Worksheet to print & bring to class:

Historical elision

Can you think of words beginning/ending with the following consonant clusters? Do you know their pronunciation? Well, they would all be examples of 'historical' elision, i.e. certain sounds are omitted not as a result of connected speech or unclear pronunciation but because over the centuries the pronunciation of such clusters has developed that way. 

For more, have a look at the attached list.

PRACTICE

Try to transcribe the words from the attached list; some of them are cases of historical elision, some of them may display elision due to a casual way of speaking (i.e. colloquial elision).

Self-study 

English Phonetics and Phonology (1994, 2009):

• aspects of connected speech: elision