Chapter 7: Connected Speech

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering segmental modifications, nonassimilatory processes, suprasegmental features, stress, intonation, and juncture in connected speech from Chapter 7.

Citation Form

The production of a word spoken carefully and deliberately in isolation, ensuring all phonemes are produced and the length of each phoneme is kept intact.

Connected Speech

Speech resulting from joining two or more words together to create an utterance, where the deliberateness of speech disappears and the onset of one phoneme begins before the previous one is completely articulated.

Coarticulation

The time-efficient articulatory process in which the articulators overlap during speech production due to timing constraints and the simplicity of production.

Assimilation

The process whereby phonemes take on the phonetic character of neighboring sounds, resulting in realized allophonic and phonemic changes brought on by coarticulation.

Regressive Assimilation

A form of assimilation (also called right-to-left or anticipatory assimilation) in which the identity of a phoneme is modified because the articulators anticipate the production of a subsequent phoneme.

Progressive Assimilation

A form of assimilation (also called left-to-right or perseverative assimilation) in which a phoneme's identity changes as the articulators perseverate and maintain a posture from an earlier sound.

Nonassimilatory Processes

Processes other than coarticulation and assimilation that alter the shape of words in connected speech compared to citation form: elision, epenthesis, metathesis, and vowel reduction.

Elision

The omission or complete elimination of a phoneme during speech production as a result of coarticulation in connected speech.

Epenthesis

The addition of a phoneme to the production of a word, which can result from coarticulation, variation in production, or speech disorders.

Metathesis

The transposition of sounds in a word, resulting from a slip of the tongue, personal speaking style, dialectal variation, or a speech disorder.

Vowel Reduction

A articulatory change wherein the full form of a vowel becomes centralized (more like mid-central schwa /ə/) because rapid speech reduces the time needed for articulators to achieve their target position.

Casual Form

A conversational speech style that uses vowel reduction, eliminates spaces between words as a single utterance, and determines stress across the entire sentence rather than word by word.

Suprasegmental Aspects of Speech

Properties of speech—including stress, timing, and intonation—that transcend the boundaries of individual phonetic segments and affect the entire utterance.

Word Stress

The production of a syllable with greater articulatory force, resulting in a sound that is louder, longer in duration, and higher in pitch than an unstressed syllable.

Sentence Stress

The pattern of emphasis placed on words within a phrase or sentence, dependent upon the level of importance of the word and the speaker's communicative intent.

Content Words

Words that convey salient grammatical meaning (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and generally receive sentence stress.

Function Words

Less important grammatical words (pronouns, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions) that typically do not receive sentence stress.

Given Information

Old or previously discussed information in a conversation, which is usually unstressed in connected speech.

New Information

Information newly introduced to a conversation by the speaker, which typically receives sentence stress.

Intonation

The modification of vocal pitch across an utterance that helps identify whether an utterance is a statement, question, or exclamation.

Intonational Phrase

The pattern of fundamental frequency changes spanning a meaningful utterance, which may encompass a word, a phrase, or an entire sentence.

Tonic Syllable (Nuclear Syllable)

The specific syllable within an intonational phrase that receives the greatest pitch change.

Tonic Accent (Nuclear Accent)

The emphasis or stress given to the tonic syllable within an intonational phrase.

Falling Intonational Phrases

Pitch contours indicative of finality that accompany complete statements, commands, and wh-questions.

Rising Intonational Phrases

Pitch contours typical of yes/no questions, incomplete thoughts, and tag questions that convey uncertainty on the speaker's part.

Tempo

The durational aspect and overall speaking rate of connected speech, averaging 5 to 5.5 syllables per second (162–230 syllables/minute or 150–180 words/minute) in adults.

Juncture

The manner in which syllables and words are joined together or separated by pauses in connected speech.

External Juncture

A pause connecting two intonational phrases, represented in phonetic transcription by either a single bar [|] or a double bar [‖].

Single Bar [|]

An external juncture symbol used in connected speech transcription to represent a short pause, replacing a comma.

Double Bar [‖]

An external juncture symbol used in connected speech transcription to represent longer pauses, replacing semicolons, periods, and question marks.

Open Internal Juncture

A pause occurring between syllables or words within an utterance, transcribed using the plus [+] symbol (e.g., [aɪ + skrim] for "I scream").

Closed Internal Juncture

The continuous, seamless connection of syllables with no pause between them, transcribed without transitional juncture symbols (e.g., [aɪskrim] for "ice cream").