Assimilation

Speaking skills (2)

Assimilation, linking and elision

          In place assimilation, the sound changes to match a following phoneme or the phoneme before it.  When alveolar sounds /t/, /d/ and /n/ come face to face with bilabial speech sounds like /p/, /b/ and /m/, the alveolar speech sounds merge with the bilabial speech sounds.  For examples:

         

          t-----p          test-paper  --- /'tespeIpə(r)/        test pen  ---    /'tespen/    

          t ----b           taste bud ---  /'teIsbΛd/                textbook  --- /'teksbUk/

          t ----m          great men --- /'greImen/             pocket money --- /'pɒkI'mΛnI

                  

          d --- p                   grand palace ---  /'grӕn'pælIs/           good morning --   /gU'mɔrnIŋ/       

          d----b           red bag ---  /'rebӕg/         bad boy --- /'bӕbɔI/

          d----m          dead mouse ---  /'demaUs/           red mark  ---  /'remɑ:k/

          n----p           green peace  ---  /'gri:npi:s/

                              down payment  ---  /daUnpeImənt/

          n----b           brown boots  ---  /’braUmbu:ts/   ten banks ---  /'tembӕŋks/

                             

But for n----b, you still hear mild /n/ sound though your tongue does not touch alveolar ridge when you say ‘brown boots’ or ‘ten banks’.

          n----m          question mark ---  /'kwesʧəmɑ:k  /        ten men --- /'temӕn/

         

          When  the alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/ come face to face with velar sounds /k/ and /g/, again you see the merging of the alveolar sounds /t/ and /d/ with the following phoneme /k/ and /g/ .  For examples:

          t----k            pet cat           ---  /'pekӕt/                   rat cage ---  /'rӕkeIʤ/

          t----g           best girl  ---  /'besg3:l/      smart girl  ---  /'smɑ:g3:l/

         

          However, when /n/ approximates /k/ and /g/ sound in connected speech, it changes into /ŋ/ sound.  For examples:

          n----k           brown car  ---  /'braUŋˌkɑ:(r)/  ten cards  ---  /'teŋˌkɑ:d/

          n----g           ten girls  ---  /'teŋˌg3:lz/              golden gown  ---  /'gəUˌdəŋ'gaUn/

          For voicing assimilation, whether the letter ‘s’ in plural noun or verb will have /s/ or /z/ sound depends on the ending letter of the word to be voiced or voiceless speech sound.  In another case, whether the letter clusters ‘ed’ will have /t/ or /d/ sound also depends on the ending letter of the word to be voiced or voiceless consonant speech sound.

9 Voiceless consonants

--->  p, *t,  k,  ʃ,  ʧ,  f, *s, θ,   h

15 voiced consonants

---> b,  *d,  g, ʒ,  ʤ, v,  (z), ð,    m, n, ŋ,  l,   r,   (w),   (j)  

Word forms / Parts of Speech

1.  Nouns      2.  Pronouns      3.  Verbs      4.  Adjectives       5.  Adverbs

6.  Conjunctions      7.  Prepositions       8.  Exclamations      9.  Determiners

Of the 9 word forms, only Nouns and Verbs which we have to add / suffix ‘s / es’ to make the word singular or plural.  They both follow the same rule as far as ‘s / es’ are concerned.

For the words that end in ‘s, z, x, ch, sh or o ’, the letters ‘es’ are added to the words, the rest you just add ‘s’.

For examples

Nouns / verbs

          Singular                           Plural  

          bus    /b ʌ s/                    buses    / bʌsIz/  / bʌsəz/

          buzz                                buzzes

          box                                 boxes

          watch                              watches

          ash                                  ashes

          wash                               washes

          do                                   does

General

For the plural nouns or verbs that we add ‘s’,  they may have either /s/ or /z/ sound.

When we add ‘s’ to the nouns / verbs, the speech sounds of the last letter of which are voiceless such as /p, t, k, θ and f /(5), then the speech sound of the letter ‘s’ is /s/.

For examples,

Nouns/ Verbs

          Singular                           Plural

          shop   / ʃɒp/                    shops / ʃɒps/

          test                                 tests

          stick                                sticks

          truth                               truths

On the other hand, when we add ‘s’ to the nouns / verbs the speech sounds of the last letter of which are voiced such as /b, d, g, v, ð, m, n, ŋ, l and r  /(10), then the speech sound of the letter’s’ is /z/

Nouns / Verbs

          Singular                           Plural

          tab                                  tabs  /tӕbz/

          card                                cards

          gag                                 gags

          knife                                knives

          ram                                 rams

          pan                                 pans

          song                                songs

          girl                                  girls

          ruler                                rulers

Forms of the Verb

For Forms of the Verb F3 and F4 which have ‘ed’, it may have /t/ sound or /d/ sound.

 The verbs which ended in voiceless consonant speech sounds like /p, k, ʃ, ʧ,  f, s, and (θ)/, when you add ‘ed’ , it has /t/ sound.  (ed = /t/)

For examples

          Base form                        Base form + ed

          shop                                shopped  / ʃɒpt/

          kick                                 kicked

          wash                               washed

          watch                              watched

          hoof                                hoofed

          kissed                              kissed

          berth                               berthed       

On the other hand,  the verbs which ended in voiced consonant speech sounds like /b, ӡ, ʤ, v, z, (ð), m, n, (ŋ), l and r/ when you add ‘ed’, the speech sound of which is /d/.  (ed = /d/)

For examples

          Base form                        Base form + ed

          rub                                  rubbed         /rʌbd/

          measure                           measured

          bridge                             bridged

          save                                saved

          ram                                 rammed

          hasten                                       hastened

          nail                                 nailed

          snare                               snared

However, when the last letter of the word is  ‘t, d or g’, when we add ‘ed’, it will have /Id/ speech sounds.

For examples:

          Base form                        Base form + ed

          interest                            interested  

          rest                                 rested  /restId/

          test                                 tested

          cloud                               clouded

          crowd                              crowded

          attend                             attended

rag                                  ragged

          rug                                  rugged

          bag                                 bagged