• Intonation in the English Accent
• Stress in the English Accent (Part 1)
• Stress in the English Accent (Part 2)
• Liaisons and linkages of words and syllables in the English Accent 

Liaisons

links between vowel and consonant sounds in your speech

We have linking in English speech  when you have a word that ends in a consonant and the next word starts with a vowel. And when that happens in English, we don't put any pause between the two words, but instead we link them or connect them so that they sound like one word. And a lot of times when this happens, it's in, for example, two-word verbs –

Remember that it's the sound that matters, NOT the letter. For example, "have" ends with the letter "e" which is a vowel but words following the word “have” are influenced by the •the sound "v" (consonant). Therefore, we have the case of a consonant to vowel link in the phrase: “Can I have a bite?”. Which is pronounced like this:  Ca-nI-ha-va-bite?

So we link "have" to the next word "a" which begins with a vowel sound:

American English speakers use linking to join words together so that they flow together smoothly. New learners of English have to get used to the fact that The problem is that words in a sentence that are linked don't sound the same as they do when they are pronounced individually.

English learners often have trouble understanding what native English speakers are saying when they speak with a native accent and link neighboring sounds.. Unfortunately, there is no way around this. It is a reality that English links its sounds. It is necessary to get the right rhythm of English speech

The difficulty is not only that of understanding; if  a learner does not link the sounds correctly, her accent will be difficult to understand by English speakers. When English learners don't link words in English sentences their speech sounds staccato and choppy to Americans. Non-native English speakers often pronounce each sound individually and stop the sounds between words, instead of linking or blending the sounds together. Unfortunately this sounds wrong to American listeners and significantly emphasizes your foreign accent. You must learn to use linking when you are speaking with Americans. If you do, your accent will improve and people will understand you more easily!

Two of the most common types of linking in spoken English are consonant to vowel linking and vowel to vowel linking.

CONSONANT TO VOWEL LINKING

When words that end in a consonant sound come before words that begin with a vowel sound, the consonant sound becomes part of the second word. Americans hold the consonant sound of the first word until they say the vowel sound of the second word in order to link the words together.

Here are some examples:

1. “He likes it”. sounds like: He take zit
2. ‘She passed that”. sounds like: She pass dat.
3. “Pain in a neck”. sounds like:  Pay ni na neck
4. “wake up”! sounds like: Way-kup
5. “turn off” sounds like: tur noff“
6. Who is it”? sounds like: who wih zit

In these phrases the final consonant the first word or syllable becomes the first sound of the next word or syllable.

VOWEL TO VOWEL LINKING

When words that end in a vowel sound are next to words or syllables that begin with a vowel sound American English speakers add a /y/ or /w/ sound to link them together.  Note: the use of slashes, indicates the sound, not the letter.

If the first sound is pronounced in the front of our mouth, that is, if our lips are rounded  at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:

·         “two old men”  sounds like: two wold men

·         “who are you”? sounds like: who wahr you

·        “to all a good night” sounds like: to wall a good night“

·        “Who is it”? sounds like: who wih zit

·         “yellowonions” sounds like: yello wonions yam

If the first sound is pronounced further back in our mouth, that is, if our lips are spread at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:

·         “CIA” sounds like: See yaye yea

·         “the way in” sounds like: the wae yin

·          “she ate” sounds like: she yate

·         the end” sounds like: thee yend

·         “my answer” sounds like: my yanswer

·         “I am” sounds like: I yam

·         “she ate” sounds like: she yate

Some learners think that linking vowels is a more difficult, because, we need to add a sound, specifically, a /w/ sound or a /y/ sound, between the words or syllables. The truth is that English does not add the /w/ sound or a /y/ sound; the speaker’s mouth has to put the sound there. It is a question of the mechanics of the human mouth; if you finish a word with the lips rounded, automatically your will almost be forced to put a /w/ sound before a vowel. Therefore, don’t be nervous about this. As you hear and speak more English, you will be making the links correctly without even noticing ir.

So how do you know if the vowels should link words with a y sound or w sound? Well, I could list all the sound combinations, but really, it becomes very obvious if you try using the wrong one. Listen to the examples I used so far when I intentionally say them incorrectly.

BLENDING

When you have a word that ends in a sound and the next word starts with the very same sound, you have blending. The meaning of the word “blending” is that the two sounds join or mix together, like when you have blended scotch whiskey, or a blend of different coffee beans. The result is that the consonant is held a little longer and it's very hard to tell where one sound ends and the next one starts. Look at these examples. They are hard to describe in a written form. This is the place to stress that you must hear English. You can listen to both British and American English  on the following internet websites: