/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ Phonetics & Phonology

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MODULE 10
Aspects of connected speech

Instructor: Lam Hoang Phuc

10.1. Rhythm

 The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event

happening at regular intervals of time.
 It is claimed that English speech has rhythm, which is
detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables.
 English (and some other languages) has stress-timed
rhythm: the times from each stressed syllable to the next
will tend to be the same, irrespective of the number of
intervening unstressed syllables.
 Other languages have syllable-timed rhythm: all syllables,
whether stressed or unstressed, tend to occur at regular
time intervals, and the time between stressed syllables will
be shorter or longer in proportion to the number of
unstressed syllables.
10.1. Rhythm

 Some writers have developed a unit of rhythm, the foot,

which begins with a stressed syllable and includes all
following unstressed syllables up to (but not including) the
following stressed syllable.
E.g.

 Some theories point to the fact that some feet are stronger
than others, producing strong-weak patterns in larger
pieces of speech above the level of foot.
10.1. Rhythm

 Using diagrams, we can show the relationships between

strong and weak elements, and the different levels of
stress.
E.g.
10.1. Rhythm

 The stress levels can be diagrammed on a metrical grid:

 While such analysis may be correct for very slow speech, it

is widely claimed that English speech tends towards a
regular alternation between stronger and weaker, and
tends to adjust stress levels to bring this about. This effect
is called stress-shift.
 In brief, it seems that stresses are altered according to
context.
10.1. Rhythm

 Stress-timed rhythm is characteristic of one style of

speaking, not of English speech as a whole.
 One always speaks with some degree of rhythmicality, but
the degree varies between a minimum value (arhythmical)
and a maximum value (completely stress-timed rhythm).
 It should be noted that the evidence for the existence of
truly stress-timed rhythm is not strong, and the
measurement of the time intervals between stressed
syllables has not shown the expected regularity.
 In addition, research has not been able to show a clear
difference between “stress-timed” and “syllable-timed”
languages.
10.2. Assimilation

 Assimilation: when a phoneme is realised differently as a

result of being near some other phoneme belonging to a
neighbouring word.
 Assimilation is more likely to be found in rapid, casual
speech and less likely in slow, careful speech. Also, the
effect can vary from being very noticeable to being very
slight.
10.2. Assimilation

 The cases that have most often been described are

assimilations affecting consonants:

Cf: final consonant of 1st word

Ci: initial consonant of 2nd word

 If Cf changes to become like Ci in some way, the

assimilation is called regressive.
 If Ci changes to become like Cf in some way, the
assimilation is called progressive.
10.2. Assimilation

 One common case of progressive is coalescence

(coalescent assimilation): a final t, d and an initial j
combine to form tʃ, dʒ (e.g. ‘could you’ - kʊdʒu).
 Assimilation can affect place of articulation, manner of
articulation and voicing.
10.2. Assimilation

 Assimilation of place
 Assimilation of place is only noticeable in regressive
assimilation of alveolar consonants (when Cf is alveolar and
Ci is not alveolar).
Cf Ci
t  p; d  b; n  m bilabial: p, b, m
t  t̪ (voiceless dental plosive) dental: θ, ð
d  d̪ (voiced dental plosive)
n  n̪ (voiced dental nasal)
t  k; d  g; n  ŋ velar: k, g, ŋ
sʃ ʃ, j
zʒ ʃ, j
10.2. Assimilation

 Assimilation of manner
 Assimilation of manner is much less noticeable and tends
to be regressive. The change is most likely to be towards an
“easier” consonant (one which makes less obstruction to
the air flow). The two sounds tend to have the same place.
o One common case is when an alveolar plosive becomes
an alveolar fricative or nasal.
E.g. ‘that side’ ðæs saɪd ‘good night’ gʊn naɪt
 There is one particular case where we find progressive
assimilation of manner: if Cf is a plosive or nasal and Ci is ð,
then Ci becomes identical in manner to Cf but with dental
place of articulation.
E.g. ‘in the’ ɪn ðə  ɪn̪n̪ə
10.2. Assimilation

 Assimilation of voice
 Only regressive assimilation of voice is found and there is
only one type: if Cf is lenis (“voiced”) and Ci is fortis
(“voiceless”), then Cf has no voicing.
E.g. ‘I have to’ aɪ hæf tu
 This effect is not noticeable, since initial and final lenis
consonants usually have little or no voicing anyway; these
devoiced consonants do not shorten preceding vowels as
true fortis consonants do.
 When Cf is fortis and Ci is lenis, assimilation of voice never
takes place, although it does take place in many other
languages and Cf would become voiced.
10.2. Assimilation

 Some notes on assimilation

 Assimilation is also observable across morpheme
boundaries and to some extent also within the morpheme.
 For the latter case, it can be said that assimilation has
become fixed as part of the phonological structure of
English syllables, since exceptions are almost non-existent.
E.g. If in a syllable-final consonant cluster a nasal precedes a
plosive or a fricative in the same morpheme, the place of
articulation of the nasal is always determined by the place of
articulation of the other consonant.
‘hunt’ hʌnt; ‘bank’ bæŋk
10.2. Assimilation

 Some notes on assimilation

 Assimilation creates a problem for phoneme theory:
o When assimilation takes place, we cannot say that one
phoneme has been substituted for another as the result
may be a sound that does not exist in English phonemic
system (e.g. dental plosives t̪, d̪). Also, the effect does
not lead to a change in meaning.
 The traditional view of assimilation as a change from
one phoneme to another is naïve.
o Thus, it is more appropriate to say that assimilation
causes a phoneme to be realised by a different
allophone.
10.3. Elision

 Elision: In certain circumstances, a phoneme may be

realised as zero, or have zero realisation or be deleted.
 Elision is typical of rapid, casual speech.
 Common cases of elision:
1) Loss of weak vowel after p, t, k as the aspiration of the
initial plosive takes up the whole of the middle portion of
the syllable.
E.g. ‘potato’ phˈteɪtəʊ
2) Weak vowel + n, l, r becomes syllabic consonant, normally
found after an aspirated plosive.
E.g. ‘tonight’ thˈn̩aɪt
10.3. Elision

3) Avoidance of complex consonant clusters.

E.g. No normal English would pronounce all of the
consonants between ‘Sixth’s throne’ sɪksθs θrəʊn.
o In clusters consisting of three or more consonants, the
middle plosive or fricative sound(s) may disappear. (e.g.
‘acts’ æks).
4) Loss of final v in ‘of’ before consonants.
E.g. ‘lots of them’ lɒts ə ðəm
o A more common case is where the vowel of ‘of’ is lost,
leaving either v in voiced context (e.g. ‘all of mine’
ɔːl v maɪn) or f in a voiceless context (e.g. ‘best of three’
best f θriː).
10.3. Elision

 It is difficult to know whether contractions of grammatical

words should be regarded as examples of elision or not.
The fact that they are regularly represented with special
spelling forms makes them seem rather different from the
cases shown above.
 For more information about contractions and their
pronunciation, refer to pp. 114-115.
10.4. Linking

 In real connected speech, we normally link words together

in a number of ways.
 The most familiar is the use of linking r: In the BBC accent,
r does not occur in syllable-final position, but when the
spelling suggests a final r, and a word beginning with a
vowel follows, then r is pronounced.
E.g. ‘here’ hɪə but ‘here are’ hɪər ə
 BBC speakers often use r in a similar way to link words
ending with ə, ɪə, ɑː, or ɔː, even when there is no
‘justification’ from the spelling. This is called intrusive r
(some still regard this as incorrect or substandard
pronunciation).
E.g. ‘Formula A’ ˈfɔːmjələr eɪ
10.4. Linking

 “Linking r” and “intrusive r” are special cases of juncture:

the position of a word boundary has some effect on the
realisation of a phoneme.
E.g. (1) ‘my turn’ maɪ tɜːn vs. (2) ‘might earn’ maɪt ɜːn
t in (1) is fully aspirated, whereas t in (2) is unaspirated (the
diphthong aɪ is shortened).
 This theory helps us avoid concluding that English has a
phonemic contrast between aspirated and unaspirated
versions of a same sound.
 This is also one of the many cases in which the occurrence
of different allophones can only be properly explained by
making reference to units of grammar.
10.4. Linking

 For more cases of juncture, refer to p. 116.

 It should be noted that the context in which the words
occur always makes it clear where the boundary comes,
making juncture information redundant.
REFERENCES

Roach, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology – A

practical course (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.