Meaning of yod coalescence | Babel Free

Definitions

A process in English phonology whereby the clusters [dj], [tj], [sj], and [zj] become [dʒ], [tʃ], [ʃ], and [ʒ], respectively, through mutual assimilation.

uncountable

Examples

“Some English dialects with /dj/ and /tj/ within a morpheme have⟳ gradient amounts of affrication, from [dj] in careful speech to extreme “yod coalescence” approximating [dʒ][…].”

“In words such as nature this process⟳ is long complete⟳; but there are many other words where this ‘yod coalescence’ is still variable.”

“In the sequence would you, the female speaker uses yod coalescence: The alveolar plosive /d/ and the palatal approximant, /j/, merge to form⟳ the affricate [dʒ].”

“Awareness of the fact that Yod Coalescence is somewhat stigmatized leads to hypercorrection in would-be elegant speech, with the use⟳ of [tj, dj] in place⟳ of [tʃ, dʒ] in words such as chew, June.”

“In this investigation, the linguistic context is restricted to /j/ after /t, d/ in stressed syllables within a word (e.g. tune⟳, duke). This is the environment in which Yod Coalescence is not (yet) fully acceptable within RP.”

“EE speakers typically use⟳ Yod Coalescence in stressed syllables as in Tuesday [ˈtʃuːzdeɪ] or duke [ˈdʒuːk].”

“As for the native speakers of English, the only phonostylistic processes all three of them applied…were the following: nasal assimilation in triumph and palatalization (“Yod coalescence”) in Tell⟳ me what you want⟳.”

“London and Southeastern English accents have⟳ variable Yod dropping and Yod coalescence.”

“However, what was somewhat surprising was the extended use⟳ of Yod coalescence in word-initial positions (e.g., ‘Tuesday’).”

CEFR level