gerardothe word in connected speech.pdf

8/10/2019 GERARDOThe Word in Connected Speech.pdf

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CONTENTS

Purpose and aim of the book 2Chapter IThe word in connected speech 3

Chapter IIBreath / sense group, rhythm unitand fluency relationship 5

Chapter IIIGradation, rhythm unit and fluencyRelationship 18

Chapter IVElision 30

Chapter VAssimilation 35

Chapter VISimilitude 41Chapter VIIStress 48

Annex: Two major approachesto the study of speech sounds 62List of references 67


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PURPOSE AND AIM OF THE BOOK

This book is intended for the student of English as a Second Language who already hassome training in the language at advanced level, i. e., that student who knows how toarticulate and discriminate at will the segments of English, who can transcribe a text, whoknows how to consult a pronouncing dictionary but who lacks fluency in the target language.

With this in mind, the present book aims at providing the student with further theoreticalinformation and training necessary to make him / her fluent in the target language. Fluencyis best acquired by practice; therefore each theoretical explanation is followed by a series ofactivities that the student has to perform should he / she wish to gain fluency and sense ofrhythm in the English language. Usually, students believe that fluency is speed of speech

delivery ; this is not quite so for fluency has to do more with the skill to move from thearticulation of one sound to the next without hesitation or unnecessary pauses so, as a resultof fluency mastery; the speaker is able to increase speed of speech . At other times, it has todo with the knowledge of what sound or sounds to elide in order to facilitate pronounciationin a phrase or even within a single word. All of the above is related to rhythm and sense /

breath groups which in turn means that breathing has to be consciously controlled. Why?Because speech production is modified breathing and English is known as a time stressedlanguage whereas Spanish is known as a syllable stressed language .

There are no answers to the aforementioned exercises because the student is expected torely on past experience gained through previous studies and exposure to the language,matched with thorough understanding of the theory here laid out prior to completion of eachexercise.

Our final introductory words are to tell the student; firstly, that the phonetic theory used inthis book is known as structural phonetics as opposed to generative phonology . We

believe the former is a better pedagogical tool for speech training, our purpose, whereas thelatter is a better tool to study and understand the phonetic or phonological processes in agiven language and then establish the rules underlying those processes. Secondly, the dialect

chosen to fulfil our purpose is that known as R. P. (Received Pronunciation or BritishStandard English), the reason for this is the training the author had in British English.However, reference to some speech phenomena found in American English is made.


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CHAPTER I

The word in connected speechAs you have probably already noticed, people do not use isolated words but rather use

strings of words to express among other things their ideas, feelings, emotions, and thatwords when used along with other words undergo changes in their pronunciation. There arealso variations of quantity, stress patterns, and pitch associated with this continuouschanging pattern of sound quality. The word, like the phoneme, is an abstraction from thiscontinuum and the hearer / speaker must expect its realization to be different in many waysaccording to the context; i. e., the hearer / speaker will encounter the various allophonic(phonetic) realizations of the abstract unit known as the phoneme upon hearing the word inconnected speech.

There are differences between the concrete realization of a word when said in ISOLATIONand when said in CONNECTED SPEECH because it is subject to the pressures of its soundenvironment or of the accentual rhythmic unit group of which it forms part. The differencesin realization depend largely upon SPEED of utterance, the slower and more careful thedelivery the greater the tendency to preserve a form nearer to that of the isolated word.

Examples:

1. Declamatory style: / m g t g t m r /

2. Formal colloquial : / m g t g tm r /

3. Less familiar: / gn g tm r /

4. Familiar style: / n g tm r /

If you compare the first two styles with the remaining two, you will notice that the first twostresses have been dropped due to the various changes in pronunciation that the words amand going have suffered as a result of an increase in speed of utterance (delivery). This lossof stress has, of course, an effect on the rhythm of the language; i. e., in English theunstressed syllables are said quicker than the stressed ones which consequently are stretchedout in order to keep a balance in TEMPO this means speed of speaking, which is bestmeasured by rate of syllable succession for English is a time stressed language asopposed to syllable stressed languages like Spanish, for example .

Furthermore, if you continue to compare styles you will learn that in Formal Colloquial

style am has been realized as / m / (weak form), to as / t / (weak form); in Less Familiar

style / m / (weak form of am ) has been realized as / / due to the influence of / g/ in /


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gn / which is a reduction of going which in turn has been further reduced inFamiliar style to / n /. Also, if you count the number of syllables, you will find thatthere are nine syllables in Declamatory style, eight in Formal Colloquial style, seven in LessFamiliar style, and five in Familiar style. The fewer syllables, both stressed and unstressed,

there are the faster the delivery is. These two features, the tendencies to reduce the number ofsyllables and stresses in order to increase the speed of delivery, are characteristic of English.

From the study of the four styles above one obvious conclusion comes out: there arevariations of articulation in English which do not change the meanings intended. Variationsof articulation involve gradation, similitude, assimilation, elision, linking- r , (BritishEnglish), intrusive r, juncture. All of them are important for a serious student of English tomaster because they are associated with fluency and rhythm.

In the present work, we shall overtly deal with gradation, similitude, assimilation andelision because these phenomena are somewhat complicated and therefore should be treatedseparately. Juncture and linking - r are in a more direct relationship with the no tions ofrhythm unit and breath / sense group and consequently are treated as part of these twonotions. There is also a separate chapter on stress, although this matter has been treated inother chapters, because it was felt that the Spanish-speaking student of English as a SecondLanguage needs some insight and theoretical guidance as to the working of stress in Englishwhich is a rather complicated matter.


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CHAPTER II

Breath / sense group, Rhythm Unit and Fluency

interdependence One of the differences between speech and writing is that the first appeals to the ear

whereas the second, to the eye. Because both senses work differently, the reaction to spokenor written language is also different. This simply means that in written language theconvention of leaving gaps in between words is due to the fact that it is difficult for the mindto interpret something like this: Imetheronmywaytothecinema . Whereas the same sentencewhen spoken is received by the mind as this: Imether / onmyway / tothecinema. If some says this sentence as: I met her on my way to the cinema, then the effect in anEnglish speaking person is, most likely, one of uneasiness for something sounds strange .The first spoken realization is the one conside red normal due to the stressing pattern ofEnglish; the syllables which are not stressed are bound around the one which bears the stressthus forming something which is called a rhythm unit. One can notice that in both writingand speech there are gaps but they are located at different places because the gaps in writingare intended for the eyes to catch each word individually whereas the gaps in speech areintended for the ear to catch groups of syllables. The Spanish speaker may try this:metopconellacuandoibaalcine or metopconella / cuandoibal / cine

In speech, pauses are made for two main reasons: (1) for the purpose of taking breath, forone obviously cannot go on talking without breathing; (2) for the purpose of making the

meaning clear; if one does not divide the group of syllables into meaningful stretches,communication is hampered. In a normal situation, pauses for breath and pauses for makingthe meaning clear coincide. Yet the student of English whose first language is Spanish has torealize that although it is true that in all natural languages breath and semantic pauses aremade, the way this concept works is peculiar to every language. This simply means that theSpanish-speaking student of English has to train himself / herself at the conscious level tomake pauses for breath and meaning at the places where they are most likely to be made by anative speaker of English. Once he or she has learnt to do this, his / her fluency in Englishwill have moved one step further up the ladder of fluency which consists, in very simpleterms, of acceptable pronunciation and intonation plus rhythm and tempo of which the said

pauses are part.The training to develop the ability to make pauses for breath and meaning consists of

reading out texts, transcribed or normally written, taking into account the stressed syllablesand grouping around them the unstressed syllables (in a way we shall explain later) so thatthe syllables both stressed and unstressed form words in close grammatical connexion,thus keeping the meaning clear. The point to bear in mind is that when we write we writewords whereas when we speak or read out something written we utter syllables in groups.


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Before we explain how syllables can be grouped togeher in order to form rhythmunits and how to link final word sound with initial word sound, we should define what weunderstand by Breath Group and Sense Group.

Breath Group is a term used to denote a complete sentence that can conveniently be saidwith a single breath or, in the case of very long sentences, the longest portions that canconveniently be said with single breaths 1. In other words, a breath group is directly andovertly related to the physical act of speaking and breathing in the first place and to meaningonly in the second place.

Examples:1. The car s outside (single breath) 2. Coming out of the theatre // we found it utterly impossible to get

a taxicab (long sentence) Bear in mind that pauses for breath are normally made at points where pauses are necessary

or allowable from the point of view of MEANING.Examples:

1. // He strolled aimlessly about the road, / kicking stones out ofhis path // (correctly grouped) BUT

2. // He // strolled aimlessly // about the road kicking // stones out of his path // (incorrectly grouped)

N. B. The symbol / means that one group is very closely connected grammatically to thenext and that there should be a slight pause (close juncture).

The symbol // means that two groups are not so closely connected and there should be alonger pause (open juncture). It also means the end of a complete utterance. Hence it is usualto mark an utterance at the beginning and at the end with this double bar.

A long utterance can be divided into shorter groups; the shortest possible of these groups i. e., groups which can not be further subdivided by pauses are called Sense Groups.

Each sense group consists of a limited number of words in close grammatical relationship,i. e., a sense group is directly and overtly related to meaning in the first place and onlysecondly related to the physical act of speaking and breathing. Both breath and sense groupscomplement each other.

Examples:1. // Once upon a time / there was a king / who failed to please his

subjects // and was in consequence / in instant peril // The two symbols ( / ) used to mark sense groups and ( // ) for breath groups are

normally only used in transcriptions, because in writing the division between breath andsense groups is signalled either by punctuation marks (a comma shoud be placed after aftertime ) or conjuncts, as in the example above, where the conjunct and signals a pause

between to please his subjects and was in consequence .

__________________________________1. Jones, Dani el An Outline of English Phonetics , p. 274


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However we shall continue to use the single bar and the double bar in writing tosignal sense and breath groups for the purpose of aiding the student in reading texts aloud.

Once the student has learnt how breath and sense groups work, she / he has yet to learn to be fluent. Fluency should no be mistaken with speed of deliveryor tempo . Fluency consistsof saying word groups smoothly, without gaps or hesitations in the middle. Fluency alsohas to do with grouping of words in stress groups which in turn are related to breath andsense groups.All of these three factors plus tempo account for the RHYTHM of the language. So beforethe student learns how to link word final sound with word initial sound, he has to learn togroup words or syllables in what is called a stress group which in turn is part of a largerunit called a rhythm unit . An example may help the reader understand what a stress groupis. In the expression: Take them home , where take and home are stressed, we have twostress groups: takethem and home . We notice that take and them go together and thatthem follows the stressed syllable also that home stands by itself. So , we can say that a

stress group may be a stressed syllable together with any unstressed syllable(s) which mayfollow it and which form a closely related grammatical structure or a stressed syllable whichstands on its own. Furthermore, we notice that a slight pause between takethem and homecan be made; thus forming two sense groups i. e., the expression takethem can stand on itsown from the point of view of meaning, the reader may try to compare it with the phraseonce upon a time where although there are two stresses ( once and time ) no pauses can

be made between once upon a and time because this is a READY -MADE phrase which

cannot be subdivided. The expression take them home can be uttered as // teik m / h m// . But how should the syllable or syllables preceding the stressed syllable be treated? We

may try to find the answer by means of another example. In the expression: Im leavingnow there are two stress groups: leaving and now but we know that Im is closelygrammatically related to leaving but instead of following the stressed syllable it precedes it.So, we may say that any stressed syllable, coupled with any preceding or followingunstressed syllables, is a rhythm unit. It should be noted that a stress group may be containedin a rhythm unit or it may stand alone in which case both stress group and rhythm unit areone and the same thing:

C. f.

I m leaving now // a m 'l:v / ' na //

Stress group stress group

rhythm unit rhythm unit

One word of advice is that the unstressed syllables preceding the stressed syllable in therhythm unit should be said very quickly but those syllables which follow the stressed syllableshould be said not so quickly as the syllables before the stress. This is so because the basicrule of English rhythm is that each stress group within a word group is given the same


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amount of time. Thus, we can say that one of the rhythmical differences betweenEng lish and Spanish is that English is a time stressed language stresses have a tendencyto come at rather regular intervals of time whereas Spanish is a syllable stressed language this means that stresses come at rather irregular intervals of time. So, the tempo of bothlanguages is consequently different. But the tempo of a target language is better learnedthrough practice rather than theory; so once we are done with the theoretical explanations weshall move on to the practical side of the matter. For the time being, we shall deal with somesimple rules to follow in order to learn to group words or syllables into rhythm units:

1) Any unstressed syllables at the beginning of a word group must go together with thefollowing stress group:

// AsIdidit // , // myattempt //

// za 'd d t //, //ma 'tempt //

2) If the unstressed syllable(s) is part of the same word as the stressed syllable it belongs

to the same rhythm group:// cheaper fares // , // cheap affairs //

// ' :p 'fez // , // ' :p 'fez //

3) If the unstressed syllables are closely grammatically connected to the stressed word,although not a part of that word, they belong to the same rhythm unit:

// movethem silently // , // whereis theorchestra //

// 'mu:vm 'sa l ntl // , // 'wer z ' :k str //

4) Whenever you are in doubt as to which rhythm unit unstressed syllables belong to, putthem after a stress rather than before it. So in She was taller than me if you have any

doubts about where to place / n / you should place it after taller:// shewastallerthan me // // w z't :l n 'm: //

Bear in mind that in Spanish the rhythm unit is the syllable; so each syllable has the samelength as every other syllable whereas in English there are constant changes of syllablelength because time is an important factor in the realization of rhythm in English. This meansthat some syllables will be said faster than others; the syllables which are said faster are theunstressed ones, the stressed syllables are long 2.

Now that the student knows how breath and sense groups work and has learned how to

divide utterances into rhythm units, he can proceed to learn how to move from word finalsound to word initial sound. Since speech sounds have been classified as vowels andconsonants, what follows are samples of how to move smoothly from consonant to voweland from vowel to vowel.

_____________________________2. The length of the stressed syllable varies depending on the natural length of the vowel, and the

neighbouring consonants and syllables


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I. Consonant to vowel (using the notion of of rhythm unit)

1. He s always asking for a pencil (linking -r) // h 'z :lwe 'z :sk fr'pens //

2. She washes her face in milk (weak form & assimilation)

// 'w z : 'fe s m 'm lk //

final / n / of in changes to / m / due to the / m / in milk

3. These goods are for export (linking-r) // ':z ' dz f'reksp :t //

4. He went to bed in the morning (elision and weak form)

// h 'wen(t)t 'bed n 'm :n //

5. You are nearly fallinf asleep (weak form & liaison)

// j 'n l 'f :l s 'l :p //

6. I was in Paris (one rhythm unit and assimilation) // a w m'pr s //

II. Vowel to vowel (using the notion of rhythm unit)

a. Glide to / j / after syllable final / : /, / /, / e /, / a /, / /Examples:

1. The other // ' j // or // : ' j //2. They are // e ' j : //3. My aim // ma ' je m // 4. Roy ate it // 'r ' je t t //

Yet we should distinguish between, say, my ears // ma ' j z // and my years // ma 'j z// where // 'j z // has a longer and stronger / j / than the short and gentle glide before/ z /.

b. Glide to / w / after syllable final / u: /, / / and / a /Examples:

1. He grew old // h 'gru: ' w ld // 2. Go out // 'g ' wa t //3. A row in the street // 'ra w n s'tr:t //


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However, we should dsitinguish between, for example, two-eyed // 'tu: ' wa d //and too wide // 'tu: wa d // where / wa d / has a longer and stronger / w / than the shortand gentle glide before / a d /.

The following exercises are intended for you to practise the notions of breath and sense

groups, rhythm units, and linking of word final sound with word initial sound. These fourconcepts work interrelatedly and make up what is known as FLUENCY. To this you have toadd tempo, i. e., the relative speed at which stressed and unstressed syllables are said.

A. Stress the following paragraphs (under normal conditions the parts of speech which areusually stressed are nouns, adjectives, adverbs, main verbs, demonstrative and interrogative

pronouns). Before attempting to do this, we suggest yo u read Section C: Sentence Stress inDaniel Jones s An Outline of English Phonetics or A. C. Gimson s An Introduction to thePronunciation of English (chapter 10) or Peter Ladefoged s A Course in Phonetics (chapter5). Or any other suitable course in phonetics.

This paper is the first of a series dealing with one aspect of human culture which istime, hence the title. Chronos means time so monochrony, in turn, would meanone time .

We all know that life and human traits are displayed within two natural dimensions:space and time.

Different cultures deal with and view t ime distinctly.

Proxemics is the name given to the study of space management by humans in society.(Taken from Angel Milano s Tendency to Monochrony , an essay. 1991)

B. Once you have carried out the previous task (A), divide the paragraphs above intobreath and sense groups .

C. Now that you have completed instructions B , you should now proceed to group thewords together by using the notions of rhythm unit and / or stress group within each sensegroup / breath group.

Example: // thispaperis thefirstofa series dealingwithone aspect //

D. Here are some other exercises for you to read. Each exercise deals with a specific word juncture. Also each phrase has been transcribed following the concepts of breath and sensegroups and rhythm units in order to aid you in gaining fluency. Remember, fluency is NOTspeaking faster but the ability to move fom one sound to the next smoothly, withouthesitation. So it is suggested that you gain conscious control over your articulatorymovements and THIS is best achieved by reading SLOWLY and on PURPOSE. Once youhave done this you will have gained confidence and fluency!


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I. VOWEL TO VOWEL

a. // r d j z t i: t nl j nj nz // Rody is to eat only onions

b. // pv ti: de // A cup of tea a day

c. //ma e mz tb nd pendnt // My aim is to be independent

d. // me a du: t // May I do it ?

e. // b ks: tre n l // The boy acts strangely

f. // kju: z l : n f // The queue is large enough

g. // a n tr ks tu: // I know other tricks too

h. // e pla : lnd // They plou gh our land

II. LINKING-r (British English) N. B . Do not use a linking-r after a pause.

a. // ts mp :nt ntf r s tf n // Its important for us to finish

b. // r ri: nl // There are three only

c. // h z mn rv ti:m // Hes the manager of the team

d. // wer n n : z k ld // The weather in the north is cold

e. // h ge vm f :r e s z // He gave me four aces

f. // b :r z p // The bar is open

g. // twe ra t // It will wea r out

h. // d nt g n r t // Dont go near it


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i. // thz f :r n sa d // It has a fur insid

III. CONTINUANT TO CONTINUANT

a. // mma haus // In my house

b. // g z h :f f n t // The sugar is half finished

c. // m ks s l n ti: w m lk // Mix Ceylon tea with milk

d. // r t na t // A rotten night

e. // g v v k g ft // Give Vicky a gift

f. // j vw n n n // Youve won none

IV. PLOSIVE TO SAME PLOSIVE

a. // big gr n // A big grin

b. // blk k :t // A black curtain

c. // i:p pot // A cheap pot

d. // wa bra b b b // Why bribe Bob ?

e. // ht tu: n z t :l // A hat two inches tall

f. // pra d dju:k // A proud duke


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V. PLOSIVE TO ANOTHER PLOSIVE

a. // st p bl k // Stop blinking

b. // ( )ts g d ta m // Its a good time

c. // ppensz ma n // : / t / > / p / That pencils mine

d. // fp b // : / t / > / p / A fat boy

e. // fk g :l // : / t / > / k / A fat girl

f. // k k :z blu: // : / t / > / k / That cars blue

g. // h z g b b // : / d / > / b / Hes a good boy

h. // ( )ts h :b p : // : / d / > / b / Its a hard path

i. // g glu: t t // : / d / > / g / Add glue to it

j. // a d g k m n ta m // : / d / > / g / I did common time

VI. PLOSIVE TO NASAL

a. // n t me d // A nut maid b. // a pe d m : n ju: // I paid more than you c. // n t na // Not now d. // md me s // Mad Mason

e. // sd na t // A sad night f. // s k mn // A sick man g. // blk n n // A black nun h. // d n(t) r b m n // Dont rob money


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i. // r b ni:tl nt s k n // Rub neatly into the skin

j. // st p m m k // Stop mimicking

k. // ki:p ni:d // Keep kneading

l. // lets d g na // Lets dig now

m. // b g mn // A big man

VII. PLOSIVE TO AFFRICATE

a. // ft :ns // A fat chance

b. // ft // A fat judge

c. // p k :t // A pink chart

d. // s k k // A sick joke

e. // bd b // A bad job

f. // bd s // A bad choice

g. // b g p // A big chap

h. // b g : // A big jaw

VIII. AFFRICATE TO AFFRICATE

a. // d // A Dutch judge

b. / / r : // A rich church


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c. // l : k // A large chunk

d. // hju: : // A huge jar

IX. PALATO-ALVEOLAR FRICATIVES

a. // wel g l // A Welsh gigolo

b. // f p // A fish shop

c. // be e d // A beig e shade

d. / / before / / is very rare

X. ALVEOLAR PLOSIVES TO DENTAL FRICATIVES is the usual symbol for a dentalized / t / and / d /

a. // p t t n h // Put that in here

b. // a ni:d d t // I needed the shot

c. // w h d ri: v m // We hid three of them

d. // h st e // He sat there

e. // b ld ret // Bold threat

f. // ne k d i:f // A naked thief

XI. BILABIAL PLOSIVES TO LABIO-DENTAL FRICATIVES

a. // e h pf r t //: / p / and / f / may coalesce into / / in very rapid speech They hope for it

b. // st p va l ns // : / p / and / v / may coalesce into / / in v. r. s. Stop violence

c. // e bra b fu:l z nl // : / b / and / f / may coalesce into / / in v. r. s.


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They bibe fools onlyd. // r b v gr sl // : / b / and /v/ may coalesce into / / in v. r. s.

Rub vigorouslyNota Bene. / / is a voiceless bilabial fricative sound

/ / is a voiced labio -dental frictionless continuant ( approximant )

E. Now that you have gained some fluency by practising with short phrases and sentences,you should read out the following transcribed texts in order to further develop your newlyacquired skill. Remember the symbol // means longer pauses and /, shorter pauses.

1.//ri:d z/pr b bl / m std f ktl gw st (k)sk l/t ti:

//fr t mbre s z d fr tel m nts // s z / m kn k a mu:vmnt/s ntks/v kbj l r /f net ks /spel / nd nt lek lk mpr hen // jet / tsw n v() m st prd kt vs k lz / t ti: // ha ev / gre t n mb r vs tju:dnts v gl : zf r n lgw

/ me nev s pi:k l t v gl / btm stvm /w lv tri:d gl : n :d tkmpli:t e jun v :st st d z //

2.// b l t tri:d f r nlgw / z spe l st sfa t lgwti: / h :gju:z ti: z ti: stju:dnts/ha tri:z n k :svti: lgw // n relm v fnet ks / ha ev / l k d d k nkt v t z prva d mi:djm fstju:dnt /tprkt s s :t pr bl msa ndz / wa lz ten k ns ntre f kst n g v / l klsa nd ns //

3. // ti: pr zents sm nfme tstju:dnt n w nsent ns// h n :sks stju:dntkwes / t r kwa z m

/tme k l k d d k / frm nfme / h (h )zb ng v //


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4. // w n v() me problmz tti: z mi:t n tra thelps tju:dntst nd stnd w e ri:d/ zt ti: m t a dent fa d va s z tglu: sentns ztge // sentns z d n (t) gz st na s le // nevr ka nd v d sk :s /

k nv se nd neksp z tr ra t / sentns z f l w n :ft //mi:n ven tekst kn nl b bte nd / wenri:d : p :t s p nt r la z z /ha sentns z n t( )r ns z / r le t t w t k mz b f :r n :ft //

N. B. The reader is expected to practise the above readings with a slow premeditated pronunciation so as todevelop articulatory consciousness so that the outcome is fluency. Once this articulatory consciousness hasbeen established, the reader may increase speed of delivery or tempo in order to test fluency.


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CHAPTER III

Gradation, Rhythm Unit and Fluency Relationship Now that we have studied the interdependence of breath / sense group, rhythm unit andfluency; there is yet one other feature of English pronunciation which is related to the otherfour said features: gradation. But before dealing with this phenomenon, we should explainsomething about the relationship between quantity and quality of sounds in English.

Vowels and continuant consonants (such as / m n l /) in stressed syllables whichform the nucleus of a rhythmic group are shortened according to the number of unstressedsyllables in the group, this is even more noticeable when the unstressed syllables follow the

stressed one. Thus the / / of / n z / shows progressive reduction in such rhythmic groups

as noisy, noisily, she / he is noisy, etc., the / / and / m / of come / k m/ areanalogously reduced in comfort, comforter, comfortable. A comparable phonemicsequence will have slight variations of sound length according to the division into rhythmic

groups: C.f. shore train / : tre n / and short rain / t re n/ with / :/ being reduced in the second phrase; minor official /ma n r f / and mine areofficial / ma n r f / with /a / being longer in the second case: [ a: ]. Variations ofthis kind rhythmic constitute a psychological reality for the speaker, consequently thenative speaker of Spanish who studies English should attempt to master this feature ofEnglish. No doubt that the meaning for such similar phoneme sequences is also determined

by the context of situation.A more notable effect is that which characterizes the quantity and quality of unstressed

syllables. Content words (lexical words) monosyllables and polysyllables usually trend inconnected speech to keep the qualitative pattern of their isolated form, i. e., retain both

pronunciation and stress pattern and therefore have some prominence even when no pitch prominence is associated with them and they are relatively unstressed. For example: whatand want in What do

you want ? , heck in What the heck ?, twenty-five in Twenty-fiveand nine .

Yet many form words (function words) have two or more qualitative and quantitative

patterns according to whether they are unstressed (normal case) or stressed (in special casesor when in isolation). The stressed realizations of these words (strong forms) usually have afull vowel whereas the unstressed realizations of the same words (weak forms) have reduced

vowels, show obscuration of vowels towards / - - / and the elision of vowels andconsonants (it may be said that the more rapid the delivery, the greater the tendency toreduction and obscuration of unstressed words). So tempo is another factor to be taken intoaccount when speaking English: the unstressed syllables are said quickly; the stressed ones


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are stretched out. The alternation between full forms (strong forms) and reduced pronunciations (weak forms) is known as GRADATION.

The Spanish speaker who attempts to learn English cannot avoid learning the proper useof strong and weak forms because failure to use them appropriately hamperscommunication. Some examples may help grasp the importance of the proper use ofgradation. If someone says, for instance These pictures are terrible , a speaker may reply:

Thre e of them are all right but if the speaker uses / / instead of / :/ for are he or sheis partially contradicting the remark this is known as understatement but if the strong

form / :/ is used, the speaker is in agreement. Likewise if a strong form of for is used ratherthan the weak form in a sen tence like I ve known it four days but he s known it for weeksthe hearer will most certainly understand four weeks and not for weeks . Or if one asks thequestion Which flight are you taking ? and receives the answer The ten to five where the

strong form of to is used ( / tu: / ) then it is possible that the hearer understands 10 2 5instead of 10 minutes to 5 (or before 5).One word of advice to the learner is that weak forms should not be confused with the

variations which many words suffer as a result of co-ocurrence in a context such as elision,

or assimilation. Examples: can t is reduced to / k :n / in can t talk , ten changes to/ tem / in ten miles . As you can see the words can t and ten have ben modified in theirrespective pronunciation but their prominence has not been affected. The use of weak formsinvolves the change of pronunciation and prominence (a weak form is much less prominentthan a full form). What follows is a list of the most common weak forms:

I. ATTRIBUTIVES (adjectival words)1. / / : a - used before consonant sounds

2. /n/ : an used before vowel sounds/n/ : an used after alveolars

3. // : the used before consonat sounds/ / : the used before vowel sounds

4. /sm/ : some when meaning an undefined amount ofor number of

5. /snt / : saint - only immediately before names6. / :/ : our - also used in ourselves but not in ours 7. / z/ : his - not to be used after a pause.

THE PRONUON HIS HAS NO WEAK FORM 8. /h/ : her - normal weak form

/ :/ : her - not to be used after a pause/r/ : her - before vowel sounds. Use /h :/at the beginning


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of word groups /h :fe s z ra nd/ 9. /j / : your - before consonants

/jr/ : your - before vowels

II. PRONOUNS

1. / i: / : he - normal weak form/h / : he - normal weak form

2. / m / : him - also used in himself and as an enclitic 3. / :/ : her - not to be used after a pause. Use as an

enclitic. Also used in herself / :self/ /r/ : her - before vowel sounds

4. /s/ : us - use after let if it means allow/s/ : us - use after let

5. /m/ : them also in themselves/m, m/ : them use as enclitics

6. / / : she - normal weak form7. /m / : me normal weak form8. /j / : you normal weak form9. /w / : we normal weak form

10. / h , u:, / who normal weak form

N. B. Enclitic: An enclitic is a monosyllable which may behave as itwere the unstressed final syllable of the word it follows

III. CONJUNCTIONS

1. /nd, nd, n, / : and - Use /n/and syllabic [] after alveolars2. / bt / : but : - also used when but is a preposition3. / z / : as : - also used when as is an adverb4. / n / : than normal weak form5. / t / : that - also used when that is a relative pronoun6. / / : or occasional weak form (used in rapid speech or in

ready made phrases)


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IV. PREPOSITIONS

1. / t / : at -normal weak form 2. / f / : for before consonants

/ fr / : for before vowels3. / frm / : from normal weak form

/ frm / : from very rapid speech4. /v, / : of // in very rapid speech and may behave

as an enclitic5. /t / : to before consonants

/t / : to before vowels although /tu:/ is also frequentbefore vowels

6. / nt / : into normal weak form

V. ADVERBS

1. // : there (indefinite adverb) before consonants/r/ : there - before vowels/, r/ combine with /z/ and / z/ respectively for the dummy subject there is.

2. /nt, n/ : not it combines with verbal finites such asdo (dont), will (wont), can (cant),

is (isnt), was (wasnt), etc.

VI. VERBAL FINITES

1. /d/ : do before consonants/d / : do before vowels, although /du:/ is also frequent./d/ : do very rapid speech

2. /dz/ : does normal weak form; not to be used in finalposition, as in tags, for example./z,s/: does after when and what respectively


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3. /m/ : am only used after I /m/ : am elsewhere

4. /z/ : is after vowels and voiced consonants.Do not use after a pause or after the sibilants

/s,z, , , , / in these cases use / z/. Also use / z/ in final position, as in tags. /s/ : is use after /p, t, k, f, /

5. // : are use before consonant sounds/r/ : are use before vowel sounds

6. /b / : be normal weak form7. /b n/ : been normal weak form8. /wz/ : was normal weak form. Use /w z/ in final position,

as in tags.

9. /w/ : were before consonant sounds/wr/ : were before vowel sounds10. /kn, k, k/ : can auxiliary verb. Use /kn/ in final position,

as in tags.11. /kd/: could use /k d/ in final position, as in tags. 12. /mst /: must not usual before unstressed have

/ms/ : must as above13. /hv/ : have normal weak form. Use after a pause

/v/ : have use after I, You, We, They

/v/ : have use elsewhere. Have takes its strong form when used as a full verb.14. /hz/ : has use after a pause

/z/ : has after / s,z, , , , / /s/ : has use after / p, t, k, f, / /z/ : has elsewhere. Has takes its strong form when a full verb.

15. /hd/ : had normal weak form/d/ : had not used after personal subject-pronouns or a pause/d/ : had use after I, You, He, She, We, They .

16. / l, / : shall normal weak form. Not to be used in final position.17. / d, d/ : should normal weak form. Not to be used in finalposition.


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4. // e m wzmet // 4. The aim was met5. // a ni:d s fre ve t bz // 5. I need some fresh vegetables6. // a l m n stpkrs // 6. Ill meet you in Saint Pancras 7. // n ke m t :ha s // 7. John came to our house

8. // telm z ne m // 8. Tell me his name9. // a la k : he // 9. I like her hair10. // a la k hp :s // 10. I like her purse11. // a dla k tb jfrend // 11. I would like to be your friend 12. // jra d z g d // 12. Your idea is good

II. PRONOUNS Normal spelling

1. // d di:du: t // 1. Did he do it ? 2. // h t ldm t // 2. He told me that3. // g v mw n // 3. Give him one4. // h d d t :lba m s elf // 4. He did it all by himself5. // te k : h m // 5. Take her home 6. // g v revr // 6. Give her everything7. // lets g // 7. Lets go8. // lets du: t // 8. She let us do it 9. // sendm ba me l // 9. Send them by mail

10. // p k m m p // 10. Pick them up 11. // getm tdu: t // 11. Get them to do it

12. // da d // 12. She died 13. // g v tt m na // 13. Give it to me now14. // j red t // 14. You read it15. // tw zsentt j ba p st // 15. It was sent to you by post 16. // w ni:d t // 16. We need it

III. CONJUNCTIONS Normal spelling

1. //mnnd z mju:z k // 1. A man and his music2. // n na t // 2. In and out3. // h st det // 3. He sat and ate4. // bred b t // 4. Bread and butter 5. // h d z bta d nt // 5. He does but I dont


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6. // z ldz ju: // 6. As old as you 7. // betn t // 7. Better than that8. // n de ta left // 8. On the day that I left

IV. PREPOSITIONS Normal spelling

1. // :l tw ns // 1. All at once2. // ts fmi: // 2. Thats for me3. // g fr w :k // 3. Go for a walk4. // tk mz frm e // 4. It comes from the re5. // tk mz frm e // 5. It comes from there

6. // w n vi: // 6. One of each 7. // b tm pe // 7. The bottom of t he page8. // a w ntt :skj // 8. I want to ask you 9. // e w ntt li:v // 9. They want to leave

10. // a k dt get nt b :lp :k // 10. I couldnt get into the ball-park

V. ADVERBS Normal spelling

1. // zn left // 1. Theres (is) nothing left 2. // r :nt n f // 2. There arent enough 3. // d nt du: t // 3. Dont do it 4. // t d znt mt // 4. It doesnt matter 5. // t z ti:z // 5. It isnt easy

VI. VERBAL FINITES Normal spelling

1. // dj n t // 1. Do you know it?

2. // d r n n w :kf j // 2. Do Arthur and John work for you? 3. // ha dju: du: // 3. How do you do? (rapid speech)4. // w td z t mi:n // 4. What does that mean?5. // w tsi:la k // 5. What does he like? (rapid speech)6. // wenzi: ra v // 6. When does he arrive? ( ditto)7. // a mh // 7. Im (I am) here 8. // w t ma tdu: // 8. What am I to do?


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9. // wez l z // 9. Where is Liz? 10. // p :lz h // 10. Paul is here

11. // ts fa n // 11. That is (s) fine

12. // de z :t // 12. The days are shorter 13. // menr we // 13. The men are away14. // a :tt b g // 14. I ought to be going 15. // zb na t // 15. Shes been out 16. // twz m ste k // 16. That was a mistake 17. // e w pli:zd // 17. They were pleased18. // w w r :l e // 18. We were all there 19. // tk nstnd e // 19. It can stand there 20. // j kg // 20.You can go

21. / / w kte k t // 21. We can take it 22. // a k ddu: t // 22. I could do it 23. // j m st :sk gen // 23. You must ask again24. // a m sg su:n // 24. I must go soon25. // hven b n l s t // 25. Have any been lost?26. // w t vj d n // 26. What have you done?27. // e vg n we // 27. They ve (have) gone away 28. // hzevr w n g n // 28. Has everyone gone?

29. // l n z b g n // 29. Lunch has begun 30. // pi:ts st ra vd // 30. Petes just arrived 31. // h zg n h m // 31. Hes gone home 32. // h den w n left // 32. Had anyone left? 33. // mnd left // 33. The man had left 34. // w d :lred left // 34. Wed already left 35. // la du: t // 35. Shall I do it?36. // w t w du: // 36. What shall we do? 37. // w d v t ldj // 37. We should have told you

38. // w d vt l // (v.r.s)3

38. We should have told you39. // t b n f // 39. Thatll be enough

___________________________________3 . v. r. s. stands for very rapid speech


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40. // a ldu: t // 40. Ill do it (I will do it) 41. // b lu:z // 41 . The boy will loose42. // w tw dj du: // 42. What would you do?43. // w tw du: // (r. s. ) 43. What would you do?

44. // w t du: // (v. r. s.) 44. What would you do?45. // dg f k d // 45. She would go if she could

B. Read out the following sentences using weak forms when appropriate even when thespelling does not provide any clues. Also use the notion of rhythm unit for grouping thesyllables and pay particular attention to the underlined words and follow the rules of fluency.

1. The incredible story of a farm boy who tries to become a master of kempo in a fewshort weeks before the tournament.

2. I had hoped that by now we would be engaged in a useful discussion of the issues.

3. Seconds later a thunderous explosion jolted the area and a gigantic ball of fire billowed into the air. Big chunks of debris, some as big as cars, tumbled to earth.

4. A nuclear missile had exploded in its silo, and though it was not known to the public at the time, the blast catapulted the missile s multimegaton warhead towards the forrest and fields 300 yards away

5. As yet, no Western experts were predicting a Chinese invasion. But analysts did findcause for concern: intelligence reports indicated an extensive Chinese command post designed to test Taiwan s capacity to retaliate an attack by air and sea.

6. The question was whether or when the Chinese would move. It would be absolutely irresponsible to conclude that the Chinese are about to intervene , said one U. K. official.

7. We would be blind and historically ignorant to state that the Popular Republic ofChina is not eventually willing to take control over Taiwan.

8. Walessa s aim has been to roll back the reforms won during the summer strikes. Oneof them is the right to join the trade unions independent of communist control.

9. Moscow has no apparent desire to intervene militarily in Yugoslavia, but someRussian officials believe they will have to eventually.

10. If NATO continues to strike in Yugoslavia, Moscow will be forced to intervene andhave a cut of the pie .

11. Potentially defiant parlamentarians have been somewhat easier to locate.12. Chancellor Helmut Skhol and his Social Democrats say Franz Josef Schmidt is

uncontrolled and lacking scruples . 13. Schmidt and his coalition of Christian Democrats and Christian Socialists say Skhol is

a prophet of panic .14. So far, Jospin has ignored the latest revelations, and aides hope the matter will fade

from public view before next summer s elections.


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15. Eighteen percent of the national budget is spent on defense. Half the men between 18 and 45 are eligible for active reserve and, a citizen can be called up for

duty until the age of 65.

16. The Prime Minister has placed top priority on military preparedness withremarkable results.

17. Twenty five of our boys can take on 100 terrorists and kick the hell out of them , bragged a major.

18. The fighting has been going on for seventeen years and analysts say guerrillas couldkeep up their hit-and-run warfare as long as they can find sanctuary in the forrests.

19. Ironically, the success of South Africa s military build -up has depended, in part, onrecruitment of thousands of black some of whom have proven to be quite fiercewarriors.

20. Some signs read: Do not die for your country. Let the enemy die for it .

21. Military leaders say the army could little more than fight a holding action and hopefor a quick political solution.22. A hostile air force can be flown in north of us within five weeks and nobody will help

us to prevent it.23. The future of Nicaraguan Navy will rely on a flotilla of strikecraft small, speedy

missile carriers much like Israel s respected Reshef cruiser. 24. Nearby nations have no air attack capacity at the moment, but the Belice government

is not taking any chances.25. Send some radio messages to headquarters so they will know we are trapped.

C. Transcribe the passages above with the appropriate weak forms. Then read thetransciptions using the notion of rhythm unit.

Now that you have practised the use of weak forms, you should know that there are timeswhen weak forms cannot be used; therefore the strong forms are used instead. Here are somecases:

1. The finites are is was were should would shall will has have couldmust take a full vowel when they combine with the weak forms of not / nt / after vowels

and / t / after consonants.2. Whenever the word is stressed, e. g., / k na /, / du: e /, / hvj /, etc.3. Whenever the word is final in the group, e.g., / n hz /, / mer w l /, / e : /,

/ w ts t f : /, etc. N. B. The word s he him his her them us have their weak forms in final position

(except if they are stressed) because they may act as enclitics. Other enclitics are be,


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been, me, she, you, we.

4. Not has its strong form finally when attached to non-finite verbs, e.g., / e h p n t /

As a rule of thumb when the words which have two forms strong and weak are stressed

they should be said with their strong form.

Read the following phrases with both strong and weak forms where appropriate and see ifyou can notice whether there are variations in tempo when using the strong forms as opposedto the weak forms, and also notice whether the effect on the ear is foreign thus obstructingcommunication because the rhythm of the language has been altered.

1. I am here 9. It is cold2. She is home 10. You can see them3. We will see 11. He could have avoided it4. I was here 12. But there were plenty of them5. She is at home 13. It was a miracle6. But she is at home 14. You are impossible7. They were at work 15. I am going home for Christmas8. And we shall see 16. None of us liked it there

You should look up the strong forms of the words listed above in a pronouncing dictionary.Bear in mind that there are some differencies in pronunciation between R. P. English usedhere and G. A. English (General American English).


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CHAPTER IV

Elision

The simplest variation that a word may suffer in connected speech is that known asELISION. This is defined as the disappearance of a sound. There are historical andcontextual elisions. Historical elisions will not be dealt with here because the changes in

pronunciation that some words have suffered due to this phenomenon are found as standardrealizations in Present English (PrE). So, a more valuable knowledge for the student ofEnglish as a second language is that of contextual elisions. As stated at the beginning ofchapter I, elision is, in part, dependent upon the style of speech used at a given moment

Sounds may be elided in rapid colloquial speech at word boundaries. Vowels will be dealtfirst, then consonants.

I. VOWELS:

1. Initial schwa / / is frequently omitted in rapid colloquial speech when followed by acontinuant and preceded by a word final consonant.

C. f.

a) He is alive / h z la v / normal colloquial speecha1) He is alive / h zla v / rapid colloquial speech

b) It s not amiss / tsn t m s/ n. c. s. b1) It s not amiss / tsn t mm s/ r. c. s.

c) At another grocer s /tn gr sz/ n. c. s.c1) At another grocer s /tn gr sz/ r. c. s.

If you study carefully the three sets of examples given above, you will notice that in the

rapid colloquial version of each of the phrases, compensation for the loss of / / has been

made by the syllabicity of [ ], [m], and [ ] in (a1), (b1), and (c1) respectively.

2. Final schwa / / is usually elided in rapid colloquial speech when it occurs with thefollowing linking / r / and word initial vowel.

C. f.

a) Father and child /f : r n a ld / normal colloquial speech a1) Father and child /f :r n a ld / rapid colloquial speech


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b) After a week / :ft r wi:k / n. c. s. b1) After a week / :ftr wi:k / r. c. s.

II. CONSONANTS:

1. / h / is elided in the weak forms of him , her , his , he , have , had , has ,himself , and herself

C. f.

a) him / m / b) her / : / c) his / z/ d) he /i:/

e) have /v / f) had /d/ g) has /z/ h) himself / mself / i) herself / :self /

2. Alveolar plosives / t, d / are usually elided in the sequence continuant consonant + / t /

or / d /; for example, / st, f t, t, nt, nd, lt, ld, zd, d, vd / followed by a word with an initialconsonant.

Examples: (first normal speech, then rapid speech)

a) next month / nekst m n / a1) next month / neks m n / b) left side / left sa d / b1) left side / lef sa d / c) pushed three / p t ri:/ c1) pushed three / p ri:/d) it won t do / t w nt du: / d1) it won t do / t w n du: /

e) blind man / bla nd mn/ e1) blind man / bla m mn/ f ) it smelt like rose / t smelt la k r z / f 1) it smelt like rose / t smela k r z / g) cold beer / k ld b / g1) cold beer / k l b /


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h) whizzed by / w zd ba /

h1) whizzed by / w z ba /i) wreathed clouds / ri:d kla dz / i1) wreathed clouds / ri: kla dz /

j) saved funds / se vd f ndz / j1) saved funds / se v f ndz /

3. In word final clusters made of plosive or affricate + / t / or / d /for example, /pt, kt,

bd, gd, t, t /, the final alveolar stop is usually elided in rapid colloquial speech when thefollowing word begins with a stop consonant.

C. f.

a) kept cool / kep ku:l /

b) locked door / l k d : /c) rubbed both / r b b /

d) bagged ten / bg ten /

e) fetched mine / fe t ma n /

f) judged me / mi:/

4. In the cluster / skt /, / k / is elided in rapid speech

C. f.a) asked me / :skt m / very difficult to say /skt /

a1) asked me / :st m / so elision of / k / proceeds in rapid speech

5. The / t / of the negative / nt / in disyllables is usually elided before a followingconsonant

C. f.

a) You musn t do it /j m st du: t / normal speech

a1) You musn t do it /j m s du: t / rapid speech

b) Doesn t she cook? / d zt k k / normal speech

b1) Doesn t s he cook? / d z k k / rapid speech


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5a. In The States, elision of /t/ in rapid colloquial speech has become commonuse when this sound occurs in the untressed syllable accompanied by a reduced vowel, such

as //, / / or /i/, and immediately preceded by /n/ as in Atlanta, Pontiac, Internet, Inter change, wanted C. f.

Normal speech Rapid colloquial

/t lnt / /t ln / / p nti k / / p ni k/ / int net/ / in net//int ein /n. / in ein /v./ w ntid/ / w n id/

6. Word final / t / when in presence of word initial / t / or / d / may be elided in rapidspeech

C. f.

a) He has got to come / h h zg t tk m / normal speech

a1) Hehas got to come / h zg t k m / rapid speech

b) What do I do? / w td a du: / normal speech

b1) What do I do? / w d a du: / rapid speech

Now that you are familiar with some of the theoretical aspects of elision, you should

proceed to do some exercises in order to consolidate that theory and develop your skill in theuse of elision.A. Transcribe the following phrases.

1. Give her my best regards 15. They bathed both samples in acid2. With water and ice 16. He was amazed at that3. This is your first chance 17. Willie locked two of them4. He was moved by my words 18. Dan is alarmed5. When he came 19. They help Pete carry it6. I had already done that 20. The killers dragged Tom away7. She found five of the same quality 21. The troops marched down the street8. He has tried it before 22. The player grabbed ten chips9. He wanted to eat cold chicken 23. She urged me to do it

10. Give him his chance to speak 24. You shouldn t come here 11. I have given him his already 25. What do you want?12. He took a left turn 26. Put Tim in bed13. She made a right 27. John risked too much money in the game14. They gazed past me 28. He put himself in a bad predicament

B. Transcribe the phrases above illustrating the possible cases of elision found in them


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C. Read out the transcibed phrases without elisionD. Read out the transcibed phrases with elisionE. Now proceed to record each phrase first without elision and secondly with elision.


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CHAPTER V

Assimilation

We have found that some words function words are said most of the time with a weakform and only on very special occasions with a strong form. All this depends on their placein the group and on stress. Yet the shape of a word lexical or function word may also beaffected by neighbourin g sounds. For example, we normally pronounce ten as / ten / but

ten minutes may be pronounced as /tem m n ts/ where the shape of ten changedunder the influence of the following / m / in minutes . Another example is finite can which

can be rendered as / k n, k / but in I can buy that , it may become / k m / or / k /: /a k m ba t/ where the shape of can changed under the influence of the following

/ b / in buy . Changes of this kind where one phoneme replaces another under the i nfluenceof a third sound is called ASSIMILATION.

Assimilation is a process and it is optional because the speaker may choose to perform it orkeep the shape of the word relatively unaltered. There are two distinctly kinds ofassimilation: historical and juxtapositional or contextual. We shall not deal with historicalassimilations in here because they have occurred in the course of the development of thelanguage and therefore they are consolidated and found as standard Present English

pronunciations in a pronouncing dictionary . So for the learner of English, it is much moreinteresting to study juxtapositional assimilations. These are assimilations which occur whenwords are juxtaposed in a sentence as in the examples above or in the formation ofcompounds, and by virtue of this, a word is pronounced differently from the pronunciation ithas when said in its citation form (in isolation). As you already know, these changes take

place at the ends and beginnings of words, i. e., at word boundaries in connected speech. Thesaid changes can be illustrated by means of formulae in which the symbol F means finalsegment of a word ; I , initial segment of a word ; and A , assimilated segment .

Thus contextual assimilations may be of the type:I. ------------------ F + I ---------------- = AI: Regressive assimilation (or anticipatory)

II. ------------------ F + I ---------------- = FA: Progressive assimilationIII. ------------------ F + I ---------------- = AA: Coalescent assimilation

An example of the first type of assimilation anticipatory or regressive is this: is is

normally pronounced / z / but in the immediate vicinity of she / /, it may become/ /:

C. f.

/ z / > / / The replacement of / z / by / / in / z/ is a direct consequence of the juxtaposition of

the two words Is she? or of the resulting contact of the final segment of the first word with


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the initial segment of the second word. So the points of contact of the words haveassimilated the final segment F of the first and the initial segment I of the second have

become similar in certain respects in which before they were different.An example of the second type of assimilation progressive is the following : is has its

weak form / s / or / z / depending on whether the preceding phoneme is voiceless or voiced.In the phrase What is this? the final segment of what / t / is voiceless so if we aregoing to use the weak form of is we have to choos e / s / because of the preceding final

sound of what : / w ts s /. Similarly, in the phrase Bob is here is is pronounced / z /when weakened because of the preceding final sound of Bob / b / which is voiced; so

such a phrase is said as / b bz h /.C. f.

1. What is this? /w ts s / : / z / > /s/

2. Bob is here / b b z h / : / z / > /z/ An example of the third type of assimilation is coalescent may be the pronunciation of

did / d d / and you / j / in the phrase did you? / d d / where the final segment of of

did / d / when in contact with the initial segment of you / j / both assimilate to/ d / because both segments influence each other.

C. f.

1. Did you? / d d j / unassimilated2. Did you? / d d / : assimilated: / d / + / j / > / d /

Although assimilations are not compulsory i. e., they are optional when they are madethey serve the purpose of producing some economy of effort upon uttering a sequence ofwords. So it is interesting for the student of English as a second language to know how toeconomize efforts of articulation in the transition of one word to the next. There are threedifferent kinds of change in the sequence of articulations to produce speech-sounds.

a) Breath to voice and voice to breath

For example, the full pronunciation of is is / z /. Yet in connected speech the word isgenerally reduced to / z / when preceded by a voiced sound other than / z / or / /:

C. f.

1. Who is there? / hu:z e /

2. Dinner is ready / d nz red /

3. When is he coming? / wenzi: k m /

BUT

4. Whose is this? / hu:z z s /

5. Rouge is red in French / ru: z red n fren /


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b) Assimilations affecting the position of the tongue in pronouncing consonants:

For example, final / s / changes to / / under the influence of following / /:

C. f.

1. Horse shoe / h : u: /

2. This shop / p/

3. Of copurse she does / v k : d z /

4. Just shut the door / t d :/ Final / z / changes to / / because of a following / /

C. f.

1. Does she? /d i:/ 2. Butcher s shop /b p/

Final / s / changes to / / and / z / to / / because of initial / j / in the following word.C. f.

1. This year / j /

2. He tells you / h tel j / ( / / can be changed to / / and we have / j /instead of /j / ) Initial unstressed / j / changes to / / or / / when the preceding word in the phrase

ends in / t / or / d / or / t + j / and / d + j / coalesce into affricates / / and / /respectively

C. f.

1. Shut your eyes / t ra z / rapid speech

2. Shut your eyes / t ra z / very rapid speech

3. Did you? / d d u:/ rapid speech

4. Did you? / d d u:/ very rapid speechStops / t, d, n / change to / k, g, / respectively before / k, g /

C. f.

1. That cup / k k p /: / t / > / k /

2. That girl / k g :l / : / t / > / k /

3. Good concert / g g k ns t / : / d / > / g /


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4. Good girl / g g g :l / : / d / > / g /

5. Ten cups / te k ps / : / n / > / /

6. Ten girls / te g :lz / : / n / > / /

c) Assimilations affecting the position of the lips in pronouncing consonants

Stops / t, d, n / change to / p, b, m / respectively before / p, b, m /

C. f.

1. That pen / p pen /

2. That boy / p b /

3. That man / p mn /

4. A good pen / gub pen /

5. A good boy / gub b /

6. A good man / gub mn /

7. Ten players / tem ple z /

8. Ten boys / tem b z /

9. Ten men / tem men /

Now that you are familiar with the theoretical side of assimilation, the best way toconsolidate this knowledge and make it truly functional is by putting that theory into

practice. So you should now do some exercises.

A. Transcribe the following phrases using the notion of rhythm unit, assimilation and weakforms combined.

1. The one and only home video-recorder that can bring out the best of the one and only

Maggie2. They can be successfully used in various application fields3. Due to their diversified applications software and peripheral equipment4. For your comfort, you can choose either the B-707 or the Concorde5. There was only one problem6. I hope that it is both7. And you find it by remote control8. Only when the solutions are found and then perfected is she satisfied with herself and


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her work9. Sometimes I think that she overdoes things a bit, but you try and tell that to the

strongest man at Henkel10. Geography has been good to us11. We will offer you a new ticket so that you can keep playing

12. If you hit the jackpot you can come in person to collect your prize in cash

B. Now that you have done exercise A , read out the transcribed texts so that you developthe skill of using assimilations along with weak forms in rhythm units in connected speech.

C. Once you have had enough practice in reading out the transcribed texts, you should now proceed to record them and then listen to them in order to become critical of your own performance and thus develop the skill of discriminating sounds in connected speech.


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CHAPTER VI

SimilitudeVariations of articulation also involve the use of allophones, i. e., the use of subsidiary

members of a phoneme either within a word, at word boundaries or at word and morpheme boundaries.

C. f.

a) within a word: [ de ] devoicing of / d / o

b) word boundary: [ its ver g d ] devoicing of / v / o o

c) word and morpheme boundary: [ nrest ] retraction of / n /The accomodation of the articulation of one segment to the articulation of an adjacent

segment is known as SIMILITUDE. This represents an economy of effort, i. e., a particularsequence of two phonemes involves the use of certain allophone of one of the two phonemes

because it bears a greater resemblance to the neighbouring sound than the principal memberdoes. Although some phoneticians include similitude under the heading of assimilation (seeCho msky s work on Generative Phonology or Introduction to Phonology by ClarenceSloat, Sharon Henderson Taylor and James E. Hoard ), they are not exactly the same. Thedifference is that assimilation is optional i. e., the speaker may choose not to realise theassimilation, especially when opts for speaking slowly whereas similitude is compulsory, i.e., the speaker cannot avoid using a given allophone of a certain phoneme because this

allophone has a greater resemblance to the phoneme which follows or precedes it.Similitudes are of various types: (1) voice to breath, (2) resemblances in tongue position inthe case of a consonant, (3) resemblances in lip position in the case of a consonant, (4)resemblance of a vowel to an adjacent consonant, (5) nasal resonance of vowels, (6) lengthof vowels. Now, we will deal with each one in turn.

1. VOICE TO BREATH:

a) When the phonemes / m, n, l, r, w, j / are immediately preceded by a voicelessconsonant in a stressed syllable, partially breathed variet ies of these phonemes are used:

Examples:

[ sm : ] - [ p e s ] [ k wa t ] [ sni:z ] [ k r i:m ]o o o o o o

[ p j: ] [ t ra: ] [k i:n ] o o o

b) All voiced plosives / b, d, g / , fricatives / v , , z , / and affricate / / are partially devoiced in INITIAL and FINAL position when NOT preceded and followed by avoiced sound:


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Examples:

[ b : ] [ de: ] [ g ]o o o

BUT:

/ g / / d / - /ba /[ ver ] [ s ] [ z r ] [ g ] [ v ]

o o o o 0

[bri: ] - [ b : z ] [ be: ] [ ] o o o o o o o o

BUT:

/ev/ - [bri ] [ r z z ] [ p e ] [ ] o o o o

c) Plosives / p, t, k / and affricate / t / are aspirated when in a stressed syllable and

followed by a vowel. The sounds / p, t, k / are also aspirated when followed by /r w j/. The sounds / p, k / are also aspirated when followed by / l /, see examples in (a) . Yet when / s / precedes / p, t, k, t / whether the syllable is stressed or not, there is

practically no aspiration. In final or unstressed position / p, t, k, t / are practically noaspirated.

Examples: [ p k ] BUT [ sp k ]

[t i:m ] [ st i:m ]

[k :] [s k :]

[ e: n ] [ k s e: n ]o o

d) Incomplete plosion: any plosive / p, t, k, b, d, g / followed by a stop consonant:/ p, t, k, b, d, g, , , m, n, / has an incomplete plosion: ( ___ ) = incomplete

plosion.Examples:

[ bte: n ] [ be k ] or [be k n ] o o o

[ hpm ] - [ r tn ] [ s dn ] [ n kt da n ] o

[ wa t ma s ] [ k d k n ] [ bk p e nt ]o o

[ h t nt ] [ b d g : ]o


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2. RESEMBLANCES IN TONGUE POSITION IN THE CASE OF ACONSONANT:

a) Different varieties of / k / and / g / are used before different vowels:o

a1) In the vicinity of / i , e /, / k / and / g / are advanced as in: [ k i: ] [ gi:s ] + +

a2) In the vicinity of / - : - : - u: - /, / k / and / g / are retracted as in:

[ k t ] - [ g t ] o o

b) / t / is dental before / / and // as in:[ e t ] [ n t t ] [ k t s ]

o o c) / d / is dental before / / and // as in:

o [ s:d ] [ nid d m ]

d) / n / is dental before / / and // as in:

[ w n ] [ n gra: nd ] o

e) / t / is retracted before / r / as in:

[ t r a : ] [ tr: m ] o

f ) / d / is retracted before / r / and after / / as in:[ dra: v ] [ n d ]

o o

g) / t / is nasally exploded when immediately followed by a nasal consonant:

[ m tn ] [ t m n ] o

h) / d / is nasally exploded before [ ]

[ s dn ]

i) / t / is laterally exploded before / l / as in:[ b t ] [ t st ]

o


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j) / d / is laterally exploded before / l / as in:[ s:d ]

3. RESEMBLANCES IN LIP POSITION IN THE CASE OF A CONSONANT:

a) / k / [ k wi:n ] but [ k ] w o +

b) / g / [ gw ] but [ gis ]

c) / p / [ p u: ] but [ p i: ] w

d) / l / [ u:m ] but [ i:v ] w

e) / r / [ ru:d ] but [ ri:d ]w

f ) / s / [ su:n ] but [ sit ] w

g) / / [ ut ] but [ i t ]w

h) / t / [ t u: ] but [ t i: ] w

i) / d / [ du: ] but [ d d ] w

j) / n / *[ nu: ] [nju: ] but [ ni: ] * American English (G. A.) w w

K) At word boundary

/ t / [ t w n ] w

/ d / [ a d d w n ] w

/ n / [ n w n ] w

/ l / [ wi: ]w

/ s / [ s we: ] o w


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/ z / [ h z w k d ] w + o

/ k / [ k w n ] w+

/ / [ r w n ] wII. Labiodental [ ] as in: (within a word ) [ n f ]

At word boundary: [ a ver t a: d ] o

4. RESEMBLANCE OF A VOWEL TO AN ADJACENT CONSONANT:

/ u: / when preceded by / j / is advanced: [ mjz k ] [ de j ]+ o o

/ / when preceded by / j / is also advanced: [ p j: ] o

5. NASAL RESONANCE OF VOWELS:A vowel sound may be slightly nasalized in the vicinity of a nasal consonant

(a) within a word: / , e , i:, / are nasalized when preceded, followed or betweennasal consonants:

[n t] - [ h m] [m n] [ nt] [ t:n] - [ m:n ] - [mst] - [sn] [ mnt] - [nt] [tn] [mn] / : /, / : /, / u: / , / /, : /, / / may also be nasalized much in thesame way as those sounds in the examples above.

(b) at word boundaries: vowels may sometimes be nasalized somewhat when incontact with a nasal consonant of an adjacent word, especially when an adjacentnasal consonant is also found in the word containing the vowel. For example,

/ / in come along , / / in gone on , / / in come in ,every n ight

6. Length of vowels:a). The long vowels are fully long when stressed and before a voiced consonant:

[ h :d ] [ zi: ] [i:v] [r vi: ] [ st :m ] [ k :n ] [ ru: ] o o w

[ u:n ] [ p ru:v ] [ k :v ] o o o o

w

b). The long vowels are reduced in stressed position when followed by a voicelessconsonant:[ h t ] [ k ] [ sit ] - [ rut ] [ p t ]

w

c). The long vowels are reduced when in an unstressed syllable:

[ k ne ] d). The long vowels are reduced in a stressed syllable when followed by a

syllable containing a voiced consonant:


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[ bn n ]o

e). The long vowels ARE NOT LONG in a stressed position when followed by anunstressed syllable containing a voiceless consonant:

[ h t ] [ t is ] [ ut ]wf). Diphthongs are treated in the same way as long vowels:

[ b: ] fully long when in a stressed syllable and followed by a voicedo consonant

[ b t ] reduced because it is followed by a voiceless consonant o closing the syllable[ b t ] NOT LONG because the stressed syllable is followed by

o an unstressed syllable containing a voiceless consonantThe following is a list of the diacritic marks used in this study.

o devoicing : [ d ] [ g ] [ ] [ z ] o o o o

h aspiration: [ p ] lack of aspiration: [sp ]

: full length of preceding vowel: [ su:n ] w

half length of preceding vowel: [ sis ] centralization: [ : ]+ advanced articulation: [ k ] [ g ]

+ +

_ retraction: [ n ] [ t ] [ d ] dental articulation: [ e t ]

w lip rounding: [ k ] [ t ] w w

clear / l / : [ ] British English (before vowels)dark / l /: [ ] British English (before consonants and in final

position) American English (in any position)_ lateral plosion, incomplete plosion, nasal release: [ t l ] [ b t ] [ d n ]

syllabic consonant : [ ] [ m ] [ ] [ ]

[ ] allophonic (phonetic) transcription: [ p t ] / / phonological (phonemic) transcription / p t / ~ nasalisation of vowels (although ( ) over the symbol has been used in this study)

The only way to make the theory truly functional is by means of practice, so we shall now proceed to do some exercises to consolidate the newly acquired knowledge.


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A. Read the following paragraphs and stress them. Do not stress those wordswhich are not normally stressed (form words).

- Such a consideration, however, seems misleading, especially, when one authorregards the conditional as future in the past (Miller, 1962), and another as

unreal past (Allen, 1960). Thomson and Martinet (1969) state that the

conditional is used as a past equivalent of the future tense, in special idiomaticcontexts, and in conditional sentences (if clauses). Praninskas (1975: 326)discusses the conditional with if which introduces the condition with the mainclause expressing the imagined result of one or more conditions. If suggestssomething unreal, non-existent, contrary to fact, or future. He goes to say that

present conditions are stated in pastr tense (past- form verbs) introduced by ifwith the result clause including one of the modal auxiliaries (would could ormight).

As a result of this, we propose considering the conditional as a separate moodto refer to potentiality of occurrence in regard to future time . Thus, we wouldhave the following moods in Pr. E.: Indicative, Subjunctive, Potential, andImperative. The potential mood would have the following tenses: conditionalsimple, conditional continuous, conditional perfect, and conditional perfectcontinuous. In this way we would have the indicative mood with the traditionaltense divisions of past, present, and future in close association with to timecorrelations of past, present, and future.

Formally, all verb forms would be distinctive in the indicative, subjunctive, potential, and imperative. The main differences between the subjunctive and potential moods would be those of form and reference to future time, for the potential mood provides for reference to the remote future.

B. Now that you have completed exercise A , you should transcibe the three paragraphsabove following the notions of SENSE / BREATH group and RHYTHM UNIT showing atthe same time the SIMILITUDES you find in them.

C. Having completed exercise B , you should now record the three transcibed paragraphs.


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CHAPTER VII

StressStress may be defined as the effort of breath and muscular energy with which a syllable is

uttered.In English, word stress is not marked orthographically as it is, for example, in Spanish. So

this poses a problem for the Spanish-speaking student of English as a second language.Furthermore, any student of Spanish knows that there are rules which explain where and whythe majority of stresses in Spa nish fall (in Spanish words are classified as agudas : the stressfalls on the last syllable, graves : the stress falls on the penultimate syllable for graves : thestress may or may not be represented orthographically, i. e., rbol , concha ; esdrjulas :the stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable: the word esdrjula is an example of it, andfinally sobreesdrjulas : the stress falls on the syllable before the antepenultimate syllable:ponindomelo is an example of this. There are even su bsidiary rules which apply in somecases for agudas and graves ).

Unfortunately, in English rules cannot be formulated as to where the stresses fall. This isdue to the fact that the vocabulary has been drawn mainly from two sources: the Teutonicand the Romanic. The Teutonic tendency is towards early word stress whereas the Romanictendency is towards late word stress. As it should be expected, the interaction of these twoopposing tendencies is always present yet it can be stated that the tendency in English is tohave full stress on the first or second syllable. So the Spanish-speaking student of English isstrongly advised to learn both the pronunciation and the stress pattern of the word at thesame time as a starting point which may lead him / her to the mastery of this suprasegmentalfeature of English.

In order to illustrate the stress tendency in English study the following set of words inEnglish and their equivalents in Spanish:

C. f.English 4 Spanish

a). photograph a1). fotografia (fotografa) b). photographer b1). fotografo -a (fotgrafo-a)c). photography c1). fotografia (fotografa) d). photographic d1). fotografico -a (fotogrfico-a)

_______________________4. It is customary in most dictionaries to use th symbol ( ) before a syllable to signal stress; thus in a wordlike library , the symbol ( ) before and above the syllable li means that the stress falls in that syllable andthat it is a primary stress because of its position. The same symbol used before and below the syllable indicates

that such syllable bears a secondary stress; for example, photo genic; where the syllable pho bears a

secondary stress and the syllable ge carries a primary stress. It should be noted that in some dictionaries

the symbol ( ) is placed AFTER the stressed syllable. Consult Funk & Wagnalls Standard EncyclopedicDictionary, for example.


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From the comparative study above, the tendency to early stress in English should become apparent even though the similarities in spelling in both sets are striking. The onlywords which display a stress pattern similar to that of Spanish are the words photographic and photographer .

Every sound or syllable is uttered with a greater or lesser amount of energy. So it is easy to

distinguish in a word like photograph that the most prominent syllable is pho , the secondmore prominent syllable is graph , and the least prominent is to . This tells us that ther e is practically no syllable said without some sort of stress. Yet it is better for teaching purposesto consider that syllables in speech are said strongly (stressed), weakly stressed (unstressed)and with an intermediate stress (secondary stress). The weakly stressed syllables are notobviously signalled (the other two types of stresses are signalled as explained in footnote 4 on page 48).

We have mentioned that a syllable may be made prominent by means of stress. However, itshould be made clear that prominence is not the same as stress which is only a contributingfactor. Other factors contributing to prominence, individually or in combination, are pitch,quality of sound and quantity of sound (length or duration ). Quality and quantity havealready been treated under gradation (chapter III), assimilation (chapter V), and similitude(chapter VI). Pitch has to do with the acuteness or gravity of a tone or sound; this wasindirectly referred to on footnote 1 on page 46 when dealing with primary and secondarystresses. The primary stress of a syllable is associated with high pitch and the secondary

stress with low pitch , so in the example given ( photo genic), the syllable pho is associated

with a low pitch whereas the syllable ge with a high pitch.It was mentioned above that stress patterns in English are irregular. Some examples will

help the reader to understand this better: words of two syllables may carry the strong stress primary stress on the first syllable, as in simply , sidelong, quantum; on the second, as inaggrieve , adduce , advice ; or the stress may be on the first or second syllable depending onthe meaning intended, as in addict (noun ) / addict (verb), insult (n.) / insult (v.); or thestress may be on both syllables at the same time, as in fif teen, unknown, misquote (words carrying two strong stresses may drop either one in connected speech due torhythmical variations: English is a time-stressed language, stresses tend to fall at regularintervals of time). Words of three syllables may have the main stress on the first syllable asin adjective , adenoid , admiral; on the second as in appelant , apartheid , defensive ; or onthe third as in cigarette , magazine , entertain . Words of four or more syllables may carrythe main stress on th.e first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh syllable as incounterattack , acetylene , incapacitate , inferiority , nationalization , industrialization ,internationalization .

Compound words in English generally carry the primary stress on the first element: bulldog , coalmine , footprint , bluebottle , dog-collar , grandfather. Some compounds have

strong stress on the second element: backfire , downstairs , countryhouse , brokenhearted .Other compounds carry do uble stress: red- hot, good- looking, down hill (these are alsosubject to rhythmical variations).

As difficult as it may be for the Spanish-speaking student of English, the stressing ofisolated words whether simple or compound is not so much of a problem as is the stressingof words in connected speech. But before dealing with sentence stress and rhythmicalvariations, we should deal with the semantic use of stress to distinguish between oppositionsof noun adjective / verb in disyllabic homographic words. These words can be grouped


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into two types:a) Disyllabic homographic words which exhibit oppositions of stress pattern

manifested by a change of stress prominence with minor variations ofvowel quantity. With these words, speakers, when possible, reduce orobscure the vowel quality in the first syllable in the case of the verbal

form; the reduction being towards / / or / /. The number of words ofthis type is very small. Here are some examples:C. f.

NOUN / ADJECTIVE VERB

abstract / b strkt / / b strkt / or /b strkt / accent / k sent / / k sent / or /k sent / digest / da est / / da est / or /d est /insult / ns lt / / n s lt / increase / nkris/ or / kris/ / nkris/

b) Disyllabic homographic words which exhibit oppositions of stress patternassociated with variations of vowel quality. The changein vowel qualityconsists of the reduction of the unaccented vowel of the first element of

the verbal form to / / or / /. The change of vowel quality in the secondelement of the noun / adjective form may occur but it is less frequent. Hereare some examples:C. f.


absent / bsent / / b sent /

combine / k m ba n / / km ba n /concert / k ns t / / kn s :t /consort / k n s :t / / kn s :t /desert / dez t / / d z :t /

c) There are also words of more than two syllables which also exhibitoppositions of stress pattern associated with vowel quality changes. Forexample:C. f.


alternate / l t :n t / / :lt ne t / attribute / tr bju:t / / tr bju:t / envelop / env l p / / n vel p / separate / sep r t / / sep re t /

We can now proceed to deal with Sentence Stress and rhythmical variations.


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I. SENTENCE STRESSIn connected speech all words which are felt to be important are stressed. Yet one

question remains to be answered: which are those important words? This question is not sosimple to answer but as a rule of thumb it can be stated that usually under normalcircumstances by normal we mean no special or emphasis intended the words which

receive strong stresses are nouns, adjectives, adverbs, demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, principal verbs (have when used as a principal verb is not stressed and should be

pronounced as /hv/ ), and numerals. However, when emphasis or contrast is intendedthose words which are not normally stressed may be stressed.

C. f.a) I never gave you my money (normal)

b) I never gave you my money (someone else gave you my money) c) I never gave you m y money (I gave it to someone else)d) I never gave you my money ( I could have given you someone else s money

but not mine)Also note how never in (b) is not stressed because I is stressed ( this is due to the fact

that English is a time- stressed language). In (c) gave is unstressed because you is stressed. In (d) money is not stressed because my is stressed. All these variations are due to thenature of rhythm in English which has been referred to above and in previous chapters.

In two word verbs 5 made up of the combination verb + adverb such as go away , putdown , turn off , turn on and others, both words are stressed (if the combin ation is made ofverb + preposition, only the verb carries the stress. For example: meet with , look at , lookfor)

Examples:a) Don t go away

b) Put it down c) Take them off

d) This music turns me on Others suggestions as to which words to stress is a sentence are:1. When one word qualifies another, both words are generally stressed: strong stress,

next Sunday, etc. 2. When a word previously used in a sentence is repeated, it is usually unstressed or said

with intermediate stress (secondary stress). Examples: (a) The girl met another girl, (b)

How many days? / Three days.3. The stressing of demonstrative this , that , these , those d epends on the degree of

demonstrativeness it is desired to convey or when emphasis is desired.C. f.

a. I won t give you this paper (I can give you any other paper but not th

gerardothe word in connected speech.pdf

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