Unit 2: Connected speech .

OUTLINE
1. Introduction: connected speech, law of economy;
2. Blending;
3. Linking: Linking [j], linking [w], catenation, linking [r], intrusive [r].

1. Introduction .

Spoken language is a continuum (speech chain) and when sounds are put together in
connected speech, they change their shape according to the surrounding sounds.
● Word connections:
1. Blending/contraction
2. Linking; liaison
3. Elision
4. Epenthesis
5. Gradation
6. Assimilation (see document)

Connected speech
● Connected speech, also commonly referred to as reduced speech, involves the
contracted forms, reductions, elisions, and liaisons used by native speakers in their
oral speech.
● Connected speech features reinforce the regularity of English rhythm and help
preserve its stress-timed rhythm

The law of economy

● All languages exhibit some type of reduced speech in spoken utterances.
● According to Clarey & Dixson (1963), this “…results from a simple law of economy,
whereby the organs of speech, instead of taking a new position for each sound, tend to draw
sounds together with the purpose of saving time and energy.” Rogerson (2006)

Is connected speech casual?

● Some researchers classify connected speech as something that occurs in “fast,”
“informal,” “relaxed” or “casual” speech.
● Others characterise connected speech as “naturally occurring talk” or “real” spoken
English. Rogerson(2006) states that…
- Connected speech is found in all registers and all rates of speech; it is
characteristic of spoken English. – Register and rate may contribute to some
rules of appropriateness or production. – However, in general, reduced forms
affect all areas and all types of spoken English

19
Overview
Adjustments in connected speech include:
● Blending and contractions: written/oral distortions of word boundaries.
● Linking: the smooth connection of speech.
● Liaison: the insertion of an extra sound in order to facilitate the articulation of a
sequence, “linking r” and “intrusive r”.
● Assimilation: The change in adjacent sounds to resemble each other more closely.
● Elision: The disappearance of a sound.
● Gradation: use of weak forms.
● Epenthesis: which is the insertion into a word of a segment which was previously
absent: “something” [ˈsʌmpθɪŋ] or “film” [fɪləm]

2. Blending .

● Blending refers to any two-word sequences where the word boundary is blurred.
Typically, blending consists of contractions and blends:
1. Contractions are those word boundaries that have a conventionalised written form:
EX: we’ve, he’s, I’m…
2. Blends are typically contracted spoken forms that do not have a conventional written
form:
going to→gonna
are not→ain’t
Have to → hafta
Kinda → kind of
Do you know some others blends?

3. Linking .

● The sound at the end of one word is linked to the sound at the beginning of the next so
that there is a smooth connection between them (example of the doctor image)
● Linking takes the following forms:
A. VOWEL+VOWEL: /w/ and /j/: “My arms” [maɪ j ɑːmz]
B. [V /C] C + V: → CV: Resyllabification: an egg, pushed up .
C. C + C (identical consonants): articulation as one, lengthened consonant: “with
thanks” “handsome man”.
D. WORDS ENDING WITH LETTER “R” OR “-RE”+ VOWEL: LINKING R AND
INTRUSIVE “R”

20
Linking vowel+vowel: Linking [j]
● Insertion of a slight /j/ glide after /i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/:
Examples:
“may ask” [meɪ j ɑːsk]
“he ought” [hi j ɔt]
”annoy Arthur” [əˈnɔɪ j ɑːθə]
“stay up” [steɪ j ʌp]
Linking[ j] it is not sufficient to be equated with phonemic /j/, compare these minimal
pairs:
“my ears” [maɪ j ɪəz] vs “my years” [maɪ jɪəz]
“I earn” [aɪ j ɜːn] vs “I yearn” [aɪ jɜːn]

● When a word ends in /i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ and the next word begins with a vowel, a
small /j/ sound can link the words together (more smoothly)
Examples:
When i go on holiday, I just want to lie_on the beach
The_end of the film was brilliant
I_ate the whole cake in one go
It was too high_up for me to reach
Now you see it…

Linking vowel+vowel: Linking [w]

● Insertion of a /w/ glide after final /u:/, /aʊ/ and /əʊ/ and a following vowel:
Examples:
“window open” [ˈwɪndəʊ ˈwəʊpən]
“now and then” [naʊ wənd ðen]
“you aren’t” [juː wɑːnt]
Blue ink, how is, go away; now is
Minimal pairs illustrating linking [w] and phonemic /w/:
“two-eyed” [tuː w aɪd] vs “too wide” [tuː waɪd]
Examples:
When do_I have to be there?
I haven't got a clue_at all
That glue_is really strong
I really can't do_it.

Linking vowel+vowel
● Other pronunciations- more frequent in rapid speech- in the case of diphthong +
vowel involve the absorption of the second element of the diphthong:
Examples:
1. [ɪ] in the case of /eɪ/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/:
“Annoy Arthur” [əˈnɔ: ɑːθə]

21
 2. [ʊ] in the case of /aʊ/ and /əʊ/:
“window open” [ˈwɪndə ˈəʊpən]

Linking consonant to vowel: catenation

In C + V linking sequences:
1. When a word or syllable ending in a single consonant is followed by a word or syllable
beginning with a vowel, the consonant is often produced intervocalically as if it
belonged to both syllables:

2. When a word or syllable terminating in a consonant cluster is followed by a word or

syllable commencing with a vowel, the final consonant of the cluster is often
pronounced as part of the following syllable. This phenomenon is sometimes referred
to as resyllabification:

◦ Note that resyllabification does not result in any aspiration of voiceless

stops. Thus the /t/ in left arm, wept over, and pushed up is not aspirated.

Examples:
He stole_an_apple → 2 catenations
The teacher gave_a book to_each and_every student → 3 catenations
She's learning_English to get_a better job → 2 catenations
This town_ain't big_enough for the both_of_us → 4 catenations
I live_in a_flat_in the West end_of town → 4 catenations
The teacher gave_a book to each_and_every student → 3 catenations

R-Liaison: Linking [r]

R- Liaison: We link words by introducing a consonant.
Linking [r] is typical of non-rhotic accents:
● Words ending with “r” or “re” in the spelling are pronounced with final /r/ if the next
word begins with a vowel. Examples:
Is it far? It’s far away /ɪts ‘fɑːr əˈweɪ/
“never again”
“share it”
“for ever”
“rather easy”

22
In rhotic accents, the /r/ is produced in all contexts, i.e. before a vowel (red), before a
consonant (farm) and before a pause (far). Eg. Scottish accent:
* In AmE, it is common to change final /t/ to /r/ before vowel: What is this?/ˈwʌɾɪzˈ∂ɪs/

More examples:
►It's near enough /ɪts nɪər ɪˈnʌf/
► It's quite far away /ɪts kwaɪt fɑːr əˈweɪ/
► The doctor agrees /ðə dɒktər əˈgriːz/
► There are three places /ðər ə ˈθriː ˈpleɪsɪz/
► There's a tour along the river /ðəz ə tʊər əˈlɒŋ ðə ˈrɪvə/
► It's made of fur and leather /ɪts meɪd əv ˈfɜːr ən ˈleðə/
► Law and order /lɔːr ən ɔːdə/ (INTRUSIVE R)
► The actor and playwright /ðɪ ˈæktər ən ˈpleɪraɪt/
► I can't hear anything /aɪ ˈkɑːn ˈhɪər enɪθɪŋ/

Intrusive [r]
It is considered to be a sort of linking [r] that occurs when there is no “r” in spelling.
It particularly appears in the case of :
1. /ə/ endings: “Russia and China” [ˈrʌʃər ən tʃaɪ.nə]; “drama and music” [drɑː.mə r ən ˈ
mjuː.zɪk]; “idea of…” [aɪˈdɪər əv]: “vodka and tonic” [vɒdkər ən ˈtɒn.ɪk]
2. Less frequently after final /ɑː, ɔː/: “law and order” [lɔːr ən ˈɔː.də]; “raw onion” [rɔːr
ˈʌnjən/; “awe-inspiring” [ˈ ɔː r ɪnspaɪə.rɪŋ]
3. Also after centring diphthongs (ɪə, eə, ɔə, ʊə). The idea(r) of ; A media(r) event

Examples:
I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya[r] and I proposed.
In those days… the Bafta[r] awards
He didn’t draw[r] a flattering picture of me.
Somebody told me that I looked a bit like Kenneth Branagh, but Kenneth Branagh[r] is Henry V.

Linking consonant + consonant

Across word boundaries…
● Gemination - two identical consonants are articulated as one, lengthened consonant
(native speakers do not produce the consonant sound twice):

23
4. Elision .

OUTLINE
1. Elision;
2. Patterns of elision;
3. Other notable elisions
------------------------------------
Watch the video!
Watch Tim’s workshop about elision of /t/ and write down:
1. The definition of elision that he provides:
When a /t/ sound comes between two consonant sounds, it is often not pronounced.
2. Examples of /t/ elision.
I can('t) stand the rain
It mus(t) be time to leave
Am i the firs(t) person here
I don('t) want it

4.1 Introduction: What is elision?

It involves the deletion of a phoneme, which can be a vowel or a consonant.
A. There can be word-internal elisions:
1. Vowel elision: /ə/ or /ɪ/ of the weak syllables preceding the primary stress are lost in
rapid speech, especially when the syllable with primary accent has /r/ or /l/:
Examples: p(a)rade, p(o)lice
2. Consonant elision: /t,d/ may be lost when medial in a cluster of three consonants,
although retention of /t,d/ is characteristic of careful speech.
Examples: han(d)some, frien(d)ship, las(t)ly, res(t)less

B. Other elision of sounds occur in rapid speech, especially in the vicinity of word
boundaries:
1. Vowel elision: initial /ə/ when preceded by a word-final consonant:
Examples: not alone
2. Consonant elision: alveolar plosives are apt to be elided. Such elision appears to take
place most readily when /t,d/ is in the middle of three consonants. Any consonant may
appear in third position, although elision of alveolar plosive is relatively rare before
/h/ and /j/.

Patterns of elision:

A. Elision of /t,d/ in consonant sequences:

Elision of /t,d/ common if they are central in a sequence of three consonants:
Examples:

24
 1. Ruined the marked /ˈruːɪnd ðə ˈmɑːkɪt/ → /ˈruːɪn ðə ˈmɑːkɪt/
2. Left luggage /ˌleftˈlʌɡ.ɪdʒ/ → /ˌlefˈlʌɡ.ɪdʒ/
In all these cases, /t,d/ can be elided at the end of a syllable because they:
1) Are preceded by a consonant of the same voicing (voiceless consonant+ /t/; voiced
consonant + /d/) and
2) They are followed by a consonant other than /h/.
Elisions such as these may remove the /t,d/ marker of past tense in verbs but the tense
is usually clear through context.

Note 1:
Elision of /t,d/ is rarer before /h/:
Examples: smoked herring /sməʊkt ˈherɪŋ/; She’s left handed (/t/ is not left out); worked
hard; round here; moved house.
Note 2:
If /nt/ or /lt/ are followed by a consonant, there is no elision of /t/ (except very
rapid tempo):
Examples: Walt Disney /ˌwɔːlt ˈdɪzni/; went down
Note 3:
The sequence /skt/ has elision of /k/ instead of, or if preceding consonants, in
addition to /t/:
Examples: Masked gunman → /mɑːst ˈɡʌnmən/ → or /mɑːs ˈɡʌnmən/
Note 4:
/d/ is not usually left out before /l/, /w/, /r/, /s/:
Examples: mind walking [maɪnd ˈwɔːkɪŋ]; Mindless [ˈmaɪndləs]- though sometimes in rapid
tempo [maɪnləs]
Note 5:
/t/ disappears at the end of negative forms (when followed by a main verb and a consonant)
Mustn’t swim, doesn’t swim, wouldn’t swim, can’t swim BUT /t/ cannot be dropped when the
negative form is followed by a pause:
Examples: didn’t think [ˈdɪdən θɪŋk]
Can’t do [kɑːn duː]
Don’t arrive [dəʊn əˈraɪv]
Shouldn’t hurry [ˈʃʊdən ˈhʌri]
I couldn’t [aɪ ˈkʊdənt]
(See document “Negative contractions and elision” on the Moodle).

25
Other notable elisions (see doc above):
● Silent letters in English are examples of historical elision:
Examples: /l/ in would, should, could…
● /v/ disappears before a consonant (rapid tempo), this is especially common before /ð/:
Examples: lots o(f) money, waste o(f) time, tons o(f) homework, three o(f) the websites
● Aphesis (loss of the unstressed initial vowel or syllable in very informal speech):
(be)’cause, he was (a)nnoyed.
● Loss of initial /h/ and /ð/ in pronominal forms in connected speech:
Examples: ask (h)er, help (h)im, tell (th)em

5. Assimilation .

See Assimilation document and the different tasks at the end of the unit

6. Epenthesis .

It’s the insertion of a vowel or consonant segment within an existing string of segments
Plate + Z → > /pleyts/ Unvoiced
Bag +Z → /baegz/ Voiced
*See document

26
7. Gradation .

7.1 Introduction

In unit 1 we discussed the difference between strong and weak syllables in English. Now, we
are going to move on from looking at syllables to looking at words, we will consider in this
first point of unit 3, words that can be pronounced in two different ways, these are called
strong forms and weak forms.
Before moving into the topic, I would like to point out to the following issues, which are
useful for understanding this topic, they are mainly the following:
As far as grammar in concerned, there are two kinds of words, we distinguish between:
● Lexical words (also called content words): nouns, adjectives, adverbs, lexical verbs.
● Structural words (also called function words): determiners, prepositions, conjunctions,
pronouns, auxiliary/modal verbs.
As far as the number of syllables, words can be:
- Monosyllabic: only have one syllable
- Polysyllabic: more than one syllable.

Polysyllabic words (both lexical and function words) tend to be stressed most of the times
(both when the word is in isolation as well as in contact with other words, example:
Polysyllabic words in isolation: “enemy” (lexical word [noun] /ˈen.ə.mi/
“Against” (function words [preposition] /əˈɡenst/.
Polysyllabic words in contact: “against the enemy”: /əˈɡenst ði ˈen.ə.mi/.

In the case of monosyllabic words, when they are in contact with other words, monosyllabic
lexical words are stressed whereas function words are not usually stressed, unless they are
highlighted or focused for a particular reason, example:
“That’s HER car, not his” (“her” is stressed by the speaker to show contract with “his”)

7.2 Gradation

A number of English function words have more than one pronunciation, depending mainly on
whether they are in a stressed or an unstressed position. The pronunciation used in stressed
positions, which is also called citation form, is called the STRONG FORM. The pronunciation
used in unstressed positions is called the WEAK FORM. See the following table with
examples:

27
Several words have more than one weak form. Weak forms are so called because they
involve weakening or even loss of a vowel and sometimes a consonant, for example, one of
the weak forms of the auxiliary verb “have” is /v/ as in “I´ve”, with both vowel and consonant
loss.
This alteration under the influence of stress is often referred to as GRADATION (sometimes
also called APOPHONY).
Function words are more frequently used in their weak forms not in their strong forms,
though there are some cases in which the strong forms are used- this is explained below.

The rhythm of English gives rise naturally to weak forms and if they are not used, the
important parts of the sentence will not receive due emphasis and stand out from the rest.
Although many function words have weak forms, there are certain items which never suffer
this kind of vowel or consonant reduction, namely “on”, “off”, “or”, “my”, “out”, “those”, “then”
and “when”.
The commonest weak-form words in English are the ones below (Mott, 2011):

It’s important to note that there are some contexts in which only the strong forms are
acceptable, mainly in the following cases (Roach, 2009):

1. When the function words occur at the end of the sentence, for example: “of”: has a
strong form, /ɒv/, and weak form, /əv/, but in this example below the strong form is
used because it comes at the end of the sentence: “Chips are what I’m fond of”. When

28
 “of” is NOT at the end of the sentence, then the weak form is used: “I’m fond of chips''.
There are some exceptions to this rule as particularly the pronouns “she, he, we, you,
him, her, them, us” do occur in their weak forms in final position.

2. As we said in the introduction, when the weak-form word is contrasted with another
word, for example, “the letter’s from him, not to him”. Here the strong forms of both
“from”, /frɒm/ and “to” /tuː/ are likely to be used in order to show contrast.
A similar case is when prepositions are used in a co-ordinated way, as in the following
examples:
“I travel to and from London a lot”
“A work of and about literature”
3. When the word is given stress for the purpose of emphasis:
“You must give me more money”

4. When a word is being “cited” or “quoted”, for example:

“You shouldn’t put “and” at the end of a sentence”.

What happens when a strong form becomes weak?

We said in previous paragraphs that in weak forms there’s a weakening/reduction of the
vowel, meaning that the strong vowels are changed to:
1. /ə/ as in the following cases:
• Prepositions
At for from of to
• Aux verbs
Am are can do does had has have must shall should was were will would
• Conjunctions, articles,
A an and as but some than that the
• Pronouns
her them us you your
2. To /I/ or /i/, as in the following cases:
Be, been, he, him, his, she, we
3. To / u/ as in: do, to, yo

*Check the document by P. Roach entitled “The most common weak form words and their uses in
context” (on the Moodle).

It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking and some foreign learners do this, usually
they can still be understood by other speakers of English but weak forms are very important
to learn for two main reasons:
1. Most native speakers of English find an “all-strong form” pronunciation unnatural and
foreign-sounding;

29
 2. More importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely
to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms, since practically all
native speakers use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak
forms to help them to understand what they hear

7.3 Conclusions
English function words consisting of one-syllable can be pronounced in two ways: (1) a
strong form and (2) a weak form. Function words include: prepositions, articles, pronouns,
conjunctions, auxiliary verbs and modal verbs. The strong form tends to be produced when
these words are said in isolation or when they are emphasized. The weak form, on the other
hand, appears when these words are said in company, that is, in connected speech. In English,
weak forms are more frequently used than strong forms and they are produced with one of
the following weak vowels /ə, u, I or i/. It’s important to note that not all monosyllabic
function words have a weak form, such words as “off, on, or”, among others, only have a
strong form. Using function words in their weak forms is crucial to keep rhythm in English
and is one of the most important phenomena for nonnative speakers to pay attention to if
they want to improve their pronunciation.

30
Task 1: Watch the video on the process of assimilation on the Moodle (from 1:46 up to 6:55) and
answer the following questions:

1. What’s regressive assimilation?

It means that one sound anticipates some features of the following sound
Sound 1 ← Sound 2
2. What are the sounds that undergo regressive assimilation?
● Alveolar plosives /t,d/
● Alveolar nasal /n/
● Alveolar fricatives /s,z/
3. What is the feature that is modified due to the influence of the next sound?
The place of articulation (alveolar) (the manner of articulation and the voice condition
remain the same)
4. What changes affect the /t,d,n/?
/t,d,n/ > become bilabial when the following sound begins with a bilabial consonant /p, b, m/
respectively + /p, b, m/
5. What are the examples that are mentioned?
Bad boy → /bæd ˈbɔɪ/ > /bædbˈbɔɪ/
One boy → /wʌn ˈbɔɪ/ > /wʌmˈbɔɪ/
6. What changes affect /t,d,n/ when the next word starts with a velar sound /k/ or /g/?
/t,d,n/ > become velar /k,g, ŋ/ respectively + /k,g, ŋ/
7. What occurs with /s,z/?
They become post alveolar when they’re followed by /ʃ/, /ʒ/ respectively + /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /j/
8. What does progressive assimilation consist of?
The second sound takes some features of what has already been said
Bilabial/velar consonant → alveolar syllabic nasal /n/
9. What two processes are involved for progressive assimilation to occur within the word?
1. The loss of the schwa in the sequence /ən/ with a subsequent syllabic nasal n
2. The assimilation of the place of articulation of the syllabic nasal n to the place of
articulation (bilabial or velar) of the preceding consonant
10. Write down some examples of progressive assimilation
Open → /ˈəʊpən/ > /ˈəʊpn/ > /ˈəʊpm/ (alveolar > bilabial)
Bacon → /ˈbeɪkən/ > /ˈbeɪkn/ > /ˈbeɪkŋ/ (alveolar > velar)

Read the document on the process of assimilation again and complete the sentences:

1. Assimilation is when one phoneme is replaced by a second phoneme under the influence
of a third one.
2. An ideal form is the one which corresponds to the target that native speakers have in their
minds and that is produced in the most careful and the slowest speech
3. Assimilation varies according to speaking rate and style, we are more likely to find it in
rapid casual speech and less likely in slow, careful speech.

31
4. Progressive assimilation happens when sound A influences sound B
5. An example of coalescent assimilation a final /t/ or /d/ and an initial /j/ following often
combine to form /tʃ/, /dʒ/, respectively, so “not yet” /nɒt jet/ is pronounced [nɒtʃet], or “don’t
you” [dəʊntʃ ʊ] or [dəʊntʃ ə], “could you” is [kʊdʒʊ].
6. [waip 'pep.ar] is an example of regressive assimilation
7. According to the type of influence we find these kinds of assimilation:
- Assimilation of place
- Manner assimilation
- Energy or voice assimilation
8./t/ will become a /p/ before a bilabial consonant /p,b,m/
9. The /d/ will become /b/ before a bilabial consonant
10. The /n/ will become /m/ before a bilabial consonant
11. The /t/ will become /k/ when before a velar consonant -/k,g/-
12. The /n/ becomes /ŋ/ when before a velar consonant -/k,g/-
13./s/ becomes / ʃ/ when followed by:
- /j/ as in ”this yoghourt / ðɪs ˈjɒɡ.ət/ becomes /[ðɪʃ ˈjɒɡ.ət]
- / ʒ/ as in “this gendarme” / ðɪs ˈʒɑːn.dɑːrm/ becomes [ ðɪʃ ˈʒɑːn.dɑːrm]
- / ʃ / as in “this shoe” /ðɪs ʃuː/ becomes /[ðɪʃ ʃuː]
14. /z/ becomes /ʒ/ when followed by:
- /j/: “those years /ðəʊz jɪərz/ becomes /[ðəʊʒ jɪərz]
- / ʒ/: “these gendarmes” /ðiːz ˈʒɑːn.dɑːrmz/ becomes [ðɪ ʒ ˈʒɑːn.dɑːrmz]
15. In manner assimilation, a final plosive becomes a fricative or nasal
16. Initial /ð/ in unstressed words is affected by nasal and lateral assimilations
17. Nasal and lateral plosions are examples of modes of articulation
18. Energy assimilation involves devoicing of a final voiced fricative or affricate consonant
when it is followed by an unvoiced one
19. Final /v/ becomes voiceless /f/
20. Other examples of voice assimilation include the cases of the third person singular
present tense verbal ending or plural noun ending, -(e)s and the regular past participle
ending, -(e)d.

Activity 1. WEAK FORMS

Watch the video and answer if the sentences are TRUE or FALSE
1. Function words have a lexical meaning. False
2. Function words are NORMALLY stressed in connected speech. False
3. Weak forms are generally pronounced with a schwa. True
4. All function words have a weak form. False (example: in, on, off don´t have a weak form)
5. In normal circumstances "at" would be stressed in the following sentence: I was looking at
him. False
6. In normal circumstances "for" would be stressed in the following sentence. "What are you
looking for". True

32
7. In the sentence: "Did you say 'from' or 'for'?" the prepositions "from" and "for" would be
stressed. True
8. Strong forms can be used when we talk about a word. True
9. When we contrast words we can use weak forms. False
10. In normal circumstances, in the following sentence, “from” is pronounced with its strong
form: “It doesn’t say where the train is coming from”. True
11. The verb "can" is a function word. The negative "can't" contains a strong vowel. FALSE
12. The verb "can" in the following sentence would normally contain a strong vowel: "I can
go." False

Weak form?

1. Not at all
2. Better than ever
3. For certain
4. Of course
5. He must go
6. Tell me the truth
7. The orange is for his father
8. There’s a wonderful view from here

33
 9. Collin could've been driving /
10. Steve should have been calling here
11. You can write a colon at the end of the text but not at the beginning

Weak forms exercise 3

1. Weak
2. Strong
3. Strong
4. Strong
5. Weak, strong
6. Weak, strong
7. Strong, weak
8. Weak
9. Strong

Extra exercises on weak forms

37.1 Listen and mark the underline words w (weak) or s (strong)

1. W/W/S/S
2. S/W/W → W W W
3. W/W/S/S/S → S
4. W/S/W/S
5. W/W/W
6. W/W/W
7. S
8. S/S
9. W/W
10. S/S

37.2 Listen and complete the sentences

What do you think?
Where shall we go?
He's ready for you now
Where is he?
Tell them to come in
Are you feeling alright?
Tell me the news
I know her phone number but not her address

34