Aspects of Connected Speech Weak Forms Yod coalescence Elision Assimilation

Weak forms

When we talk about weak forms in the phonetics of English this regards a series of words which have one pronunciation (strong) when isolated, and another (weak) when not stressed within a phrase.

e.g. a car v. I bought a car

Look at this phrase:

I went to the hotel and booked a room for two nights for my father and his best friend.

(D.Brett)

What are the most important words?

I went to the hotel and booked a room for two nights for my father and his best friend.(D.Brett)

If we eliminate the other words can we still understand the message?

went hotel booked room two nights father best friend. (D.Brett)

Let’s look at the phrase transcribed:

/aı wƐn(t) t∂ ϑ∂ h∂υtƐl t∂ bυk ∂ d٨bl rυm f∂ maı fa:ϑ∂r ∂nd ız bƐst frƐnd/

(D.Brett)

There is a tendency for vowels in unstressed syllables to shift towards the schwa (central position)

Weak forms are commonly used words Prepositions Auxilliary verbs Conjunctions

  Strong form Weak form

Prepositions    

to

for

from

into

of

as

at

Auxiliary verbs    

do

are

was

were

would

could

should

can

must

Others    

and

but

than

that (as a relative)

you (as object pronoun)

your

her (as object pronoun)

a

an

the (before a vowel)

 

Weak=unstressed

In the following sentences the underlined words are stressed and so would be pronounced using the strong form:

I do like chocolate. She drove to Las Vegas, not from Las

Vegas. We were surprised when she told us her

secret. (stress on ‘were’ for emphasis)

Look at these transcriptions: 1. aɪ went tə ðə ‘pəʊst ɒfɪs tə baɪ səm ‘stæmps.2. ʃi ‘helpt mi tə kli:n ʌp ðə ‘mes ðət ðə ‘tʃɪldrən həd ‘meɪd.3. wen də jə ‘θɪŋk ðət ðə ‘kɑ: wɪl bi: ‘redi?4. ʃi kəd ‘spi:k wen ʃi wəz əʊnli ‘eɪt ‘mʌnθs ‘əʊld.5. ʃi drəʊv frəm ‘lʌndn tə ‘mæntʃestə ɪn ‘rekɔ:d ‘taɪm.

Yod coalescence

Yod is the name of the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet – it stands for the vowel /i/ or the semi-vowel /j/. In English phonetics Yod coalescence is a form of assimilation – it is a phenomenon which takes place when /j/ is preceded by certain consonants most commonly /t/ and /d/:

/t/ + /j/ = /ʧ/

…but use your head!

What you need….

The ball that you brought….

Last year….

/d/ + /j/ = /ʤ/

Could you help me?

Would yours work?

She had university students…

Yod coalescence is common in colloquial speech and is becoming ever more so. Note that it can occur within words (e.g. tube /tju:b/ ) and at word boundaries (as in the examples above).

The fact that two extremely recurrent words in English, you and your, start with /j/ means that understanding of this simple mechanism is vital to the understanding of spoken English. Do you and also did you are often pronounced as

  Do you live here?

Did you live here?

Exercise: Identify places where yod coalescence may occur in the following phrases:

 What you need is a good job! You told me that you had your homework done. She didn’t go to France that year. Could you open the window please? You’ve already had yours!

(D.Brett)

Elision  Elision is very simply the omission of certain sounds in certain contexts. The most important occurrences of this phenomenon regard: 1     Alveolar consonants /t/ and /d/ when ‘sandwiched’ between two consonants (CONS – t/d – CONS), e.g.

The next day….

The last car…

Hold the dog!

Send Frank a card.

This can also take place within affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ when preceded by a consonant, e.g. lunchtime /ʧ/ / ∫ /strange days /ʤ/ / Ʒ /

Elision of ‘not’

The phoneme /t/ is a fundamental part of the negative particle not, the possibility of it being elided makes life more difficult. Consider the negative of can – if followed by a consonant, /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….  - I can’t speak…

Assimilation

Assimilation can be: of Place of Voicing of Manner

ASSIMILATION OF PLACE

The most common form involves the movement of place of articulation of the alveolar stops /t/, /d/ and /n/ to a position closer to that of the following sound. For instance, in the phrase ten cars, the /n/ will usually be articulated in a velar position, so that the tongue will be ready to produce the following velar sound /k/. Similarly, in ten boys the /n/ will be produced in a bilabial position, /tem b/ to prepare for the articulation of the bilabial /b/.

This phenomenon is easy to find also in Italian: think of the different pronunciations of the ‘n’ in Gian Paolo, Gian Franco and Gian Carlo.

BEFORE A VELAR (/k/, /g/)

/n/ /ŋ/

e.g. bank

/d/ /g/

e.g. good girl //

/t/ /k/

e.g. that kid

BEFORE A BILABIAL (/m/, /b/, /p/)

/n/ /m/

e.g. ten men /tem men/

/d/ /b/

e.g. bad boys

/t/ /p/

e.g. hot mushrooms /

ASSIMILATION OF VOICING

The vibration of the vocal folds is not something that can be switched on and off very swiftly, as a result groups of consonants tend to be either all voiced or all voiceless. Consider the different endings of ‘dogs’ /dּכgz/ and ‘cats’ /kæts/, or the past forms of the regular verbs such as ‘kissed’ /kıst/ and ‘sneezed’ /sni:zd/.

The assimilation of voicing can radically change the sound of several common constructions:

have/has to

e.g. I have to go!

used to

e.g. I used to live near you.

ASSIMILATION OF MANNER

Usually regressive Towards an easier consonant: plosive into

fricative/nasal : that side, good night The case of /ϑ/ as Ci : progressive

assimilation – when preceded by a plosive/nasal it becomes identical in manner to Cf

E.g. Get them /gettǝm/