7

Практична фонетика

3 Семестр

Матеріали до практичних занять

Rules for Linking Sounds in English

Rule 1: When a stop consonant is followed by another stop or by an affricate, the first stop is not released, which facilitates the linking:

e.g. pet◡cat. soap◡dish big◡dipper.

good◡ jury big◡church

Task 1. Practise the following words and word combinations, observing loss of plosion.

stepparent at dawn bookkeeper topcoat feedback

deep breath at dusk background stop calling good-bye

sharp pain at dinner big grief keep doing good bargain

herb bread at times talk calmly keep quiet great passion

step back about twelve look gorgeous flip copy sad picture

rob people sidetrack league club sharp contrast night club

Rule 2: When two identical consonants come together, there is one single, elongated articulation of the consonant (i.e. native speakers do not pronounce the consonant sound twice):

e.g. stop◡pushing Rob◡Bill less◡ serious.

Task 2. Practise the following word combinations with two identical sounds at a word juncture. Note that elision is not permissible here.

keep pace half full dark clouds short term

stop panicking chief functions block capitals part-time

soap powder brief form seek company hot-tempered

top pupil grave verdict make comments at table

Rule 3: Linking ‘r’. Those British speakers who don’t pronounce final ‘r’ will reintroduce it when the next word begins with a vowel:

e.g. more◡ interest

four◡ inches.

Task 3. Read the following phrases to yourself. Make sure you know all the words and expressions. Then practise the phrases aloud. Mind the use of linking /r/ at the junction of words.

an hour or two As far as I know

a quarter of an hour As far as I remember

a year and a half As far as I can see

an hour and a half As a matter of fact

Rule 4: When a word ending in a single consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the consonant is pronounced intervocalically as if it belonged to both syllables. For example, in the phrase ‘The dish is pretty’, ‘dish is’ sounds exactly like ‘dishes’.

E.g. dog◡ eat dog

black◡ and grey

Task 4. Read the following word combinations and phrases. Mark the links in them. Then practise the word combinations and phrases aloud.

an opera an office an artist

an interesting opera in an office an Irish artist

it’s an interesting opera works in an office a group of Irish artists

Rule 5. When a word or syllable ending in a consonant cluster is followed by a word or syllable beginning with a vowel, the final consonant of the cluster is often pronounced as part of the following syllable. The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as resyllabification.

E.g. lef/t◡arm wep/t◡over

fin/d◡out push/ed◡up

Task 5. Think of verbs ending in consonants that would complete the following phrases. Write one word in each blank. Then practise the phrases aloud.

_________ it on. _____________ at me.

_________ it down. _____________ out

_________ up. _____________ on it.

Rule 6: When a word that ends in a vowel is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, English speakers will often insert an extra sound in order to link the vowels together to make the flow of speech smoother and to avoid the ‘gap’ between the words (either a pause or unnecessary glottal stop).

Consonantal glides [w] and [j]

When two vowels meet at word-boundaries, English speakers insert very short, never articulated fully [w] or [j] glides. The choice of either [w] or [j] depends on the vowel that ends the first word. If the word final vowel is of u-type – [ʊ], [u:], [aʊ], [əʊ] – then the linking glide will be [w]. If the word final vowel is of i-type – [i:], [ɪ], [eɪ], [aɪ], [ɔɪ] – the linking glide [j] is inserted.

E.g. play(j) a game how often

tie(j) it up throw it all.

they(j) are slow and steady

cre(j)ate snow y

Task 6. Practise /w/ and /j/ links at the junction of words. Be sure to make the glides /w/ and /j/ sound very short.

[w] no^wentry, no^waccess, no^wanswer, how^wugly, too^wexpensive, to^walter, two^walternatives, a photo^wof a house, how^wabout, to grow^wold, to know^wall of them, go^wupstairs, now^wand then, how^ware you, who^wis he, here you^ware, you^wought to, sorrow^won you

[j] my(j)own, three(j)apples, key(j)issues, by(j)air, by(j)all means, body(j)and soul, enjoy(j)it, hurry(j)up, stay(j)away play(j)outside, happy(j)Easter, in the(j)evening, free(j)on Tuesday, to destroy(j)enemies, to deny(j)everything, to pay(j)a great deal

Task 7. Read the following utterances. Notice the intonation contour of the responses and attitudinal meanings .