I.

Put the phrases under the correct rules of assimilation

1. / t / changes to / p / before / m / / b / or / p /: pocket money, private

property, wet blanket

2. / d / changes to / b / before / m / / b / or / p /: blood pressure, good

morning, head boy

3. / n / changes to / m / before / m / / b / or / p /: brown paper, chicken breast,

open market

4. / t / changes to / k / before / k / or /g/: first class, cigarette card, fat girl

5. / d / changes to / g / before / k / or / g /: cold cream, field glasses

6. / n / changes to /ŋ/ before / k / or / g /: common ground, roman candle, tone

control

7. / s / changes to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ or / j / followed by a rounded vowel sound:

bus shelter, nice yacht, nice shoes

8. / z / changes to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or / j / followed by a rounded vowel sound:

cheese shop, where's yours?

9. /θ/ changes to / s / before / s /: earth science, fifth set

cold cream blood pressure good morning

field glasses open market tone control
fat girl nice shoes bus shelter
roman candle fifth set where's yours?
common ground private property brown paper
cheese shop first class cigarette card
earth science wet blanket pocket money
head boy chicken breast nice yacht
II. Write the transcriptions of these sentences in case of assimilation

1. Made your bed -> /meɪdʒər bed/

2. She needs your help. -> /ʃiː niːdʒɔːhelp/

3. Where’s yours? -> /wer ʒɔːz/

4. Get some of that soup -> /gɛs sʌm v ðas suːp/

5. What you want -> /wɒtʃuː wɒnt/

6. Would you? -> /wʊdʒuː/

7. In case you need it -> /ɪŋ keɪʃuː niːd ɪt/

8. Has your letter come? -> /hæʒɔː letə kʌm/

III. Find out what kind of assimilation each phrase or sentence belongs
to

e.g. She'S Young

=> /z/ + /j/ => /ʒ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=>
palato-alveolar or palatal

2. I can’t go. /t/ + / /g/ => /k/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + velar /k, g/=> velar

3. I don’t care what others may say. /t/ + /k/ => /k/ Alveolar /t, d, n / +
velar /k, g/=> velar

4. There are ten girls in our class. /n/ => /ŋ/ Alveolar + velar  velar

5. Shut your eyes. /t/ + /j/ => /tʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar or
palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

6. Open the window. /oupən/ => /oupŋ/ Progressive assimilation: may

occur when a plosive is followed by a syllabic nasal and the nasal undergoes
assimilation to the same place of articulation as the preceding plosive
7. I should buy that bike. /d/ + /b/ => /b/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + bilabial /m, b,
p/=> bilabial

8. Please shut the gate /s/ + /ʃ/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar or
palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

9. Please show me the way. /s/ + /ʃ/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar
or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

10. Does your brother like swimming? /z/ + /j/ => /ʒ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / +
palato-alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

11. Who are these young men? /z/ + /j/ => /ʒ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-
alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

12. May God bless you. /s/ + /j/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar or
palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

13. We miss you very much. /s/ + /j/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-
alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

14. This shape is wonderful. /z/ + /ʃ/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar
or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

15. He is making a false show. /s/ + /ʃ/ => /ʃ/ Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-
alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal

16. Yes, you can go now. /kæn gou/ => /kaeŋ gou/ Progressive assimilation
may occur when a plosive is followed by a syllabic nasal and the nasal
undergoes assimilation to the same place of articulation as the preceding
plosive

17. Could you tell me the way to the post office? /d/ + /j/ => /dʒ/ Alveolar /t,
d, n / + palato-alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or palatal
18. Would you mind if I open the window? /d/ + /j/ => /dʒ/; /oupən/ =>
/oupŋ/

19. We’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes. /n/ + /m/ => /m/ Alveolar /t,
d, n / + bilabial /m, b, p/=> bilabial

20. I used to play volleyball when I was young. /ju:st tu/ regressive
assimilation, final voiced consonants have no voicing when folllowed by
initial voiceless consonants

IV. Put the words / phrases / sentences under the correct types of elision
and underline the elided sound

1) /ə/ can be disappeared after plosives /p/, /t/, /k/: Police /pli:s/; confuse /kn
ˈfjuːz/; tonight /tˈnaɪt/

2) Simplification of consonant groups: /t/ and /d/ are often very reduced or
omitted in groups of three (or more) consonants across word boundaries: kept
quiet /kepˈkwaɪət/; first thing /fɜːrs θɪŋ/; Liz smiled gently /’lɪz ‘smaɪl
‘ʤentlɪ/

3) Elision of identical consonants: six students /sɪk ˈstuːdnts/; next to

/neks tə/; kept talking /kep tɔːkɪŋ/

4) Elision of /v/ in OF before consonants: puddle of mud / 'pʌdl ə 'mʌd/; One

of my favourite songs /wʌn ə maɪ ˈfeɪvərɪt sɒŋz/; A lot of candies /ə
lɒt ə ˈkændiz/

5) Elision of initial glottal sound /h/ in HE, HIM, HIS, HER(S): Where's he?
/wers-i/; Did you see him last night? / dɪd ju: si: ɪm lɑːs naɪt/; At Chile, Both
of them live happily / ət ‘tʃɪli boʊθ əv əm lɪv ‘hæpɪli /
 1. Did you see him last night? 9. puddle of mud
2. confuse 10. kept talking
3. One of my favorite songs 11. six students
4. tonight 12. next to
5. police 13. Where's he?
6. A lot of candies 14. kept quiet
7. Liz smiled gently 15. At Chile, both of them live happily
8. first thing

V. Write the transcription and elided phoneme of the words in the box

Utterance Transcription Elided phoneme

Aptly /æpli/ /t/

Asthma /æzmə/ /ð/

Fifths /fifs/ /θ/

Glands /glænz/ /d/

Used to /juztu/ /d/

Cup of tea /kʌpəti/ /v/

What’s his name? wətsizneim/ /h/

Give me that /gimiðæt/ /v/

He passed his /hɪ ˈpaːst ɪz ɪgˈzæm/ /h/

exam
VI. Identify the elided phonemes in sentences and explain the type of
elisions they belong to

E.g. We arrived the next day. (/t/ elided between /ks/ and /d/)

1. When we reached Paris, we stopped for lunch. (/t/ elided between / tʃ /

and /p/, and between /p/ and /f/)

2. She acts like she owns the place! (/ækts/ can be simplified to /æks/)

3. Are you coming out tonight? (/ə/ can disappear)

4. It’s a complete waste of time! (/v/ can disappear in OF, before consonants)

5. We bought a lovely carved statuette. (/d/ elided between /v/ and /st/)

6. I’ll love you forever, promise. Well, perhaps. (/ə/ can disappear)

7. George the Sixth’s throne (/sikθs θr/ simplified to /siks θr/)

8. It’s a question of collective responsibility. (/ə/ can disappear)