Coarticulation

/koʊˌɑɹˌtɪkjəˈleɪʃən/ noun

Definition

The phenomenon in speech where two sounds blend together because mouth movements for one sound begin before the previous sound ends.

Etymology

From 'coarticulate' plus the noun-forming suffix '-tion.' This is a technical term in phonetics that emerged in the 20th century as linguists studied how speech actually works in real time.

Kelly Says

Coarticulation is why accents exist—different languages have different patterns of how sounds overlap, and when you learn a new language as an adult, your mouth has to rewire these timing patterns!

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