Linking Sound Rules 3l3l6n

LINKING SOUND RULES Prepared By Thu Luong

Linking sounds/ Connected speech



Words are not always pronounced the same! In normal fluent speech the sounds can change when words bump into each other. The changes usually happen at the word boundaries, particularly at the end of words.

#1: Consonant to vowel

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When one word ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound there is a smooth link between the two.

 hold

on

 Sleep

in

 An

egg

 A box of

eggs

#1: Consonant to vowel  Hold on a second. Can you pick up some milk for us at the store.

 He is an old friend of mine.  School was cancelled because of all the snow.  Could you take a look at this?

#2: Same or similar consonants

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When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with the same consonant sound, we don't pronounce two sounds - both sounds are pronounced together as one.

 this style -> thistyle

 need to -> neeto/ needo  lot to -> loto  look cool -> lookool  nice sofa ->

#2: Same or similar consonants 

I'm a bit tired.

 We have a lot to do.  I think this song is about the singer’s black cat.

 You don’t need to prove it to them.

#2: Same or similar consonants

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The j sound /ʤ/ and ch sound /ʧ/ are the only affricate sounds in English. In a sequence of identical affricates, no special linking occurs and the sounds are pronounced twice in a row.

 Orange juice  Which chair  each choice

#3: Unreleased plosive consonants

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Plosive consonants (t, d, p, b, k, g) + consonants

 The sounds can be unreleased

 Would be  Stuck like this  good news  bad luck

#3: Unreleased plosive consonants 

We allowed them to jump to the front of the line.

 I just don’t want my kids to make the same bad mistakes I made.

#4: Consonants cluster

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When the sounds /t/ or /d/ occur between two consonant sounds, they will often disappear completely from the pronunciation.



Just need

 Diamond ring  Kept going

#4: Consonants cluster  I'm going next week

That was the worst job ever had! Just one person came to the party! I can'(t) swim

#5: “n”, “s”, “z” + “th” sound

 “n”, “s”, “z” + “th” sound “th” sound can be dropped

 is that -> isat  in there -> inere

#5: “n”, “s”, “z” + “th” sound



Yes, I guess that works for me.

 I put an apple on that table this morning.

#6: “nt” sound

 “nt” sound between vowels “t” sound can be dropped



International -> Inernational

 Sentimental -> senimental

#7: Vowel to vowel linking

 When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, another sound, a /w/ or /j/ can be added depending on the particular sounds to make a smooth transition.



Two

apples W

 He

ask J

#8: Assimilation: changing sounds

 Assimilation is a more drastic type of coarticulation. Instead of "sharing" part of a sound, the merged sounds are pronounced as an entirely different sound. Assimilation occur when the 't sound' /t/ or /d/ precede the 'y sound' /y/.



Don't you

 Did you