1. English Words and Sentences: Words in Connected Speech
Phonetics COMD Taylor
English Words and Sentences: Words in Connected Speech

2. Transcription Practice
[əˈdʒʌst]
[ɪmˈplɔɪ]
[ˈbʊkɪŋ]
[ˈfæntm̩]
[ɡɪˈtaɹ]
[ˈluzɚ]
[təˈɹeɪn] [tɚˈeɪn]
[ˈkɑfi]
[ˈðɛɹfɔɹ]
[ˈkɔfi]
[ˈlɪsn̩]
[ˈstɹʌkʃɚ]
[ˈfaʊntn̩]
[ˈʃtɹʌkʃɚ]
[ˈpitsa]

3. Word form and phonetic reduction
Citation (reading lists)
at least one stressed syllable (full form)
Connected speech
sometimes no syllable in a particular word is stressed (all sounds are reduced)
degree of reduction (variance from full form) depends on degree of emphasis
Q: what sorts of things get emphasized in conversation? (topics, e.g.) How does this sound?

4. Closed-class words and reduction
Strong form when emphasized
Weak form when not emphasized
CC words (determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, verb auxiliaries, etc.)
are rarely emphasized
“than,” “the,” “an,” “can” “gonna” / “gon”

5. Other common phonetic processes
Deletion
'last time' [læst taɪm] or [læs taɪm] ?
'most boys' [moʊst bɔɪz] or [moʊs bɔɪz] ?
Assimilation
Anticipatory
'ten bucks' [tɛm bʌks]
Perseverative
'it is'  'it's' [ɪt ɪz] [ɪts]

6. Stress Word stress varies depending on occurrence
Citation form vs connected speech
Examples?
“Would you?”
“THAT’S my umbrella.” vs “that’s MY umbrella!”
Stress is a relative concept
Why do we say that?

7. How do we determine stress?
From speaker's point of view:
usually results from additional muscular effort, respiratory energy
Hard to define from listener's point of view
usually higher pitch (but not always)
vowel is usually longer in duration
In practical terms: tap it out

8. What does stress do in English?
emphasizes/contrasts
can define parts of speech
'record', 'incline', etc.
BUT: 'market' vs “Marquette”
distinguishes compound nouns from adjective and noun
'blackboard' vs. 'black board'
distinguishes prefixes and suffixes from roots
'implore', etc.
'rewrite'?

9. Degrees of stress
Longer words at the end of utterances and in citation form may seem to have more than one stressed syllable
primary vs secondary stress?
'exploration'
result of non-reduced vowels?
'rodeo'

10. Sentence rhythm
As a rule, English does not allow stresses too close together in an utterance
stresses tend to occur at regular intervals
affects stress within individual words
'The ancient building hadn't been destroyed.'

11. Intonation Intonation = pattern of pitch changes
Pitch variation within an utterance is normal
try saying a sentence without changing pitch
degree depends on a number of factors
the syllable that carries the highest pitch bears the tonic accent

12. Intonation units do not necessarily coincide with grammar
are defined by natural breaks in spoken conversation
do not have a set rule for determination

13. IUs Example
(H) ... I would like to .. talk to you about these three items.
I have here,
(H) some ice in a pan,
(H) water in this glass,
and steam rising from this pot.
(H) .. Now=.
I would like to ask you,
how these three things.
Tell me please.
(H) How are they all alike.
(H) These three things.

14. Sentence intonation varies with meaning is used in English to indicate
‘The postman always rings twice.’
Say it straight, say it as a wisenheimer lol
is used in English to indicate
Y/N questions
end of a turn