Week 10

This week I decided to return back on track where I've been during the spring break. My goal for Week 10 was to explore linking and blending.

Here is the first half of my archetype transcript with the thought groups and linking and blending identified:

Mit‿Autos / für Bücher‿werben / ist‿eher ungewöhnlich. Martina‿Bollinger nutzt den Kleinwagen / als Büchertisch. / Vier Wochen kostenlos fahren / kann man gewinnen./
So‿hoffen wir /, dass wir viele‿Bücher verkaufen./ Und wenn sich der‿ein‿oder‿andere für‿’nen Mini‿interessiert,/ kann‿er zu‿dem Händler hingehen,/ so‿dass es‿’ne Win-Win-Situation / ist./
In‿ihrem Buchladen / legt sie großen Wert auf Beratung./ Viele, / die vorbeikommen,/ sind Stammkunden./ Sie‿hat‿ihre Kinderbuch‿abteilung gerade vergrößert, / beschäftigt / sieben Mitarbeiter./ Doch ohne Online-Shop / geht auch bei‿ihr nichts mehr./ Kunden / können Bücher über‿ihre Home‿page bestellen / und kostenlos liefern lassen./ Sie muss das machen,/ um‿mit dem‿Online-Handel mithalten zu‿können./
Wenn‿ich das nicht mache, / macht’‿s‿jemand‿anders, /und / den‿Umsatz,/ den brauche ich‿einfach noch, um bestehen zu‿können./ Das‿ist ganz / ehrlich gesagt / (also ich) / … mir behagt das nicht so sehr,/ weil‿ich natürlich lieber die Kunden im Laden habe,/ weil‿ich‿es liebe,/ die Kunden im Laden zu‿haben,/ um‿mitdenen zu‿kommunizieren. / Aber / ich komm’ leider nicht dran vorbei./
Ver‿anstaltungen / mit Kaffee / und selbst gebackenem Kuchen. / Martina‿Bollinger muss‿sich‿immer wiede‿was Neues einfallen lassen, / deswegen / kommen ihre Kunden. / Und sie lockt sie auch mit bekannten Schriftstellern, / die aus‿ihren Büchern lesen./

Linking and blending was probably the most difficult part for me so far. This phonological feature in German definitely deserves special attention. The German word-formation is what differentiates it from other Germanic languages, like English or Swedish, for example. Some long blended words formed by adding stems can sound like separate words, but on the other hand, some separate words may sound like a one word. It brings back the memories when I was confused with the German words spelling and pronunciation: whether it is a one word or two. 

The additional blending is happening when there is an article with preposition or an article with conjunction standing next to each other. In this case they are linked in one word in pronunciation. Usually articles would link words together in German both in terms of grammar as well as in terms of the pronunciation. They usually constitute the main part of my challenge. The speaker (Martiina Bollinger) is incredibly fast! In her case, the articles and function words are very hard to hear. In the narrator's part, the linking occurs not as often and within shorter thought groups.

I identified the thought groups first just to make it easier for me to see where linking and blending would rarely be possible. The instances of linking and blending in German were mostly following the English guidelines. That is, it occurred when two similar sounds were close together, and when consonant and vowel were together. 

I was trying to hear if linking or some sort of assimilation was happening when two vowels were close together. I haven't found any instances of it in this part (or maybe I just haven't trained my ear enough to hear them), but I will continue working on the second part next week. I might find something there.

Here is my recording from this week.