Principle of economy in language

Abstract

The work "Principle of economy in language" is dedicated to a very relevant issue in linguistics. Sound changes such as assimilation,   sound reduction, sound fusion, etc are deeply and thoroughly studied in traditional linguistics. However, it should be noted, that the main reason that causes these sound changes is left behind. We have researched this issue in the context of connected speech. The phonetic processes in fast connected speech are based on the language's tendency to "economy", which means that all sound changes in connected speech, be it within a word or at the juncture, are aimed at simplifying oral speech, making pronunciation easier. The paper discusses some of the phonetic processes taking place in oral English. The neutral vowel – schwa, characteristic of English, causes contraction of words, which in turn determines the rhythmicity of the English language. We consider merging t+s =ც ( ç) and d+z= ძ ( ĵ.)  into the nonexisting sounds in English  as a novelty .