ELISION1

ELISION

Elision is the eliding (=omission, deletion) of a sound that would otherwise be present.

Elision of Plosives

The alveolars / t / and / d / are left out when medial in a cluster of three consonants.

perfectly /pɜːfɪktlɪ/exactly /ɪɡzæktlɪ/coastguard / kəʊstgɑːd /friendship /frendʃɪp/landlord /lændlɔːd/handbag / hændbæg / / hæmbæg /handball / hændbɔːl / / hæmbɔːl /

The alveolars / t / and / d / are left out in the sequence: --continuant consonant + / t / or / d / || + consonant--

WBmost beautiful / məust bjuːtɪfl /first name / fɜːst neɪm /next morning / nekst mɔːnɪŋ /old fashioned / əʊld fæʃn /cold season / kəʊld siːzn /mild coffee / maɪld kɒfɪ /

But they are retained before vowels, semi-vowels or when grammar is involved.

most important / məust impɔːtnt /old Wilson / əuld wɪlsn /he stopped me / hɪ stɒpt mɪ /

When a word with a final consonant cluster ending / skt / is followed by a consonant, so / k / is left out.

I asked Brian /aɪ ɑːskt braɪən/ He risked loosing /hɪ rɪskt luːsɪŋ/

When a word with a final consonant cluster ending / skt / is followed by / h / or by any vowel, / k / is left out.

He risked his life /hɪ rɪskt hɪz laɪf/I asked Oliver /aɪ ɑːskt ɒlɪvə/

Elision of / t / and / d / when having the alveolar nasal / n / plus any of the two affricates / tʃ / and / dʒ /. The first element of the affricate is dropped.

lunch /lʌntʃ/ century /sentʃrɪ/strange /streɪndʒ/danger /deɪndʒə/enjoy /ɪndʒɔɪ/ But never elide those sounds when the stress falls on that syllable!

When you have this sequence / ktʃ /, there’s elision of the alveolar plosive / t /.

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actual / æktʃuəl/lecture / lektʃə/picture / pɪktʃə/

Elision of the Glottal

Loss of / h / in weak forms of auxiliaries verbs and pronouns when they are not in initial in the utterance and when they are not stressed.

I saw him there /aɪ sɔː hɪm ðeə/What’s her name? /wɒts hə neɪm/They have come /ðeɪ həv kʌm/She has left /ʃɪ həz left/

Elision of the Lateral

/ l / is left out after / ɔː /.

almost /ɔːlməʊst/already /ɔːlredɪ/alright /ɔːlraɪt/

also /ɔːlsəʊ /although /ɔːlðəʊ/always /ɔːlweɪz/

And also in the word “only” => / əʊnlɪ /

Elision of the / ə /

When the / ə / is followed by a nasal or a liquid and then a weak vowel, the / ə / is left out.

/ ə / + / m /, / n /, / ŋ /, / r /, / l / + weak vowel

camera /kæmərə/ phonetics /fənetɪks/phonology /fənɒlədʒɪ/correct /kərekt/ lavatory /lævətərɪ/specialist /speʃəlɪst/novelist /nɒvəlɪst/

When the second syllable in a word is stressed and begins with / l /, / r / or / n /, the / ə / is left out. They become syllabic consonants.

terrific / tərɪfɪk/ /trɪfɪk/collide /kəlaɪd/ /klaɪd/ police /pəliːs/ /pliːs/tonight /tənaɪt/ /tnaɪt/

The / ə / is left out in post nuclear position in the sequence: consonant + / ə / + / r / + weak vowel

library / laɪbrərɪ / / laɪbrrɪ /natural / nætʃərəl / / nætʃrəl /lavatory / lævətərɪ / / lævətrɪ /history / hɪstərɪ / / hɪstrɪ /

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In the contracted negative n’t / nt /, / t / may be elided in connected speech no matter what sound follows when it is not in final position. Thus when didn’t / dɪdnt / is followed by another word or phrase, it is sometimes pronounced / dɪdn /.

factory / fæktərɪ / / fæktrɪ /robbery / rɒbərɪ / / rɒbrɪ /category / kætəgərɪ / / kætəgrɪ /muderer / mɜːdərə / / mɜːdrə /suffering / sʌfərɪŋ / / sʌfrɪŋ /

The / ə / and the / ɪ / are left out in the sequence: consonant + / ə /or / ɪ / + / l /

fatal / feɪtəl / / feɪtl /total / təʊtəl / / təʊtl /specialist / speʃəlɪst / / speʃlɪst /carefully / keəfəlɪ / / keəflɪ /novelist / nɒvəlɪst / / nɒvlɪst /family / fæmɪlɪ / / fæmlɪ /easily / iːzɪlɪ / / iːzlɪ /

There is also frequent loss of post nuclear / ə / or / ɪ / in:

probably / prɒbəblɪ / / prɒbblɪ / casual / prɒblɪ /natural / nætʃərəl / / nætʃrl /

In pre-nuclear position, the / ə / or / ɪ / of the weak syllable tends to be lost, especially when the following stressed syllable has initial / l / or / r /

police / pəliːs / / pliːs /believe / bɪliːv / / bliːv /perhaps / pəhæps / / phæps / casual / præps /collect / kəlekt / / klekt /correct / kərekt / / krekt /direction / dɪrekʃn / / drekʃn /delightful / dɪlaɪtfl / / dlaɪtfl /

Also with a continuant consonant preceding and a consonant other than / l / or / r / following

phonetics / fənetɪks / / fnetɪks /phonology / fənɒlədʒɪ / / fnɒlədʒɪ /suppose / səpəʊz / / spəʊz /support / səpɔːt / / spɔːt /

The vowel in the first syllable may disappear when the aspiration of the initial plosive takes up the whole of the middle portion of the syllable, resulting an aspiration such as / h /.

potato /pəteɪtəʊ/ /phteɪtəʊ/tomato /təmɑːtəʊ/ /thmɑːtəʊ/canary /kəneərɪ/ /khneərɪ/perhaps /pəhæps/ /phhæps/today /tədeɪ/ /thdeɪ/

In some function words the schwa / ə / may be elided.

than She works better than him /ʃɪ wɜːks betə ðn ɪm/them I did it for them /aɪ dɪd ɪt fə ðm/for I waited for a couple of minutes /aɪ weɪtɪd fr ə kʌpl əv mɪnɪts/from I walked from my house to the park /aɪ wɔːkt frm maɪ haʊs tə ðə pɑːk/some I bought some sugar /aɪ bɔːt sm ʃʊgə/can I can do it /aɪ kn duː ɪt/

Also when final / ə / occurs with following linking / r / and word initial vowel or diphthong, / ə / can be elided.

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after a while /ɑːftr ə waɪl/over and over again /əʊvr ən əʊvr əgen/as a matter of fact /əz ə mætr əf fækt/chapter eleven /tʃæptr ɪlevn/

Note:cluster: In some languages (including English) we can find several consonant phonemes in a sequence, with no vowel sound between them: for example, the word 'stray' /streɪ/ begins with three consonants, and 'sixths' ends with four. Sequences of two or more consonants within the same syllable are often called consonant clusters. It is not usual to refer to vowel clusters.

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