Cap 12 Cruttenden

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Cap. 12

Words in Connected Speech

12.1 Citation Forms and Connected Speech

Words as separable linguistic units are recognized in the sophisticated written form of English by the use ofspaces between words. Although in the continuous stream of speech there are no pauses between words

corresponding to such written spaces, words nevertheless show their independence by their ability tostand alone, e.g. as replies to questions and when being referred to or cited. Differences often existbetween the pronunciation of words in their cited, isolate form and their pronunciation in connected

speech, when they are subject to influences from other, surrounding sounds and from larger accentual andrhythmic patterns. The differences may concern the word as a whole, e.g. weak forms in an unaccentedsituation; or they may concern a word's accentual pattern, e.g. loss or movement of an accent due to itsposition in a larger accentual pattern; or they may involve the sounds used at word boundaries as inassimilations, elisions and liaisons. This variation between Isolate forms and context-influenced formsoften depends on the casual or formal nature of speech, the more formal and careful (and probablyslower) the delivery, the greater the tendency to preserve a form nearer to that of the isolate word.

12.2 Neutralization of Weak Forms

We have seen already (11.3) that a number of function words may have different pronunciations whenthey are accented (or said in isolation) and when, more typically, they are unaccented. Such is thereduction in the unaccented forms that words which are distinct when said in isolation may be neutralizedwhen unaccented. Such neutralization generally causes no problem to listeners of the high rate ofredundancy of meaningful cues; only rarely does the context allow a variety of interpretations anunaccented form. The examples of neutralization which follow might occur in casual (and usuali?) RP1.

// = unaccented are, a (and, less commonly, her, or of)

The 'plays are `poor

He plays a `poor man

She `wants a dog

She wants her `dog (less rapidly, with reduced // for her)

`One or 'two of them are 'coming (or // for or, // for of)

`Two books are `mine

`Two `books of `mine (or, less rapidly, // for of)

// unaccented have (aux.), of2

`Some of ,one piece...

`Some have ,won ...

The boys of Eton `fish

The boys have 'eaten 'fish

(The last two utterances being identical, the meaning is clear only from the larger context.)

1Byrd (1992a) found women reducing less than men.

2Native speakers often make written mistakes of the sort `I could of gone illustrating this neutralization.


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// = unaccented are, or

`Ten or 'under (less rapidly, // for or)

`Ten are 'under

// = unaccented the, there

There 'seems a 'chance

The seams are 'crooked

// unaccented is, has, does

`What's ('s = does or is) he like?

`What's ('s = has) he 'lost?

// unaccented is, has, does

`Where's ('s = has, less commonly does) he 'put it?

`Wheres ('s = is) he 'going

/ / = unaccented as, has

'How much has he 'done?

As "much as he can

// = unaccented and, an

On and 'off

'On an 'off-chance

// = unaccented and, not

Didn't/ he, do it? / /

He 'did and he didn't //

// = unaccented had, would

I'd ('d = had, would) 'put it 'here

12.3 Variation in the Accentual Patterns of Words

When a word (simple or compound) pattern in isolation of a primary accent preceded by a secondaryaccent, the primary accent may be lost, if, in connected speech, a strong follows closely, e.g.

thir 'teen, but thirteen pounds

West 'minster, but Westminster 'Abbey

'full-'grown, but a 'full-grown 'man

`after 'noon, but afternoon 'tea


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The secondary accent in the word rather than the primary may be lost when another word with secondaryaccent immediately precedes, e.g.

eight thir'teen; 'near West minster; not full grown; Friday after'noon

Such examples, and the others in this section, confirm the tendency in English to avoid adjacent accentedsyllables.

It is in order to avoid the placing of primary accents on adjacent syllables that 'accent shift' occurs inphrases such as 'Chinese 'restaurant (but Chi `nese), òutside 'world (but out'side), 'aquamarine 'necklace(but aquama'rine). Where the accents are separated by an unaccented syllable, the accent shift is optional,

e.g. diplo'matic, diplomatic 'incident or 'diplomatic 'incident; aquama`rine, aquama`rine ti'ara, 'aquamarinetiàra.

This tendency to the alternation of accented and unaccented syllables is so strong that the accent may beshifted in the case of certain words whose form contains only one, later accent but where a full voweloccurs in the preceding syllable, e.g. or'nate but 'ornate 'carvings; unique but 'unique 'features; and di`rectbut 'direct access. The alternation tendency extends into longer utterances and may be seen in examplessuch as i`dea but The ìdea pleases me; recom`mend but I can 'recommend 'several; and in phrasal verbssuch as 'come 'out, e.g. The 'pictures 'didn't come 'out, but They 'came out 'well and What 'time will 'youget 'in? but 'What time will you 'get in from 'work?

12.4 Phonetic Variations within Words and at Boundaries

Our phonological units, the phonemes, represent abstractions from actual phonetic reality. If the phoneme

// is given a convenient, generalized labela voiceless alveolar plosiveit is nevertheless true that theactual phonetic realization of this consonant depends on the nature of the context, e.g. // is aspiratedwhen before a vowel (except after //) as in [then]; it is dental, rather than alveolar, when adjacent to /as in []. Besides these variations within words, such variation also occurs at word boundaries (and at

morpheme boundaries in compound and complex words) where tendencies towards co-articulation orASSIMILATION have to be noted.

Assimilations at boundaries, like those within words, may be merely of an allophonic kind; or they may beof such an extent that a change of phoneme is involved, when comparing the pronunciation of a word inisolation with its pronunciation in a particular context. Influence at word and morpheme boundariesfunctions predominantly in a REGRESSIVE or ANTICIPATORY direction, i.e. features of one sound areanticipated in the articulation of the preceding sound; less frequently it is PROGRESIVE or PERSEVERATIVE,i.e. one sound influences the following sound, or it is COALESCENT, i.e. a fusion of forms takes place

12.4.1 Allophonic Variations

Since the actual realization of any phoneme is at least slightly different in every context, it is necessary togive examples only of those variants which exhibit striking changes. The same types of allophonic variation,involving a change of place of articulation' voicing', lip position or position of the soft palate, may be foundwithin the word and also at word boundaries:

(1) Place of articulation.

(a) within word:

//dental in eighth (influence of ([])

//advanced (pre-velar) in key (influence of [[])

//dental in tenth (influence of [])


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//labiodental in nymph, infant (influence of [])

//retracted in result (influence of ([])

// fronted in music (influence of [|])

(b) at word boundaries:

//dental in not that (influence of [])

//dental in hide them (influence of [)

// labiodental in ten forks, come for me (influence of [)

(2) Voicedevoicing of continuants following a voiceless consonant

(a) within word:

//devoiced following voiceless consonants, e.g

//slightly devoiced following voiceless consonants, e.g. smoke snow, mutton, open //, bacon/'/

(b) at word boundaries (only in close-knit sequences):

/l,r,w,J/devoiced following voiceless consonants, e.g. at last ['], at rest [, at once[', see to it [', thank you [']

Note also the devoicing of word-final voiced plosive or fricative consonants before silence and of fricativeswhen followed by a voiceless consonant; and of word-initial voiced fricative or plosive consonants when

preceded by silence, e.g. in What can you give? ([]); Can you breathe? ([|); It's his ([]); near the bridge([); They've ([) come; with ([]) some; He's ([) seen it; George ([) can; (()) very good ([]); ([])there; ([]) Zinc does ([]).

(3) Lip positionunder the influence of adjacent vowels or semivowels.

(a) within wonk

lip-spread lip-rounded3

// pea, heap pool, hoop, upward// tea, beat two, boot, twice, outward// keep, speak cool, spook, quite, backward// mean, seem moon, loom, somewhat// knee, seen noon, onward// leave, feel bloom, fool, always//4 read rude// feel, leaf fool, roof// seat, geese soon, goose, sweep

// sheet, leash shoot, douche, dishwasher

3 This will apply only for those speakers who have appreciable rounding of the vowels and semivowels.

4 For some speakers //has inherent labialization and will not be lip-spread even before a lip-spread vowel.


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// he who, whom, hoot

(b) at word boundaries (only in close-knit sequences): e.g. // are somewhat labialized in sucheases as that one, thick one, thin one, wrong one, shall we, this way, when the syllables with initial //carry no accent; a rounded vowel (as opposed to semivowel) in an adjacent word does not seem to exert

the same labializing influence, e.g. // does not labialize // markedly in Who said that? Nor does // jn

this ought to.

(4) Nasal resonance5resulting particularly from regressive but also from progressive lowering of the softpalate in the vicinity of a nasal consonant.

(a) within word: nasalization of vowel preceding // in ham and // in and, of vowel between nasalconsonants in man, men, innermost and of short vowels on each side of the nasal consonant in any, sunny,

summer, singer, also //in such situations as in helmet, wrongly; and possible slight nasalization of vowelfollowing //, as in meal, now.

(b) at word boundaries: vowels may sometimes be nasalized somewhat by the boundary nasal consonant

of an adjacent word, especially when an adjacent nasal consonant also occurs in the word containing the

vowel, e.g. the first // in bring another, or // in come in, but sometimes also with no adjacent nasalconsonant in the word containing the vowel (usually unaccented), e.g. // in come along, wait for me, // inevery night. Approximants may also be nasalized by a nasal in an adjacent word, e.g. // in tell me.

12.4.2 Phonemic Variations

Different phoneme selection within the same word may occur (either between two speakers or betweendifferent styles of speech in the same speaker) depending on the degree of assimilatory pressure felt by

the speaker, e.g. length may be //, //, or //, encounter may have // or // in the firstsyllable, disgrace may have final // or // in the first syllable, absolutely may have final // or // in thefirst syllable and issue may have medial /sj/ or a coalesced form //. Historically a phonemic change withina word can sometimes be due to assimilation to surrounding sounds, e.g. by labialization // -> //or // (swan, water); / / coalesced into /r/ (later //) under the influence of the postvocalic// (first, earth, curse); and // or / / and // combined their phonetic characteristics to give //(mansion, vision).

Many phonemic changes occur in connected speech at word boundaries (i.e. change as compared with thephonemic pattern of words' citation forms). Such phonemic variation is found in changes within the pairsof voiced/voiceless Phonemes and, more particularly, in changes involving modification of the Place ofarticulation.

12.4.3 Voiced/Voiceless Variations

Word-final fricatives followed by a word-initial voiceless consonant may Some speakers be realized as the

corresponding voiceless fricative, if the two words form part of a close-knit group. Thus the final // ofwith may be replaced by // in with thanks; the final // of was by // in He was sent; and the final // ofwe've, by // in of course, We've found it. Such a change to a voiceless fricative is an extension of theallophonic devoicing of such consonants mentioned in 12.4.1 (2). The phonemic change in such exampleswill be complete in that a preceding long vowel or diphthong will be realized in the reduced formappropriate to a syllable closed by a voiceless consonant (see 8.4.1 (4)-(7), 9.2.1(5), 9.4 (4)).

The weak form of is or has is // or // according to the final consonant of the preceding word, cf. the cat'spaw, the cat's gone / / vs the dog's paw, the dog`s gone //.

5See Cohn (1990).


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It is unusual in RP for word-final // to be influenced in the same way by following voicelessconsonants, though voiceless forms may be heard in such contexts in the speech of northern England, e.g.

the // of good time and the // of big case may be realized as //.

It is to be noted that word- or morpheme-final voiceless consonants in English do not show assimilation totheir voiced counterparts: such pronunciations of nice boy, black dress, half-done, they both do, wishbone,

birthday, as // are

typical of many foreign learners.12.4.4 Nasality and Labialization

Phonemic assimilations involving nasality (i.e. anticipation or perseveration of the lowered soft palate

position) would be likely to show // (or //) -> //, // (or // or //) -> //, // -> //, such changesbeing based on roughly homorganic mouth articulations; nasalization of other sounds, e.g. // or vowels, isnever phonemic, there being no nasalized counterpart with approximately homor ganic moutharticulation. Such phonemic nasalization as does occur concerns mainly the alveolars, especially adjacent

to the negative n't /n(t)/ and is characteristic of very rapid speech, often as a popular form unacceptable inRP (marked in the examples below), e.g.

// > //He wouldn't do it // good news // (Sussan, no s si va laletra o la no me doy cuenta)

// > //> //He wouldn't go //

// >//> /m/Good morning //

// > //You can have mine //

// > //He doesn't know //

//> //He wasn't there //

to win the race //

(In the above examples, the nasalized assimilated form may be elided altogether)

The extension of labialization produces no changes of a phonemic kind, since lip-position is not a distinctive

feature opposing any two phonemes in RP. //and // come nearest to having an opposition of lip action,but the lip-rounding for // is very slight and open and, in any case, there is some difference of tongueposition and a considerable difference of length. Where // precedes a vowel of the // type (and,therefore, might be expected to exert a rounding influence), either labialization has become established at

an earlier stage of the development of the language (e.g. in was, what, war, water, etc.) or twopronunciations are today permitted, e.g. qualm // or //, quaff // or //.Labialization of // involving a phonemic change to // or // does not extend beyond word boundaries,e.g. in two arms or The car won't go. Some confusion may, however, occur between a strongly centralized

form of // and // in a labial context, cf. They werent wanted and They wont it; also, with theinfluence of a strongly labialized form of // in such a pair as They weren`t right, They wont write.

12.4.5 Variations of Place

The most common phonemic changes at word boundaries concern changes of place of articulation,

particularly involving de-alveolarization. Though such changes are normal in colloquial speech, nativespeakers are usually unaware that they are made. The phenomenon is essentially the same as thatresulting in non-phonemic assimilation of place. Electropalatographlc research6 shows that phonemic

6See Nolan and Kerswill (1990). They also found girls less likely to assimilate tan boys and // more likely to assimilate than //.


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assimilations of place are rarely complete, e.g. in an assimilation involving an apparent change from

alveolar to labial, as in bad boy -> //, some residual articulation on the teeth ridge may accompanythe labial articulation. (See 9.2.6 (2), 9.6.2 (2).)

(1) Regressive (or anticipatory) assimilation: instability of final alveolars

Word-final // readily assimilate to the place of the following word-initial consonant while retainingthe original voicing. // are replaced by bilabials before bilabial consonants and by velars before velarconsonants; // are replaced by palato-alveolars before consonants containing a palatal feature:7

// > // before //, e.g. that pen, that boy, that man /'''/

>/k/ before //, e.g. that cup, that girl // ''/

// > // before //, e.g. good pen, good boy, good man /'''/

> /g/ before //, e.g. good concert, good girl/ ', '/

// > // before //, e.g. ten players, ten boys, ten men /', tem ', '/

// > // before //, ten cups, ten girls /', '/

(As a result of word-final assimilations, // may be preceded by vowels other than // Thus // canoccur after long vowels as a result of assimilation, e.g. I've // gardening, She'll soon // come, hisown // car, etc.).

Assimilations to alveolars and between labials and velars are generally felt to be substandard in RP,

although they may sometimes be heard in fast speech, e.g. same night/ '/, king Charles /

'/, same kind / '/, blackmail /'/.

// > //8 before //, e.g. this shop, cross Channel, this judge, this year//.

// > // before // , e.g. those young men //, cheese shop //,those churches // has she? // or //.

Other assimilations involving fricatives are generally felt to be substandard in RP, although // mayassimilate to is, // in fast speech, e.g. I loathe singing //, Whats the time?//, Has the post come? //.

Alveolars have a high frequency of occurrence in word-final position, especially when inflexional and so

their assimilation leads to many neutralizations in connected speech, e.g. // (ran or rangquickly), // (right or ripe pears or pairs), // (like or light cream), //(hot or hop manure), // (Paris Show or parish show), // (Whats or Watchyour eight),9 or, with a neutralization to a labiodental articulation, // (great or grape vine),[(run or rum for your money).

7See also 12.7 for stylistic variation in the frequency of assimilation.

8Byrd (1992b) found around 78% of sequences of // plus // reduced to a palato alveolar articulation only (in the TIMIT

database of American English), with no effect from syntax, sex or dialect.9

In the utterance is reduced to //, there is also the possibility of the interpretation watch or wait.


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When alveolar consonants // are adjacent in clusters or sequences susceptible to assimilation, all (ornone) of them will undergo the assimilation, e.g. Don't // be late, He won't // come, I didn't// go, He found // both, a kind // gift, red and black //.

(2) Coalescence of // //

The process which has led historically to earlier // + // giving // medially in a word(nature, grandeur, mission, vision9.3.1) may operate in contemporary colloquial speech at wordboundaries, e.g.

// + //what you want

// + //Would you? //

// + //in case you need it //

// + //Has your letter come? //, as yet //

The coalescence is more complete in the case of // + // (especially in question tags, e.g. didn't you?,

could you?, etc.); in the case of // + //, the coalescence into // may be marked by extra length offriction, e.g. Don't miss your train //.

In very careful speech, some RP speakers may use somewhat artificial, uncoalesced, forms within words in

words like nature, question, unfortunate, soldier //.Such speakers will also avoid coalescences at word boundaries; yet other careful speakers, who use thenormal coalesced forms within words, may consciously avoid them at word boundaries. (See 12.7 below.)

(3) Progressive (or perseverative) assimilation is relatively uncommon. It may occur when a plosive is

followed by a syllabic nasal and the nasal undergoes assimilation to the same place of articulation as the

preceding plosive, e.g. // > // after //, happen, urban //; and // > // after //in second chance, organ as //.

12.4.6 Elision

Apart from word-internal elisions (see 10.8) and those associated with weak forms, sounds may be elidedin fast colloquial speech, especially at or in the vicinity of word boundaries.

(1) Vowels (a) Allophonic variationWhen one syllable ends with a closing diphthong (i.e. one whose

second element is closer than its first, in RP, //) and the next syllabic begins with a vowel,the second element of the diphthong may be elided. Word-internal examples of the type discussed in

8.11 (e.g. hyaena // smoothed to []) may result in neutralization, thus layer //with smoothing is the same as lair //, mower // with smoothing is the same as myrrh //.Similar smoothing occurs across word boundaries, e.g. go away //, I may as well //, Ienjoy it //, try again [] or [].

(b) Phonemic elisionInitial // is often elided particularly when followed by a continuant and precededby a word-final consonant (compensation for the loss of // frequently being made by the syllabicity of thecontinuant), e.g. not alone [n, get another [, run along [, he was annoyed[]; or again, when final // occurs with following linking // (see 12.4.7) and word-initialvowel, // of may be elided, e.g. after a while //, as a matter of fact //,father and son //, over and above //

(2) Consonants In addition to the loss of // in pronominal weak forms and other consonantal elisionstypical of weak forms (see 11.3), the alveolar plosives are apt to be elided. Such elision appears to take

place most readily when // or // is the middle one of three consonants. Any consonant may appear in


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third position, though elision of the alveolar plosive is relatively rare before // and //. Thus elision iscommon in the sequence voiceless continuant + // or voiced continuant + // or voiced continuant + //(e.g. //) followed by a word with an initial consonant,10 e.g. nextday, raced back, last chance, first light, west region, just one; left turn, soft centres, left wheel, drift by, softroes; mashed potatoes finished now, finished lute, pushed them; bend back, tinned meat, lend-lease,found five, send round, dined well; hold tight, old man, cold lunch, bold face, world religion; refused both,gazed past, caused losses, raised gently; loathed beer; moved back, loved flowers, saved runs, served

sherry. Similarly, word-final clusters of voiceless plosive or, affricate + // or voiced plosive or affricate +// (e.g. //) may lose the final alveolar stop when the following word has aninitial consonant, e.g. kept quiet, helped me, stopped speaking, jumped well; liked jam, thanked me,looked like, looked fine, picked one; reached Paris, fetched me, reached Rome, parched throat; robbedboth, rubbed gently, grabbed them; lugged behind, dragged down, begged one; changed colour, urged

them, arranged roses, judged fairly. (In the sequence /-/ //rather than // is often elided, e.g. riskedprison, asked them.) The final clusters //, which are the only alveolar sequences which involve achange of voicing, are less prone to elision, the // often remaining as [] e.g. went down.

Elision of final // or // is rarer before initial //. e.g. the alveolar stops axe more regularly retained in

kept hold, worked hard, East Ham, reached home, gift horse, rushed home, grabbed hold, round here, baldhead, jugged hare, changed horses raised hands, moved house. Final // followed by a word beginningwith // are usually kept in a coalesced form, i.e. as // and //, e.g. helped you, liked you, lost you, leftyou, grabbed you, lend you, told you, etc.

It will be seen that in many cases, e.g. in I walked back, They seemed glad, elision of word-final // or //eliminates the phonetic cue to past tense, compensation for which is made by the general context. Such isthe instability of the alveolar plosives in such a position of apparent inflexional significance that it can beassumed that the context regularly carries the burden of tense distinction. Where the juxtaposition ofwords brings together a cluster of consonants (particularly of stops), elision of a plosive medial in three ormore is to be expected, since, because of the normal lack of release of a stop in such a situation, the onlycue to its presence is likely to be the total duration of closure.

The // of the negative // is often elided, particularly in dissyllables, before a following consonant, e.g.You mustn't lose if//. Doesn't she know? //, and sometimes before avowel, e.g. Wouldn't he come? //, You mustn't over-eat /j/. Lesscommon is the omission of the stops in the negative // component of monosyllables, e.g. He wont doit //.

Clusters of word-final // and word-initial // or /d/ are sometimes simplified Informal speech, e.g. I've gotto go //, What do you want? // or //, and less

commonly // before // or //, e.g. We could try //, They should do it //.

The elision of one of a boundary cluster of only two consonants sometimes occurs in casual speech, but is

usually characterized as substandard, e.g. He went away //, want to come //(< Give me a cake //, Let me come in//, Get me some paper / as the very reduced forms of Im going to//. The // in of can be elided in casual speech before a consonant, e.g. apiece of cake //. Clusters in adverbs formed withly are also liable to reduction in rapidand/or casual speech, e.g. stupidly //, openly /

12.4.7 Liaison

10Deterding (2205) in a study of newsreaders on the BBC World Service found deletion common in both suffix and stem-final

// and most common before initial plosives, fricatives and nasals.


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(1) Linking //. As has been mentioned in 9.7 (2) (a), RP introduces word-final post-vocalic // as a linkingform when the following word begins with a vowel. The vowel endings to which an // link may be addedare // and those single The vowels containing final [] (//), e.g. in far off, four aces,answer it, fur inside, near it, out, secure everything. Prescriptivists seek to limit the allowabllity of linking

// to those cases where there is an // in the spelling; nevertheless many examples of linking // occurwhere there is no // in the spelling, such //s being labelled as 'intrusive'. Such //'s are to be heardparticularly in the case of // endings, e.g. Russia and China //, drama and music

//, idea of //, India and Pakistan //, area ofagreement //; and rather less frequently after final // e.g. law and order//, awe-inspiring //, raw onion //. Spelling consciousnessremains an inhibiting factor in the use of linking //, but the present general tendency among RP speakersis to use // links, evenunconsciouslyamong those who object most strongly.11 The comparative rarityof potential contexts for 'intrusive' //'s following // tends to make speakers more aware of the'correct' forms; thus I saw it //, drawing, //, are generally disapproved of, thoughthose who avoid such pronunciations have to make a conscious effort to do so. The focusing of attention

on 'intrusive' //'s as an undesirable speech habit has led to the use by some speakers of a pause or glottalstop in such cases of vowel hiatus, with the result that, in avoiding 'intrusive' //'s, they have alsoabandoned other linking //s in favour of a glottal stop or a glide between the abutting vowels, e.g. insecure it [], War and Peace [. As might be expected, in those regions wherepost-vocalic // is pronounced and pour, paw are identified as separate word forms in isolation, thetendency to Introduce Intrusive //s is less marked than in RP or in RP-influenced types of speech.

The same process is in operation whether the // link inserted is historically justified (linking) or not(intrusive). The examples below demonstrate that the environment is phonetically comparable whether

the // link is inserted before a suffix or before a separate word and whether it Is linking or 'intrusive'

stir stirring stir it in

dear dearer my dear Anna idea of it

roar roaring roar angrily raw egg strawy

star starry a star in the sky the spa at Bath schwaish

There appears, however, to be some graduation in the likelihood of occurrence as follows:

(a) The insertion of // is obligatory before a suffix beginning with a where the//is historically justified.

(b) The insertion of // is optional, though generally present, before a following word beginning with avowel, where the // is historically justified.

(c) After [even an intrusive // (i.e. historically unjustified) is generally used before a following word,e.g. vanilla essence //, vodka and tonic //.

11Intrusive // is decreted as a vice as early as Sheridan (1762)-


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(d) After // and //, an intrusive // is often avoided before a following vowel, e.g. nougat andchocolate //, straw in the wind /str/.

(e) The insertion of intrusive // before a suffix is often strongly stigmatized, e.g. strawy //,gnawing //.

Phonetically (as well as historically) the resulting // closes the syllabic rather than being initial in the next,e.g. the // of more ice // is shorter than that of more rice //, the latter also beingassociated with accent onset and possible pitch change (cf. 12.4.8).

(2) Linking [] in vocalic junctures where the first word ends in //, // //, //, or //, a slight linking[] may be heard between the two vowels, e.g. my arms [, may ask [, he ought|hi: 'b:t], annoy Arthur [arui beauty and (bju:ti: ^ond). But this is not sufficient to be equated withphonemic Ijl; indeed there are minimal pairs which illustrate the difference between linking [J] andphonemic Ijl, my ears (mai 'Jiaz| vs my years [mai 'Jiaz], and I earn [ai M3:nl vs / yearn [at 'JarnJ. Similarly alinking D may be heard between a final /u:/, /ou/ and /au/ and a following vowel, e.g. window open(windao 'waupanJ, now end then |nau wond en+, you aren't |ju: %wo:nt); and minimal pairs illustrating

linking n and phonemic /w/ can be found, e.g. twv-eyed *tu: 'waid| vs too wide *tu: wajdJ. Alternative

pronunciations, more frequent in faster speech, in the case of the sequences of diphthong plus followingvowel, involve the absorption of jh* second element of the diphthong, i.e. of the [i] in the case of /ei,ai,3i/anc* *

[uj in the case of /au.au/, giving renderings like 'a:a] n*y

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Cap 12 Cruttenden