Aspects of connected speech
Speech is a continuous stream of sounds, without clear-cut borderlines between them, and the different aspects of connected speech help to explain why written English is so different from spoken English. In connected speech the sounds are subjected, in general, to two main types of influence: the reciprocal influence of neighboring sounds and the influence on sounds by larger speech units and their elements, first of all — by the stress. The first group of processes is called the combinative changes, the second group — the positional changes. Weak Forms
There are a large number of words in English which can have a "full" form and a "weak" form. This is because English is a stressed timed language, and in trying to make the intervals between stressed syllables equal, to give the phrase rhythm, we tend to swallow non-essential words. Thus, conjunctions, pronouns, prepositions, auxiliaries and articles are often lost, causing comprehension problems for students, particularly for those whose language is syllable timed. Some examples of words which have weak forms are; The relevance of certain features of connected speech to students' needs is often debated. However, this is not the case with weak forms. Learners must come to not only recognize and cope with the weak forms they hear, but also to use them themselves when speaking English. If they do not their language will sound unnatural and over formalized, with too many stressed forms making it difficult for the listener to identify the points of focus. This, the degree to which connected speech contributes towards "naturalness" or "intelligibility", is a useful starting point from which to measure the value to students of the different features of connected speech.
Assimilation
In linguistics, assimilation is a common phonological process by which one sound becomes more like a nearby sound. This can occur either within a word or between words. In rapid speech, for example, "handbag" is often pronounced [ˈhambag]. As in this example, sound segments typically assimilate to a following sound (this is called regressive or anticipatory assimilation), but they may also assimilate to a preceding one (progressive assimilation). While assimilation most commonly occurs between immediately adjacent sounds, it may occur between sounds separated by others ("assimilation at a distance"). Assimilation can be synchronic— that is, an active process in a language at a given point in time— or diachronic: That is, a historical sound change. A related process is coarticulation where one segment influences another to produce an allophonic variation, such as vowels acquiring the feature nasal before nasal consonants when the velum opens prematurely or /b/ becoming labialized as in "boot". This article will describe both processes under the term, assimilation. There are four configurations found in assimilations: 1. Between adjacent segments. 2. Between segments separated by one or more intervening segments. 3. Changes made in reference to a preceding segment. 4. Changes made in reference to a following segment.
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Elision
Elision is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce. Sometimes, sounds may be elided for euphonic effect. Some letters which are between two consonants do not sound; this refers to the sound that will be silenced. This can help the speaker to pronounce words in an easier and quicker way. Some examples of these words are:
comfortable: /ˈkʌmfərtəbəl/ → /ˈkʌmftərbəl/
fifth: /ˈfɪfθ/ → /ˈfɪθ/
him: /hɪm/ → /ɪm/
laboratory: /læˈbɔrətɔri/ → /ˈlæbrətɔri/ (American English), /ləˈbɔrətri/ (British English)
temperature: /ˈtɛmpərətʃər/ → /ˈtɛmpərtʃər/, /ˈtɛmprətʃər/
vegetable: /ˈvɛdʒətəbəl/ → /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
Elision happens mostly in songs, in poetry, in theatrical plays, in order to maintain a particular rhythm.
Intonation
The process of communication cannot be performed without intonation as it has its own functions in a sentence. These functions are: 1. the constitutive; 2. the distinctive. Intonation forms sentences. Each sentence consists of one or more intonation groups. An intonation group is a word or a group of words characterized by a certain intonation pattern and is generally complete from the point of view of meaning.
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E. g. You’ll come early | and stay as long as you can | won’t you ||
Sentences are separated from each other by pauses. The end of a sentence is always recognized by a long pause; the end of a non-final intonation group is usually characterized by a shorter pause.
E. g. He’s passed his exam || He is a student now || Like most old people | he was fond of talking about old days ||
(2) Intonation also serves to distinguish the communicative types of sentences, the actual meaning of a sentence, the speaker’s emotions or attitudes to the contents of the sentence, to the listener or to the topic of conversation.
E. g. He’s passed his exam ||
Low-Fall – a statement of fact
High-Rise – a question
Low-Rise – a question with surprise
High-Fall – an exclamation
One and the same sentence pronounced with different intonation can express different emotions. Intonation is also a powerful means of differentiating the functional styles.
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