I> Rhythm II> Assimilation III> Elision IV> Linking

I>Rhythm
rhythm: some noticeable event happening at regular intervals of time; detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables. English speech is rhythmical Stress-timed rhythm theory: - stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not. - times from each stressed syllable to the next will tend to be the same, irrespective of the number of intervening unstressed syllables. Foot (a unit of rhythm): begins with a stressed syllable and includes all following unstressed syllables up to (but not including) the following stressed syllable. E.g.: I want you to carry out the task now.

II> Assimilation
II.1 Definition: Assimilation is a change in pronunciation of 1 sound because of the influence of a neighboring sound to be more alike. In other words, a phoneme is realized differently as a result of being near some other phoneme belonging to a neighboring word. Purpose of assimilation: to ease the pronunciation. Found in rapid, casual speech and usually affects consonants. Can occur at different positions of occurrence: - Across word boundaries: that pie /t pai / [p pai ]; Pams [pmz] - Within a morpheme: cats [ kts]; dogs [d4gz]; bank [bk]

II.2 Classification:
In terms of direction: a/ Regressive assimilation: Cf (single final consonant) of the preceding word changes to become like Ci (single initial consonant) of the following word in some way, (the phoneme that comes first is affected by the one that comes after it). E.g.: that cake /t keik/ [ kkeik] b/ Progressive assimilation: Ci of the following word changes to become like Cf of the preceding word in some way. E.g.: did that /d1d 5`t / [d1dd`t ]

 Basing on the differences between consonants a/ Assimilation of place: 2 words of different points of articulation will change to have the same place or point of articulation. Final consonant with alveolar place of articulation is followed by an initial consonant with a place of articulation that is not alveolar. Assimilation of place is only noticeable in the regressive assimilation of alveolar consonants. E.g.: t p, t, k that person /t p:sn/ [p p:sn] (t p before a bilabial consonant: bilabialization) light blue /lait blu:/[ laip blu:] (tp before a bilabial consonant : bilabialization) that thing /t i/ [t i] (ta dental plosive before a dental consonant: dentalization) get those /get z/[ get z] (ta dental plosive before a dental consonant : dentalization) that case /t keis/[ k keis] (tk before a velar consonant: velarization) quite good /kwait gd/[ kwaik gd] (tk before a velar consonant : velarization)

db, d, g

good boy /gd b0i/[ gbb0i] (bilabialized) rude thief /ru:d i:f/[ ru:di:f] (dentalized) bad cold /bd kld/[ bgkld] (velarized) nm, n, green pear /gri:n pe/ [gri:mpe] (bilabialized) green thing /gri:n i:/ [gri:ni:] (dentalized) one cup /wn kp/ [wkp] (velarized) s when followed by or j this shoe /is u:/ [iu:] (palatalized) this year /is ji/ [iji] (palatalized) z when followed by or j those years /z jiz/ [jiz] (palatalized) those shops /z ps/ [ps] (palatalized)

 The tendency is for regressive assimilation and the change in manner is most likely to be towards an easier consonant. Two sounds of different manners of articulation will change to have the same manner of articulation. E.g.: that side /t said/ [ssaid] good night /gd nait/ [gnnait] final plosive becomes a fricative or nasal Progressive assimilation of manner: when a word-initial follows a plosive or nasal at the end of a preceding word. E.g.: in the /in / [inn ] get them /get m/ [gettm] read these /ri:d i:z/ [ri:ddi:z]

b/ Assimilation of manner

c/ Assimilation of voice
Only regressive assimilation of voice is found across word boundaries, and only of one type. If Cf is a lenis (voiced) consonant and Ci is fortis (voiceless) consonant, the lenis consonant has no voicing. When Cf is fortis and Ci lenis, Cf would become voiced. E.g.: have to /hv tu:/ [hf t] (voicedvoiceless) with out /wi a$t/ [wiaut] (voicelessvoiced)

* 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 - /t/ and /j/ coalesce to from //: E.g.: You went to France last year, didnt you? - /d/ and /j/ coalesce to form // : E.g.: Would you like a cup of tea?

Exercise: Transcribe the following words or phrases, showing the assimilation, and then giving the name of assimilation
1. That person / 5`t p3:s6n /[5`pp3:s6n ]: regressive assimilation of point/place 2. In the 3. Cut through 4. Green pine 5. Bright color 6. This shop 7. Monkey 8. Read these 9. That side 10. And you 11. Tables 12. That cake

Answer
1. That person / 5`t p3:s6n /[5`pp3:s6n ]: regressive assimilation of point/place 2. In the /1n 56 / [1nn6]: progressive A of manner 3. Cut through / / [ k^t8ru:]: regressive A of place 4. Green pine / ] [gri:mpa1]: regressive A of place 5. Bright color / / [ braikk^l6]: regressive A of place 6. This shop / / [ 51~~4p]: regressive A of place 7. Monkey / / [ m^7k1 ]: regressive A of place 8. Read these / / [ ri:ddi:z ]: progressive A of manner 9. That side / / [5`ssa1d]: regressive A of manner 10. And you / / [6nd2$]: coaleslence (regressive A of place) 11. Tables / / [te1blz ]: regressive A of place 12. That cake / / [ 5`kke1k]: regressive A of place

III> Elision (deletion/omission)

- Under certain circumstances sounds disappear, in other words, in certain circumstances a phoneme may be realized as zero, or have zero realisation or be deleted. - Elision is typical of rapid, casual speech.

 Loss of weak vowel // after p, t, k E.g.:- potato phteit; tomato thma:t; canary khneri ; perhaps phhps; - today thdei Weak vowel + n, l or r becomes syllabic E.g.: tonight thnait; police p hli:s; correct khrekt Avoidance of complex consonant clusters: E.g.: George the Sixths throne 0: sikss rn 0: siksrn -acts ks (loss of /s/) - looked back lk bk (loss of /t/) -scripts skrips (loss of /t/) -We arrived the next day neks dei (loss of /t/) -We bought a carved statuette ka:v stuet (loss of /d/) Loss of final v in of before consonants E.g.: lots of them l4ts m; waste of money weist mni

IV> Linking
In real connected speech, words are sometimes linked together in special ways. Consonant-to-vowel links, e.g.: take it away [te1k1t6we1] Vowel-to-vowel links: - Linking r (the most familiar case): when a words spelling suggests a final r, and a word beginning with a vowel follows, the usual pronunciation is to pronounce with r. (rhotic accents) E.g.: here hi but here are hir four f0: but four eggs f0:r egz

- Intrusive r, w and j: Many speakers with nonrhotic accents often use r or w or j to link words ending with a vowel in order to ease the transition. Intrusive /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 //, /a:/, or /0:/. E.g.: Formula A f0:mjlr ei -Its a question of law and order its kwesn v l0:rn 0:d -media event mi:dir ivent

 Intrusive /j/: When a word ends in /i:/, or a diphthong which finishes with /i/, speakers often introduce a /j/ to ease the transition to a following vowel sound: E.g.: very interesting veri j intrsti - I think, therefore I am ai ik ef0: aijm - They are, arent they? eija: ra:nt ei Intrusive /w/: When a word ends in /u:/, or a diphthong which finishes with /u/, speakers often introduce a /w/ to ease the transition to a following vowel sound: E.g.: Go on! Go in! gw1n gwin - Are you inside, or are you outside? ju:winsaid, ju:wautsaid - Do it du:wit

 Consonant-to-consonant links -different consonants E.g.: keep laughing and pet dog are not released -identical consonants: pronounced as one long consonant. E.g.: polish shoes ~: -fall leaves. l: