Connected Speech – Elision

Some rules for elision:

1 The most common elisions in English are / t / and / d /, when they appear within a consonant cluster:

We arrived the next day. (/ t / elided between / ks / and / d /)
When we reached Paris, we stopped for lunch. (/ t / elided between / tʃ / and / p /, and between / p / and / f /)
We bought a lovely carved statuette. (/ d / elided between / v / and / st /)

2 Complex consonant clusters are simplified.

She acts like she owns the place! (/ æ k t s / can be simplified to / æ k s /)
Teachers use authentic texts to teach from. (/ t e k s t s / can be simplified to /t e k s /)
George the Sixth’s throne (/ s ɪ k θ s θ r/ simplified to (/ s ɪ k s θ r /)

3 / ə / can disappear in unstressed syllables.

I think we should call the police. (/ ə / can disappear in the first syllable of police)
I’ll love you forever, promise. Well, perhaps. (/ ə / can disappear)
It’s a question of collective responsibility. (/ ə / can disappear)
Are you coming out tonight? (/ ə / can disappear)
That’s an interesting idea. (/ ə / is not pronounced by many speakers reducing the number of syllables in the word)
Have we got any vegetables? (/ ə / is not pronounced by most speakers reducing the number of syllables in the word)

4 / v / can disappear in of, before consonants.

My birthday’s on the 11th of November.
It’s a complete waste of time!
That’s the least of my worries!

Some rules for assimilation

1 The phonemes / t /, / d / and / n / often become bilabial before bilabial consonants / p /, / b / and / m /:

He’s a rather fat boy. (/ t / assimilates to / p /)
She’s got an apartment in Manhattan. (/ t / assimilates to / p /)
He’s a very good boy. ( / d / assimilates to / b /)
There are ten men in the class, and two women. (/ m / assimilates to / n /)

2 / t / assimilates to / k / before / k / or / g /. / d / assimilates to / g / before / k / or / g /:

Where has that cat been all night? (/ t / assimilates to / k /)
Can you see that girl over there? (/ t / assimilates to / k /)
It was a very good concert. (/ d/ assimilates to / g /)
She’s a very good girl. (/ d / assimilates to / g /)

3 / n / can assimilate to / ŋ / before / g / or / k /:

I’ve been_going out too much lately.
He’s bringing his own car.

4 / s / can assimilate to / ʃ / before / ʃ /:

I really love this shiny one over here.

5 / z / can assimilate to / ʒ / before / ʃ /:

We found this lovely little cheese shop in Paris.

The above examples are cases of anticipatory assimilation, where one sound changes to another because of the sound which follows. Here are some cases of coalescent assimilation, where two sounds combine to form a different one:

6 / t / and / j / coalesce to form / tʃ /:

You went to France last year, didn’t you?

7 / d / and / j / coalesce to form / dʒ /:

Would you like a cup of tea?