English Phonetic Course

Assimilation & Elision

Lesson Plan

Teacher: Level: Freshmen Date: Lesson length: 80mn

Main aims of the lesson: To enhance students’ understanding of features of rapid and casual
speech.

Contents of the lesson Purposes

To help students understand the ways in which sounds can affect or

modify each other when they meet.
To raise students’ awareness of the direction of the sound changes,
Assimilation
i.e. progressive vs. regressive assimilation.
To familiarize students with assimilation of voicing, of place of
articulation, of manner of articulation, of coalescence of place and
manner of articulation.
To help students understand how phonemes can disappear and
Elision
observe some rules of elision.
To acquire natural and fluent speech through specially designed
Work on assimilation &
practice.
elision

Activities and Procedures

1. To raise students’ awareness that assimilation and elision are the typical features of rapid
speech, during which several articulators are involved and are not capable of moving
instantaneously.
2. To explain the rules of assimilation and elision to students before attempting to put them into
practice.
3. Design some activities for focusing on assimilation and elision.
4. Ask the students to listen to the tapes and imitate the connected speech in focus.
5. Have the students listen to the conversations and attempt to gain a natural transition of two
adjacent sounds.
6. Have the students practise the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special attention to
assimilation and elision in connected speech.
7. Comment on the students’ performance by highlighting the achievement of the students and
the efforts they need for the improvement.
8. Ask the students to do more practice after class and get ready for presentation during the next
session.

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 Teaching Notes

1. Assimilation
Assimilation is concerned with one sound becoming phonetically similar to an adjacent sound.
Sounds that belong to one word can cause changes in sounds belonging to other words.
When a word’s pronunciation is affected by sounds in a neighbouring word, we call this process
assimilation.
Much recent phonetic research in this area refers to coarticulation (Hardcastle & Hewlett,
1999: 7), though the latter term strictly refers to the fact that, when pronounced, certain sounds are
uttered together and thus it actually describes the cause of assimilation. In rapid and casual speech,
the assimilated form is more typical of connected speech.
Depending on the type of feature that spreads from one segment to another we can observe
several major types of assimilation such as assimilative processes involving voicing, manner of
articulation, place of articulation (Roach, 2000: 139) and coalescence of place and manner of
articulation (Collins & Mees 2003: 106).

1.1 Direction of change

If a phoneme is affected by one than comes later in the sentence, the assimilation is termed regressive.
If a phoneme is affected by one that came earlier in the utterance, the assimilation is termed
progressive.

Phoneme1 Phoneme 2

progressive

regressive

Regressive assimilation: the sounds assimilated are influenced by the succeeding sounds

/nju:z/ (news) → /nju:speipə/ (newspaper)

/gu:s/ (goose) → /gu:zbəri/ (gooseberry)

/faiv/ (five) → /faifpəns/ (five pence)

/hæv/ (have) → /hæf tu/ (have to)

/ju:zd/ (used) → /ju:st tu/ (used to)

Regressive assimilation can also be found in some words like:

describe → description
receive → reception, receipt
twelve → twelfth
five → fifth, fifteen, fifty

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 Progressive assimilation: the sounds assimilated are affected by the pronunciation of the
preceding sounds. This is often sen in the inflectional endings -s and –ed. If preceded by a voiced
sound, they become voiced; if preceded by a voiceless one, they become voiceless. For example:

Voiceless
Plural: students /-s/; books /-s/
Possessive: students’ books /-s/
3rd person singular: He writes /-s/; He speaks /-s/
Past tense and past participle: worked /-t/; laughed /-t/
Voiced
girls /-z/; pictures /-z/
girls’ pictures /-z/
She reads /-z/; She plays /-z/
learned /-d/; played /-d/

1.2 Assimilation of voicing

This may refer to assimilation involving the feature [+/- voice]. In a certain environment we
can consequently observe the voicing or devoicing of a segment. If we examine the pronunciation
of the voiced labiodental fricative in the sequence give books /gɪv bʊks/, and we compare it with the
sequence give peace /gɪf piːs/ we will easily notice that while in the first case /v/ is fully voiced, in
the second it is rather pronounced as some kind of /f/. However, word boundary final voiceless
consonants in English do not show tendencies to assimilate to their voiced counterparts; thus
the pronunciation of nice boy /naɪz bɔɪ/ will sound foreign to English ears (Cruttenden, 2001: 284).

1.3 Assimilation of place of articulation

The most common phonemic changes at word boundaries concern changes of place of
articulation, particularly involving de-alveolarization. A well-known case is that of English
word-final alveolar consonants such as /t, d, n/: if a word ending in one of these consonants is
followed by a word whose initial consonant begins with a bilabial, a velar or a dental, the word-final
alveolar consonant is likely to change its place of articulation to match that at the beginning of the
second word. Thus the word ‘that’ /ðat/ may be followed by ‘boy’ /bɔɪ/ and become /ðap/, or it may be
followed by ‘girl’ and become /ðak/, namely:

that boy → /ðap bɔɪ/ that girl → /ðak gɜːl/ (Cruttenden, 2001: 285)

good pen → /gʊb pen/ good concert → /gʊg kɒnsət/ (Cruttenden, 2001: 285)

ten players → /tem pleɪəz/ ten cups → /teŋ kʌps/ (Cruttenden, 2001: 285)

that thing → /ðat ̪ θɪŋ/ get those → /gɛt ̪ ðəʊz/ (Roach, 2000: 139)

Such changes are based on roughly homorganic mouth articulations. They always occur in the
least obvious part of the syllable coda position. “The reason why initial consonants are so
rarely obviously changed by assimilatory processes is that syllable initial consonants play a
much more important part in identifying a word than do syllable final consonants.” (Brown
1990: 65).

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 Another change of place of articulation involves the change of alveolar fricatives /s, z/ into
postalveolar fricatives. Any sequence of two words where the first ends with /s, z/ and the second
begins with /ʃ/ or /j/, that /s/ becomes /ʃ/, and /z/ becomes /ʒ/. Thus this shoe /ðɪs ʃuː/ becomes /ðɪʃ ʃuː/;
those years /ðəʊz jɪəz/ becomes /ðəʊʒ jɪəz/. (Roach, 2000: 140)
Assimilation of place is noticeable in the regressive assimilation of alveolar consonants.
Progressive 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.
/n/ → /m/ after /p, b/, happen, urban /hæpm, ɜːbm/; and

/n/ → /ŋ/ after /k, g/ in second chance, organ, bacon as /sekŋ tʃɑːns, ɔːgŋ, beɪkŋ/

(Cruttenden, 2001: 286)

Regressive assimilation is commonly seen in some prefixes, such as in- (before /t, d, s, n/), im-
(before /p, b, m/); il- (before /l/); ir- (before /r/). Foe example:
in- → indirect, insane,
im- → impolite, imbalance, immoral (不道德的)
il- → illegal
ir- → irregular

1.4 Assimilation of manner of articulation

Assimilation of manner is typical of the most rapid and casual speech, in which case one
sound changes the manner of its articulation to become similar in manner to a neighbouring sound.
An example can be a rapid pronunciation of “Get some of that soup”, where instead of the expected
/gɛt sʌm əv ðat suːp/ an English speaker says /gɛs sʌm v ðas suːp/, with /s/ replacing /t/ in two words. It
is thus possible to find cases where a final plosive becomes a fricative or nasal (e.g. ‘good night’ /gʊn
naɪt/), but most unlikely that a final fricative or nasal would become a plosive (Roach, 2000: 140).

1.5. Coalescence of place and manner of articulation

Assimilation of different types may occur simultaneously: e.g. the plosives /t, d/ merge with
word-initial palatal approximant /j/ in a process of reciprocal assimilation of place and manner, and the
fricatives /s, z/ have similar reciprocal assimilation with /j/. The resulting single articulation is
postalveolar, i.e. about halfway between alveolar and palatal, and so represents a ‘compromise’. ”
(Heselwood 2005) Examples can be found as follows (Cruttenden, 2001: 286):

/t/ + /j/ → /ʧ/ What you want /wɒtʃuː wɒnt/

/d/ + /j/ → /ʤ/ Would you? /wʊdʒuː/

/s/ + /j/ → /ʃ/ In case you need it /ɪŋ keɪʃuː niːd ɪt/

/z/ + /j/ → /ʒ/ Has your letter come? /hæʒɔː letə kʌm/

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 The coalescence is more complete in the case of /t, d/ + /j/ (especially in question tags, e.g.
won’t you?, could you? etc.); in the case of /s, z/ + /j/, the coalescence into /ʃ, ʒ/ may be marked
by extra length of friction, e.g. miss you /mɪʃʃu/. “Sometimes the coalescence is not complete and
there is a /j/ after the postalveolar consonant, e.g. not yet becomes /nɒtʃ jɛt/, red yacht becomes /rɛdʒ
jɒt/; miss York becomes /mɪʃ jɔːk/, these young people becomes /ðiːʒ jʌŋ piːpl/. Where this happens it is
really a case of assimilation rather than coalescence, although it can be referred to as ‘incomplete
coalescence’.” (Heselwood 2005)
One reason for the assimilatory processes is that several articulators are involved in making a
speech sound, and that they are not capable of moving instantaneously. Much of the earlier writing on
assimilation has suggested that assimilatory changes generally involve a change from one phoneme
to another; for example, that boy is expressed as showing a change from /t/ to /p/. However, this does
not mean that all assimilations involve phonemic change of this sort. An easy process to observe is
the position of the lips. In a vowel such as English /iː/ (as in see), the lips are spread, as for a smile. In
a vowel such as English /uː/ (as in two), the lips are rounded and pushed forward. Since lip-position
is not a distinctive feature opposing any two phonemes in English, the difference between rounded
and non-rounded /t/ is not phonemic (Cruttenden, 2001: 282). Another explanation for assimilation is
based on the articulatory one. The explanation seems to assume that speakers are basically lazy, and
do as little work as possible – this is sometimes called the “principle of least effort” (Zipf 1949), and
it does seem to explain phonetic features of assimilation in a very simple way.

2. Elision
The term elision describes the disappearance of a sound. For example, in the utterance He
leaves next week speakers would generally elide (leave out) 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 rhythm and
speed.
Some rules for elision
2.1 The most common elisions in English are /t/ and /d/, when they appear within a
consonant cluster.
We arrived the next day. (/t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/)
When we reached Paris, we stopped for lunch. (/t/ elided between // and /p/, and
between /p/ and /f/
We bought a lovely carved statuette. (/d/ elided between /v/ and /st/)

2.2 Complex consonant clusters are simplified.

She acts like she owns the place! (/kts/ can be simplified to /ks/)
Teachers use authentic texts to teach from. (/teksts/ can be simplified to /teks/)
George the Sixth’s throne (/sks r/ simplified to /sks r/

2.3 // can disappear in unstressed syllalbes.

I think we should call the police. (// can disappear in the first syllable of police)
I’ll love you forever, promise. Well, perhaps. (// can disappear)

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 It’s a question of collective responsibility. (// can disappear)
Are you coming out tonight? (// can disappear)
That’s an interesting idea. (// is not pronounced by many speakers, reducing the
number of syllables in the word)
Have we got any vegetables? (// is not pronounced by most speakers, reducing the
number of syllables in the word)

2.4 /v/ can disappear in of, before consonants.

My birthday’s on the 11th of November.
It’s a complete waste of time!
That’s the least of my worries!

4. Practice
Work in pairs. First find out what kind of assimilation each phrase or sentence belongs to
and then read them aloud.

7.1 would you / could you / did you / this year / miss you / space ship / question / immediate /
associate / education / newspaper / in ten minutes / handkerchief / breadth / absorption (absorb)
/ fifth / measure / of course / won’t you / student / presume / commercial / leisure / special /
appreciative / virtue / mutual / congratulate / literature / sociology / punctual / Christianity / in
case you need it / in good condition

7.2 You like it, don’t you?

I can’t go.
I don’t care what others may say.
There are ten girls in our class.
Beg your pardon.
Shut your eyes.
Open the window.
I should have thought so.
Please shut the gate
Please show me the way.
I should take it if I were you.
Has your letter come?
Does your brother like swimming?
Who are these young men?
May God bless you.
We miss you very much.
This shape is wonderful.
He is making a false show.
Yes, you can go now.
Let’s try to finish it this year.
Haven’t you finished yet?
I thought you would come.

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 Could you tell me the way to the post office?
Would you mind if I open the window?
We’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes.
Don’t be disappointed, he’ll soon be here.
I used to play volleyball when I was young.
He returned the books with thanks.
Give me a book.
Coke could hardly believe his ears. Here he was, a stranger in her house and yet she
said she was sorry.
“I’m sorry.” She said again. “I didn’t hear you. Did you knock? I’m deaf, you see.”
Why don’t you see if any of his clothes fit you? You can bring them back tomorrow.

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