PRONUNCIATION NO. 14: Connected Speech

English is characterized by an alternation of STRONG and WEAK syllables, making up a rhythmical pattern which, ideally, inserts 1-2 weak syllables between strong ones. This, of course, is not always possible. We have already learned about stress shift and how some words change their original stress position to accommodate to English rhythm.

Another effect weak syllables have is that they, many times, are not even pronounced: they become so weak, they just disappear from the speech. We have already seen this in words such as: ret(i)na, moun(t)ain, int(e)resting, p(o)lice, sim(i)lar, etc.

The reason why these syllables drop is to allow for a more fluent speech, especially because the speaker "does not have time to pronounce everything": strong syllables require a considerable amount of time and energy, and that can only be possible if weak syllables get reduced and compensate for the strong ones.

So it seems obvious that if we want to achieve a good fluency in English, we should remember to stress strong syllables and keep some weak syllables in between. But there are other things we can do to improve our fluency.

Blending

When 2 consonants appear across word-boundaries (as in "went to"), only the second consonant is pronounced. This blending process can even happen with different (yet, similar) consonants, such as p-g, t-d, and k-g. Read the following sentences:

Sickness kept Tom home the third week

I have uploaded dozens of files into the server

Keep calm and don't get obsessed about that job

They showed a new implementation of a previous speech system

This can be used to build different systems

He introduced us to his German niece while in Berlin

Are you coming out tonight?

You must tell him the truth

The pharmacist tried to stop the argument

Please, place some of those books on top of the shelf

He has several cars and five yachts

They save very fine jewelry for their children

Very few people like to be alone

Mike couldn't convince Sarah of the opposite

Why don't you help me find a solution for this mess?

They went to the cinema last Tuesday

When did you decide to come here?


Deletion 

1) Many English words end with 2 or 3 consonants. When these words are followed by others which also begin with a consonant, the last consonant of the former word is not pronounced. For example: firs(t) three, las(t) plane, can'(t) think, fron(t) building, etc.

Read the following sentences paying attention to those consonants which can get deleted:

It must be 3 o'clock already

He asked you and me to spend a weekend in the mountains

His interest for Shannon disappeared when he met Susan

The Nile is the longest river in the world

The Vatican is the smallest country in the world

The last person to leave can lock the door

IMPORTANT: The last consonant cannot drop if it is a suffix: plural, past, comparative, etc. otherwise the entire sense of the sentence would be truncanted.

2) An important (and very unknown) case of deletion happens with some specific pronouns that begin with /h/: him, her, and also with "have". When these words are preceded by another word that ends with a consonant, native speakers tend to omit the /h/. For example:

I told (h)er about it = tolder
Please, ask (h)im to arrive early today = askim
You shouldn't (h)ave done that horrible thing = shouldn'tav

Read the following sentences:

She bought him a ticket before the concert began

I would have known he was coming

Please, let her go, she is innocent

Tomorrow we'll ask him to tell us about it

You could have warned me!

I like her very much

PRONUNCIATION NO. 14: Long Words

English is typically a monosyllabic language. That is, the majority of the words in the lexicon have 1 syllable. This accommodates well to the English rhythm, with strong and weak words. Strong words are those words that bear stress, as the words "boy", "there", "when", "sun", and "rose" in the sentence:

The boy was there when the sun rose

So, when we read this sentence, we emphasize the words in boldface.

Primary and Secondary Stress

When polysyllabic occurs, it may be difficult to know where to place the stress. An important reason for this is that English long words may have 2 stresses: primary and secondary. For example, the word "international" has 2 stresses:

- Primary stress on "na"

- Secondary stress on "in"

Below you will find more examples of stress on English words:

abo'lition

po'lice

se'mester

ma'lignancy

'theater

fan'tastic

These aforementioned words have only one stress. When that happens, that stress is always the "primary stress". The words below have 2 stresses: primary (') and secondary (,)

i,nocu'lation

,engi'neer

,fore'knowledge

par,tici'pation

'passion,flower

par,ticu'larity

Suffixes may attract stress

Sometimes, the stress can be predicted. For example, words ending with suffixes such as -tion, -ic, -ical, -ically, -tial, -atory, -city, -ese, -ee have primary stress on the syllable immediately before the suffix:

abo'lition

po'litically

la'boratory (vs. 'lavatory)

coa'lition

po'lemically

in'formative

fan'tastic

i'nitial

su'perlative

po'lemic

po'tential

,elas'ticity

po'litical

,influ'ential

,elec'tricity

po'lemical

pre'paretory

Chi'nese

,emplo'yee

Notice that when the primary is at the end, preceded by 2 syllables (as in "electricity" and "elasticity") the secondary stress is placed 2 syllables before.

So, suffixes can help us choose primary stress, because this primary stress goes precisely before the suffix. However, suffixes are not always there to help. See:

com'ponent

'category

,trans'parent

'secondary

'enterprise

pa'rameter

Stress in compound words

A compound word is a word made up of 2 words that come together to create a new meaning.

An important thing to remember is that compound words usually have the stress on the first part of the compound. But there may exist exceptions to this rule.

'nut,cracker

'news,paper

'flowerpot

'ladybug

'eyebrow

'bedtime

'handbag

'lipstick

'birthday

'scarecrow

'butterfly

'New York

Adjective + Noun

When we have an adjective and a noun, we stress the noun with the primary stress, the adjective with the secondary stress:

,nice'man

,clean'stress

,black'board

,green'house

This is, in fact, how we distinguish between:

'black,board (in a classroom) from a ,black'board (in a box)

'green,house (to grow flowers in cold wheather) from ,green'house (the house is painted in green)

Stress shift

English is so strict about strong and weak forms, that sometimes, the original stress of a words shifts. Remember the sentence:

The boy was there when the sun rose

We have 5 strong words, more or less distributed across the sentence.

WEAK-STRONG-WEAK-STRONG-STRONG-WEAK-STRONG-STRONG.

This distribution is almost perfect: the sentence sounds slightly like an accordion, with ups and downs. It is usually impossible to have the perfect rhythmical sentence in English, with at least one weak syllable in between strong syllables. However, the language tries hard to respect its rhythm. In fact, when too many strong words go together, stress can be shifted to avoid not having weak syllables in between strong syllables. For example, the word Chinese has 2 different stress positions depending on the context (and the contact with a strong, stressed syllable):

The waiters were all Chinese

We went to the Chinese restaurant

While "Chinese" is stressed on the second syllable in the first sentence (this is the usual position), it is stressed on the first syllable in the second sentence. The reason is that "restaurant" is also stressed on the first syllable, and keeping the last syllable of "Chinese" stressed would break English rhythm.

Pronunciation

Silent -e-

Many words in English finish with a single -e- When that happens, this letter is usually silent and the previous syllable is pronounced with a diphthong:

/ai/

smile

type

side

abide

nice

fine

mine

/ei/

tame

lame

same

name

fame

sane

/o/

sore

before

more

/A/

done

some

tongue

Can you find other examples?

Spelling and pronunciation

There are 12 vowels in oral English, still, only 5 letters are used to represent them. Sometimes spelling, however, can be useful.

a) -o- in: son, tongue, ton, come.

b) -o- in: long, song, shot.

c) -ou- in: fought, sought, four.

d) -a- in: man, sand, land.

e) -i- in: fit, six, minute.

f) -ee- in: see, feet, need.

g) -oo- in: foot, good, look.

h) -oo- in: food, fool, wool.

i) -u- in: full, put.

j) -u- in: luck, cut, nut.

Can you find more examples for this list? More sounds to add to the list?

Pronunciation of the -d/-ed suffix (past tense)

Formation of the past tense & past participle

The past tense and the past participle of the verbs in English can be formed in 2 different ways:

a) Regular verbs add the suffix -ed (-d when the verb ends with "e") to the infinitive: for example, "talk" (infinitive) = "talked" (past), or "decide" (infinitive) = "decided" (past)

b) Irregular verbs change the infinitive form, there is not a rule to understand the formation here.

Pronunciation of the -d/-ed suffix

The most complicated part of this suffix is its pronunciation. We can find 3 types of pronunciation, according to the pronunciation of the last sound of the infinitive:

1) Last sound of the verb in the infinitive is VOICELESS (– p – k – s – ch – sh – f – x – h):
-d/-ed = [t]

2) Last sound of the verb in infinitive is VOICED (– l – v – n – m – r – b – v – g – w – y – z):
-d/-ed = [d]

3) Last sound of the verb in the infinitive is /d/ or /t/:
-d/-ed = [id]

EXCEPTIONS!!!

The pronunciation of this suffix has several exceptions. They all adjectives that didn't evolve into the standard pronunciation that we have now and that has been described above. Some of them are: wicked, blessed, learned, beloved, ragged, and naked.

wicked /ˈwɪk.ɪd/ adj

• old-fashioned morally wrong and bad

It was a wicked thing to do

Of course, in the end, the wicked witch gets killed

It was the wicked and wild wind

Near synonyms: evil; naughty 

• old-fashioned slightly immoral or bad for you, but in an attractive way

a wicked grin (grin= wide smile)

a wicked sense of humour

blessed /ˈbles.ɪd/ adj

• /ˈbles.ɪd//blest/formal holy

Blessed are the meek (=quite, gentle, not willing to fight) for they shall inherit the Earth

• /ˈbles.ɪd/literary bringing you happiness, luck, or something you need

blessed peace/rain/silence

a blessed relief

learned /ˈlɜː.nɪd//ˈlɝː-/ adj

• formal describes someone who has studied for a long time and has a lot of knowledge

a learned professor

beloved /bɪˈlʌv.ɪd/, /-ˈlʌvd/ adj slightly formal

• loved very much

Her beloved husband died last year

She was forced to leave her beloved Paris and return to Lyon

Eric was a gifted teacher beloved by all those he taught over the years

ragged /ˈræg.ɪd/ adj

• (of clothes) not in good condition; torn

The children were wearing dirty ragged clothes.

• (of a person) untidy, dirty and wearing old torn clothes

Two ragged children stood outside the station begging for money

• (especially of an edge) rough and not smooth

The leaves of this plant have ragged edges

The patient's breathing was ragged (= not regular) and uneven

A ragged (= not straight) line of people were waiting at the bus stop

• not performing well, because of not being organized

The team were rather ragged in the first half of the match, but improved in the second half.

naked /ˈneɪ.kɪd/ adj

• not covered by clothes

a naked man

naked bodies

stark naked (= completely naked)

US informal buck/butt naked (= completely naked)

He was naked to the waist (= not wearing clothes above his waist)

The children were half naked (= partly naked)

They stripped naked (= took off their clothes) and ran into the sea

• Something that is naked does not have its usual covering

a naked flame/light bulb (= one with nothing surrounding or covering it)

a naked hillside (= one without trees or plants)

LISTENING TO EXPLANATIONS

PRACTICE

1) Take a piece of paper and write as many examples as possible to show the 3 different pronunciations (results at the bottom of the post)

2) Click here if you would like to practice identifying the pronunciation of the -d/-ed suffix

3) Click here to further practice

4) Read the following text (check unknown words first):

OUR ENCHANTED ANNIVERSARY EVENING

A) It happened to be our anniversary when we traveled to Barcelona, so my wife Doris and I planned a special evening out. I purchased a beautiful bouquet of red roses that smelled wonderful and a black pearl necklace that sparkled in the moonlight. I beamed as I presented them to Doris. She pinned a rose to her sequined lapel. Her auburn hair shimmered in the sunset’s bronzed glow. I called a checkered taxi and we passed many highlighted sights before we arrived in front of the restaurant. The waiter seated us as soon as we walked into the neon-signed restaurant. I noticed a secluded table. (22 verbs)

B) We positioned ourselves near an opened window and prepared to eat. My wife Doris looked at the selections listed on the menu and decided to have an appetizer. I picked the mushroom soup. A few minutes later the waiter returned. “What would you like to have?”, he asked. Doris ordered some steamed shrimp and broiled trout. I requested a tossed Cesar salad with a grilled steak and a baked potato. While we dined, we chatted and sipped a glass of white wine. Doris wolfed down her food but I savored the meal and chewed my steak slowly. When she finished, she munched on some pretzels. She soon gobbled up all the pretzels in the small bowl placed on the table. Later, we nibbled on a slice of decorated cheesecake as we talked. I wanted some coffee with my dessert. Doris preferred to drink iced tea. After the salted pretzels, Doris needed to drink some water. The waiter finally handed me the bill and I offered him a tip. We tipped him 15% of the totaled charges. He thanked us and smiled as we exited the restaurant. (40 verbs)

C) Outside the now closed restaurant, we strolled along the cobble-stoned street, stopped and laughed when we spotted a trained puppy that jumped and played with its owner. We then relaxed and watched the sunset from a padded park bench as the boats in the harbor rocked, pitched and bobbed on the water. Next, we watched a romantic movie at a new cinema that interested us. The aged couple in the movie argued and chased each other as they sailed down an unnamed river that tumbled and surged through rapids which boiled around jagged rocks. Frequently they were trapped and scared. When the colorized movie ended the two discovered that they really loved each other. Finally, at the disco, we danced, swayed to the music and hugged each other often. Whenever I kissed Doris she blushed and giggled. Both of us enjoyed our enchanted evening out together. We hope you liked our story. (41 verbs)

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Results:
1) asked
baked
brushed
cooked
cracked
crashed
danced (da:ns) + t
dressed
dropped
escaped
finished
fixed
guessed
helped
hoped
hiked
joked
jumped
knocked
kissed
laughed (læf) + t
locked
looked
missed
mixed
packed
passed
picked
pressed
pushed
pronounced
relaxed
slipped
smoked
stopped
shopped
talked
typed
walked
washed
watched
worked

2) advised (ad’vaiz) + d
agreed
allowed
answered
appeared
arrived
believed
belonged
burned
called
carried
changed
cleaned
closed
covered
cried
damaged
described
died
dried
earned
encouraged
enjoyed
entered
explained
explored
filled
followed
happened
interviewed
imagined
jailed
killed
listened
lived
loved
measured
moved
opened
planned
played
performed
pulled
realized
remembered
rained
repaired
saved
shared
shaved
showed
signed
slammed
stayed
snowed
studied
tried
traveled
turned
used
welcomed
whispered
worried
yawned

3) attended
arrested
collected
contacted
counted
decided
defended
demanded
divided
ended
expanded
expected
exported
flooded
graduated
hated
hunted
included
invited
invented
landed
needed
painted
planted
printed
presented
pretended
protected
provided
rented
repeated
reported
respected
rested
scolded
skated
started
shouted
treated
visited
waited
wanted
wasted