Ma. Luisa Alba
M Ed. ESL II August 14,2010
Connected speech - Speed is also a factor in fluency. When we speak quickly, we speak in groups of words which are continuous and may not have pauses between them. This causes changes to the ‘shape’ of words. Unstressed words always sound different when used in a sentence as opposed to being said in isolation. -
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An expression used to refer to spoken language when analysed as a continuous sequence, as in utterances and conversations spoken at natural speed in everyday situations of life. The most common features of connected speech are the weak forms of grammatical and some lexical words (and, to, of, have, was, were) and contractions, some of which are acceptable in written English (can't, won't, didn't, I'll, he'd, they've, should’ve). However, we often ignore other features which preserve rhythm and make the language sound natural.
ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH • • • •
Rhythm Elision Linking Assimilation
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RHYTHM- It has often been claimed that English speech is rhythmical, and that the rhythm is detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables; of course, it is not suggested that the timing is as regular as a clock—the regularity of occurrence is only relative. The theory that English has stressed timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not; this would not be the case in “mechanical speech”.
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ELISION (losing sounds) - When a sound is elided it is omit - The ‘missing out’ of a consonant vowel or both, that would be present in the slow colloquial pronunciation of a word in isolation. As with assimilation the most common place to find consonant elision is at the end of a syllable. - The disappearance of a sound in connected speech; chris(t)mas, int(e)rest. 1
The most common consonants to find involved in elision are /t/ and /d/. 1.Elision of /t/ and /d/ - When they are at the end of a word (in the last syllable) and between two other consonants. Elision of /t/: Ex. /fɜstˈ θri/ /ˈlɑstˈjɪə/ /məʊstˈ risənt/
[ˈfɜˈsθri] [ˈlɑsˈjɪə]
first three
[məʊsˈrisənt]
most recent
last year
/d/ elides even more readily than /t/ and in more environments: Ex. /ˈwɜldˈ wɑɪldˈ laɪfˈ fʌnd/ /hɜld ˈtwentɪ/ / ˈræpɪdlɪ/
[ˈwɜlˈ wɑɪˈ laɪˈ fʌnd] [hɜl ˈtwentɪ] [ˈræpɪlɪ]
World Wild Life Fund Hurled twenty (yards) rapidly
2. Elision of identical sounds -When a word ending in a consonant sound is followed by another word starting with that sound. Ex. lamp post six students lettuce salad 3. Elision of initial sounds in pronouns -Weak pronouns Ex. I saw him half an hour The most important occurrences of this phenomenon regard: 1) Alveolar consonants /t/ and /d/ when ‘sandwiched’ between two consonants, e.g. The next day….
/ðə ˈneks ˈdeɪ/
The last car…
/ðə ˈlɑ:s ˈkɑ:/
Hold the dog!
/ˈhəʊl ðə ˈdɒg/
Send Frank a card.
/sen ˈfræŋk ə ˈkɑ:d/
This can also take place within affricates /t§/ and /d½/ when preceded by a consonant, e.g. Lunchtime
/ˈlʌntʃtaɪm/
become /ˈlʌnʃtaɪm/ 2
/ˈstreɪndʒˈdeɪz/
strange days
/ˈstreɪnʒˈdeɪz/
The phoneme /t/ is a fundamental part of the negative particle not, the possibility of it being elided makes the foreign students life more difficult. Consider the negative of can – if followed by a consonant the /t/ may easily disappear and the only difference between the positive and the negative is a different, longer vowel sound in the second: /aɪ kən ˈspi:k/
I can speak….
/aɪ ˈkɑ:n(t) ˈspi:k/
I can’t speak…
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LINKING (adding or joining sounds between words)- We tend to link final consonants and initial vowels across word boundaries -
The phoneme r cannot occur in syllable-final position in RP, but when a word’s spelling suggests a final r, and a word beginning with a vowel follows, the usual pronunciation for RP speakers is to pronounce with letter r. For example: ‘here’ hɪə
but
‘here are’
hɪə ə
‘four’ fɔː
but
‘four eggs’ fɔːr egz
Many RP speakers use r in a similar way to link words ending with a vowel even when there is no “justification” from spelling, as in: ‘Formula A’
fɔːmjələr eɪ
‘ Australia all out’
ɒstrelɪər ɔːl aʊt
‘media event’
miːdɪə ɪvent
This has been called intrusive r; some English speakers and teachers still regard this as regard this as incorrect or sub-standard pronunciation, but it is undoubtedly widespread. “Linking” and “intrusive r” are special cases of juncture; this name refers to the relationship between one sound and the sounds that immediately precede and follow it, and has been given some importance in phonological theory. If we take the words ‘my turn’ mɑɪ tɜːn, the relationship between m and aɪ, between t and ɜː and between ɜː and n is to be said be one of close juncture. m is proceeded by silence and n is followed by silence, and so m and n are said to be in a position of external open juncture. The problem lies in deciding what the relationship is between aɪ and t; since we do not usually pause between words, there is no silence (or external open juncture) to indicate word division and to justify the space left in the transcription. But if English speakers hear maɪ tɜːn they can usually recognize this as “my 3
turn” and not “might turn”. This is where the problem of internal open internal juncture (usually called ‘juncture’ for short) becomes apparent. What is it that makes perceptible the difference between maɪ tɜːn and maɪt ɜːn? The answer is that in the case the t is aspirated (initial in ‘turn’), and in the other case it is not (being final in ‘might’). In addition to this, the aɪ diphthong is shorter in ‘might’, but we will ignore this for the sake of a simple argument. If a difference in meaning is caused by the difference between aspirated and unaspirated t, how can we avoid the conclusion that English has a phonemic contrast between aspirated and unaspirated t? The answer is, of course, that the position of a word boundary has some effect on the realization of the t phoneme; this is one of the many cases in which the occurrence of different allophones can be properly explained by making reference to units of grammar (something which was disapproved of by many phonologists.
Intrusion and linking Intrusion: If the words 'go' and 'up' are said together, there is a new /w/ sound between the two words. When two vowel sounds meet, we tend to insert an extra sound which resembles either a / j /, / w / or / r / , to mark the transition sound between the two vowels, a device referred to as intrusion. For example:
Intruding / r/ The media / r /are to blame.
Law(r)and order.
Intruding / j / I / j / agree. They / j /are here!
Intruding / w/ I want to/ w/eat. Please do/ w/it.
Word boundaries involving a consonant and a vowel are also linked, as we tend to drag final consonants to initial vowels or vice versa. For example: 4
Get on. ( geton ) Not at all. ( notatall ) It´s no joke. ( snow joke)
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ASSIMILATION (changing sounds) This means… a) That a sound changes to be more like the following sound (variation of a sound). b) That two sounds join together to become another sound. This makes articulation easier. But notice that the change from one consonant sound to another should not interfere seriously with comprehension because the resulting sounds are quite similar to the original ones. The alveolar consonants /n/ /t/ /d/ /s/ and /z/ can change to become more like the following sound. It is a question of making things easier for the speaker. For instance, if you are going to close your lips for /p/, then it is easier to close them for the preceding nasal /n/, so /n/ assimilates into /m/.
LIASION is the insertion of an extra phoneme in order to facilitate articulation. 1. Linking / r/ 5
The /r/ sound is heard connecting two words when there is an R in the spelling and there is a following vowel sound. Examples: Peter and Tom; far away, more ice 2. Intrusive /r/ In many words ending with the written consonant R, the final vowel sound is one of the following: teacher, harbour, actor
four, door
car, far
No doubt, as a result of this, there is a tendency to insert an intrusive / r / when a word ends in one of these vowels, even when no written R exists. Many people consider that intrusive / r / is substandard ,and certainly not to be imitated. Examples: America and Asia; Asia and America; law and order; vanilla ice cream; I saw it WEAK FORMS When we talk about weak forms in the phonetics of English this regards a series of words, which have one pronunciation (strong) when isolated, and another (weak) when not stressed within a phrase, e.g. a car I bought a car
/ˈeɪ ˈkɑ:/ /aɪ ˈbɔ:t ə kɑ:/
In connected speech, many words are pronounced in a weak form. -Weak forms are usually distinguished by a change in vowel quality from a border position on the vowel quadrilateral to a central position. The vowel in a weak form is usually the schwa (ə). Weak forms are pronounced more quickly and at lower volume in comparison to the stressed syllables. They are also not central to changes in intonation. There is a logical explanation behind the occurrence of weak forms: they are present in words which are necessary to construct a phrase yet, at the same time, do not 6
communicate a large quantity of information, in other words, they are not content words. For example in the following phrase: I went to the hotel and booked a room for two nights for my father and his best friend. -
The most important words, those that are central to the message, can be emphasised: I went to the hotel and booked a room for two nights for my father and his best friend.
If we eliminate the words that are not emphasised, can we still understand the message? went
hotel
booked room
two nights
father
best friend.
Perhaps it is difficult to be certain but it is possible to predict what the missing words might be. The words which we emphasised would bear the stress, while many of those which we eliminated would become weak forms, simply because they are less important in the conveyance of the message. Look at the sentence in transcription: /aɪ ˈwent tə ðə həʊ ˈtel ən ˈbʊkt ə ˈru:m fə ˈtu: ˈnaɪts fə maɪ ˈfɑ:ðər ən hɪz ˈbest ˈfrend/ You will notice that most of the unstressed words are pronounced with the sound /ə/: prepositions such as to and for, articles a, an and the, and the conjunction and. Auxiliary verbs frequently have weak forms. Some of the most common examples of weak forms are: Auxiliary verbs: Do, are was were ,would Prepositions: 7
To, for, from, into Others: And, but, than, that (as a relative), you (as object pronoun) The most common form involves the movement of place of articulation of the alveolar stops /t/, /d/ and /n/ to a position closer to that of the following sound. For instance, in the phrase ten cars, the /n/ will usually be articulated in a velar position, /ˈteŋ ˈkɑ:z/ so that the organs of speech are ready to produce the following velar sound /k/. Similarly, in ten boys the /n/ will be produced in a bilabial position, /ˈtem ˈbɔɪz/ to prepare for the articulation of the bilabial /b/.
Phoneme /n/ /d/
BEFORE A VELAR (/k/, /g/) Realised as Example /ŋ/ bank /bæŋk/ good girl /gʊg ˈgɜ:l/ /g/
/t/
/k/
Phoneme /n/ /d/ /t/
that kid /ðæk ˈkɪd/
BEFORE A BILABIAL (/m/, /b/, /p/) Realised as Example /m/ ten men /tem 'men/ bad boys /bæb ˈbɔɪz/ /b/ hot mushrooms /ˈhɒp /p/ ˈmʌʃru:mz/
VERBAL “FILLERS” IN SPEECH These are words, phrases, and sometimes just noises like er which do not contribute much, if anything, to the new information content of an utterance but perform several valuable functions in speech. The exemplification will be drawn from the speech of public speakers, informal conversations and interviews. Sometimes people do make phonetic errors which they correct on mid-sentence. So we hear them say: I saw three [brig] + I mean big + dogs having a big fight out there.
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REPETITION – Repetitive use of words in a sentence. 8
EX. TC 2
I wouldn’t say impossible + no
TC 12
not really + no + no
TC 16
no + not really + no
The repetition of no does not add anything to the meaning of the utterance. What it does do is give the speaker time to work out what he is going to say next. We find that it is rare for a speaker t utter simply yes or no in response to a yes/no question. Here are some examples of repetition of this kind from other texts:
erm + yes + this is so yes + you could + yes you could that’s right + yes he does + yes
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INTRODUCTORY FILLERS – A type of filler commonly used when people are asked direct questions and expected to produce an immediate reply. It is very rare indeed to meet a speaker who does not produce some sort of filler in this situation. The most common filler is well, closely followed by non-verbal noises of an institutionalized sort like er and mm:
TC10
well + he’s having to rely on other people
TC 14
er + they could do
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well + the only word to describe it was + chaos
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well + MS and I thought we’d both like to borrow bicycles
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well + I think that’s so though I suppose you could imagine a different situation
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well + + heh + heh + heh + + it’s a question of arriving at a negotiated settlement
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well + it’s a hopeful sign 9
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well + + city
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mm + I’m not sure
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oh + you just can’t describe it
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erm + yes + this is so
ACCENT- Is a combination of three main components: intonation ( speech music), liaisons ( word connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). You’ll realize that the grammar you studies before and this accent you’re studying now are completely different. Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured --- the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative--- more the spirit of the language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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Cook,A. (1991). American Accent Training: A Guide to Speaking and Pronouncing Colloquial American English(2nd Ed.) Matrix Press
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Roach, P. (1991). English Phonetics and Phonology (2nd Ed.) Cambridge: CUP
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Brown, G. (1997). Applied Linguistics and Language Study: Listening to Spoken English Longman Group Ltd.
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http://www.englishbanana.com/talkalot/connected-speech-templatesinstructions.pdf - http://www.slideshare.net/cupidlucid/aspects-of-connected-speech-presentation
-http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/rhythm 10
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http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/weak%20forms %20audio/introandpreps/weak_forms.htm
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http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki/connected-speech
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http://www.scribd.com/doc/16342276/Some-Aspects-of-ConnectedSpeech#source:facebook
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http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/rhythm (retrieved july 24)
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