendency to preserve a form nearer to that of the isolate word.

The modifications to dictionary pronunciation once isolated words are
embedded in connected speech are fairly systematic and include:
Assimilation
Elision
Vowel reduction
Strong and weak forms
Liaison
Contractions
Juncture

AssimilationAssimilation
The process of assimilation is a type of adjustment in connected speech during
which a given sound (the assimilating sound) takes on the characteristics of a
neighboring sound (the conditioning sound). This is often misunderstood as
"lazy" or "sloppy" speech, since the organs of speech involved appear to be
taking the path of least resistance.
However, such a characterization ignores the fact that assimilation is a
universal feature of spoken language. In English it occurs frequently, both
within words and between words; it by no means marks a speaker as
inarticulate or nonstandard.
There are three types of assimilation in English:
(1) progressive (or perseverative),
(2) regressive (or anticipatory), and
(3) coalescent.

 In progressive assimilation the conditioning sound precedes and affects the following sound.
This type of assimilation is relatively uncommon. It may occur when a plosive is followed by a syllabic
nasal and the nasal undergoes assimilation to the same place of articulation as the preceding plosive,
e.g.
 In English, regressive assimilation is more pervasive as a purely phonological process than is
progressive assimilation. In regressive assimilation, the assimilated sound precedes and is affected by
the conditioning sound. It has to do with the instability of final alveolars.
Word-final/t,d,n,s,z/ readily assimilate to the place of the following word-initial consonant whilst
retaining the original voicing. It,d,nl are replaced by bilabials before bilabial consonants and by velars
before velar consonants; Is,zl are replaced by palato-alveolars before consonants containing a palatal
feature.

 The third type of assimilation, coalescent assimilation, is a type of reciprocal assimilation: The
first sound and second sound in a sequence come together and mutually condition the creation of a
third sound with features from both original sounds.
Coalescence of /t,d,s,z/ with /j/ : The process which has led historically to earlier /t,d,s,zl/ + Ijl
giving /,,,/ medially in a word (nature, grandeur, mission,vision) may operate in contemporary
colloquial speech at word boundaries, e.g.:
Assimilation is the natural result of the various speech organs ‘cutting corners’ as they perform their
complex sequence of movements, and this occurs mostly at word boundaries and affects mainly
consonants.

ElisionElision
Since Old English, it has always been a feature of the structure of English words that the weakly
accented syllables have undergone a process of reduction, inlcuding loss of phonemes or of vowels.
The same process of reduction, with resultant contraction, may be observed in operation in Present
English.
It is important, however, to distinguish between cases of elision which have been established in the
language for some time and those which have become current only recently. In these latter cases, the
forms exhibiting elision are typical of rapid, colloquial speech, whereas more formal speech tends to
retain fuller form under the preservative influence of the spelling.
Established: initially  state, scholar medially  Gloucester, evening final syllable  time, name
Present Colloquial: temporary, suffering

Apart from word-internal elisions and those associated with weak forms, sounds may be
elided in fast colloquial speech, especially at or in the vicinity of word boundaries.
VOWELS
(a) Allophonic variation: When one syllable ends with a closing diphthong and the next syllable
begins with a vowel, the second element of the diphthong may be elided. Smoothing occurs across
word boundaries and internal in the word
(b) Phonemic elision- Initial schwa is often elided, particularly when followed by a continuant and
preceded by a word-final consonant, e.g.: not alone, get another, run along, he was annoyed when
final schwa occurs with following linking Irl and word-initial vowel, // may be elided, e.g. after a while,
as a matter of fact, father and son, over and above

CONSONANTS
In addition to the loss of /h/ in pronominal weak forms and other consonantal elisions typical of weak
forms, the alveolar plosives are apt to be elided. Such elision appears to take place most readily when
/t/ or /d/ is the middle one of three consonants. Any consonant may appear in third position, though
elision of the alveolar plosive is relatively rare before /h/ and /j/.
Thus elision is common in the sequence voiceless continuant + /t/ or voiced continuant + /d/ (e.g. /-st,
ft, -It, -nd, -ld, -zd, -d, -vd/) followed by a word with an initial consonant, e.g. next day, last chance,
first light, west region, just one; left turn, soft centres, left wheel, drift by, soft roes, found five, hold
tight, old man, cold lunch, bold face, world religion, etc.
Elision of final ItI or Idl is rarer before initial Ih/, e.g. the alveolar stops are more regularly retained in
kept hold, worked hard, East Ham, gift horse, round here, bald head, etc.
Final /t,d/ followed by a word beginning with /j/ are usually kept in a coalesced form, i.e. as /t/ and
/d/, e.g. helped you, liked you, lost you, left you, grabbed you, lend you, told you, etc.
The /t/ of the negative /-nt/ is often elided, particularly in disyllables, before a following consonant, e.g.
you mustn't lose, doesn't she know?, and sometimes before a vowel, e.g. wouldn't he come?, you
mustn't over-eat!

Vowel reductionVowel reduction
Unaccented vowels in the stream of speech are characterized by a reduction in length, and a change
in quality towards a less distinct, more central vowel sound. Most monophthongs reduce towards //.
This process is sometimes called centralization since the // sound is produced with the lips and jaw
relaxed and the tongue in a central, neutral position. However, the monophthongs // and // are often
only partially centralized, // reducing towards // and // reducing towards //.
Example:
You and me / /
I wish you would tell me. /     /
In the second sentence the vowels in the words you and me are reduced, i.e. shorter. This highlights
the connection between unstress and vowel reduction.

Strong and weak formsStrong and weak forms
Vowel reduction affects the frequent monosyllabic grammar words in English, and many of them have
two or more accepted pronunciations, one when stressed or spoken in isolation, the strong form, and
one when reduced in their more usual unstressed position, the weak form.
These words have the following characteristics:
they have only one syllable;
they act as function words;
they usually occur in the weak forms unless the speaker wishes to emphasize them to underline the
message;
the weak forms occur in speech only and are not (usually) shown in writing;
they are high frequency words, though few in number (about fifty).

The following list of examples presents the most common of these words, first in their weak form and
secondly in their less usual strong form:

LiaisonLiaison
It refers to the smooth linking or joining together of words in connected speech. Fully liaised speech is
characterized by a seamless, continuous quality, where final consonants are linked to following initial
vowel sounds. Once again liaison is an essential ingredient of both rhythm and intonation. Poorly
linked speech is typically rather jerky, perhaps stacatto, and the resulting lack of flow makes it more
difficult for the speaker to take advantage of the stress system and so for the listener to focus on the
content of the message.
Some systematic forms of liaison are described as:
Linking ‘r’
Intrusive ‘r’
Intrusive /w/ and /j/

Linking ‘r’Linking ‘r’
RP introduces word-final post-vocalic Irl as a linking form when the following word begins with a
vowel. The vowel endings to which an Irl link may, in this sense, justifiably be added are /,/ and
Those single or complex vowels containing final /,,,,/ e.g. in far off, four aces, answer it, fur
inside, near it, wear out, secure everything. Prescriptivists seek to limit the allowability of linking Irl
to those cases where there is an <r> in the spelling.
Intrusive ‘r’Intrusive ‘r’
Many examples of linking Irl occur where there is no <r> in the spelling, such /r/'s being labelled as
'intrusive'. Such /r/'s are to be heard particularly in the case of II endings, e.g.:
Spelling consciousness remains an inhibiting factor in the use of linking Irl, but the present general
tendency among RP speakers is to use /r/ links, even -unconsciously- among those who object most
strongly.

Linking /w/ and /j/Linking /w/ and /j/
Vocalic junctures where the first word ends in //, //, //, //, //, a slight linking [] may be heard between the two
vowels, e.g.:
But this is not sufficient to be equated with phonemic /j/; indeed, there are minimal pairs which illustrate the difference
between linking  and phonemic /j/,
Similarly, a linking []may be heard between a final //, //, // and a following vowel, e.g.:
and minimal pairs illustrating linking [] and phonemic Iwl can be found, e.g.:
In yet another possibility, the linking [] or [] may be replaced by a glottal stop.This is most common before a vowel
beginning an accented syllable, e.g. very angry [ ']

JunctureJuncture
Despite the fact that the word may have its isolate-form identity considerably modified by its immediate phonemic and
accentual context, both as regards its constituent sounds and its accentual or rhythmic pattern, phonetic features may
be retained in the speech continuum which mark word or morpheme boundaries.
Thus, the phonemic sequence Il may mean pea stalks or peace talks according to the situation of the word
boundaries (i.e. / + / or /  + /). In this case, if the boundary occurs between Isl and Itl, the identity of the words
peace and talks may be established by the reduced // (in a syllable closed by a voiceless consonant) and by the slight
aspiration of /t/; on the other hand, if the boundary occurs between /i:/ and /s/, this may be signalled by the relatively full
length of // (in an open word-final syllable) and by the unaspirated allophone of /t/ (following Isl in the same syllable),
as well as by the stronger /s/. Such phonetic differentiation depends upon the speaker's consciousness of the word as
an independent entity.
The following examples illustrate various ways in which phonetic cues may mark word boundaries:
The articulatory features that are likely to enable you to distinguish
the phrases are:
the shortening or lengthening of vowel sounds on either side of the
juncture;
the delayed or advanced articulation of consonant sounds on
either side;
variations in the degree of syllable stress on either side of the
juncture
other allophonic variations in the phonemes on either side of the
juncture.

Adapted & summarised from:
 Celce-Murcia, M.; Brinton, D. & Goodwin, J. 2007. Teaching
Pronunciation – A reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages. USA: Cambridge University Press.
 Cruttenden, A. 2001. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. 6th
Ed. New York:
Arnold.

Words in connected speech

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