Elision according to Peter Roach

glossary (2011)

21 NOV
Elision /ɪˈlɪʒən/

Some of the sounds that are heard if words are pronounced slowly and clearly appear not
to be pronounced when the same words are produced in a rapid, colloquial style, or when
the words occur in a different context; these “missing sounds” are said to have been
elided. It is easy to find examples of elision, but very difficult to state rules that govern
which sounds may be elided and which may not. Elision of vowels in English usually
happens when a short, unstressed vowel occurs between voiceless consonants, e.g. in the
first syllable of ‘perhaps’, ‘potato’, the second syllable of ‘bicycle’, or the third syllable of
‘philosophy’. In some cases we find a weak voiceless sound in place of the normally voiced
vowel that would have been expected. Elision also occurs when a vowel occurs between
an obstruent consonant and a sonorant consonant such as a nasal or a lateral: this
process leads to syllabic consonants, as in ‘sudden’ /sʌdn̩/, ‘awful’ /ɔːfl̩/ (where a vowel is
only heard in the second syllable in slow, careful speech).

Elision of consonants in English happens most commonly when a speaker “simplifies” a

complex consonant cluster: ‘acts’ becomes /æks/ rather than /ækts/, ‘twelfth night’
becomes /twelθnaɪt/ or /twelfnaɪt/ rather than /twelfθnaɪt/. It seems much less likely
that any of the other consonants could be left out: the l and the n seem to be unelidable.

It is very important to note that sounds do not simply “disappear” like a light being
switched off. A transcription such as æks for ‘acts’ implies that the t phoneme has
dropped out altogether, but detailed examination of speech shows that such effects are
more gradual: in slow speech the t may be fully pronounced, with an audible transition
from the preceding k and to the following s, while in a more rapid style it may be
articulated but not given any audible realisation, and in very rapid speech it may be
observable, if at all, only as a rather early movement of the tongue blade towards the s
position. Much more research in this area is needed (not only on English) for us to
understand what processes are involved when speech is “reduced” in rapid articulation.

2. Elision
The term elision describes the disappearance of a sound. For example, in the utterance
He
leaves next week speakers would generally elide (leave out) the /t/ in next saying /neks
wi:k/. Again here, the reason is an economy of effort, and in some instances the
difficulty
of putting certain consonant sounds together while maintaining a regular
rhythm and
speed.
Some rules for elision
2.1 The most common elisions in English are /t/ and /d/, when they appear within a
consonant cluster.
We arrived the next day. (/t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/)
When we reached Paris, we stopped for lunch. (/t/ elided between // and /p/, and
between /p/ and /f/
We bought a lovely carved statuette. (/d/ elided between /v/ and /st/)
2.2 Complex consonant clusters are simplified.
She acts like she owns the place! (/kts/ can be simplified to /ks/)
Teachers use authentic texts to teach from. (/teksts/ can be simplified to /teks/)
George the Sixth’s throne (/sks r/ simplified to /sks r/
2.3 // can disappear in unstressed syllalbes.
I think we should call the police. (// can disappear in the first syllable of police)
I’ll love you forever, promise. Well, perhaps. (// can disappear)
It’s a question of collective responsibility. (// can disappear)
Are you coming out tonight? (// can disappear)
That’s an interesting idea. (// is not pronounced by many speakers, reducing the
number of syllables in the word)
Have we got any vegetables? (// is not pronounced by most speakers, reducing the
number of syllables in the word)
2.4 /v/ can disappear in of, before consonants.
My birthday’s on the 11th of November.
It’s a complete waste of time!
That’s the least of my worries!
4. Practice
Work in pairs. First find out what kind of assimilation each phrase or sentence belongs
to
and then read them aloud.
7.1 would you / could you / did you / this year / miss you / space ship / question /
immediate /
associate / education / newspaper / in ten minutes / handkerchief / breadth / absorption
(absorb)
/ fifth / measure / of course / won’t you / student / presume / commercial / leisure /
special /
appreciative / virtue / mutual / congratulate / literature / sociology / punctual /
Christianity / in
case you need it / in good condition
7.2 You like it, don’t you?
I can’t go.
I don’t care what others may say.
There are ten girls in our class.
Beg your pardon.
Shut your eyes.
Open the window.
I should have thought so.
Please shut the gate
Please show me the way.
I should take it if I were you.
Has your letter come?
Does your brother like swimming?
Who are these young men?
May God bless you.
We miss you very much.
This shape is wonderful.
He is making a false show.
Yes, you can go now.
Let’s try to finish it this year.
Haven’t you finished yet?
I thought you would come.
Could you tell me the way to the post office?
Would you mind if I open the window?
We’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes.
Don’t be disappointed, he’ll soon be here.
I used to play volleyball when I was young.
He returned the books with thanks.
Give me a book.
Coke could hardly believe his ears. Here he was, a stranger in her house and yet she
said she was sorry.
“I’m sorry.” She said again. “I didn’t hear you. Did you knock? I’m deaf, you see.”
Why don’t you see if any of his clothes fit you? You can bring them back tomorrow.

What is the different between

assimilation and elision?
_Some words would only be affected by assimilation, and some
words would only be affected elision. But many words would be
affected both by assimilation and by elision. And when a word is
affected by assimilation as well as elision, its shape changes not
just a little, but considerably.

Thus, for example, in "went back", the 't' gets elided, and the
sequence becomes "wen' back". Now the sound 'n' occurs before
the sound 'b'. So the 'n' readily assimilates to 'm'. And the
sequence then becomes "wem' back". Similarly, the word group
"He isn't coming" becomes "He isn' coming" through the elision
of 't', and then becomes "He isng' coming" through the
assimilation of 'n'. In the same way, the word "handbag"
becomes "han'bag" through the elision of 'd', and then "ham'bag"
through the assimilation of 'n'.

Here's another example: The word "remember" in "I can't

remember where it is" becomes "rememb" by the elision of 'er'
before the word 'where'. Then "rememb" becomes "remem' " by
the elision of 'b' between 'm' and 'w'. And in fast speech,
"remem" becomes "remm", especially if you're speaking
casually. Thus, the word group "I can't remember where it is"
becomes "I can't remm' where it is" in fast casual speech._