Phonetics and

phonology

Connected speech processes

Deletion and hiatus avoidance

Szczecin University

April 29, 2014

Structure of the talk



Lenitions and fortitions



Vowel deletion



Consonant deletion



Hiatus avoidance (linking)

Lenitions and fortitions



Phonological processes – help

speakers overcome articulatory
difficulties.



Lenitions – speaker-friendly processes.



Fortitions – listener-friendly

processes.

Vowel deletion



Established cases of vowel deletion:



- initially: state, scholar



- medially: evening, chimney, Gloucester



- finally: time, name, hands <handes>,
eaten

Vowel deletion in PresD English



Present Day English: affected vowels /ɪ,
ə/



C + /ə/ + /r/ + WV e.g. factory,
territory



C + /ə/ + /l/ + WV e.g. family,
bachelor,



C + /ə/ + /r/ or /l/ e.g. parade, police,
terrific



F + /ə/ + S e.g. phonetics,
thermometre,

Types of CVC sequences



6 types of CVC sequences in which the
flanking consonants were:



homorganic segments of the same manner of
articulation, e.g. detective,



homorganic segments of different manner of
articulation, e.g. surrounding,



heterorganic stops, e.g. together,



heterorganic continuants, e.g. sophisticated,



heterorganic stop – continuant sequences,
e.g. believe,



heterorganic continuant – stop sequences,
e.g. suppose.

English, Russian and Polish data

Consonant deletion



Established changes:



initially: hlaford, write, know, gnat,



medially: listen, castle, but often



finally: lamb, thumb, hymn,

Consonant deletion in PresD English



Present Day English:



further simplification of consonant clusters: wristwatch,
handbag, mostly, windmill, etc.



Plosive deletion across word boundaries, e.g. can’t do



The loss of [ɫ] after [ɔː]: always, already, although



The loss of [f] in of: lots of people



h-dropping – the loss of [h] in pronouns and function
words.

Consonant deletion in other languages



wristwatch wszystko

участник



handbag istnieje

счастливый



landlord zachłystnąć

сердце



glimpse porządny

солнце



jumped scięgno

гангстера



just one pielęgniarka поздно



exactly osiągnięcie

нравственный



perfectly odstępstwa

костный

Simplification of consonant clusters



Constituents of a cluster are produced by
different organs (or different parts of the
tongue)



The process depends on the position a
given sound occupies within the syllable:



coda plosives preceded by a homorganic
segment (e.g. glimpse, następstw)



coda plosives flanked by heterorganic
segments (e.g. perfect memory)



onset plosives following a homorganic
segment (e.g. счастливый)



onset plosives preceded by a heterorganic
consonant (not attested).

Hiatus avoidance (linking)



Hiatus – a sequence of two vowels belonging to
different syllables, e.g. do exercises, going,
drawing.



Vowel sequences are not sufficiently perceptible,
therefore they are dispreferred.



Hiatus avoidance strategies:



heterosyllabification (CV1 + V2 > CV1.V2)



diphthong formation (CV1 + V2 > .CV1V2.)



consonant epenthesis (CV1 + V2 > CV1C

e

V2)



vowel elision (CV1 + V2 > CV1 or CV2)



glide formation (CV1 + V2 > .CV1G)



coalescence

(CV1 + V2 > .CV3.)

Hiatus avoidance in English



English resolves hiatus by means of consonant
epenthesis and, occassionally, by means of glide
formation.



Consonant epenthesis (linking), e.g. going [ˈgəʊʷɪŋ],
the apple [ðiʲæpl], drawing [drɔːʳɪŋ].



The use of a given linking (epenthetic) consonant is
determined by the articulatory characteristics of the
first vowel.



Glide formation, e.g. two or three [tuːʷɔːθriː] can be
realised as [twɔːθriː].

Thank you