Category Archives: Connected Speech 101

Overview This series of articles entitled CONNECTED SPEECH 101 is part of the Human Communication 101 series of introductory-level articles. Words in isolation v words together In Allophones 101 we saw how systematic operations can alter the pronunciation of words in isolation, i.e. spoken as single units. The majority of these allophonic variations are a […]

Contents OVERVIEW Underpinning knowledge Articulatory Dynamics Biomechanical performance Neuromuscular control Coarticulation A word of caution ASSIMILATION Allophonic Assimilation Dentalization Labialization De-voicing of Liquids Disapplication Phonemic Assimilation Assimilation of Voice Assimilation of Place Assimilation to Bilabial Place Assimilation to Velar Place Assimilation to Post-alveolar Place Assimilation of Manner Nasal assimilation LIAISON ELISION Word-initial /h/ Word-final clusters […]

The final process that we will consider in Connected Speech 101 is similar to the previously discussed processes in that it is arises owing to the effects of rapidly articulated connected speech. However, whereas the previously discussed processes (assimilation, liaison, elision) operate at word boundaries, the process of reduction does not. Consider the word of. […]

Another process that arises as a consequence of rapidly articulated speech and which also operates at word boundaries is elision. Elision is the removal or deletion of a sound, or sounds[1]. It can occur across word boundaries in connected speech. Word-initial /h/ A frequent elision is the deletion of /h/ when it appears in word-initial […]

When a word with a vowel in word-final position is followed immediately across a word boundary by another word that has a vowel in word-initial position, the two words may be linked by the insertion of an /r/ sound. Consider the following phrase. more over /mɔ əʊvə/ The first word more has the vowel /ɔ/ […]

As we pointed out in the introduction to this section, as well as assimilation of voice and assimilation of place, it is also possible to find examples of the assimilation of manner of articulation. Consider the following phrase: good morning /gʊd mɔnɪŋ/ In a context such as this, in which /d/ appears word-finally immediately prior […]

One of the most pervasive types of phonemic assimilation that involves assimilations of place is de-alveolar assimilation. This occurs when an alveolar sound in word-final position is followed across a word boundary by a consonant in word-initial position. We will consider three types of assimilation of place: assimilation to bilabial place assimilation to velar place […]

Recall that word-final voiced plosives, fricatives and affricates are particularly prone to being de-voiced when they appear in words spoken in isolation, e.g. bed /bɛd/ →[bɛd̥]; have /hæv/ → [hæv̥]; badge /bæʤ/ → [bæʤ̊]. This de-voicing creates allophones of the affected phonemes. Now, when voiced fricatives appear word-finally and they are followed by a voiceless […]

In phonemic assimilation the new, transformed speech sounds are not allophones of the original sound but, rather, they are substituting phonemes. For example, in connected speech, the phrase that person /ðæt pɜsən/ may sound more like [ðæp̚ pɜsə̃n], with the final /t/ of that being substituted not with an allophone of /t/ but with another […]

Velarization We have seen how /l/ is velarized if it occurs in word-final position, e.g. kill /kɪl/ → [k̟ʰɪɫ] However, in connected speech, a word-final /l/ will not be velarized if it is followed across a word boundary by a word that has a vowel in word-initial position, e.g. kill it /kɪl ɪt/ → [k̟ʰɪl  […]