LINKING

Even to the linguistically naïve learner, a prominent characteristic of much of nonnative English speech is its “choppy” quality. In connected speech native speakers normally link words together smoothly and naturally.

The ability to speak English “smoothly”, to utter words or syllables that are appropriately connected, involves the use of linking(also liaisonorlink-up), which is the connecting of the final sound of one word or syllable to the initial sound of the next.

The processes of linking are common to all languages but the rules of connecting sounds are different.