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Aspects of Connected Speech

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 Aspects of Connected Speech

Mohammed Jasim Betti

and
Zainab Kadim Igaab
Dept. of English, College of Education for Humanities, Univ. of Thi-Qar

The language of the adult native speaker of his language is definitely

different from that of the machine man (the robot). The human's speech is
connected in that you cannot say where one word begins and where
another ends. In addition, it is characterized of some aspects, all of which
is absent in the disconnected speech of the robot . These features or
aspects include assimilation, rhythm, elision, linking, metathesis,
merging, epithesis, epenthesis, dissimilation, fluency, stress and
intonation. All of these features are explained below:

1. Assimilation

Assimilation is the process by which two neighboring sounds come to

resemble or be identical with each other within one word or between
words. Assimilation is a phonetic process because it does not change the
meanings of words. It is made for facilitation. In good boy/gud boi/, for
example, it is very difficult to move the tongue from the alveolar position
for the production of The alveolar consonant /d/ to its normal position in
the mouth to bring the two lips together to produce the bilabial /b/,
Accordingly, the /d/is changed to /b/ to become/gub boi/. There are some
types of assimilation:

1. Assimilation of voice happens when two consonants are different in

voice:

a. From voiced to voiceless

news + paper /nju:z + peip∂ → /nju:s peip∂/

b. From voiceless to voiced

North + ern → northern /noð∂:n

2. Assimilation of place happens when there is a difference in
articulation between two consonant sounds:

good girl /gug g∂:l/

3. Assimilation of manner occurs when there is a difference in the

manner of articulation of two consonants:

Give me /gim mi:/

4. Regressive assimilation happens when the second consonant affects

the first one to change it to the second or to a third one. All the previous
examples are of this type.

5. Progressive assimilation happens when the first consonant affects the

second one to change it to a third one:

books /buks/ missed /mist/

2. Rhythm

The notion of rhythm is related to the musicality of the word or its

beat. It involves some noticeable events occurring at regular intervals of
time. That is why, rhythm has got something to do with the time spent for
the production of syllables.

As for the levels of linguistic analysis, rhythm has got a unit of

analysis. This unit is called the foot. Foot is the unit of analyzing rhythm.
It starts with the first stressed syllable including all the unstressed
syllables up to and not including the second stressed syllable (stress is the
power by which a syllable is uttered).

Here two theories explaining the nature of rhythm:

a. Stress-timed rhythm

Stress-timed rhythm states that stressed (not unstressed) syllables are

produced at the same time intervals or take the same time in production.
English and Arabic are examples of stress-timed-rhythm languages. In the
following sentence, 'He is' takes the same time in production as that of
'here' because 'he' is stressed, 'is' is unstressed and 'here' is stressed:

He is here. /hi: iz hi∂/

b. Syllable-timed rhythm

Syllable-timed rhythm perceives that syllables whether stressed or

unstressed take the same time in production. In our previous example, all
'he', 'is' and 'here' are supposed to take the same time in production,
according to this theory though English is not a syllable-timed-rhythm
language. Examples of such languages are Chinese, Japanese and some
South African languages.

3. Elision

Elision is the disappearance of some sounds. It is said that in certain

circumstances, certain sounds disappear. It is characteristic of languages
that have variation of stress and it is attributed to the tendency of native
speakers to eliminate redundancy in communication. However, this
aspect is not phonemic because it does not change the meanings of words.

Type examples of elision are:

1) The pronunciation of double consonants as one consonant:

Last time /las taim/

2) The omission of some vowels like the schwa and/o/:

Potatoes /pteit∂ s/

3) The disappearance of the /v/ in /ov/:

This book is made of paper /∂/

4. After /p/, /t/ and /d/ initially, the vowel schwa is deleted:

Police /pli:s/

5. Historical elision is that type of elision, which is fulfilled throughout

the different historical development stages of languages:

know /nou/ knight /nait/ write /rait/ gnaw /no:/

6. Contextual elision is characteristic of conversational styles. It can

involve the elision of a vowel or consonant:

Suppose /spouz/ can't do /ka:ndu:/

7. Haplology refers to the omission of longer segments rather than one
segment:

Library /laibri/ probably /probli/

4. Sandhi

This Sanskrit word, which means putting together, refers to linking

and intrusion. Both linking and intrusion are not phonemic in English.

1. Linking

Linking is one type of juncture. It refers top the relationship between

one word and the word that precedes or follows it. The most well-known
type of linking is linking /r/.

Linking /r/ occurs when a word ending with a final /r/, in which it is
not pronounced because it occurs finally in a word, is followed by
another word, which starts with a vowel. In this case, the final /r/ is
pronounced and it is called linking /r/ because it links this word, in which
it occurs, with the other word, which starts with a vowel:

Father in law /fa:ð∂rin lo/

2. Intrusive /r/

Intrusive /r/ is one, which has nothing to do with the spelling of the
word. It mostly occurs when the second word starts with a vowel, but this
/r/ as nothing to do with the spelling of the word:

Bread and butter /bred r∂n b^t∂:/

5. Metathesis

Metathesis refers to the process of transpositioning of speech sounds

and it is characteristic of rapid conversational styles. This process can
also be considered as historical or contextual. Historical metathesis
occurs throughout the different developmentary stages of languages and
the contextual one occurs in some or specific language situations. Under
some circumstances, certain native speakers metathesize in their speech.
It also occurs in all languages. The most known type of metathesis in
English is the metathesis of /r/ plus a vowel:

Pretty /p∂ti/ tragedy /tradidi/

6. Coalescence (Merging)

Merging is the fusion of two sounds usually consonants and it is also

characteristic of connected conversational styles. Similar to all the
previous aspects of connected conversational speech, this aspect is not
phonemic (phonological or significant) because it does not change the
meaning of words. Merging patterns are listed below:

1. /d/ + /j/ →/dƷ/ education /edƷukeiʃn/

2. /1/ + /j/→ /tj/ aren't you? /a:ntʃu:/

3. /z /+ /j/ → erasure /ireiƷ∂/

4. /s/ + /j/ → /ʃ/ pressure /preʃ∂/

7. Epithesis

Epithesis is the addition of an extra consonant to the end of words. It

occurs after a final /n/ or /s/. A word like sound /saund/ was first 'soun'
/saun/in Middle English. Then, the sound /d/ is added to it to become
sound. Both /n/ and /d/ are similar in place of articulation. This process is
mostly historical.

8. Epenthesis

Epenthesis is the process of inserting an extra consonant within a

word such as adding the sound /p/ to something and the sound /t/ to the
word sense. This inserted sound is called excrescent. For example, after
the sound /m/, the sound/p/is added before some voiceless consonants: /t/,
/k/, /f/, /Ɵ/, /s/ and /ʃ/. This is added for facilitation.

9. Dissimilation

Dissimilation is the reverse of assimilation. It involves increase in the

extent of difference. It often involves such consonants as /m/, /n/, /l/ and
/r/. Some Latin words like 'marbre' and 'himmel' become the English
words marble and heaven.

10. Fluency

Fluency in its simplest meaning involves the saying of a group of

words as connected and without hesitation. All the preceding and
subsequent aspects of speech can be headed under fluency.

11. Juncture

Juncture involves a relationship between one sound and the sound that
precedes and follows it. Both linking and intrusion are typical examples
of juncture. Moreover, there are two main types of juncture: open and
closed.

The open juncture occurs before a certain utterance is produced. It

stands for the silence, which precedes the first sound of that utterance. It
stands for the pause before the beginning of the utterance. In this regard,
there are two types of pauses in English: short and long. The short one
occurs between words and it equals the juncture talked about here and it
is the one which helps clarify and disambiguate some phrases like my
train and might rain (this is referred to as the external open juncture). The
long pause occurs at the beginning and at the end of utterances. The
internal open juncture refers to the difference between the aspirated and
nonaspirated, long and short diphthongs, voiceless and voiced
consonants. This is referred to as juncture for short.

On the other hand, the closed juncture occurs between the sounds
themselves. In a phrase like my train, it occurs between /m/ and /ai/ and
/t/ and /r/, and /ei/ and /n/.
 In this regard, juncture helps to make the meaning clear and
unambiguous by pausing in the right place. Thus, context plays a great
role to clarify the meanings of phrases through placing the right pause or
juncture.

12. Similitude

Similitude happens when a particular sequence of two phonemes

involves the use of a certain subsidiary member of one of them which has
a greater resemblance to a neighboring sound than the principle member
has. In words like please /pli:z/ and /plei/, there is a similitude between
the partially breathed /// and the /p/.

13. Stress and Intonation

Stress and intonation are prominent and of optimal importance in

connected speech. Without both, the talk sounds rigid, meaningless and
machine like as both stress and intonation express the attitudes of
speakers as well as their feelings and emotions.

Stress refers to the power or force by which the syllable is uttered while
intonation refers to the variation in pitch or pitch contours.

References

Betti, Mohammed Jasim (2002a). An Introduction to English Phonetics

and Phonology. Thi-Qar: Al-Hadir.

Betti, Mohammed Jasim (2002b). English Phonetics and Phonology.

Thi-Qar: Al-Hadir.

Betti, Mohammed Jasim (2002c). English Phonetics. Thi-Qar: Al-Hadir.

Betti, Mohammed Jasim and Marwa Jubair Mugeer (2016) Tones in

English. Journal of College of Education, University of Thi-Qar,
2, 1, 16-34.
Betti, Mohammed Jasim and Ulaiwi, W. A. (2018). Stress in English and
Arabic: A Contrastive Study. English Language and Literature
Studies, 8(1), 83-91. https://doi.org/10.5539/ells.v8n1p83.

Betti, Mohammed Jasim and Zainab Kadim Igaab (2019). Sound Shift
and Metathesis in Three Pre-School Nasiriya Iraqi Arabic Children: A
Case Study. International Journal of English Linguistics; 9, 1, 229-
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Betti, Mohammed Jasim (2021m). Intonation in English with Pedagogical

Implications.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352313269_Intonation_in_Engl
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 Symbols for phonemes

/i/ as in ‘pit’ pit

/e/ as in ‘pet’ pet
/a/ as in ‘pat’ pat
/Λ/ as in ‘putt’ pΛt
/o/ as in ‘pot’ pot
/u/ as in ‘put’ put
/ə/ as in ‘about’ upper’
/ei/ as in ‘bay’ bei
/ai/ as in ‘buy’ bai
/oi/ as in ‘boy’ boi
/iə/ as in ‘peer’ pio
/eə/ as in ‘pear’ peo
/uə/ as in 'doer' duə
/P/ as in ‘pea’ pi:
/t/ as in ‘toe’ tau
/k/ as in ‘cap’ kap
/f/ as in ‘fat’ fat
/Ɵ/ as in ‘thing’ 0iŋ
/s/ as in ‘sip’ sip
/ʃ/ as in ‘ship’ ʃip
/h/ as in ‘hat’ hat
/m/ as in ‘map’ map
/n/ as in ‘nap’ nap
/ŋ/ as in ‘hang’ haŋ
/tʃ / as in ‘chin’ tʃin
/i:/ as in ‘key’ ki:
/a:/ as in ‘car’ ka:
/o:/ as in ‘core’ ko:
/u:/ as in ‘coo’ ku:
/ə:? as in ‘cur’ kə:
/ou/ as in ‘go’ gou
/au/ as in ‘cow’ kau
/b/ as in ‘bee’ bi:
/d/ as in ‘doe’ dau
/g/ as in ‘gap’ gap
/v/ as in ‘vat’ vast
/ð/ as in ‘this’ ðis
/z/ as in ‘zip’ zip
/Ʒ/ as in ‘measure’ meƷə
/1/ as in ‘led’ led
/r/ as in ‘red’ red
 /j/ as in ‘yet’ jet
/w/ as in ‘wet’ wet
/dƷ/ as in ‘gin’ dƷin

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