SE1.9 Mixed and Linked__ Sounds

SPOKENENGLISH1PRONUNCIATION9:MIXEDANDLINKEDSOUNDS9.1.1:INTRODUCTIONNativeEnglishspeakersarefarlessconcernedwithphonemicprecisionthantheyarewiththemannerinwhichaparticularutteranceispresented.Inotherwords,Englishspeakersaremoreinterestedinthewaythattheydelivererthecompleteutterance(thestress,therhythmetc.),thantheyareofhowaccuratelyandconsistentlytheypronounceeachindividualsoundorphonemeThisdoesnotmeanthatphonemicprecisionisnotimportant:itonlymeansthatitisnotthemostimportant.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.1.2:INTRODUCTIONItiscrucialthatonerecognisesthisandtounderstandhowtoreproducethedistinctivepatternsofspokenEnglishbyfocusingonthoseaspectsofpronunciationthathavethegreatesteffectoncomprehensibility.Nonnativespeakersneedtolearntoadjusttheirpronunciationofwordsinwhatisknownasconnectedspeech.Forinstance,anativespeakerwillpronouncethefinalconsonantcorrectlyinasinglewordbutthenpronouncethesamefinalconsonantincorrectlywhenitisadjacenttoanotherword.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.1.3:INTRODUCTIONExampleThewordTENendswitha/n/soundbutthenweusethe/m/soundforthesameconsonantwhenwesaythephraseTENPEOPLEsoitsoundslikeTEMPEOPLENativeEnglishspeakersareunawarethattheyaremakingtheseadjustmentsbecausetheydonotaffectthecomprehensibilityofthespeechprocessandbecausetheycanoccurnaturallyinallstructuralutterancesofmorethanonesyllable.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.2.1:ASSIMILATIONAssimilationdescribeshowsoundscanchangetobecomemorealike.Itiswhenasoundattheendofawordtakesonaqualityofthesamesoundatthebeginningofthenextword.Assimilationoccursinastructureword,butnotincontentword.Forexample,whenwordssuchasTENorGOODarefollowedbysomeotherwords,thepronunciationcanoftenchange9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.2.2:ASSIMILATIONExamples:SayTENBOYSandyouhearTEMBOYSSayTENCUPSandyouhearTENGCUPSSayGOODBYEandyouhearGOOBBYESayGOODGIRLandyouhearGOOGGIRLSayCUTEBABYandyouhearCUBBABY9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.2.3:ASSIMILATIONSometimesmorethanonesoundmightchangeWhenwesayFRONTPAWSthe/nt/changesto/mpandsoundslikeFROMPPAWSBecauseoftheplaceinthemouthwherecertainsoundsaremade,sometimesthesoundattheendofthefirstwordchangestoacompletelydifferentsound.Thisisbecauseweneedtocreateasmoothtransitionbetweenthesoundsinconnectedspeech.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.2.3:ASSIMILATIONAnotherexamplewouldbe:WhenwesayWHATDIDYOUDOthefinal/d/in[did]andtheinitialsound/j/changestomakinganewsoundmorelike/dʒ/andcombiningthetwowords[did]and[you]intoone.soitsoundslikeWHATDIJUDOThisassimilationoccursbecausesometimesstructurewordsneedtobecompressedinordertomaintaintherhythmicflowinourspeech.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.1:INTRUSIONOccasionally,whenspeakingEnglish,wordboundariesarechangedandanewsoundisadded.Thereare3typesofintrusionsconsonanttovowelvoweltovoweltheintruding“R”.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.2:INTRUSIONConsonanttoVowelWhenawordendsinaconsonantsoundandthefollowingwordbeginswithavowelsound,weoftenmovetheconsonanttothebeginningofthenextword.Wordboundariesinvolvingaconsonantandavowelarechanged,aswedragthefinalconsonantofonewordtoinitialvoweloftheadjacentword.Thishelpscreateasmoothlinkbetweenthetwowords.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.3:INTRUSIONExamples:TURNOFFC-VsoundslikeTURNOFFCANHAVEABITOFEGGC-VC-VC-VsoundslikeCANIHAVABITOFEGGHEWORKSINANOLDOFFICEC-VC-VC-VC-VsoundslikeHEWORKSINANOLDOFFICE9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.4:INTRUSIONMoreexamples:THEYLOOKALIKEC-VsoundslikeTHEYLOOKALIKETAKEITOVERTHEREC-VC-VsoundslikeTAKITOVERTHERECOMEONOVERNOWC-VC-VsoundslikeCOMONOVERNOW9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.5:INTRUSIONThisboundaryshifthappensbecauseofthecognitivewaythatwedividesyllables.Thisprocessistowordswhentheyarespokenquicklyandrelatetothefirsttworulesdiscussedinunitfouronsyllabication.i.e.Rule1:Dividebetweentwomiddleconsonants.TURN+OFFbecomesTURNOFFRule2:Dividebeforeasinglemiddleconsonant.TAKE+ITbecomesTAKITNB.The[e]intheword“take”issilentofcourseandnotapronouncedphoneme..9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.5:INTRUSIONVoweltoVowelWhenonewordendswithavowelsoundandthenextwordbeginswithavowelsound,weattacha/w/or/j/beforetheinitialvowelofthesecondword.Ifourlipsareround,thatiswhenyousaya/uː/,/əʊ/or/ɑʊ/attheendofthefirstword,weinserta/w/sound.Butifourlipsarewide,thatiswhenyousaya/ɪː/,/eɪ/,/aɪ/or/ɔɪ/attheendofthefirstword,andthenweinserta/j/sound.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.6:INTRUSIONIfourlipsareround:IT’STOOOFTENsoundslikeIT’STOOWOFTENV-VWHOISSHEsoundslikeWHOWISSHEV-VSOIAMsoundslikeSOWIAMV-VDOALLOFITsoundslikeDOWALLOFITV-VIWANTTOEATsoundslikeIWANTTOWEATV-V9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.7:INTRUSIONIfourlipsarewide:IAMHAPPYsoundslikeIYAMHAPPYV-VKAYISSISTEENsoundslikeKAYYISSISTEENV-VTHEENDsoundslikeTHEYENDV-VSHEISGOODsoundslikeSHEYISGOODV-VTHEYAREVERYOLDsoundslikeTHEYYAREVERYYOLDV-VV-V9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.8:INTRUSIONIntrudingRInStandardBritishEnglish(RP)the/r/soundafteravowelsoundattheendofwordisoftennotpronounced.Thisisreferredtoasanon-rhoticdialectandisusedmakeasmoothlinkthetwoadjoiningwords.OtherEnglishdialects,includingAmericanandIrishareknownasrhoticandthisdoesnotoccur.9:MixedandLinkedSounds9.3.9:INTRUSIONInBritishE