Lexical words:

• Nouns
• Verbs Stressed
• Adjectives
• Adverbs

Structural words:

• Determiners
• Pronouns
• Prepositions Usually not stressed
• Conjunctions
• Auxiliaries

Structural words only stressed when:

• Cited
• Emphasis
• Demonstrative
• Negatives
• Foregrounding
• Comparative
• Final prepositions and auxiliary verbs
• Different grammatical functions

Weak forms

Words change their strong vowel to /ə/

Prepositions:

• At: /ət/
• For: /fə(r)/
• From: /frəm/
• Of: /əv/
• To: /tə/

Auxiliary verbs:

• Am: /əm/
• Are: /ə(r)/
• Can: /kən/
 • Do: /də/
• Does: /dəz/
• Had: /həd/ /əd/
• Has: /həz/ /əz/
• Have: /həv/ /əv/
• Must: /məst/
• Shall: /ʃəl/
• Should: /ʃəd/
• Was: /wəz/
• Were: /wə(r)/
• Will: /wəl/
• Would: /wəd/ /əd/

Conjunction articles

• A: /ə/
• An: /ən/
• As: /əz/
• But: /bət/
• Some: /səm/
• Than: /ðən/
• That: /ðət/
• The: /ðə/

Pronouns:

• Her: /hə(r)/ /ə(r)/

• Them: /ðəm/
• Us: /əs/
• You: /jə/
• Your: /jə(r)/

Auxiliary verbs

I can see Jhon was tryin.

aɪ kn siː ʤɒn wəz ˈtraɪɪŋ

Jhon has been trying too long.

ʤɒn əz bin ˈtraɪɪŋ tuː lɒŋ

He must try better.

hi məst traɪ ˈbɛtə

He must have been trying.

hi məst əv bin ˈtraɪɪŋ

Adverbs/ conjunctions / articles

A man and an old woman

ə mæn ən ən əʊld ˈwʊmən

The woman and the old man

ðə ˈwʊmən ən ði əʊld mæn

Some man and some old women

səm mæn ən səm əʊld ˈwɪmɪn

There are some books on the table.

ðər ə səm bʊks ɒn ðə ˈteɪbl

Some of the books in the shop are priceless.

sʌm əv ðə bʊks ɪn ðə ʃɒp ə ˈpraɪsl əs.

Pronouns

Tell them to ask her to show us your plans.

tɛl ðəm tʊ ɑːsk ə tə ʃəʊ əs jə plænz

Words which change their strong vowel to /I/ /i/

• Be: /bi/
• Been: /bɪn/
• He: /hi/
• Him: /hɪm/
• She: /ʃi/
• We: /wi/

I think he knows.

aɪ θɪŋk i nəʊz

I think she knows.

aɪ θɪŋk ʃi nəʊz

I think we know.
aɪ θɪŋk wi nəʊ

I´ve been robbed.

aɪ´v bin rɒbd

Words which change their vowel before vowel

B.C B.V
/I/ to /i/ Be /bI/ /bi/ bi aɪ bI ðeə
aɪ bi ˈəʊvə ðeə
He (h)I, /i/ (H)/i/ ɪf I wɒnts
ɪf i ɑːsks
She /ʃI/ /ʃi/ /ʃi/ ʃi wɒnts tʊ
ʃI ɔːt tʊ
/ə/ /u/ to /u/ Do /də/ /du/ /du/ wɒt də wi
dʊ ɔːl əv əz
wɒnt
To /tə/ /tu/ tə ˈdɛnmɑːk
tʊ ˈaɪlənd
You /ju/ /jə/ /ju/ wɪl jə kʌm
wɪl jʊ ɑːsk

B.C B.V
Add -r For /fə/ /fər/ fə ˈtəʊni
fər ˈælɪs
Her /(h)ə/ /(h)ər/ hə ˈmʌðə
hər ˈʌŋkl
There /ðə/ /ðər/ ðə kæn´tiː bi
ðər ɪz nɒt ˈɛni
Are /ə/ /ər/ ə ðeɪ ɔːl
ər ɔːl əv ðəm
Were /wə/ /wər/ wə ðeɪ ɔːl
wər ɔːl əv ðəm
Your /jə/ /jər/ jə ˈmʌðə
jər ɑːnt

H dropping

Weak forms which drop their initial H except at the beginning of utterances

• Had: /əd/
• Has: /əz/
• Have: /əv/
• He: /iː/
• Her: /ə(r)/
• Him: /ɪm/
• His: /ɪz/

Assimilation

It is what happens to a sound when it is influenced b one of its neighbours.

Progressive assimilation: When a sound influences the following sound.

Regressive assimilation: When a sound influences one which precedes it.

Assimilation of place

when a sound changes its place of articulation to another place, it is called assimilation of
place.

Assimilation of this kind is a regressive assimilation.

Alveolar stop assimilation

Alveolar stops Velar stops Bilabials Examples

[t] becomes /k/ /p/ that car: ðæt kɑː > ðæk kɑː
that man: ðæt mæn > ðæp mæn
[d] becomes /g/ /b/ Bad girl: bæd gɜːl > bæg gɜːl
Bad boy: bæd bɔɪ > bæb bɔɪ
[n] becomes /ŋ/ /m/ Ten keys: ten kɪːz > teŋ kɪːz
Ten pens: ten penz > tem penz

Alveolar fricative assimilation

The alveolar stop /s/ may become post alveolar fricative / ʃ/

ðɪs ʃuː > ðɪʃ ʃuː

/z/ may become /ʒ/ if followed by the palatal approximant /j/

ðəʊz jɪəz > ðəʊʒ jɪəz

Alveolar Syllabic Nasal Assimilation

progressive assimilation

/n/ could become bilabial /m/ when preceded by a bilabial

open /'əʊpən/ /'əʊpn/ /'əʊpm/.

could become velar /ŋ/ if preceded by a velar plosive in the same word and followed by a
consonant in the same or next word or by a pause

bacon / 'beɪkən/ / 'beɪk n/ /'beɪkŋ/

 Assimilation of manner

assimilation of manner refers to two neighbouring sounds becoming similar in their manner of
articulation.

An example the progressive could be in shut your mouth when pronounced rapidly. Here, the
approximant /j/ can be articulated with a narrow gap between the speech organs under the
influence of the preceding /t/.

An example of the regressive could be in that side /ðæs saɪd/ and in good night /gʊn naɪt/. In
/ðæs saɪd/, the plosive /t/ becomes fricative /s/, and in /gʊn naɪt/, the plosive /d/ becomes
nasal /n/.

Assimilation of voice

This type of assimilation is represented in noun plural marker, the possessive and the singular
present tense which always agree in voicing with the preceding obstruent consonant
(regressive).

Examples:

dogs /d gz/: /s/ becomes /z/ to agree in voicing with /g/.

cats / kæts/: /s/ becomes /s/ to agree in voicing with /t/.

killed / kɪld/: /d/ agrees in voicing with /l/.

voiced / vɔɪst/: /t/ agrees in voicing with /s/.

[s] becomes
/s/ if preceded by /z/ if preceded by /ɪz/ if preceded by
a voiceless non-sibilant a voiced non-sibilant sibilants
[p], [t], [k], [f], [θ] [b], [d], [g], [l], [m], [n], [r], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ], [tʃ ], [dʒ]
[v], [j]

Elision

Some of the sounds that are heard if words are pronounced slowly and clearly appear not to
be pronounced when the same words are produced in a rapid, colloquial style, or when the
words occur in a different context.

These "missing sounds" are said to have been elided.

Elision of vowels

It usually happens when a short, unstressed vowel occurs between voiceless consonants, e.g.
in the first syllable of 'potato', the second syllable of 'bicycle', or the third syllable of
'philosophy'.

Elision also occurs when a vowel occurs between an obstruent consonant and a sonorant
consonant such as a nasal or a lateral this process leads to syllabic consonants, as in 'sudden' /
sʌdn /, 'awful‘ /ɔ: fl / (where a vowel is only heard in the second syllable in slow, careful
speech).

Elision of consonants

It happens most commonly when a speaker "simplifies" a complex consonant cluster: 'acts'
becomes / aks / rather than / akts /, 'twelfth night' becomes / twelθ naɪt / or /twelf naɪt /
rather than / twelfθ naɪt /. It seems much less likely that any of the other consonants could be
left out: the /l/ and the /n/ seem to be unelidable.

Liaison (Linking)

In general this is not something that speakers need to do anything active about - we produce
the phonemes that belong to the words we are using in a more or less continuous stream, and
the listener recognises them (or most of them) and receives the message.

linking r

This is the best-known case of liaison in English. Many words in English ('car', 'here', 'tyre') are
pronounced with a final / r / in rhotic accents such as General American or Scots but which in
RP end in a vowel when they are pronounced before a pause or before a consonant.

However, when they are followed by a vowel, RP speakers pronounce /r/ at the end ('the car
is‘ /ðəkɑ: rɪz /)

Her English is excellent. (/r/ is pronounced)

Her German is absolutely awful, though! (/r/ is not pronounced)

movement of a single consonant

Another aspect of liaison in English is the movement of a single consonant at the end of an
unstressed word to the beginning of the next if that is strongly stressed.

A well-known example is 'not at all', where the / t / of 'at' becomes initial (and therefore
strongly aspirated) in the final syllable for many speakers.

Linking

when two vowel sounds meet, speakers often link them in various ways.

Linking j

I agree, wholeheartedly. /aɪjə /

I think, therefore I am. /aɪjəm/

Linking w

Go on! Go in! / gəʊwon/ /gəʊwɪn/

Are you inside, or are you outside? /ju:wɪn / /ju:waʊt/

 Yod coalescence

In English phonetics Yod coalescence is a form of assimilation –it is aphenomenon which takes
place when /j/ is preceded by certain consonants most commonly /t/ and /d/:

/t/ + /j/ = /tʃ/

•…but use your head!

/bə tʃu:z jə hed/

•What you need….

/wɒtʃu ni:d/

/d/ + /j/ = /dʒ/

•Could you help me?

/kʊ dʒ u help mi/

•Would yours work?

/wʊ dʒɔ:z w3:k/

Do you and also did you are often pronounced as /dʒə/:

•Do you live here?

/dʒə lɪv hɪə /

•Do you live here?

•/dʒə lɪv hɪə /

Intrusion

Where two vowel sounds meet and there is no written letter r, speakers tend to introduce the

/r/ phoneme in order to ease transition (intrusive r). This happens when the first word ends in /ə/
/ a:/ / or /ɔ:/

e.g.

Princes Diana was a victim of media exploitation. / əre/

The media are to blame. / ər a:/

It’s a question of law and order. /ɔ:rən/

I saw it happen. /ɔ:ri/

The differences in the pronunciation of the underlined words, despite the fact that the phonemes
are the same, are differences of juncture.
The clock keeps ticking. /ki:ps tɪkɪŋ/

The kids keep sticking things on the wall.

/ki:p stɪkɪŋ/

Contractions

Contractions occur where two word combine to the extent that the two are pronounced as one
word, or one syllable.

Examples:

I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, we’re.