Connected Speech

Introduction

In English (much the same as in other languages) we don’t say every word individually and in isolation. What tends to happen is a joining of words which makes it essentially easier for the speaker. Although this connected speech can make things difficult to understand for learners of English (and may take some time to practise), it is a useful area to get right.

Let’s look at some of the ways speech becomes connected in English.





Joining s’s

When a word ending in a voiced or voiceless ‘s’ is followed by a word beginning with a voiced or voiceless ‘s’ then we can join these together into a single sound.

This spaceship

Those sausages

These stars

Pass something

Bus seven





Joining m’s / n’s

We can do the same with our m’s and n’s. Just join them into one longer, continuous sound.

Tom might Kim mistook Hen night Lone knight Pen knife





Glottal Stops

For words that end and start with the same sound, or even from the same voiced / voiceless pairing, we can use a glottal stop. Let’s look at the following example: –

Cat toy

Instead of pronouncing the ‘t’ sound at the end of “cat”, we can hold the sound and then release it on the ‘t’ sound of “toy”. Again, this can also be done with voiced / voiceless pairings, so we can do the same with: –

Bad toy

Here are some more to practise with: –

Look closely

Take care

Speak clearly

Pet dog

Last time







Catenation

Even when the two sounds aren’t the same, we can still link them. This is often the case when one word ends with a consonant and the next word starts with a vowel.

What apple Cup of His eyes Write up Get in





Weak Forms

Often there are words that we will pronounce quieter and weaker than other words in a sentence, these are called weak forms. “and” is commonly used in this way and will often be nothing more than an ‘n’.

Fish and chips Two hundred and three Black and white Up and down Right and wrong





