(PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY)

SESSION 6

I. Weak Forms
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
I. Weak forms
1. Functional/ Grammatical words
(pronoun, preposition, conjunction, auxiliary,
determiner) have two forms: strong & weak
+ In weak form, the vowel is pronounced /ə/
e.g. you (WEAK) /jə/ → (STRONG) /juː/
of /əv/ /ɒv/
at /ət/ /æt/
that /ðət/ /ðæt/
can /kən/ /kæn/
your /jə/ /jɔː/
I. Weak forms
1. Functional/ Grammatical words
+ In strong form in the following cases:
❑ At final position
e.g. I’m fond of chips. /aim 'fond əv 'tʃips/
Chips are what I’m fond of /'tʃips ə 'wɒt aim 'fond ɒv/

❑ When being used contrasted with another word

e.g. The letter’s from him, not to him.
/ðə 'letəz 'frɒm im nɒt 'tu: im/
I. Weak forms
1. Functional/ Grammatical words (STRONG FORM)
❑A co-ordinated use of preposition
e.g. I travel to and from London a lot.
/ai 'trævl 'tu: ən 'frɒm 'lʌndən ə 'lɒt/
A work of and about literature
/ə 'wɜːk ɒv ən ə’baʊt 'litrətʃə/
❑ When being ‘cited’/ ‘quoted’
e.g. You shouldn’t put “and” at the end of a sentence.
/ju 'ʃʊdņt pʊt 'ænd ət ði 'end əv ə 'sentəns/
I. Weak forms
2. Some Special Words
❑ That
- weak /ðət/: conjunction & relative pronoun
e.g. The price is the thing that annoys me.
/ðə ˈpraɪs ɪz ðə ˈθɪŋ ðət əˈnɔɪz mi/
- strong /ðæt/: demonstrative
e.g. That book is mine. /ðæt bʊk ɪz maɪn/
2. Some Special Words
❑ Some
- weak /səm/: countable noun plural & uncountable
e.g. I have some good friends.
/aɪ hæv səm ɡʊd frendz/
I need some money.
/aɪ niːd səm ˈmʌni/
- strong /sʌm/: countable singular noun
& in final position
e.g. I think some boy broke it. /aɪ θɪŋk sʌm bɔɪ brəʊk ɪt/
I take some. /aɪ teɪk sʌm /
2. Some Special Words
❑ There
- weak /ðə(r)/: formal subject
+ /ðə/ before consonants
e.g. There should be a rule. /ðə ˈʃʊd bi ə ˈru:l/
+ /ðə(r)/ before vowels
e.g. There is a book on the table.
/ðə(r) iz ə ˈbʊk ɒn ðə ˈteibļ/
- strong /ðeə(r)/: adverb & in final postion
e.g. There it is. /ðeə(r) ɪt ɪz /
Put it there. /pʊt ɪt ðeə/
*There isn’t any, is there? /ðər izņt eni, ɪz ðə/ iz ðeə/
2. Some Special Words
❑ Must
- weak /məst/: obligation, duty
+ /məs/ before consonants
e.g. You must try harder. /ju məs ˈtrai ˈhɑːdə/
+ /məst/ before vowels
e.g. I must eat now. /aɪ məst iːt naʊ/
- strong /mʌst/: deduction & final position
e.g. She left at 8:00, so she must have arrived by now.
/ʃi ˈleft ət 8:00 səʊ ʃi mʌst həv əˈraivd bai naʊ/
e.g. She certainly must. /ʃi ˈsɜːtnli ˈmʌst/
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
1. Assimilation:
- sounds belonging to one word can cause changes
in sounds belonging to neighbouring words.
(to ease pronunciation)
- more likely to be found in rapid, casual speech.
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
❑ Position of occurrence:
➢ Across word boundaries (between two words)
e.g. that pen /ðæt pen/ → [ðæp pen]
➢ Within a word
- Across morpheme boundaries
(between 2 morphemes) e.g. dogs /dɒgz/
- Within a morpheme
e.g. bank /bæŋk/
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
❑ Classification:
➢ Based on the direction of assimilation
- Regressive assimilation: the following consonant
affects the preceding one.
←
e.g. that side /ðæt saɪd/ → [ðæs saɪd]
this shoe /ðɪs ʃuː/ → [ðɪʃ ʃuː]
fruitcake /fruːtkeɪk/ → [fruːkkeɪk]
good night /ɡʊd naɪt/ → [ɡʊn naɪt]
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
❑ Classification:
➢ Based on the direction of assimilation
- Progressive assimilation: the preceding consonant
affects the following one.
→
e.g. hit you /hɪt ju:/ → [hɪt ʃu:]
not yet /nɒt jet/ → [nɒt ʃet]
could you /kʊd ju/ → [kʊd ʒu]
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
❑ Classification:
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of manner: 2 sounds of different
manner of articulation will change to have the same
manner of articulation
←
e.g. that side /ðæt saɪd/ → [ðæs saɪd]
(stop >> fricative)
good night /ɡʊd naɪt/ → [ɡʊn naɪt]
(stop >> nasal)
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
❑ Classification:
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of voice: voiceless >> voiced
& vice versa
←
e.g. newspaper /njuːz peɪpə(/ → [njuːs peɪpə]
have to /hæv tu/ → [hæf tu]
(voiced >> voiceless)

birth /bɜːθ/ >> birthday /ˈbɜːθdeɪ/ → [ˈbɜːðdeɪ]

(voiceless >> voiced)
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of place of articulation: 2 words of
different points of articulation will change to have the
same point of articulation
+ affects most final alveolars /t d n s z/
←
e.g. /t/ →/p/ that pen /ðæt pen/ → [ðæp pen]
(alveolar → bilabial: labialized)

/t/ →/k/ that case /ðæt keɪz/ → [ðæk keɪz]

(alveolar → velar: velarized)
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of place of articulation:
+ affects most final alveolars /t d n s z/
←
e.g. /d/ →/b/ good boy /ɡʊd bɔɪ/ → [ɡʊb bɔɪ]
(alveolar → bilabial: labialized)

/d/ →/g/ bad cold /bæd kəʊld/ → [bæg kəʊld]

(alveolar → velar: velarized)
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of place of articulation:
+ affects most final alveolars /t d n s z/
←
e.g. /n/ →/m/ green pine /ɡri:n paɪn/ → [ɡri:m paɪn]
(alveolar → bilabial: labialized)

/n/ →/ŋ/ one cup /wʌn kʌp/ → [wʌŋ kʌp]

(alveolar → velar: velarized)
➢ Based on what is changed
- Assimilation of place of articulation:
+ affects most final alveolars /t d n s z/
←
e.g. /s/ before /j & ʃ/ →/ʃ/
this year /ðɪs jɪə/ → [ðɪʃ jɪə]
this shoe /ðɪs ʃu:/ → [ðɪʃ ʃu:]

/z/ before /j & ʃ/ →/ʒ/

those years /ðəʊz jɪəz/ → [ðəʊʒ jɪəz]
those shops /ðəʊz ʃɒps/ → [ðəʊʒ ʃɒps]
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
2. Elision:
- sounds disappear or are deleted under certain
circumstances
➢ Loss of weak vowels after initial /p t k/
(vowels disappear & /p t k/ slightly aspirated
e.g. potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/ → [phˈteɪtəʊ]
tomato /təˈmɑːtəʊ/ → [thˈmɑːtəʊ]
perhaps /pəˈhæps/ → [phˈhæps]
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
2. Elision:
➢ Avoidance of complex consonant clusters
e.g. George the Sixth’s throne
/dʒɔːdʒ ðə sɪksθs θrəʊn/ → [dʒɔːdʒ ðə sɪksθs θrəʊn]
acts /ækts/
looked back /lʊkt bæk/ /
scripts /skrɪpts/
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
2. Elision:
➢ Loss of final /v d/ in ‘of, and’ before consonants
e.g. lots of them /lɒts əv ðəm/ → [lɒts əv ðəm]
waste of money /weɪst əv ˈmʌni/ → [weɪst əv ˈmʌni]
come and see /kʌm ənd si:/ → [kʌm ənd si:]
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
3. Linking:
- When the preceding word ends in a consonant &
the following word begins with a vowel,
we link sounds together
e.g. a cup of coffee /ə kʌp əv ˈkɒfi/ → [ə kʌpəv ˈkɒfi]
her eyes /hə aɪz/ → [həraɪz]
here /hɪə/ → here are /hɪərə/
four /fɔː/ → four eggs /fɔːregz/
II. Aspects of Connected Speech
3. Linking:
+ Instrusive j : -i + vowel
e.g. very interesting [verijɪntrəstɪŋ]
+ Instrusive w : -u + vowel
e.g. go into [ɡəʊwɪntuː]
+ Instrusive r :
e.g. formula A [ˈfɔːmjələreɪ]
media event [ˈmiːdiərɪˈvent]
 TO CONSOLIDATE SESSION 6 AND
PREPARE FOR SESSION 7

1. Review Units 10 & 11

2. Do Test 9 (p.55)
4. Do Recorded Exercises Audio (pp.188-192)
5. Read Unit 12 & the hand out at home