Phonetics and

phonology

Standard connected speech

processes

Szczecin University

March 20, 2014

Issues to be discussed



Phonological processes vs. phonological rules



Phonostylistics



Features of connected speech phenomena



Assimilation of place



Assimilation of voice



Assimilation of manner

Phonological processes



A phonological process is “a mental

operation that applies in speech to
substitute, for a class of sounds or sound
sequences presenting a specific common
difficulty to the speech capacity of the
individual, an alternative class identical
but lacking the difficult property.”

Processes vs. rules



Processes:



possess synchronic
phonetic motivation



are inborn



apply subconsciously
only their absence is
noticeable



are exceptionless



apply to slips of the
tongue, loan words,
etc.



may be obligatory or
optional



Rules:



have no synchronic

motivation, but
possess a
grammatical function



have to be learned



are formulated

through observation



tolerate exceptions



are not productive



are obligatory, style-

independent

Features of phonological processes



Phonological processes are inborn,

natural, universal and mental.



The full repertoire of phonological

processes is available to the child at the
very beginning of the acquisition period.



The processes undergo supression,

limitation and ordering.



Phonological processes are believed to be

phonetically motivated.

Supression, limitation and ordering



Supression – speakers of a language

learn to block the application of a
process, e.g. word-final devoicing in
English as in bag, judge, lives, etc.



Limitation – the set of segments a given

process applies to or the set of contexts
it applies in is limited, e.g. obstruent
devoicing in Polish



Ordering – application of one process

creates a context in which another
process can take place.

Lenitions and fortitions



Lenitions – context-sensitive processes

that apply in weak positions and in
casual speech . They are speaker-
friendly processes that minimise
articulatory difficulties of speech.



Fortitions – context-free processes but

expected to apply in strong positions
and more formal styles. Their teleology
(i.e. ultimate purpose) is to maximise the
perceptual characteristics of speech
segments. Fortitions enhance
perceptibility and as such are listener-
friendly.

Phonological rules



Phonological rules are conventions that have to be
learned and observed by all speakers of a language.



Phonological rules are basically morphological.



Phonological rules can:



change features of segments



delete segments



insert segments



coalesce segments



permute or interchange segments (metathesis).



Examples: velar softening [pʌblɪk] - [pʌblɪsɪti], irregular
verbs and nouns.

Connected speech



Connected speech = natural (casual,

spontaneous) speech



Connected speech – an utterance

consisting of more than one word.



Sounds belonging to one word/syllable

can cause changes in sounds belonging
to the neighbouring word/syllable.



Connected speech processes include:

assimilations, deletions, linking
(consonant epenthesis).

Features of connected
speech



Articulation of any phoneme differs according

to the context in which it occurs



The phonetic features of a segment exert an

influence on the features of adjacent segments
(co-articulation)



Changes take place within words and across

word boudaries



Observable changes:



place of articulation



voicing



lip position



position of the soft palate.

Co-articulation within words



Lip-spread

Lip-rounded



pea, heap

pool, upwards



tea, beat

two, boot, twice



keep, speak

cool, quite



mean, seem

moon, somewhat



knee, seen

noon, onward



read

rude



feel, leaf

fool, roof

Co-articulation across word
boundaries



Labialisation – that one, thick one, shall

we, this way, etc.



Nasalisation – results from regressive

but also from progressive lowering of
the soft palate in the vicinity of a nasal
consonant



within words – man, innermost, sunny,

sing



at word boundaries – bring another,

come in, etc.

Assimilation



Assimilation refers to contextual

variability of speech sounds, by which one
or more of their phonetic properties are
modified and become similar to those of
the adjacent segments.

Progressive and regressive assimilation



Regressive assimilation – a sound

undergoing the process becomes more
similar to the following segment.



C1C2 C1 > C2



Progressive assimilation - a sound

undergoing the process becomes more
similar to the preceding segment.



C1C2 C1 < C2

Types of assimilatory
change



Assimilation of place



[gʊd bɔɪ] → [gʊb bɔɪ]



Assimilation of voice



[dɒg] + [s] → [dɒgz]



Assimilation of manner



[ɪn ðə stri:t] → [ɪnnə stri:t]

Place assimilation in English



The alveolars/dentals tend to assimilate

to the place of articulation of the
following segment (regressive
assimilation).



The propensity of /n/ for place

assimilation can be accounted for by the
fact that a nasal can be produced in
most places of articulation.

Special cases



bacon

[̍beɪkən] > [beɪknn̩] > [beɪkŋn̩]



cotton [̍kɒtən] > [̍kɒtnn̩]



happen [̍hæpən] > [̍hæpnn̩] > [̍hæpmn̩]

Yod coalescence

s

ʃ

z

ʒ j

t

ʧ

d

ʤ



issue



as you know



I want you to know



could you

Voice assimilation



Voice assimilation can be of two kinds



[-voice] → [+voice]



[+voice] → [- voice]



bags , lives , Bob’s



live separately, good cheese



Differences between Polish and English:

no regressive voicing in English.

I like that black dog

Assimilation of manner



The interdental /ð/ tends to be realised

in various ways depending on the
phonological context in which it finds
itself.



/ð/ can be realised as:



a nasal sound, e.g. in the street,



a plosive, e.g. read these.

Assimilation of manner

involving other obstruents



/d→n/

He wouldn’t do it

[hɪ ˈwʊnn duː

ɪt]



good news

[gʊn ˈnjuːz]



/d→g→ŋ/

He wouldn’t go [hɪ ˈwʊŋŋ gəʊ]



/d→b→m/ Good morning

[gʊm mɔːnɪŋ]



/v→m/

You can have mine [jʊ kŋ hæm

maɪn]



/z→n/

He doesn’t know [hɪ ˈdʌnn nəʊ]

Neutralisation of phonological contrast



Phonetic neutralisation, i.e. the

elimination of phonetic distinctions
between phonemes.



Phonological neutralisation - a situation

in which the listener cannot determine
which phoneme is represented by an
actual allophone in a given context.

Examples of phonological neutralisation



right pears - ripe pears,



[raɪt peəz] > [raɪp˺ peəz]



ran quickly - rang quickly



[ræn kwɪkli] > [ræŋ kwɪkli]



light cream - like cream



[laɪt kriːm] > [laɪk˺ kriːm]



Paris show - parish show



[̍pærɪs ʃəʊ] > [pærɪʃ ʃəʊ]



what’s your weight - watch your weight



[wɒts jɔː weɪt] > [wɒʧ jɔː weɪt]



trzysta – czysta



[tʃɨsta] > [tt͡ʃɨsta]



chcę – chce



[xt͡ts ] >

ee

[xt͡tse]

Thank you