5.3 Nasal Plosion

At the junction of the plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the nasal sonorants [m, n] the articulation of the sonorant starts when the articulation of the plosive consonant is not yet finished. As a result of this the air stream passes through the nasal cavity producing the effect of nasal plosion. This phenomenon is regarded as one of the cases of assimilation of English consonants, e.g.: shouldn't, wouldn't, garden, Send me a letter.

Sound Drills

Ex. 1 Practice reading the following:

Modern, curtain, certain, certainly, couldn't, needn't, apartment, harden, hidden, pardon, ridden, suddenly, Aden, beaten, Britain, button, cotton, forgotten, mutton, rotten, written, blindness, madness, kidney, accurateness, brightness;

good news, tinned meat, cold milk, quite new, at night;

Good morning. Right now. Meet me at six.

Ex. 2 Use the above words and phrases in the reaction to the following:

1 What does the teacher say when she enters the classroom in the morning?

2 What kind of furniture do most people buy when they move to a new flat? 3 I'm afraid we can^’t postpone it. 4 Must I pay anything right now? 5 When shall I meet you tomorrow? 6 What will you have for lunch if you are going to spend the whole day in the forest?

Note:

If a sonorant stands before [d, t] there is no nasal plosion in this case.

E.g.: London, abandon, dependent, fountain, sentence, Southampton, Washington, Lampton.

5.4 Lateral Plosion

At the junction of plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the lateral sonorant [l] the plosion is heard during the pronunciation of the sonorant as the air stream passes along the sides of the tongue. This is the case of assimi­lation known as lateral plosion, e.g.: kettle, club, standard-lamp. I don^’t like it.

Sound Drills

Ex. 1 Practice the following words and phrases observing lateral plosion:

Fiddle, medal, muddle, needle, riddle, saddle, cattle, fatal, gentle, metal, settle.

Don't be idle. It was a model performance. He sidled away. Sheila is a meddlesome little lady. She settled right in the middle of a patch of nettles. Mabel drinks two bottles of milk a day. The new metal is brittle.

Ex. 2 Read the following and answer the questions using the above words and phrases.

table	people	blackboard	That'll do.
plate	please	classroom	not large
glass	little	well-planned	I'd like some butter.
bottle	article	vacuum-cleaner	I must leave.

1 Shall I go on reading?

2 Is your flat large?

3 Shall I put some more sugar on your porridge?

4 What are you translating now?

5 What do you usually see in the kitchen?

6 What do you need to clean a carpet?

7 What word do you usually use in a request?

8 Can you speak English well?

9 Can you stay a bit longer or must you leave right now?