Processes in Connected Speech David Deterding National Institute

Processes in Connected Speech David Deterding National Institute of Education

Reading David Deterding & Gloria Poedjosoedarmo (1998) The Sounds of English: Phonetics and Phonology for English Teachers in Southeast Asia, Singapore: Prentice Hall, pp. 130 -139.

Weak Forms • most function words have a weak form • the strong form is rarely used word to and at can of strong form tu; &nd &t k&n Qv weak form t@ @n(d) @t k@n @v

deletion • in ordinary speech, many sounds get deleted • the deletion follows strict rules

kinds of deletion • /t, d/ • /h/

deletion of /t/, /d/ • /t/, /d/ tend to get deleted when the following conditions are met: – at the end of a syllable – preceded by a consonant – followed by a consonant

Examples • • last night [l. A; sna. It] handbag [h&nb&g] Cold Storage [k@Ulst. O; r. Id. Z] restless [resl@s] next week [nekswi; k] find me [fa. Inm. I] hindsight [ha. Insa. It] best man [besm&n]

deletion of /h/ • /h/ can be deleted after a consonant in unstressed syllables • /h/ is usually deleted in non-initial function words: he, his, her

examples of /h/ deletion • and he left [@nd. Ileft] • from his pocket [fr@m. Izp. Qk. It] • at her mother [@t@m. VD@]

Linking • • one egg [w. Vneg] two eggs [tu; wegz] three eggs [Tri; jegz] four eggs [f. O; regz]

types of linking • words beginning with a vowel are usually linked to the previous word • can be: – consonant – /w/ (after close back vowels) – /j/ (after close front vowels) – /r/ (after words spelt with an ‘r’)

intrusive /r/ • linking /r/ usually occurs when there is an ‘r’ in the spelling • intrusive /r/ can occur when there is no ‘r’: – data analysis – Asia and Africa