Absence of assimilation in some consonant clusters

Clusters of alveolar and labio-dental fricatives with interdental sounds and those of labio­dental fricatives with the bilabial sonorant [w] at syllable and word junctures present special difficulty for learners of English because these consonants are only slightly different in their articulation and perception and also because such contrasts as [v — w], [s — θ] etc., are not to be found in Russian or Belarusian. In pronouncing these clusters care should be taken to avoid assimilation according to the place or manner of articulation, which means that the quality of the adjacent sounds should be preserved.

11. Elision of [t, d, h]

Elision means the dropping of a sound or sounds, either within a word or at a junction of words. Elision is a feature of rapid colloquial speech, while formal speech tends to retain the full form of words under the influence of spelling.

One of the most typical examples of elision is the omission of [t] or [d] between two other consonants: friends [frenz], mostly [məƱslI].

Another example is the dropping of [h] in pronouns and auxiliaries. Pronouns with the initial [h] and the auxiliaries "have, has, had" commonly lose [h] when they are unstressed within an utterance. [h] is pronounced in these words when they are initial in an utterance or when they are stressed:

The people have gone. [ðə 'pi:pl əv gon]

She gave him his breakfast.

It took him half an hour.

But: He is going away. [ h I Iz 'gəƱIɳ əwe I ]

It must be remembered that elisions of consonants in consonant clusters are not always permissible. In general, clusters of two identical consonants at a word junction must not be reduced by elision. The two consonants should be run together smoothly without a break.

Eg.: what time, with this, clean knife

V. Учебно-методический блок.

Повторите все звуковые явления.

2.В парах подготовьте презентации звуковых явлений и звуковых упражнений:

- Loss of Plosion and Nasal Plosion (p.p. 47-48)

- Lateral Plosion and Loss of Aspiration (p.p. 48 – 50)

- Alveolar Consonants before Inter-dental and Linking [r] (p.p. 51, 55)

- Consonant Clusters with [r] (p. 52)

- Consonant Clusters with [w] and Elision (p. 53, 57-58)

- Absence of Assimilation (p.p. 54-55)

3.Подготовьте выразительное чтение упражнений Ex.4, p49, Ex.2, p51-52, Ex.3, p52-53, Ex.2, p53, Ex.2, p54, соблюдая правильность артикуляции звуков и все типы ассимиляций.

4. Составьте мини-диалоги, употребляя звуковые явления в устной речи.

VI. Вопросы для самоконтроля.