What term describes the disappearance of an expected sound in rapid spoken language?

What term describes the disappearance of an expected sound in rapid spoken language?

• A. Elision
• B. Liaison
• C. Intrusion
• D. Lexical set

Answer: (A)

Elision is the dropping of a sound in fast, connected speech to make talking smoother. In quick everyday speech, a sound that would normally be heard in careful pronunciation can disappear, especially in consonant clusters or at word boundaries. For example, saying “next day” quickly can sound like “nek day,” with the /t/ omitted, or “handbag” can be heard as “han’bag,” dropping the /d/. These omissions illustrate elision in action. Liaison, by contrast, involves linking sounds between words, often adding a sound at a boundary rather than dropping one. Intrusion is the insertion of an extra sound into speech, not its disappearance. A lexical set is a group of words used to discuss phonetic categories, not a phenomenon of sound deletion in rapid speech.

Elision is the dropping of a sound in fast, connected speech to make talking smoother. In quick everyday speech, a sound that would normally be heard in careful pronunciation can disappear, especially in consonant clusters or at word boundaries. For example, saying “next day” quickly can sound like “nek day,” with the /t/ omitted, or “handbag” can be heard as “han’bag,” dropping the /d/. These omissions illustrate elision in action.

Liaison, by contrast, involves linking sounds between words, often adding a sound at a boundary rather than dropping one. Intrusion is the insertion of an extra sound into speech, not its disappearance. A lexical set is a group of words used to discuss phonetic categories, not a phenomenon of sound deletion in rapid speech.