CONNECTED SPEECH
I. Assimilation
Assimilation is considered as a phonetic process in which one sound is changed to become resemble or
identical with the neighbouring sound.
good bye
good morning
-Type of assimilation:
+ Regressive assimilation: The following sound assimilates the preceding sounds. This is also called
right-to-left assimilation as the influence moves from right to left in the speech stream.
e.g: good morning, good boy, that man, that person, card game, green paper, this year
+ Progressive assimilation: The preceding sound assimilates the following sound
e.g:
would you, don’t you, nobody but you
The pronunciation of –s ending in English. The pronunciation of the plural marker – s/es depends on the
voicing of the preceeding sound.
-Degree of assimilation:
+ Complete assimilation: A sound becomes completely identical to a neighboring sound.
e.g.: Good boy, Good girl, Cut cost, That pen
+ Partial assimilation: A sound becomes somewhat similar to a neighboring sound, but does not
completely take on its characteristics. Instead, it typically shares some features while retaining some of
its own.
e.g: Good morning
+ Intermediate assimilation: Both consonants can influence each other, leading to changes in their
articulation. The mutual influence contributes to smoother and more efficient pronunciation in
connected speech.
e.g: would you, don’t you
II. Elision
The missing of a sound when we are speaking quickly and by the influence of the surrounding sounds is
called elision.
Notes:
Elision is typical of fast and casual speech
Producing elisions is not a must for foreigners
Being aware of it is more important.
-Typical cases of elisions
1. Loss of weak vowels after /p/; /t/; /k/
e.g: potato, tomato, canary
2. Loss of final /v/ in “of” before consonants
Lots of them
3. Avoidance of complex consonant cluster
e.g: acts, look back, scripts
4. Double consonants a single sound:
e.g: hard disk, want to, kiss somebody
III. Linking or Liaison
In real connected speech, words are linked in a number of ways.
The linking between the final sound of a word and the initial sound of the following words for
the convenience of speaking is called liaison.
-Types of sound linking
1. Link Consonants with Vowels (Liaison/Juncture)
e.g.
"Make it" can be pronounced as /ˈmeɪkɪt/, where the /k/ sound at the end of "make" links
smoothly to the /ɪ/ sound in "it."
"He’s here" can sound like /hiːz hɪə/, where the /z/ from "he's" connects directly to the /h/ in
"here."
2. Link Vowels with Vowels (Linking/Intrusion)
e.g.
"I see it" can be pronounced as /aɪ siː jɪt/, where an /j/ (y sound) is inserted to link the vowel
sounds.
"Go on" can sound like /ɡəʊ wɒn/, where an /w/ is introduced to connect the two vowel sounds.
Liasion: giao liên, liên kết
Intrusion: chêm âm
ALLOPHONES AND PHONEMES
1. Phonemes
The smallest abtract, mental unit of sound that can distinguish meaning between words in a particular
language.
For example, in English, the sounds /p/ and /b/ are two different phonemes because they can
differentiate words like "pat" and "bat."
2. Allophones
The physical variations or realizations of a phoneme that occur in specific phonetic contexts and do not
change the meaning of the word.
For example, in English, the /p/ in "pin" (aspirated) and the /p/ in "spin" (unaspirated) are both
allophones of the phoneme /p/. Though they sound slightly different, they don't change the word's
meaning, so they are not considered separate phonemes.
3. Minimal pair
A minimal pair consists of two words that have the same number of phones and differ by only one sound
(phoneme) in the same position, this difference leads to a change in meaning.
bat /bæt/ vs. pat /pæt/
Minimal pairs are crucial for identifying phonemes in a language because they show that two sounds are
in contrastive distribution.
4. Contrastive distribution
Two sounds are in contrastive contribution if they appear in the same phonetic environment and
changing one sound for the other results in a change of meaning. This means the sounds represent
different phonemes.
In English, the sounds /p/ and /b/ are in contrastive distribution because swapping them in words like
"pat" and "bat" changes the meaning. Therefore, /p/ and /b/ are different phonemes.
5. Complementary distribution
Two sounds are in complementary distribution if they never appear in the same phonetic environment.
Instead, they are found in mutually exclusive contexts (meaning that where one sound occurs, the other
sound cannot.) These sounds are allophones of the same phoneme.
In English, [pʰ] (aspirated /p/ as in "pin") and [p] (unaspirated /p/ as in "spin") are in complementary
distribution. [pʰ] occurs at the beginning of a stressed syllable, while [p] occurs after /s/. These are
allophones of the phoneme /p/ because they don’t change the meaning of the word.
6. Free variation
Two sounds are in free variation when they occur in the same phonetic environment without causing a
change in meaning (do not result in semantic contrast). This means that either sound can be used, and
the word still remain the same, though it may sound slightly different.
Consonants
1. Consonants: speech sounds that are produced with some degree of constriction or closure in the vocal
cord, which obstructs the airflow either partially or completely. This contrasts with vowels, where the air
flow is relatively unrestricted (free airflow).
2. Place of articulation
The speech organs that participate (primary involved) in the production of a speech sound.
a) Bilabial: sounds produced by both lips coming together
/p/, /b/, /m/ /w/ as in "pat," "bat," "mat."
b) Labiodental: the upper teeth touch the lower lips
/f/, /v/ as in "fan," "van."
c) Dental: the tip/blade of the tongue touches the upper teeth
/θ/, /ð/ as in "think," "this."
d) Alveolar: the tip/blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge
/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/ as in "tap," "dog," "sit," "zoo."
e)
