"the" and linking rules

[Squirrel_3110]

I have some questions on the rules of British English. I hope to receive your answers:
- "The": Can you tell me when we use the strong form and weak form of "the"? Another thing is that in a normal conversation, it seems to me that "the" is sometimes not pronounced. Is it true?
- Linking rules: I finds it difficult to link a word ending in "k" and a word beginning with "p". For example: kick pack (just an example). There are many other cases similar to this but your answer on this case is of great help to me. Because I hear that there are just some linking rules in English, including vowel and vowel, consonant and vowel, and consonant and consonant. The example I take should lie in the third category, but in fact I don't find any rule of linking word of the different type. Can you give me any information?Thank you very much.

[mkss]

Originally Posted by Squirrel_3110

I have some questions on the rules of British English. I hope to receive your answers:
- "The": Can you tell me when we use the strong form and weak form of "the"? Another thing is that in a normal conversation, it seems to me that "the" is sometimes not pronounced. Is it true?
- Linking rules: I finds it difficult to link a word ending in "k" and a word beginning with "p". For example: kick pack (just an example). There are many other cases similar to this but your answer on this case is of great help to me. Because I hear that there are just some linking rules in English, including vowel and vowel, consonant and vowel, and consonant and consonant. The example I take should lie in the third category, but in fact I don't find any rule of linking word of the different type. Can you give me any information?Thank you very much.

-"The": The strong form of 'the' is used for the purposes of:
*contrast (if your statement contradicts or is intended to prove wrong a previous one, made up by another person or yourself). Examples:
Dialogue:
-Did you say T buses?
-No, I said the buses.

*avoiding assimilation with a following vowel: that is, when 'the' is followed by a vowel sound (for example: 'in the end')

"The" is always pronounced, but always (except for the mentioned cases) in its weak form.


-Linking rules: There is a phonetic realisation of these sounds called 'delayed release':

sounds like /p/, /t/, and /k/ are called 'plosives' because of the 'plosion' (the current of air that comes from your lungs is suddenly let out of your mouth) that can be heard at the end of their articulation (that is, when they are 'produced'). When these sounds are found one immediately after the other, and specially in connected/rapid/informal speech, only one plosion may be realised (heard), the plosion corresponding to the second plosive sound.
By this I don't mean that both plosions cannot be realised, and in fact, examples in which two plosive sounds (one immediately after the other) are specially found correspond to careful/formal/previously-planned speech.

For instance: you may practise pronouncing 'top class', 'tiptoe' by only letting the plosion be realised after the second plosive (/k/in class and the seond /t/ in tiptoe)

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by mkss

sounds like /p/, /t/, and /k/ are called 'plosives' because of the 'plosion' (the current of air that comes from your lungs is suddenly let out of your mouth) that can be heard at the end of their articulation (that is, when they are 'produced'). When these sounds are found one immediately after the other, and specially in connected/rapid/informal speech, only one plosion may be realised (heard), the plosion corresponding to the second plosive sound.
By this I don't mean that both plosions cannot be realised, and in fact, examples in which two plosive sounds (one immediately after the other) are specially found correspond to careful/formal/previously-planned speech.

For instance: you may practise pronouncing 'top class', 'tiptoe' by only letting the plosion be realised after the second plosive (/k/in class and the seond /t/ in tiptoe)

For realised, do you mean "released"?
A plosive is not released if the stop is the last sound. For example, if you say "top", but don't open your lips at the end, the/p/ is not "released".
One doesn't normally release the first /k/ in backpack (and some people release few plosives at the end of a word or syllable). The other plosives, /b/ and /p/ have to be released in "backpack".

[mkss]

Originally Posted by Raymott

For realised, do you mean "released"?
A plosive is not released if the stop is the last sound. For example, if you say "top", but don't open your lips at the end, the/p/ is not "released".
One doesn't normally release the first /k/ in backpack (and some people release few plosives at the end of a word or syllable). The other plosives, /b/ and /p/ have to be released in "backpack".

No, I didn't mean that. What you added is correct (and is exactly what appears in phonetic courses), but if you check the meaning of the word "realise" you will understand my explanation, which was made to avoid gobbledygook. And it was precisely oriented to a student who might not understand anything at all about phonetics or phonology.