Aspects of connected Speech

Connected speech

When we speak naturally we do not pronounce a word, stop, then say the next word in the sentence. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words.

These changes are described as features of connected speech.

Here is a list of the most important aspects of connected speech, for example, how words change when caught up in the great rush of everyday conversation.

Weak and strong forms

• the most important words, those that are central to the message, can be emphasised:

• Some of the most common examples of weak forms are:

auxiliary verbs Do : where do you live? Are: Jhon and Mary are here. Was: I was quite interested. Were: they were bored. Would: She said she would be here. _____________________________________________ Others: And: Rock 'n' roll. But: ...but one of the main points... Than: It's faster than mine.

Prepositions: To: I went to the market. For: Wait for me! From: She's from York. Into: Put it into the box. ___________________________________________ "Remember that a word can have a weak form only when it is unstressed. In the  following sentences the underlined words are stressed and so would be pronounced  using the strong form." -I do like chocolate. -She drove to Las Vegas, not from Las Vegas.   -Where did you go to?

Consonant to vowel linking

When one word ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound there is a smooth link between the two. In these examples the link is shown in red joining the linked words. These examples also show where the weak form schwa would be pronounced.

Vowel to vowel linking

When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, another sound, a /w/ or /j/ can be added depending on the particular sounds to make a smooth transition. In these examples the link is shown in red along with the phonemic symbol for the sound which is added to make the link smooth.

Consonants to consonants linking

• When the sounds /t/ or /d/ occur between two consonant sounds, they will often disappear completely from the pronunciation.

The next day…    The last car…

Hold the dog! Send Frank a card.