The Core Concept: Words Flow Together Following Specific Rules

In slow, careful speech, words have clear boundaries: "I want to go home." But in natural conversation, words merge, sounds disappear, and new sounds appear: "Iwannagohome." This isn't sloppy speech—it's connected speech, and it follows predictable phonetic rules.

Understanding these rules transforms your listening comprehension and makes your own speech sound dramatically more natural.

The Four Fundamental Processes

1. Linking: Consonant-to-Vowel Connections

When a word ending in a consonant meets a word beginning with a vowel, they connect seamlessly:

Written: "an apple" Connected: "a napple" [ənæpəl]

More examples:

• "pick it up" → "pickit up"
• "not at all" → "notatal"
• "turn off" → "turnoff"
• "come on" → "comon"

The rule: Consonant + vowel = smooth connection, no pause.

Professional impact: Without linking, your speech sounds choppy and foreign. "Let me check_it out" vs. "Lemme checkit out."

2. Elision: When Sounds Disappear

Certain sounds regularly disappear in connected speech to maintain rhythm:

Final /t/ and /d/ Deletion

Before consonants:

• "perfect day" → "perfec day"
• "next time" → "nex time"
• "first class" → "firs class"
• "left turn" → "lef turn"

/h/ Dropping in Function Words

• "tell him" → "telim"
• "give her" → "giver"
• "ask him" → "askim"
• "what happened" → "whaappened"

Weak Form Reductions

• "can" → [kən] or [kn̩]
• "and" → [ən] or [n]
• "of" → [əv] or [ə]

The principle: Unstressed sounds disappear to maintain English rhythm.

3. Assimilation: Sounds Changing Neighbors

Adjacent sounds influence each other, creating systematic changes:

Place Assimilation

/n/ becomes /m/ before bilabial sounds:

• "ten people" → "tem people"
• "in person" → "im person"
• "one more" → "om more"

/n/ becomes /ŋ/ before velar sounds:

• "ten keys" → "teŋ keys"
• "in class" → "iŋ class"
• "one goal" → "oŋ goal"

Voice Assimilation

• "have to" → "hafta" [hæftə]
• "used to" → "usta" [ʌstə]
• "news story" → "news story" [z→s]

The pattern: Sounds adapt to make articulation easier and faster.

4. Intrusion: Sounds Appearing from Nowhere

When vowels meet vowels, English speakers insert consonants to avoid hiatus:

/j/ (y-sound) Intrusion

After /i/ sounds:

• "see it" → "see yit"
• "free agent" → "free yagent"
• "key issue" → "key yissue"

/w/ Intrusion

After /u/ sounds:

• "go out" → "go wout"
• "who is" → "who wis"
• "blue ocean" → "blue wocean"

/r/ Intrusion (in non-rhotic accents)

• "idea of" → "idear of"
• "saw it" → "sawr it"
• "law and order" → "lawr and order"

The function: Maintains smooth vowel-to-vowel transitions.

The Reconstruction Exercise Protocol

Step 1: Listen to connected speech "Whaddyawannado?" [wʌdəjəwʌnədu]

Step 2: Identify the processes

• Elision: "What do" → "Whadda"
• Linking: "do you" → "doyou"
• Reduction: "want to" → "wanna"

Step 3: Reconstruct the full form "What do you want to do?"

Step 4: Practice the connected form Gradually increase speed until it sounds natural.

Connected Speech and Your Language Background

Syllable-Timed Language Speakers (Spanish, French, Italian)

Challenge: Every syllable wants equal time Solution: Practice selective deletion—some syllables must disappear Focus: Function word reductions and final consonant deletion

Tone Language Speakers (Mandarin, Vietnamese, Thai)

Challenge: Tonal information conflicts with reduction patterns Solution: English sentence rhythm overrides word-level tone Focus: Stress-timed connected speech independent of tonal patterns

Consonant Cluster Languages (Polish, Russian, Arabic)

Challenge: Different cluster simplification rules Solution: English-specific cluster reduction patterns Focus: Final consonant deletion before other consonants

Agglutinative Language Speakers (Turkish, Finnish, Japanese)

Challenge: Word boundaries are clearer in L1 Solution: English word boundary dissolution in connected speech Focus: Cross-word linking and assimilation patterns

Real Conversation Challenge

Native speaker transcription: "Didyouhearhatsaidaboutthmeetinyesterday?"

Slow reconstruction: "Did you hear what he said about the meeting yesterday?"

Processes identified:

• Linking: "Did you" → "Didyou"
• Elision: "what he" → "whahe" → "wha"
• Assimilation: "about the" → "aboutthe"
• Reduction: "meeting" → "meetin"

Practice protocol: Start with slow, clear version and gradually connect until you match native speed.

The Listening Strategy Shift

Old strategy: Try to catch every word New strategy: Follow the stress pattern and reconstruct

Example listening process:

1. Catch stressed syllables: "WANT...GO...STORE"
2. Predict function words: "I want to go to the store"
3. Don't worry about unclear syllables: Focus on content words
4. Use context: Meaning guides reconstruction

Professional Connected Speech Patterns

Presentations

• "Let me show you" → "Lemme showyou"
• "As you can see" → "Asyou cn see"
• "What we're going to do" → "Whatwe're gonnado"

Meetings

• "I think we should" → "I thinkwe should"
• "Don't you think" → "Don'you think"
• "What do you mean" → "Whaddyou mean"

Phone Conversations

• "How are you" → "Howareyou"
• "I'll call you back" → "I'll callyou back"
• "Talk to you later" → "Talktoyou later"

Technology for Connected Speech Training

Slow-motion playback:

• YouTube: 0.5x speed to hear connections clearly
• Podcast apps: Variable speed for gradual acceleration
• Language learning apps: Sentence shadowing features

Transcription practice:

• Choose 30-second clips of natural conversation
• Transcribe what you actually hear (connected forms)
• Compare with official transcripts
• Identify patterns in your missed connections

The Intelligibility Balance

Too clear: Sounds robotic and foreign "I. WANT. TO. GO. TO. THE. STORE."

Too connected: Sounds mumbled and unclear "Wannagotothstore."

Just right: Natural connections with clear content words "I wannago to th'store."

Professional rule: Connect function words, preserve content words.

Connected Speech Error Patterns

Over-Articulation

Error: Pronouncing every sound clearly Example: "I want to go" [aɪ wʌnt tu goʊ] Target: "I wannago" [aɪ wʌnəgoʊ]

Under-Connection

Error: Keeping word boundaries too distinct Example: "pick_it_up" (with pauses) Target: "pickit up" (smooth flow)

Wrong Process Application

Error: Applying L1 connected speech rules Example: Spanish speakers may link differently Target: English-specific linking patterns

Your Connected Speech Diagnostic

Record yourself reading: "I don't know what you want me to do about it."

Check for:

1. Linking: "don't know" → "don'know"
2. Elision: "what you" → "whachu"
3. Reduction: "want to" → "wanna"
4. Natural flow: No robotic pauses between words

Goal: 80% native-like connected speech patterns in conversational contexts.

The Shadowing Protocol

Week 1: Shadow with transcript, focus on accuracy Week 2: Shadow without transcript, focus on natural flow Week 3: Shadow with various speeds (0.8x to 1.2x) Week 4: Shadow spontaneous conversation clips

Daily practice: 15 minutes of shadowing with connected speech focus.

Key Takeaways

✅ Connected speech is systematic: Four predictable processes govern word flow ✅ Linking prevents choppiness: Consonant-vowel connections are essential ✅ Deletion maintains rhythm: Some sounds must disappear for natural timing ✅ Context aids comprehension: Don't catch every sound—follow the pattern ✅ Professional balance: Natural connections without losing clarity

Module 2 Progress

You've mastered the fundamentals of perception and connected speech. In the final lesson, "The Stress Detective," you'll learn to identify stress patterns in real speech and understand how sentence-level stress creates meaning and emphasis.

Ready to practice connected speech patterns with real conversation clips? Our mobile app provides slow-motion analysis, reconstruction exercises, and shadowing practice with immediate feedback on your connection accuracy.