Adjustment in Connected Speech

   Sometimes, the speaker expresses his uncertainty in the form of tag questions. Unlike the category of tag questions eliciting agreement, tag questions signalling uncertainty are more like true yesno questions. The speaker may have some prior assumption bu t allows for the possibility of either a “yes” or “no” response: Tag questions signalling uncertainty 2-3-2 2-3 3 2 He usually arrives around NOON, DOESn’t he? 1 I think he arrives around noon, but I’m 1not sure.

c. Adjustment in Connected Speech

1 Linking Murcia et al 199θ: 1η8 states that the ability to speak English ‘smoothly’ to utter words or syllables that are appropriately connected, entails the use of linking, which is the connecting of the final sound of one word or syllable to the initial sound of the next. It can be said that linking is smooth connection of speech. Linking occurs with regularity in the following five environments: commit to users    a Linking With a Glide Linking with a glide commonly occurs when one word or syllable ends in a tense vowel or diphthong and the next word or syllable begins with a vowel: j glides w glides iә + V: be_ j able uw + V: blue_ w ink e  + V: say_ j it ow + V: no_ w action a  + V: my_ j own aw + V: how_ w are you  + V: boy_ j ish b Consonant Belongs to Both Syllables When word or syllable ending in a single consonant is followed by a word or syllable beginning with a vowel, the consonant belongs to both syllables: – Dog_eat dog – Black_and gray – McLean_Avenue – Macintosh_apple – Dream_on c Resyllabification When a word or syllable has a consonant as final sound then it is followed by a word or syllable start with a vowel, the final consonant of the cluster is often pronounced as part of the following syllable. This condition is also called resyllabification. Example: commit to users    – Left arm :left_arm – Wept over :wept_over – Find out :find_out – Pushed up :pushed_up d Identical Consonants When two identical consonants come together as a result of the juxtaposition of two words, there is one single, elongated of the consonant: Stop_pushing rob_Bill Short_time bad_dog Quick_cure big_gap Less_sugar e Unreleased Initial Stop Consonant When a stop consonant is followed by another stop or by an affricate, the first stop is not released which facilitates the linking: Pet cat: [pekæt] Good jury: [gu: ʤ ɜːr] 2 Assimilation Assimilation is the process of adjustment in connected speech which one sound assimilated sound takes on the characteristics of a neighbouring sound the conditioning sound. There are three types of assimilation in English: 1 progressive , 2 regressive , 3 coalescent . commit to users    a Progressive In progressive assimilation the conditioning sound affects the following sound. Conditioning sound Assimilated sound -s endings – Bag+s [bægz] – Back+s [bæks] -d endings – Move+d [mu:vd] – Fish+ed [fi ∫t] b Regressive In regressive assimilation, the assimilated sound precedes and is affected by the conditioning sound. For example: Grandpa [græmpa] Have+ to [hæftә] In + possible [ mpsbl] Horse + shoe [hor ∫u:] Good + boy [g ฀b] Let + me [lem ] commit to users    c Coalescent Coalescent is the condition where two adjacent sounds combine to form new sound. For example: s+y= ∫ I guess y ou’re coming z+y= ʒ He is your best friend ts+y= t ∫ Wha t’s your name? t+y= t ∫ Is that your cat? dz+y= ʤ She needs your help 3 Dissimilation The process of dissimilation occurs when adjacent sounds become more different from each other. It is rare in English and not an active process. Some texts cite the pronunciation of the final cluster of fifths as [fts] as an example of dissimilation [f s] to [fts]. 4 Deletion Deletion is the process whereby sounds disappear or are not clearly articulated in certain contexts. In other words, deletion is the disappearance of the sound. The following are some of the most typical environments for deletion: a Loss of t when nt is between two vowels or before a syllabic [l] Example: winter, enter, Toronto b Loss of t or d when they occur second in a sequence or cluster of three consonants: commit to users    t: restless, exactly, listless d: windmill, kindness, hands c Deletion of word-final t or d in cluster of two at a word boundary when the following word begins with a consonant Example: – East side – Blind man – Wild bear d Loss of unstressed medial vowel syncope Example: – Chocolate [t ∫klәt] – Every [evri] – Suppose [spә ฀z] Murcia, et al, 1996: 159-163

5. Teaching Pronunciation