5 Features of Connected Speech

 Last updated 3 July 2018

 6 comments

In spoken discourse the boundaries between words are very often not clear-cut. Words
and sounds are lost and linked together in different ways to enable us to articulate with
minimal movement.

This is one of the reasons learners find spoken discourse more difficult to understand than
written discourse. At higher levels it is often not a lack of vocabulary which prevents
understanding, but lack of ability to deal with these features of connected speech. Native
speakers are more able to use top-down processing to decide whether what they have
heard is red dye or red eye.
Here are some of the more common features of connected speech:

1. Assimilation
Assimilation occurs when a phoneme (sound) in one word causes a change in a
sound in a neighbouring word. For example, try saying the following pairs of words:

 in Bath
 last year
 Hyde Park
You’ll notice that the last sound of the first word changes in each case.
The / n / sound becomes / m / , / t / becomes / t ʃ / and / d / becomes / b / .

2. Elision
Elision is the loss of a phoneme, most commonly the last phoneme of a word, and
most commonly the / t / and / d / sounds. Have a look at these examples:
 left back
 stand by
 looked back
 I must go
In each case the last phoneme of the first word is elided (lost). In the most simple
terms, the reason is that the time and effort required to change the mouth position
from the / t / to the / b / sound (as in the first example) or the / t / to the / g / sound (as
in the last example) is too great!

3. Delayed plosion
 Our “red dye” and “red eye” is an example of this. To articulate “red dye”, we must
take a very short pause before the / d / sound. The / d / is an example of a plosive,
consonant sounds where the vocal tract stops all airflow. Other examples
are / b / ,/ d / , / g / , / p / , / t / and / k / . This pause before the plosive gives us the name
of this feature, delayed plosion.
Another example: the right tie (delay) – the right eye (no delay)

4. Catenation
In catenation the last consonant of the first word is joined to the vowel sound at the
start of the second word. For example:

 pick it up – (learners will hear something like pi ki tup)

 what is it – (learners will hear something like wo ti zit)

5. Intrusion
Intrusion is what you might expect from the name – an extra sound “intrudes” into
the spoken utternace. Try saying the following pairs of words:

 media event
 I always
 go away
Do you hear the / r / sound intruding after “media”, the / j / sound intruding after “I”
and the / w / sound intruding after “go”

Connected speech is spoken language that's used in a continuous

sequence, as in normal conversations. It is also called connected
discourse. There is often a significant difference between the way
words are pronounced in isolation and the way they are
pronounced in the context of connected speech. For example,
words or syllables can be clipped or run together, or their stresses
can change.
Deletion of Sounds in Connected Speech

When words run together, there sometimes is the deletion of

sounds or substitution of sounds.

For example, look at how want to becomes wanna, going

to becomes gonna, rock and roll becomesrock 'n'
roll, or them becomes 'em or 'dem. These are very informal usages
and wouldn't be present in formal writing but would have a place
for writers crafting or capturing realistic dialogue.

Author Rachael-Anne Knight goes into details about how

connected speech processes (CSP) work:
" - They occur at the edges of words, since this is where words 'meet' in sentences.
- Importantly, connected speech processes are optional....
- We can think of them affecting sounds at the phonemic level rather than
the allophonic level. When /t/ or /d/ or /h/ is elided, for example, we do not find that a
different allophone occurs; we simply find that the phoneme is lost altogether."
("Phonetics: A Coursebook." Cambridge University Press, 2012)

She also notes that connected speech can cause confusion or

misunderstanding in listeners because of the changes that the
words undergo when run together or when sounds are changed or
lost.
Challenges for Nonnative Speakers

Confusion about meaning can happen when words run together,

especially for nonnative speakers listening to native speakers talk.
This doesn't apply just to learners of English. Any learner of a
foreign language needs listening practice to be able to pick out
individual words from spoken discourse.
Native speakers take a lot of verbal shortcuts in ordinary
conversation that wouldn't be present if the words were written
out on a page.

For example, in Spanish, many words end in vowels, which meld

together when spoken. Take the polite greeting of ¿Cómo
está? (How are you?) which, when spoken, often can sound
like ¿Cóm stá? with barely a pause between the words.

When speaking to someone who isn't a native speaker,

enunciation (not speaking more loudly) is helpful, as is using
pauses so that the listener has enough time to process all of what's
being said.
Stress Patterns in Connected Speech

In English, the stress pattern of words varies based on what's

around them, and there is variation in how different speakers may
pronounce the same word (for example, some words have
different stress patterns in British versus American English).
Author Peter Roach illustrates:
"The former case is an aspect of connected speech...: the main effect is that the stress on a final-
stressed compound tends to move to a preceding syllable and change to secondary stress if the
following word begins with a strongly stressed syllable. Thus...

bad-'tempered but a bad-tempered 'teacher

half-'timbered but a half-timbered 'house
heavy-'handed but a heavy-handed 'sentence"

("English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course," 4th ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2009)

People writing poetry in specific meters, such iambic pentameter,

have to pay attention to where the stresses fall on words in their
lines in order to correctly work within the constraints of the form,
such as a sonnet.
 To find out more on just how teaching connected speech elements can improve the conversational speech and pronunciation of
English as a foreign language learners, continue in this second part of the series on using connected speech elements in discourse
analysis.

 Benefits
In the article "Why Use Discourse Analysis to Teach Connected Speech Elements", we examined some reasons to delve into the
elements and aspects of a dialogue or conversation in order to enrich its content and improve the conversational fluency of our
English as a foreign language learners. Now let’s have a look at some key aspects of this brief dialogue to see what more can be
gleaned from it. At first glance, the conversation does not seem to offer much, but "au contraire," this seemingly innocent
conversation is loaded to the hilt if we just dig into it a bit.

 English Language Connected Speech and Pronunciation Elements

"How are you?" in this question, the inflection or accent is important. The speakers tone rises on "are" since they are the first to
inquire over the other person. When responding as in "Fine, how are you?" the accent or rising tone shifts to the word "You."
The word "terrible" can present two specific problems. One is with the pronunciation of the "ble" ending in which the tongue is
curled upwards to touch the hard palate lightly. The second problem might be with learners confusing "terrible" with "terrific"
which of course are antonyms though they are similar in pronunciation.
The phrase, "… when you’re really sick" presents the grammatical use of adverbs before adjectives. How adverbs like extremely,
really, very, pretty, fairly and somewhat are used in context as adjective modifiers makes for an excellent separate grammar
lesson. So really then, what’s the difference between being extremely sick, really sick, very sick, fairly sick and somewhat sick as
compared to just plain sick?
"Really?" This confirmation discourse marker is very similar in concept to those used in other foreign languages. It is always
interesting to review how, when and where these can be used in a variety of conversational situations. This sort of English
grammar point often does not appear in textbooks, courses or conversation club practice, yet is an integral element in colloquial
conversations in English. "Yeah" is another confirmation discourse marker that can be applied over a broad range of
conversational situations.
 "You should go home and rest in bed." The modal verb "should" is used to offer a suggestion. The ending sound rhyming with
would and good is a pronunciation nightmare for many native Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian L1 speakers. This might
even be enough to make a separate pronunciation lesson from this particular problem. In addition, other solutions might be
discussed and inserted here, depending on the country, culture and local health practices, including the use of any popular "home
remedies".
"No, I haven’t." Here’s a fine example that will allow you to delve into short responses in English. Also, consider an explanation
of the "questions with have ("… have you taken anything …"), responses with have" general rule for creating short responses.
"Soup." No only is there a sticky pronunciation problem involved here with native Spanish speakers, but a content question as
well. I frequently ask what is soup? The answers can vary widely depending on your location and culture of the individual
learners. "Soup" is "sopa" in Spanish. It sounds like "soap" in English ("jabon" in Spanish) and is a troublesome false cognate
that will need a bit of work with your English as a foreign language learners. An additional point, do you "eat" soup or "drink"
soup? This can vary from one culture, region or language to another.
 "Chicken." Oh, this is not much of a problem you say? Think again. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times my Spanish
L1 English language learners have substituted the wrong word "kitchen" for the word "chicken"! We always laugh when it
happens, and it happens on a regular basis when teaching English to native Spanish speakers. This sound transliteration problem
can be corrected easily in another related English language pronunciation lesson.
"… cook it …" When these two word sounds are used concurrently in English, they are an example of "liaison" in connected
speech. That is, they are "run together" as if to form one word slurred together. The use of liaisons in English is useful to explain
and demonstrate. They also occur in many other foreign languages, so the concept is quite easily assimilated on the part of the
English language learners.
 "Yuck!" Not only is this discourse marker frequently mispronounced, by you will likely have to explain its meaning and function
a bit too. What words, expressions or sounds are used by your learners in their first language (L1)? What other similar words,
synonyms and antonyms can you and your English language learners come up with? By the way, do your learners have any
problem with pronouncing the /k/ sound as in "yuck"? If so, then another pronunciation sound practice lesson might well be
called for.

 Worth the Effort

As we have clearly demonstrated here, using discourse analysis to delve into the elements of even a seemingly simple dialogue or
conversation can be useful in improving the fluency, speaking and listening comprehension skills of our English as a foreign
language learners. Yes, it requires a bit more time and energy on both the part of the English teacher and the language learner, but
the ultimate rewards and outcomes are more than well worth i

A Dialogue in English
Doris: "Hi Larry. How are you?"
Larry: "Not so good. I have a terrible cold."
Doris: "Really? That’s a shame. You should go home and rest in bed. It’s really important to get a lot of rest when you’re really
sick."
Larry: "Yeah, I know you’re right."
Doris: "So, have you taken anything for your cold?"
Larry: "No, I haven’t."
Doris: "Well, it’s good to eat chicken soup. You can just chop up some garlic, onions and vegetables and cook them in chicken
stock. You should try it! It usually works for me."
Larry: "Yuck! That sounds awful. I hate vegetables and soup too."
Doris: "Okay, suit yourself. I thought you wanted to get better."
Larry: "Alright, I’ll try it. I’ll do anything to feel better soon. Thanks Doris."
Doris: "No problem. You’re welcome, Larry. See you later."
Larry: "Okay Doris, see you later."