Phonetics and

phonology

Phonological processes in

conversational English

Szczecin University

May 6, 2014

Structure of the talk



Factors influencing casual speech

reduction



Schwa absorbtion (deletion)



Spirantisation



Tapping

Speech reduction



And the scientists are always saying that

there’s no life on Mars.



ændðəˈsaɪəntɪstsɑɹɔːlwɪzˈseɪɨŋðætðɜɹznəʊ

ˈlaɪfɒnmɑːɹz



V

CCC

VCVV

CCC

VCVCCVCCVCVCCVCCVC CVCC



nəˈsaɪənsɹɔːɪˈseɪnəttɜɹsnəʊˈlaɪfɒnmɑːɹz



CVCVCVCCVCVCV CVCCCV CVCVCVCC

Factors influencing reduction

Low reduction High reduction



Frequency infrequent

frequent



Discourse

focal non-focal



Rate slow

fast



Function stressed unstressed

(in a word) beginning end
(in a syllable)

onset coda

(part of speech) content

function



Phonetic/Phonological

(environment) non-cluster

cluster

(place of articulation) non-alveolar alveolar



Morphological gerund

pr. participle

polymorphemic monomorphemic

Frequency



Frequent items are a lot more reduction-

prone than infrequent ones.



Physiological basis – the brain processes

words of high frequency more quickly.



Even deep reduction suffices to achieve

adequate communication.



You know what I mean – [j ːw m ]

ɔɔ

ʌɔ iɔ

Discourse



English – a topic-comment language, i.e. the

old information comes first, followed by the
new.



The topic portion is reduced to a greater

extent than the comment.

Rate



Fast rate is a sufficient cause for

reduction, but not a necessary one.



Most common fast speech processes

include: assimilations, deletions, linking,
spirantisation, monophthongisation, th-
stopping.

Membership in a linguistic unit



There exists a ‘strength hierarchy’ of prosodic
units.



Consonants that begin larger prosodic units (e.g.
phrases) are pronounced more fully than ones
found at the beginning of words.



In contrast, function words can be fully
pronounced in certain circumstances.



Tea or coffee?



Tea and coffee.

Phonetic and phonological factrors



Alveolars are more prone to reduction and non-
alveolars.



[n] > [m] > [ŋ]



[t, d, n, l] are more susceptible to change than [s, z].



Coda segments are more vulnerable than onset
ones, issue but Susan, as you know but Zeus.



Onset segment also undergo reduction, e.g. try,
drive.

Morphological factors



The morphological class to which a word

belongs can affect its realization.



Example: [n] is frequently pronounced

instead of [ŋ] in present participles of verbs
(he’s seeing, going, doing) but not in gerunds
(golfing, swimming, walking is his hobby)

Schwa absorption



Schwa absorption – a consonant takes on the

syllabic property of schwa.



Syllabic sonorants (all examples after

Schokey 2005)



finally

[faɪnll̩i]



unusual

[ʌnjʉːʒɫl̩]



thousand

[θaʊznl̩]



you can

[juɣŋl̩]



remember her [ɹɪˈmembɹl̩ɹl̩]

Syllabic fricatives



In English colloquial speech, fricatives can

become syllabic.



maximum

[mæksl̩məm],



forgot

[fl̩ˈgɒʔ]



I am

[ββ̃]

Spirantisation



Spirantisation – a change of a stop into a

fricative.



I go

[ɐɣo]



about

[əβæʊʔ]



bacon

[bɛːçən]



because

[bɨɣɔz]

Tapping



Tap – a ‘r-like’ sound that consists of one

closing gesture made by the tip of the tongue
against the alveolar ridge/the upper teeth.



getting

[geɾɪŋ]



put up

[pʊɾəp]



bottom

[baɾml̩]



whatever

[wʌɾevə]