What term describes the insertion of an extra sound between two words to aid pronunciation?

What term describes the insertion of an extra sound between two words to aid pronunciation?

• A. Intrusion
• B. Linking
• C. Assimilation
• D. Elision

Answer: (A)

In this context, the main idea is that a speaker adds an extra sound between two words to make pronunciation smoother. This is known as intrusion. It happens when the boundary between two words would be awkward to say back-to-back, so a brief sound (often a consonant like a small /w/ or /j/) is inserted to bridge the words. For example, when spoken quickly, “go on” can sound like go-won, with that extra sound helping the transition from the first word to the second. The other processes describe changing or omitting sounds rather than inserting a new one: linking connects without adding a new sound, assimilation changes a sound to resemble neighboring sounds, and elision drops a sound altogether.

In this context, the main idea is that a speaker adds an extra sound between two words to make pronunciation smoother. This is known as intrusion. It happens when the boundary between two words would be awkward to say back-to-back, so a brief sound (often a consonant like a small /w/ or /j/) is inserted to bridge the words. For example, when spoken quickly, “go on” can sound like go-won, with that extra sound helping the transition from the first word to the second. The other processes describe changing or omitting sounds rather than inserting a new one: linking connects without adding a new sound, assimilation changes a sound to resemble neighboring sounds, and elision drops a sound altogether.