Linking Words - Pronunciation

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Juan Francisco Morales Domínguez

LINKING WORDS


Word Linking or connected speech is how we join the words together to speak faster, more natural and more fluent. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm and the words bump into each other. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words.

  • Consonant To Vowel (CTV)

When the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound. It is the most frequently recurring word linking pattern in English.

EXAMPLE: WAKE UP
1st WordConsonantToVowel2nd Word
Wake/k//ʌ/up
  • Consonant To Consonant (CTC)
If CTV is the most common word linking pattern in spoken English, CTC is the most difficult to apply as it involves loads of details and presents a number of exceptions.

 EXAMPLE: STOP PLAYING

1st WordConsonantToVowel2nd Word
stop/p//p/playing


  • Vowel To Vowel (VTV)
This pattern involves connecting the words ending with a vowel to those that also begin with a vowel.

EXAMPLE: SO ANGRY

1st WordConsonantToVowel2nd Word
so/oʊ//æ/angry

  • Linking ‘r’
In standard British English (RP) the letter 'r' after a vowel sound at the end of word is often not pronounced. However, when the following word begins with a vowel the /r/ sound is pronounced to make a smooth link.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BBC Learning English | Pronunciation Tips. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/connected.shtml. Accessed 26 Dec. 2017.

Word Linking: For Faster, More Natural English. http://englishspeaklikenative.com/phonemes-the-sounds-of-the-english/word-linking/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2017.
LINKING WORDS - Write the words linked (2 words)

LINKING WORDS - Write the words linked (2 words)

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