Education for All

1. Phonetics and Phonology
Muhammad Sheroz
2013-928
M.A ELTL
IER, University of the Punjab

2. Definition:
Elision is the omission of
one or more sounds (such as a vowel,
a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a
word or phrase, producing a result
that is easier for the speaker to
pronounce. Sometimes, sounds may
be elided for euphonic effect.

3. Explanation:
In Native English,
elision comes naturally, and it is often
described as "slurred" or "muted."
Often, elision is deliberate.

4. Elision is an important area in listening
skills, as learners are often unable to hear
elided words correctly, especially if they
have little contact with native speakers.
Word counting and dictations are two
activities that practise recognition, whilst
at the production stage drilling elided
forms such as contracted forms is
common

5. Elision is very simply the omission of certain
sounds in certain contexts. The most important
occurrences of this phenomenon regard:
1) Alveolar consonants /t/ and /d/ when
‘sandwiched’ between two consonants (CONS –
t/d – CONS), e.g.
The next day….
/ðə ˈneks ˈdeɪ/
The last car… /ðə ˈlɑ:s ˈkɑ:/
Hold the dog! /ˈhəʊl ðə ˈdɒg/
Send Frank a card. /sen ˈfræŋk ə ˈkɑ:d/

6. This can also take place within
affricates /t§/ and /d½/ when
preceded by a consonant, e.g.
lunchtime /ˈlʌntʃtaɪm/ /ˈlʌnʃtaɪm/
strange
days
/ˈstreɪndʒˈdeɪz
/
/ˈstreɪndʒˈdeɪz
/

7. The phoneme /t/ is a fundamental part of the negative
particle not, the possibility of it being elided makes the
foreign students life more difficult. Consider the negative
of can – if followed by a consonant the /t/ may easily
disappear and the only difference between the positive and
the negative is a different, longer vowel sound in the
second:
I can speak….
/aɪ kən ˈspi:k/
I can’t speak… /aɪ ˈkɑ:n(t) ˈspi:k/
Note that when can’t is followed by a vowel, e.g. ‘I
can’t eat’, the /t/ is not elided.
Can something similar happen to didn’t?

8. 2) A second form involves the
omission of the schwa // before
liquids /l/ and /r/, e.g.
secretary
/ˈsekrət(ə)ri/
camera /ˈkæm(ə)rə/
memory /ˈmem(ə)ri/
In some cases this elision may be
optional (dictionaries usually represent
the optional sound in italics e.g. /ˈlʌnt
ʃtaɪm/ , in others it is the norm.

9. Word IPA before elision IPA after elision
comfortable /ˈkʌmfərtəbəl/
/ˈkʌmftərbəl/ (rhotic
English), /ˈkʌmftəbəl/ (non-rhotic
English)
fifth /ˈfɪfθ/ /ˈfɪθ/
laboratory /læˈbɔrətɔri/
/ˈlæbrətɔri/ (American
English), /ləˈbɒrətri/ (British
English)
temperature /ˈtɛmpərətʃər/ /ˈtɛmpərtʃər/, /ˈtɛmprətʃə/
vegetable /ˈvɛdʒətəbəl/ /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/, /ˈvɛtʃtəbəl/
family /ˈfæmɪli/ /ˈfæmli/
him /hɪm/ /ɪm/
going to /ˈɡoʊ.iŋ tuː/ /ˈɡənə/ (gonna)

12. Elision predicts success in reading
nonsense words more than real words.
Since elision deals with manipulation
of phonemes, it would make sense
that children who can perform this
task would do better at reading
abstract
Pseudo words. Further study is needed
to ascertain the range of influence
that elision has over other reading
skills and behaviors.

13. Elision may be an important element
in the screening of reading success,
albeit at the level of basic reading
and broad measures of total reading.
Teachers continually ask how they
can quickly assess young readers
who may be at difficulty for reading
failure. It would appear that using
elision tasks may be one answer to
this question.

14. Elision is a key element of phonological
awareness. Of the elements evaluated by
the CTOPP measuring phonological
awareness, this one element has been
consistently powerful in identifying
children who have reading difficulties.

15. Thank You