INTERACTION 7:
THE SOUNDS
OF LANGUAGE
Phonological Processes
in Connected Speech
ASSIMILATION
Sometimes instead of being dropped completely, a
consonant may change in order to become more
similar to its phonetic environment (either in place,
manner or voicing)
It is an automatic adjustment rather than a conscious
decision of the speaker.
For example, pronounce the words that and book
separately.
Transcribe both words and look at the phonemes involved.
/ðæt bʊk/
If both words are used in a sentence, for eg:
Could you pass me that book, please? , we will notice
that the /t/ phoneme at the end of that does not sound
ASSIMILATION
The phoneme /t/ is an alveolar sound, which is
formed when the tongue blade forms a temporary
closure against the alveolar ridge.
Try saying the sentence a few times over, you will
notice that the tongue doesn’t actually get there at
the end of the word.
Therefore, we employ an economy of effort and
get our articulators (lips) ready for the next sound
/b/.
As a result, we get - Could you pass me /ðæd bʊk/
Other examples involving the same sounds
are:
- Can you see that boy over there?
- Where has the cat been all night?
- Who’s a cute baby, then?
/ kju:t beɪbɪ/ assimilation :/ kju:d beɪbɪ/
SOME RULES OF ASSIMILATION
1. The phonemes /t/, /d/ and /n/ often become
bilabial before bilabial consonants /p/, /b/ and
/m/:
Example:
He’s a rather fat boy (/t/ assimilates to /m/)
2. /t/ assimilates to /k/ before /k/ or /g/.
/d/ assimilates to /g/ before /k/ or /g/.
Example:
Where has that cat been all night?
(/t/ assimilates to /k/)
It was a very good concert.
(/d/ assimilates to /g/
……SOME RULES OF ASSIMILATION
3. /n/ can assimilate to /ŋ/ before /g/ or /k/.
Example:
I’ve been going out too much lately
4. /s/ can assimilate to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/
Example:
I really love this shiny one over here.
/ θɪs/ /ʃɪnɪ/ / θɪ ʃ ʃɪnɪ/
5. /z/ can assimilate to /Ʒ/ before / ʃ /.
Example:
We found this lovely little cheese shop in
Paris.
/ tʃiːz / /ʃɒp/ /tʃiːƷ ʃɒp/
……SOME RULES OF COALESCENT ASSIMILATION
The above examples are cases of anticipatory
assimilation, where one sound changes to another
because of the sound which follows.
Here are some cases of coalescent assimilation,
where two sounds combine to form a different
one.
For example;
6. /t/ and /j/ coalesce /kəʊəles / to form form /tʃ /
Example:
You went to France last year, didn’t you ?
7. /d/ and /j/ coalesce to form /dƷ /
Example:
Would you like a cup of tea?
OTHER EXAMPLES OF ASSIMILATION
Assimilation may occur:
progressively :
a sound changes with reference to a preceding
segment
it is > it’s /ɪt ɪz/ > /ɪts/
Or regressively :
a sound changes with reference to a following
segment
Good girl /ɡʊd ɡɜːl / > /ɡʊɡ ɡɜːl/
Good boy /ɡʊd bɔɪ/ > /ɡʊb bɔɪ/
Horse shoe /hɔ:s ʃu:/ > /hɔ:ʃ ʃu:/
Does she /dʌz ʃɪ/ > /dʌʒ ʃɪ/
ELISION
The term elision describes the disappearance
of a sound.
For example, in the utterance:
He leaves next week.
( /neks wi:k/ )
The speaker would generally elide the /t/ in next
saying / neks wi:k/.
Again here, the reason is an economy of effort,
and in some instances the difficulty of putting
certain consonant sounds together while
maintaining a regular speech rhythm and
speed.
SOME RULES OF ELISION
1. The most common elisions in English are /t/
and /d/, when they appear within a consonant
cluster.
Example :
We arrived the next day.
(/t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/)
2. Complex consonant clusters are simplified.
Example:
She acts like she owns the place!
/ækts/ can be simplified to /æks/
SOME RULES OF ELISION
3. /ə/ Can disappear in unstressed syllables.
Example:
I think we should call the police. /ə / can
disappear in the first syllable of police.
/ pəliːs / / pliːs /
4. /v/ can disappear in of, before consonants:
Example: / ɒv/
It’s a complete waste of time
LINKING AND INTRUSION / r /
When two vowel sounds meet, speakers often link
them in various ways
Linking /r/
- Some accents of English are described as rhotic,
which means that when the letter r appears in the
written word after a vowel (as in car or carve), the
/r/ phoneme is used in the pronunciation of the
word .
- /kɑ:r/ and /kɑ:rv
- Examples are most dialects of American English,
Irish English and certain British regional accents.
- Other accents are non-rhotic, and do not
pronounce the /r/, so we get /kɑ:/ and /kɑ:v/.
- RP (Received Pronunciation) is non-rhotic.
LINKING AND INTRUSION / r /
When two vowel sounds meet, speakers often link them
in various ways
Linking /r/
- When, however, there is a written r at the end of a
word and it occurs between two vowel sounds,
speakers with non-rhotic accents often use
the phoneme /r/ to link the proceeding vowel
to a following one:
- Example:
Her English is excellent. (/r/ is pronounced)
Her German is absolutely awful, though! (/r/ is not
pronounced.
My brother lives in London. (/r/ is not pronounced)
My brother always phones at the wrong time. (/r/ is
…….LINKING & INTRUSION /r/
Where two vowel sounds meet and there is no
written letter r, speakers with non-rhotic accents
will still often introduce the /r/ phoneme in order
to ease the transition.
This happens when the first word ends in /ə /
or /ɑː/ .
Speakers with rhotic accents tend not to do this:
Example:
Princess Diana was a victim of media exploitation.
/ miːdɪər eksplaɪt/
The media are to blame./ ə / /rɑ:/
I saw it happen. /s ɔ: r ɪt/
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
English is a stress-time language
which means that some words are
stressed and others are not when
speaking.
Generally, content words such as
nouns and principal verbs are stressed.
Structure words such as articles,
helping verbs, etc. are not.
……….STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
Syllable
stressed (loud) = weak (quiet) =
reinforced chest pulse ordinary chest pulse
Spoken language is not made up of isolated words
but of connected speech.
Recognition of the stressed syllable is important
for comprehension and correct production is
required for successful communication.
……….STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
The vowel in the stressed syllable usually has its
full phonemic value, whereas if it occurs in an
unstressed syllable, it will become centralised and
weakened.
Stressed Stressed + weak
`land / `lænd/ `Scotland /
`skɒtlənd/
`berry / `berɪ/ `strawberry /`strɔ:bərɪ/
The characteristic vowel if the weakened syllable
is called schwa or /ə /.
Found in unstressed words in English (articles,
conjunctions, prepositions)
……….STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
Common strong form weak form
(for emphasis, (usual)
contrast, etc.)
1. a; an /eɪ/ /æn/ /ə / /ən/
/riːd ə bʊk/
/iːt ən ɒrɪndʒ/
2. and /ænd/ /n/ /ən/ or
/ənd/ /kʌm ən siː/
/fɪʃ n tʃɪps/
3. the
4. but
……….STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
Common strong form weak form
(for emphasis, (usual)
contrast, etc.)
5. that
6. at
7. for
8. of
TUTORIAL INTERACTION 6
Conduct an activity to practice a specific sound.
Mark the correct intonation patterns in sentences
(statements, commands, questions)
Reproduce transcribed excerpts of connnected speech
(in IPA transcription) into orthograhy to indicate the
strong and weak forms.
State the different phonological processes in given
speech texts.
Thank You
