Aspects of Connected Speech
Transcript of Aspects of Connected Speech
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Connected speech
When we talk we do not pronounce each individual sound of every word. Instead, we turn one sound into another, we combine some sounds, we eliminate others and we link many of them. By doing this, our speech sounds more natural and fluent. Notice that this occurs only in rapid speech, not when we pronounce the words slowly and/or carefully.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
So, the aspects of connected speech are:
Assimilation
Coalescence
Elision
Linking
Professor Marcelo Andrade
When you say, for example, the word
light bulb, you may realise that the
phoneme /t/ does not sound like /t/, but it
changes into a /p/ because of the
influence of the following consonant sound /b/. So it sounds /laip bVlb/.
This phenomenon is known as
Assimilation. There are 3 types of
assimilation: of place, voice and manner.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now we’ll deal with each type of
assimilation in detail…
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Assimilation of place
It refers to the change produced in the place of articulation of a consonant sound because of the characteristic of a neighbouring sound. In the previous example (light bulb) the sound /t/ which is alveolar changed into /p/ because of the influence of /b/ which is bilabial. Therefore, we say that it is assimilation of place.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Assimilation of place
The sounds that tend to change
because of the neighboring sounds are:
/t/, /d/ and /n/.
When the next word begins with a bilabial,
velar or dental they become bilabial,
velar or dental respectively.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
So /t/ becomes
/p/ before bilabials (/p/, /b,/ or /m/)
that person /D{p p3:s@n/ light blue /laIp blu:/ /k/ before velars (/k/ or /g/).
art gallery /A:k g{l@rI /t/ eight kilos /eIk kIl@Uz/ before dentals (/T/ or /D/).
that thing /D{ TIN/
Professor Marcelo Andrade
So /d/ becomes
/b/ before bilabials (/p/, /b,/ or /m/)
red book /reb bUk/ /g/ before velars (/k/ or /g/).
good girl /gUg g3:l/ before dentals (/T/ or /D/).
bad thing /b{ TIN/
Professor Marcelo Andrade
And /n/ becomes
/m/ before bilabials (/p/, /b,/ or /m/)
ten men /tem men/ /N/ before velars (/k/ or /g/).
ten cars /teN kA:z/ before dentals (/T/ or /D/).
thirteen things /T3:ti: TINz/
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Identify the cases of assimilation of place
Ten /m/ pounds
Seven /m/million
Television/m/ programme
broken /m/ mirror
Dead /b/ bird
Brown/m/ bag
Good/b/ pen
ten /N/ girls
bad /g/ cold
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Write three sentences using the
phrases above. Include at least two
phrases in the same sentence.
Example: I won seven million in a
television programme.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), in these sentences:
I taught classes this morning.
The sun came up over the mountains.
I hate going to art galleries
They cheat quite a lot.
It was a bad question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP) in these sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun came up over the mountains.
I hate going to art galleries
They cheat quite a lot.
It was a bad question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate going to art galleries
They cheat quite a lot.
It was a bad question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate /heIk g@UIN/ going to art /A:k g{l@rIz/ galleries
They cheat quite a lot.
It was a bad question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate /heIk g@UIN/ going to art /A:k g{l@rIz/ galleries
They cheat /tSi:k kwaIt/ quite a lot.
It was a bad question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate /heIk g@UIN/ going to art /A:k g{l@rIz/ galleries
They cheat /tSi:k kwaIt/ quite a lot.
It was a bad /b{g kwestS@n/ question.
She is a good player and can win games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate /heIk g@UIN/ going to art /A:k g{l@rIz/ galleries
They cheat /tSi:k kwaIt/ quite a lot.
It was a bad /b{g kwestS@n/ question.
She is a good /gUb pleI@/ player and can win /wIN geImz/ games easily.
I copied the text line by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Now identify the cases of assimilation of place
(AP), assimilation of voice (AV) in these
sentences:
I taught /tO:k klA:sIz/ classes this morning.
The sun /sVN keIm/ came up over the mountains.
I hate /heIk g@UIN/ going to art /A:k g{l@rIz/ galleries
They cheat /tSi:k kwaIt/ quite a lot.
It was a bad /b{g kwestS@n/ question.
She is a good /gUb pleI@/ player and can win /wIN geImz/ games easily.
I copied /kOpId D@/the text line /laIm baI/ by line.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Assimilation of voice
It refers to the change produced when a voiced sound becomes voiceless.
For instance, the form “have to” /h{v t@/ is usually pronounced /h{ft@/. So you can see that the phoneme /v/ changed into the voiceless sound /f/.
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Assimilation of voice
Other cases of assimilation of voice are:
Supposed to /s@p@Uzd t@/ /s@p@Ust@/ Has to /h{z tU/ /h{st@/ Have to /h{v tU/ /h{ft@
Used to /ju:zd t@/ /ju:st@/
Professor Marcelo Andrade
Assimilation of manner
This type of assimilation is not very
common, and it usually happens when a
plosive becomes a fricative or nasal,
e.g.
That side /D{s saId/ Good night /gUn naIt/
Professor Marcelo Andrade
References
Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. (2001) Arnold. London
Hancock, Mark (2003) English Pronunciation in Use: Self-study and classroom use. Intermediate. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Roach, P. (1994) English Phonetics & Phonology (Text and AudioCD). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Finch, D.& Ortiz H. (1982) A course in English Phonetics for Spanish Speakers. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. London
Professor Marcelo Andrade