Flashcards on Connected Speech Processes in English
Connected Speech Processes in English: A Student Guide
Tap to flip · Swipe to navigate
Connected Speech Pronunciation
46 cards
Card 1
Question: What is connected speech and why is it important in spoken English?
Answer: Connected speech is how sounds change when words are spoken together in normal speech; it's important because it affects pronunciation, intelligibilit
Card 2
Question: How does connected speech affect pronunciation and fluency?
Answer: It alters segmental and suprasegmental features (e.g., linking, elision, assimilation), enabling smoother, faster, more natural speech and influencing
Card 3
Question: What is elision and in which contexts does it commonly occur?
Answer: Elision is the omission of a sound (often a vowel or consonant) in rapid or casual speech; it commonly occurs at word boundaries and in unstressed syl
Card 4
Question: Give an example of elision and explain how the sound is omitted.
Answer: Example: 'I am' → [aɪm]; the schwa in 'am' is elided and the words merge so the vowel is lost, producing a contracted, single-syllable form.
Card 5
Question: What is the linking /r/ process and when does it occur?
Answer: Linking /r/ is inserting or pronouncing /r/ between words when a word ending in /r/ or spelled with r is followed by a vowel sound in the next word; i
Card 6
Question: What is assimilation in connected speech and what are its main types?
Answer: Assimilation is when a sound changes to become more like a neighboring sound. Main types: progressive (influence moves forward), regressive (influence
Card 7
Question: How does progressive assimilation of voice occur? Provide an example.
Answer: Progressive assimilation of voice happens when a voiced or voiceless consonant influences the following consonant's voicing. Example: voiced consonant
Card 8
Question: Give an example of progressive assimilation in the plural morpheme and explain the phonetic change.
Answer: Plural morpheme /-s/ surfaces as [z] after voiced sounds (e.g., 'dogs' /dɒgz/): the plural /s/ becomes voiced [z] to match the preceding voiced conson
Card 9
Question: Give an example of progressive assimilation in the past morpheme and explain the phonetic change.
Answer: Past morpheme /-ed/ surfaces as [d] after voiced sounds (e.g., 'played' /pleɪd/): the dental/alveolar ending is voiced [d] to agree with the preceding
Card 10
Question: What is regressive assimilation of voice and how does it differ from progressive assimilation?
Answer: Regressive assimilation is when a sound is influenced by a following sound (the influence moves backward). It differs because the later sound conditio