Connected speech in songs

We've all experienced it: a catchy new song that we really like, and we're sure that we know all the lyrics. Only when we look up the lyrics, we see that actually we were totally wrong about some lines! Because the lyrics of songs are usually very flowing, they are often very good examples of how connected speech can cause confusion.

Listen to this song from No Doubt and see what features of connected speech you can identify.



Do you know of any other good examples of songs which feature elision, assimilation and/or linking? If you do, share it with us in a comment below.

Elision, Assimilation and Linking

So far, we have been looking at indivudual sound units and also individual words. However, what is most important for us is to look at how people actually speak. This can help us, not only with our own pronunciation, but also with our listening skills. When we are speaking naturally, it is not always easy to hear where one word ends and the next begins. This is because what were hear is connected speech. Common features of connected speech are elision (the dropping of phonemes), assimilation (the changing of phonemes, according to the surrounding sounds) and linking (the shifting of phonemes, or the addition of aspirated phonemes so as to join words together).

Aspects Of Connected Speech

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The BBC has a series of three radio programmes which discuss these features. You can download these programmes, or read the explanations on the website.

Word Stress in Compound Nouns

Again, this video focuses on N.American English, but the rules are also the same in British English.



Once you've watched the video, make a list of 10 more compound nouns. Mark the stressed syllables in your compound nouns. Record yourself saying the compound nouns on your list, and listen to check that you stress the correct syllables.

Now have a go at this quick quiz.

Word Stress - an introduction

The following video provides a general introduction to word stress in English. The teacher in the video emphasises that he is using North American English. There are some differences in word stress between American and British variants of English, but all of the rules he gives are the same in both variants.



You may also find this article about word stress for English teachers interesting.

Difficult Sounds

Now that we've looked at the different phonemes of English in class, have you identified any that are particularly difficult for you?

www.soundsofenglish.org has exercises to help with some of the sound pairs learners of English often have problems with. I also suggest that you look up the phonemes you are having trouble with on the University of Iowa's excellent pronunciation guide - the link is in the useful websites list on the left of this page.

A general introduction to phonetics

The BBC has produced a mini-series on pronunciation for learners of English. The video The sounds of English provides a very clear introduction to the phonemes of English. Have a go at the 'similar sounds' exercises afterwards!

A Noo Yoik accent

This might be skipping ahead a bit in terms of what we see in class, but I came across this news item today and thought it might be of interest:

Chronicling the many accents of New York

Phonetics and Accents

As we learn a foreign language, I think we all aspire to having a 'good' accent. We probably don't expect to sound like a native speaker but, at least most of us, would like to sound as close to one as possible. An important step to reaching a 'convincing' accent is to know what we are aiming for.

We all grow up listening to specific set of sounds - these vary not only according to the language we speak, but also according to the region we are from. Just think of Spanish here in Mexico. Think of your own accent: what does it sound like? Now think of someone from Mexico City: how does their accent compare to yours? And how about someone from Yucatan? How is their accent different? In each of these versions of Mexican Spanish there is a similar, but slightly different, set of sounds. When it comes to different languages, those differences become even greater, and there may even be sounds that don't exist in your mother tongue. The sound often represented by 'th' in English is a good example of this.

The video below from Alexander Arguelles explains this in more detail, and provides an in-depth overview of the International Phonetic Alphabet. To get your own copy of the chart he is using in the video, click here.

The Basics

Before we delve into the contents of this course, let's begin by considering the terms 'phonetics' and 'phonology'. Probably you have an idea about what they mean, but the two terms are often confused.

Phonetics, in very simple terms, is the study of how sounds are made. Phonology, meanwhile, looks at the patterns of sounds within languages. Weisser (2005) clearly points out the differences.

As learners of foreign languages, an awareness of phonetics and phonology is essential so as to avoid confusions when communicating orally in the target language(s).

Welcome

Welcome to the Phonetics and Phonology 2010 blog.

This blog will be used throughout the semester to complement what we see in class. It will also be a space to share thoughts and new information with others who are interested in the subject.