Aspects of Connected Speech

Definition:
Spoken language as it is used in a continuous sequence, as in normal conversations.
There is often a significant difference between the way words are pronounced in isolation and the way they are
pronounced in the context of connected speech.

WHAT DO WE UNDERSTAND BY CONNECTED SPEECH?
In natural speech, there are many processes that result in differences between isolated words and the same words in
occurring in connected speech.
When we speak naturally we do not pronounce a word, stop, and then continue. FLUENT speech flows with a rhythm
and the words bump into each other. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of
some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words.
These changes that affect the quality of sounds are known as:
FEATURES OF CONNECTED SPEECH.

- Speed is also a factor in fluency. When we speak quickly, we speak in groups of words which are continuous and may
not have pauses between them. This causes changes to the shape of words. Unstressed words always sound different
when used in a sentence as opposed to being said in isolation.
-An expression used to refer to spoken language when analyzed as a continuous sequence, as in utterances and
conversations spoken at natural speed in everyday situations of life.
-The most common features of connected speech are the weak forms of grammatical and some lexical words (and, to,
of, have, was, were) and contractions, some of which are acceptable in written English (can't, won't, don't, I'll, he'd,
they've, shouldve). However, we often ignore other features which preserve rhythm and make the language sound
natural.

THE RHYTHM

1.1 Definition:

It has often been claimed that English speech is rhythmic, and that the rhythm is detectable in the regular
occurrence of stressed syllables; of course, it is not suggested that the timing is as regular as a clockthe regularity
of occurrence is only relative. The theory that English has stressed timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will
tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not; this would
not be the case in mechanical speech.
Rhythm is an event happening at regular intervals of time

1.2 The rhythm:
The rhythm of speech is the regular occurrence of stressed syllable at regular internals of time

Example:
1. Hearrived six oclock

2. Walk down to the path to the 'end of the canal.
Unit of rhythm (Foot)
Stressed syllable + unstressed syllable

ASSIMILATION
Definition:
(changing sounds) This means
a) That a sound changes to be more like the following sound (variation of a sound).
b) That two sounds join together to become another sound.

This makes articulation easier. But notice that the change from one consonant sound to another
should not interfere seriously with comprehension because the resulting sounds are quite similar to the
original ones.
The alveolar consonants /n/ /t/ /d/ /s/ and /z/ can change to become more like the following sound. It is
a question of making things easier for the speaker. For instance, if you are going to close your lips for /p/,
then it is easier to close them for the preceding nasal /n/, so /n/ assimilates into /m/.
Assimilation is the change in pronunciation of a phoneme under the influence of its surrounding sounds.
















ELISION
Definition
ELISION (losing sounds) - When a sound is elided it is omit
- The missing out of a consonant vowel or both, that would be present in the slow colloquial pronunciation of a
word in isolation. As with assimilation the most common place to find consonant elision is at the end of a syllable.
- The disappearance of a sound in connected speech; chris(t)mas, int(e)rest.
Elision is the case of a sound realized as zero in casual, rapid speech.
The most common consonants to find involved in elision are /t/ and /d/.

1.Elision of /t/ and /d/
- When they are at the end of a word (in the last syllable) and between two other consonants.

Elision of /t/:
Ex.
/fst ri/ [fsri] first three
/lstj/ [lsj] last year
/mst risnt/ [msrisnt] most recent



/d/ elides even more readily than /t/ and in more environments:

Ex.
/wld wld laf fnd/ [wl w la fnd] World Wild Life Fund
/hld twent/ [hl twent] Hurled twenty (yards)
/ rpdl/ [rpl] rapidly



2. Elision of identical sounds
-When a word ending in a consonant sound is followed by another word starting with
that sound.
Ex. lamp post six students lettuce salad

3. Elision of initial sounds in pronouns
-Weak pronouns
Ex. I saw him half an hour
The most important occurrences of this phenomenon regard:
1) Alveolar consonants /t/ and /d/ when sandwiched between two consonants, e.g.
The next day. / neks de/

The last car / l:s k:/

Hold the dog! /hl dg/

Send Frank a card. /sen frk k:d/


This can also take place within affricates /t/ and /d/ when preceded by a consonant, e.g.
Lunchtime /lnttam/
become
/lntam/

strange days /strenddez/ /strendez/


The phoneme /t/ is a fundamental part of the negative particle not, the possibility of it being elided makes the
foreign students life more difficult. Consider the negative of can if followed by a consonant the /t/ may
easily disappear and the only difference between the positive and the negative is a different, longer vowel
sound in the second:
I can speak. /a kn spi:k/

I cant speak /a k:n(t) spi:k/














LINKING
Linking is the phenomenon where words or sounds are linked together.

LINKING (adding or joining sounds between words)- We tend to link final consonants and initial vowels across word
boundaries
-The phoneme r cannot occur in syllable-final position in RP, but when a words spelling suggests a final r, and a word
beginning with a vowel follows, the usual pronunciation for RP speakers is to pronounce with letter r. For example:

here h but here are h
four f but four eggs fr egz



Many RP speakers use r in a similar way to link words ending with a vowel even when there is no
justification from spelling, as in:
Formula A fmjlr e
Australia all out strelr l at
media event mid vent

This has been called intrusive r; some English speakers and teachers still regard this as regard this as
incorrect or sub-standard pronunciation, but it is undoubtedly widespread. Linking and intrusive r are
special cases of juncture; this name refers to the relationship between one sound and the sounds that
immediately precede and follow it, and has been given some importance in phonological theory. If we take
the words my turn m tn, the relationship between m and a, between t and and between and
n is to be said be one of close juncture. m is proceeded by silence and n is followed by silence, and so m and n
are said to be in a position of external open juncture. The problem lies in deciding what the relationship is
between a and t; since we do not usually pause between words, there is no silence (or external open
juncture) to indicate word division and to justify the space left in the transcription. But if English speakers
hear ma tn they can usually recognize this as my turn and not might turn. This is where the problem
of internal open internal juncture (usually called juncture for short) becomes apparent. What is it that
makes perceptible the difference between ma tn and mat n? The answer is that in the case the t is
aspirated (initial in turn), and in the other case it is not (being final in might). In addition to this, the a
diphthong is shorter in might, but we will ignore this for the sake of a simple argument. If a difference in
meaning is caused by the difference between aspirated and unaspirated t, how can we avoid the conclusion
that English has a phonemic contrast between aspirated and unaspirated t? The answer is, of course, that the
position of a word boundary has some effect on the realization of the t phoneme; this is one of the many
cases in which the occurrence of different allophones can be properly explained by making reference to units
of grammar (something which was disapproved of by many phonologists.

Intrusion and linking
Intrusion: If the words 'go' and 'up' are said together, there is a new /w/ sound between the two words.

When two vowel sounds meet, we tend to insert an extra sound which resembles either a / j /,
/ w / or / r / , to mark the transition sound between the two vowels, a device referred to as intrusion.
For example:

Intruding / r/
The media / r /are to blame. Law(r)and order.

Intruding / j /

I / j / agree.
They / j /are here!

Intruding / w/

I want to/ w/eat.
Please do/ w/it.

Word boundaries involving a consonant and a vowel are also linked, as we tend to drag final consonants to
initial vowels or vice versa. For example:
Get on. ( geton )
Not at all. ( notatall )
Its no joke. ( snow joke)











BIBLIOGRAPHY:


- http://www.englishbanana.com/talkalot/connected-speech-templates-instructions.pdf
- http://www.slideshare.net/cupidlucid/aspects-of-connected-speech-presentation

-http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/rhythm


- http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki/connected-speech

- http://www.scribd.com/doc/16342276/Some-Aspects-of-Connected-Speech#source:facebook