Linking & Intrusive Sounds
What type of link occurs across the word boundary in phrases like "Tom and Jerry" or "Men in Black"? What diacritic is used to represent it?
Consonant + Vowel Linking (C + V).
The diacritic used is the tie bar [ ‿ ] (e.g., [Men‿in Black]).
What new affricate sound is created when the alveolar /t/ or /d/ merges with the palatal /j/ through Yod Coalescence in "Don't you" and "Could you"? Write the chemical formulas.
What is the diacritic for Dentalisation, and what phonological environment triggers it in phrases like "at the" or "eighth"?
Diacritic: [ ̪ ]
Environment: When alveolar sounds (/t, d, n, l/) are immediately followed by a dental fricative (/θ/ or /ð/).
What is a Syllabic Consonant, and what happens to the weak vowel /ə/ in words like "button" [ ˈbʌtn̩ ] or "middle" [ˈmɪdɫ̩]
A syllabic consonant is a consonant [ n̩ ], [ l̩ ] that functions as the core or nucleus of a syllable without a vowel. The weak vowel /ə/ disappears entirely.
What is Pre-Fortis Clipping, and what diacritic is used to mark a clipped long vowel in narrow transcription?
Pre-Fortis Clipping is the shortening of a vowel/sonorant duration when followed in the same syllable by a fortis (voiceless) consonant. The diacritic used for long vowels is a raised single dot [ ˑ ]
Look at this narrow transcription:
[ wiː ʷ eɪt ðə ˈpʰiːtsə ]
Find the "Fake Link" error, correct it, and explain why.
The fake link is [ ʷ ]. It must be corrected to Intrusive /j/: [ wiː ʲ eɪt ].
Reason: The first word ends in the high/spread vowel /iː/, so the lips are in position to insert a /j/ sound, not a /w/.
Under what specific phonetic and stress conditions does /t/ or /d/ transform into a tap [ ɾ ] in words like "did it", "party", or "body"?
It occurs in intervocalic position (between two vowels) when the first vowel is STRESSED and the second vowel is UNSTRESSED
Name the three primary uses of the Glottal Stop [ ʔ ] in English.
Both Clear [ l ] and Dark [ ɫ ] share the same primary articulation (tongue tip on the alveolar ridge). How do their secondary articulations differ?
Transcribe the phrases "You and me" and "Sweet boy". What triggers assimilation?
Regressive assimilation, where an alveolar sound (/t, d, n/) changes to a bilabial before a bilabial consonant (/p, b, m, w/).
Explain the difference between Linking /r/ in "Far away" vs. Intrusive /r/ in "The idea of it".
Why does the voiced /z/ in "cheesecake" or /v/ in "love story" lose its vibration and become devoiced [z̥] / [v̥ ]?
Because the voiced fricative is immediately adjacent to a voiceless consonant, the quietness is "contagious".
Read aloud the words BUTTON and ACTOR. Identify which one is a glottal stop before Syllabic [ n̩ ] and which is Glottal Reinforcement.
State the distribution rules for Clear [ l ] vs. Dark [ ɫ ] in Received Pronunciation (GB/RP)
A student transcribes "Dead guy" as [dɛb gaɪ]. Identify the error, correct it, and explain why.
/ɡ/ is a velar consonant, so the alveolar /d/ assimilates in place to become a velar [ɡ], not a bilabial.
Read aloud the following transcriptions using their informal phonetic "lip-shape" nicknames:
Read aloud the target song phrase "Did you study for the test yet?" applying Yod Coalescence, and state the exact transcription of the fusion.
[ˈdɪdʒu st˭ʌdi fə ðə ˈtʰɛstʃet]
Provide the narrow transcription for the words "Health" and "Eighth", marking dentalisation and lateral qualities where applicable.
Read aloud "Look at me" and "Cold water". Identify which /l/ allophone is used in each phrase and justify.
Arrange these three words in order from SHORTEST (1) to LONGEST (3) vowel duration and read them aloud: Bee — Beat — Beed
Provide the narrow transcription for "Raw eggs" and "More ice" in Received Pronunciation (GB/RP). Identify which /r/ process occurs in each
"Raw -> eggs" -[ rɔː‿rɛgz̥ ]Intrusive /r/. No <r> in the spelling.
"More ice" ➔ [ ˈmɔːr‿aɪs ] ➔ Linking /r/. <r> in the spelling.
Why does the diphthong in "eyes" [ aɪz̥ ] remain noticeably longer than in "ice" [ aɪˑs ], even when the final /z/ in "eyes" is completely devoiced [ z̥ ]?
Because /z/ is technically a voiced consonant, devoicing reduces vibration, but it does NOT turn the consonant into a voiceless sound, so it does NOT cause Pre-Fortis Clipping.
Why is glottal replacement of /t/ in "network" [ ˈneʔwɜːk ] widely accepted in modern British English (GB/RP), while intervocalic glottal replacement in "bottle" [ ˈbɒʔl̩ ] is generally avoided in formal registers?
Glottal replacement before consonants (network) has become standard across modern GB/RP, whereas intervocalic glottal replacement (bottle, butter) remains associated with regional/non-standard accents (like Cockney or Estuary English) and is avoided in formal registers.
Provide the narrow transcription for the word "Accidental", indicating stress, glottal reinforcement, replacement, dentalisation, and syllabic consonants
[ ˌʔæksəˈden̪tɫ̩ ] or [ ˌæksəˈden̪ʔtɫ̩ ] (featuring non-audible release/pre-glottalization, dentalised [ n̪ ] before /t/, and syllabic Dark [ ɫ̩]).
Transcribe the phrase "Ten cups at the main gate" in narrow transcription, marking velar/bilabial assimilation, dentalisation, and pre-fortis clipping