Unit 26. One Evening, Stop Now, Go Away. etc.

Linking Sounds
Unit 26; Part A
![]() ln fluent speech, words within a speech unit are usually saidwithout a break. The sound at the end of one word is linked to thesound at the beginning of the next so that there is a smooth connectionbetween them. A consonant sound at the end of a word is linked smoothly to a vowel sound at the beginning of the next: one evening a serious accident the exact opposite |
Unit 26; Part B
When a word ending with a consonant sound is followed by a wordbeginning with another consonant sound there is no break between them,although the first consonant sound may change its pronunciation alittle to make it easier to move to the next consonant sound: a warm breeze I've seen it starting tomorrow Notice also that when a word ending with one of the consonants /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, is followed by a word beginning with a different one of these (or /m/ or /n/), no air is released at the end of the first consonant and there is a smooth change to the second: stop now heard tell make bread |
Unit 26; Part C
When a word ending with a consonant sound is followed by a wordbeginning with the same consonant sound, one lengthened consonant soundis made: some milk glorious sunshine it's half full |
Unit 26; Part D
A vowel sound at the end of a word is linked to a vowel sound at the beginning of the next by an inserted /w/ or /j/ ('y') sound: who is it? go away can you see it? it's completely empty /w/ /w/ /j/ /j/ The choice of either /w/ or /j/ depends on the vowel sound that ends the first word. If the vowel is produced with the highest part of the tongue close to the front of the mouth (/i:/, /eι/, /aι/, /oι/) then the linking sound will be /j/. If the vowel is produced with the highest part of the tongue close to the back of the mouth (/u:/, /aυ/, /∂υ/) then the linking sound will be /w/. |
Unit 26; Part E
Words ending with the letters -r or -re have a fnal vowel sound: e.g. car /ka:/, more /mo:/, fir /fз:/, other /'Λð∂/, fear /fι∂/, hair /hе∂/, pure /pju∂/. When a word like this is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, a /r/ sound is inserted: car engine my other uncle pure oxygen /r/ /r/ /r/ In some dictionaries this /r/ before a vowel is shown with the symbol r. For example: /ka:r/ (car) /'Λð∂r/ (other) /pju∂r/ (pure) ![]() Less commonly, a /r/ sound is inserted when the word ends in one of the vowels /а:/, /о:/, /з:/, /∂/, /ι∂/, /е∂/ or /υ∂/ but is not spelt with the letters -r or -re: China and Japan the area is fooded /r/ /r/ However, some native speakers of British English think this is incorrect pronunciation. Whensounds merge or a sound changes at the end of a word, it may sound likeanother word, but usually any misunderstanding is resolved by context. For example, 'talk Danish' might sound like 'taught Danish', but these are unlikely to be confused in context. |
Exercises
![]() | Unit 25 Unit 26 Unit 27 | ![]() |