ABSTRACT
Phonemes are realized in particular ways and are combined in particular orders to form words. This is relatively straightforward for learners. When it comes to features of connected speech, however, it cannot be said that these phenomena absolutely must occur in the contexts described but only that they very commonly do, which raises the question of whether the learner should attempt to imitate these patterns of native speech. Firstly, it’s certainly advisable to learn about connected speech because it will help with listening comprehension. Secondly, connected speech phenomena are not unique to English, but at the same time, they are not universal. The pronunciation of a word can vary depending on its phonetic environment. Assimilation in English is most often anticipatory, meaning that a sound is influenced by a sound that follows it. Unlike many other languages, English has very few examples of voicing assimilation.
