3.5. The Reduction of Consonants Clusters (Elision)

The reduction of some consonant clusters was established long ago.

1) The initial [w, k, g] may be dropped.

e.g. write [raIt], know [nqu], gnat [nxt]

2) The medial [t] or [d] are dropped in a cluster of three consonants.

e.g. listen [ lIsn], soften [ sOfn], Wednesday [ wenzdI]

3) The final [b] is dropped in the cluster [mb].

e.g. lamb [lxm], dumb [dAm]

In other cases of recent formation the elided forms are typical only of rapid colloquial speech. In the following examples the elided sound is still pronounced in careful, precise speech, cf. often [Ofn] or [ Oftqn].

In present-day English the reduction of clusters continues to take place.

The plosives [t] or [d] in the clusters [st, ft, St, nd, ld, rd, Dd, vd] in final position when followed by a word with an initial consonant are often reduced in rapid speech.

e.g. last time [ la:s taIm], mashed potatoes [ mxSt pqteItqP, next day [ neks deI], old man [ qul mxn]

Word final clusters of plosives or affricates + [t] or [d], [pt, kt, Ct, bd, gd, dG] may lose the final alveolar plosive when the following word begins with a consonant.

e.g. kept quiet [ kep kwaIqt], lagged behind [ lxg bIhaInd]

The alveolar [t] of the negative -n’t is often reduced before a consonant.

e.g. You mustn’t do it. [ju mAsn du: It]

When [t] or [d] occur between two other plosives they are never heard.

e.g. locked gate [ lOk geIt], strict teacher [ strIk ti:tSq]

[h] may be dropped in the following monosyllabes when non-initial and unstressed: have, has, had; he, him, his, her; who.

e.g. Tell him he is wanted. [ tel Im Iz wOntId]

but: He's wanted. [hIz wOntId]

3.6. Exercises Weak Forms

Each of the following examples contains one or more of the words which often have weak forms. Transcribe the examples phonetically, showing the stressed syllables and the weak (or strong!) forms of those words:

They came to the door.	There were two of them.
What are you surprised at?	She is as old as the hills.
She has an uncle and a cousin.	I shall be angry.
Who will meet him at the airport?	I will.
What is her phone number?	What does that matter?
I would like some tea.	Well, make some.
What has John come for?	For his saw that you borrowed.
What can I do?	More than I can.
He was pleased, wasn't he?	Of course he was.
When am I going to get it?	I am not sure.
I have taken it from the shelf.	Yes, I thought you had.
They had already read it.	But so had I.

Rhythm Units

Practise the following examples, beating the rhythm of the stressed syllables as you go and varying the lengths of the syllables so as to keep the stress groups equal in length. Mark a stress group with a straight line and a rhythm unit with a wavy line first acccording to semantic tendency and then according to enclitic tendency:

Take it home.	Take it to John.	Take it to Johnson.
Light the fire.	Lighting the fire.	He was lighting the fire.
He was most amusing.	He was very amusing.
John was late.	Jenny was late.	Jennifer was late.
He's just ten.	He's just seven.	He's just seventy.
It's a hard job.	It's a tricky job.	It's a difficult job.
It was a really good meal.	It was a really pleasant meal.	It was a really excellent meal.
He plays very well.	He's playing very well.	He's playing it very well.
You did it rather well.	You did it rather better.	You did it rather cleverly.