What term describes the effect where a word-final consonant is strongly articulated before a following vowel, making it seem to begin the next word?

• A. Liaison
• B. Elision
• C. Intrusion
• D. Lexical set

Answer: (A)

This item tests how sounds connect across word boundaries in fluent speech. The term is liaison: a normally silent word-final consonant is pronounced because the next word starts with a vowel, so it sounds as if the consonant belongs to the next word and the two words run together smoothly. For example, in languages where liaison is common, a phrase like les amis is heard as lez-ami, with the final s sounding like a link to the following vowel-starting word. This is different from elision, where a sound is dropped; it’s also not about adding an extra sound (intrusion) or about vowel groups (lexical set).