CONNECTED SPEECH

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Ø  Background

What is connected speech?
When we speak naturally we do not pronounce a word, stop, then say the next word in the sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm and the words bump into each other. 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

Sounds link
Linking is a way of joining the pronunciation of two words so that they are easy to say and flow together smoothly. In English there are different ways that this happens.

Consonant to vowel linking – when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound.

Vowel to vowel linking – when certain vowels come next to each other an extra sound is added to make the link smooth.

Linking ‘r’
In standard British English (RP) the letter ‘r’ after a vowel sound at the end of word is often not pronounced. However, when the following word begins with a vowel the /r/ sound is pronounced to make a smooth link.

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

Sounds join together
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with the same consonant sound, we don’t pronounce two sounds – both sounds are pronounced together as one.

Sounds change
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with a consonant sound, depending on the particular sounds, the last sound of the first word or both the last sound and the first sound of the next word can change.

Ø  The Aim of The Paper

This paper made is for fulfill the assignment of Phonetic and Phonology assignment.

CHAPTER II

CONTENTS

Ø  Connected Speech

.So far, we’ve mainly looked at words in isolation, but this is rarely the way words occur in normal everyday speech. Here, we tend to only pronounce isolated words if we are listing them one at a time or enunciating them very clearly so as to avoid/clarify misunderstandings. In connected speech, many things change inside and in between words in order to facilitate communication/pronunciation and to make certain parts of the message more or less salient or to group items of information together.
Before we start looking at individual aspects of connected speech, though, we first need to do away with a few common myths or misnomers that have established themselves over a long period of time. These form part of a rather misguided idea about rhetoric or rhetorical skills.

Speech Rate

When people talk about rate of speech, they often make a distinction between ‘slow’ and ‘rapid’ speech. One fairly common notion is that slow speech is somehow better than a relatively fast rate of articulation, i.e. that ‘rapid’ speech tends to be less clear and understandable than slow speech. However, while it is quite possible that someone who is possibly overexcited and wants to bring a message across quickly may not enunciate quite as clearly as someone who speaks deliberately, someone who is skilled at speaking quickly, such as e.g. a sports commentator, will be able to keep up a fast rate of speech and still pronounce very clearly. On the other hand, someone who speaks too slowly will often either appear less than intelligent or at least fail to emphasise or group together relevant parts of the message and may thus even become less understandable to some extent.

Speech Styles

Another contrasting pair of expressions one may encounter is ‘careful’ vs. ‘colloquial’ speech, and some people may claim that careful speech is better than colloquial speech because the latter “is only an expression/sign of laziness”. The first thing we can reply to this is that colloquial is not really a term that applies to the phonetics of speech, but rather ought to be restricted to vocabulary/usage. As far as careful speech and in particular the issue of “laziness” is concerned, the latter is often meant to refer to certain processes of simplification – such as the ‘dropping’ of certain consonants, especially in clusters – that tend to occur in the speech chain in order to ease pronunciation. These processes are very normal in ordinary everyday speech and, on the contrary, it is actually excessive carefulness in enunciation that is unnatural because it affects the speech rate in the negative way discussed above, as well as possibly creating an impression of arrogance in the listener. Of course, there is nothing to say against the notion of carefully wording of one’s arguments, but this is a question of register, politeness and conciseness of expression, which fall more into the realms of semantics & pragmatics, rather than of phonetics/phonology.

Excerpt From Study Guide Connected Speech is the key to gaining a natural, smooth-flowing style of speech. People do not speak in separate words, they speak in logical connected groups of words. Even native speakers sometimes "stumble over their words" because they are unaware of the "little tricks" for avoiding the pitfalls. Trained actors, of course, are able to deliver lengthy, complex, and even "tongue-twisting" passages flawlessly. This is not a gift. They have simply learned the "rules" for linking one word into another with intention. When you've finished this tape, you'll know the rules, too; and with practice you'll become a fluent, polished speaker.

Direct Linking Linking Final Consonants Directly into Vowels

	Play and Link Linking Final Consonants Fully Played and Linked to Fully Played Non-related Consonants

Prepare and Link Prepare for the Final Consonant, and execute Related Consonant that it is linking into.

	Weak Forms A lot of the very small connecting words in speech are so de-emphasized, or unstressed, that they often take on a Weak Form.

Contractions We use these words so much that, we usually contract them together.

	Word Endings and Contractions Common Word Endings (Suffixes). These are mostly unstressed, and should be treated like weak forms.

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Dialogues Practicing Word Endings and Contractions These dialogues have a double emphasis. Practicing both Word Endings and Contractions within a context.

CHAPTER III

CLOSING

Ø Summary

Connected Speech is the key to gaining a natural, smooth-flowing style of speech. This is consist of :

Ø  Direct Linking

Linking Final Consonants
Directly into Vowels

Ø  Play and Link

Linking Final Consonants Fully Played
and Linked to
Fully Played Non-related Consonants

Ø  Prepare and Link Prepare for the Final Consonant, and execute Related Consonant that it is linking into.

Ø  Weak Forms

A lot of the very small connecting words in speech are so de-emphasized, or unstressed, that they often take on a Weak Form.

Ø  Contractions

We use these words so much that, we usually contract them together.

Ø  Word Endings and Contractions

Common Word Endings (Suffixes).
These are mostly unstressed, and should be treated like weak forms.

Ø  Dialogues Practicing Word Endings and Contractions

These dialogues have a double emphasis.
Practicing both Word Endings and Contractions
within a context.