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LESSON 2. Articulatory phonetics. Classification of English speech sounds. Articulatory classification of English consonants. Articulatory classification of English vowels.



УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

По ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКОЙ ФОНЕТИКЕ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

для студентов 3 курса, обучающихся по специальностям

«Теория и методика изучения языков и культур», «Перевод и переводоведение»

 

 

Тирасполь 2007

 

УДК 802.0 (07) (075)

ББК 81.2 p3 я73

У – 91

Автор: Щукина О.В., кандидат педагогических наук, доцент, зав. кафедрой английской филологии Института языка и литературы ПГУ им. Т.Г.Шевченко

 

 

Рецензенты:

 

Учебно-методическое пособие рекомендовано к изданию кафедрой трудового и экологического права ИИГиП ПГУ им.Т.Г.Шевченко (Протокол №1 от .) и Научно-методическим советом ПГУ им. Т.Г.Шевченко (протокол №___ от «___»_______2007 г.)

Настоящее учебно-методическое пособие составлено в соответствии с действующей программой по курсу теоретической фонетики английского языка, предусматривающей 14 часов практических занятий.

Материал пособия разделён на 7 уроков, содержащих теоретические сведения и практические задания, и предназначен для подготовки студентов к практическим занятиям по теоретической фонетике английского языка.

В пособии представлены основные разделы теоретической фонетики английского языка, в соответствии с основными тенденциями её развития в настоящее время.

 

 

© Щукина О.В., 2007

 

LESSON 1. Phonetics as a branch of linguistics. Branches of phonetics. Methods of phonetic analysis. Regional and stylistic varieties of English pronunciation. Classification of pronunciation variants in English. British and American pronunciation models. Types and styles of pronunciation

The unity of the three elements - the phonological system, the lexical system, the grammatical system – forms a language. Thus phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics like lexicology and grammar. Phonetics studies the outer form of language; its sound matter. The phonetician investigates the phonemes and their allophones, the syllabic structure the distribution of stress, and intonation. Phonetics describes the sounds that are produced by the human speech-organs insofar as these sounds have a role in language. Phonetics is the study of the way humans make, transmit, and receive speech sounds. It occupies itself with the study of the ways in which the sounds are organized into a system of units and the variation of the units in all types and styles of spoken language.

There are different divisions of the science. From the point of view of its subject phonetics can be general (studies general laws, formulates general theories - theory of intonation, syllable, formation, phoneme) and special (based on general phonetics and deals with phonetic peculiarities of certain language).General phonetics studies all the sound-producing possibilities of the human speech apparatus and the ways they are used for purpose of communication. The phonetics of a particular language studies the contemporary phonetic system of the particular language, i.e. the system of its pronunciation, and gives a description of all the phonetic units of the language. Descriptive phonetics is based on general phonetics.

Phonetics can be described in the context of the historical development of a certain language and that of a certain stage of a language development. The evolution of the sound pattern in a language is studied by a subfield of historical (or diachronic) phonetics. Synchronic analysis deals with certain states of language (Old English, Modern English, etc.). The aim of historical phonetics is to trace and establish the successive changes in the phonetic system of a given language (or a language family) at different stages of its development. Historical phonetics is a part of the history of language.

Closely connected with historical phonetics is comparative phonetics whose aims are to study the correlation between the phonetic systems of two or more languages and find out the correspondences between the speech sounds of languages.

Phonetics can also be theoretical and practical. At the faculties of Foreign Languages in this country, two courses are introduced: Practical or normative phonetics studies substance, the material form of phonetic phenomena in relation to meaning. Theoretical phonetics is mainly concerned with the functioning of phonetic units in the language.

All the branches of phonetics are closely connected not only with one another but also with other branches of linguistics. This connection is determined by the fact that language is a system whose components are inseparably connected with one another.

Phonetics is also connected with many other sciences. Acoustic phonetics is connected with physics and mathematics. Articulatory phonetics is connected with physiology, anatomy, and anthropology. Historical phonetics is connected with general history of the people whose language is studied; it is also connected with archaeology. Phonology is connected with communication (information) theory, mathematics, and statistics.

The phonetic system of language is a set of phonetic units arranged in an orderly way to replace each other in a given framework. Phonetics studies the sound system of the language, that is segmental units (phonemes, allophones), suprasegmental units (word stress, syllabic structure, rhythmic organization, intonation). Thus phonetics is divided into two major components: segmental phonetics, which is concerned with individual sounds (i.e. "segments" of speech), their behaviour; and suprasegmental phonetics whose domain is the larger units of connected speech: syllables, words, phrases and texts.

1. Segmental units are sounds of speech (vowels and consonants) which form the vocalic and consonantal systems;

2. Suprasegmental, or prosodic, units are syllables, accentual (rhythmic) units, intonation groups, utterances, which form the subsystem of pitch, stress, rhythm, tempo, pauses.

We know that the phonic medium can be studied from four points of view: the articulatory and perceptive, the acoustic, and the functional. Thus phonetics has the following branches: articulatory (physiological) (auditory), acoustic, functional. Of these three branches of phonetics, the longest established, and until recently the most highly developed, is articulatory phonetics. For this reason, most of terms used by linguists to refer to speech-sounds are articulatory in origin.

Articulatory and perceptive phonetics deals with sound-producing mechanism, sounds’ structure, work and perceptive effects, that is – physiology and psychology. It borders with anatomy and physiology. and the tools for investigating just what the speech organs do are tools which are used in these fields: direct observation, wherever it is possible, e.g. lip movement, some tongue movement; combined with x-ray photography or x-ray cinematography; observation through mirrors as in the laryngoscopic investigation of vocal cord movement, etc.

Articulation comprises all the movements and positions of the speech organs necessary to pronounce a speech sound. According to their main sound-producing functions, the speech organs can be divided into the following four groups:

(1) the power mechanism;

(2) the vibration mechanism;

(3) the resonator mechanism;

(4) the obstruction mechanism.

The functions of the power mechanism consist in the supply of the energy in the form of the air pressure and in regulating the force of the air stream. The power mechanism includes: (1) the diaphragm, (2) the lungs, (3) the bronchi, (4) the windpipe, or trachea. The glottis and the supra-glottal cavities enter into the power mechanism as parts of the respiratory tract. The vibration mechanism consists of the larynx, or voice box, containing the vocal cords. The most important function of the vocal cords is their role in the production of voice. The pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal cavity function as the principal resonators thus constituting the resonator mechanism. The obstruction mechanism (the tongue, the lips, the teeth, and the palate) forms the different types of obstructions.

Acoustic and auditory branch of phonetics investigates speech sound as a physical phenomenon: their quantity, length, tamber, intensity, pitch, temporal factor. It studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker's mouth and the listener's ear. It’s basic method is instrumental. Speech sounds are investigated by means of operator called spectrograph. Intonation is investigated by intonograph. Acoustic phonetics comes close to studying physics and the tools used in this field enable the investigator to measure and analyze the movement of the air in the terms of acoustics. This generally means introducing a microphone into the speech chain, converting the air movement into corresponding electrical activity and analyzing the result in terms of frequency of vibration and amplitude of vibration in relation to time. The use of such technical devices as spectrograph, intonograph and other sound analyzing and sound synthesizing machines is generally combined with the method of direct observation.

The acoustic aspect studies sound waves. The basic vibrations of the vocal cords over their whole length produce the fundamental tone of voice. The simultaneous vibrations of each part of the vocal cords produce partial tones (overtones and harmonics). The number of vibrations per second is called frequency. Frequency of basic vibrations of the vocal cords is the fundamental frequency. Fundamental frequency determines the pitch of the voice and forms an acoustic basis of speech melody. Intensity of speech sounds depends on the amplitude of vibration.

The auditory (sound-perception) aspect, on the one hand, is a physiological mechanism. We can perceive sound waves within a range of 16 Hz-20.000 Hz with adifference in 3 Hz. The human ear transforms mechanical vibrations of the air into nervous and transmits them to brain. The listener hears the acoustic features of the fundamental frequency, formant frequency, intensity and duration in terms of perceptible categories of pitch, quality, loudness and length. On the other hand, it is also apsychological mechanism. The point is that repetitions of what might be heard as the same utterance are only coincidentally, if ever, acoustically identical. Phonetic identity is a. theoretical ideal. Phonetic similarity, not phonetic identity, is the criterion with which we operate in the linguistic analysis.

The phonological or functional properties of phonemes, syllables, accent and intonation are investigated by means of special linguistic methods, which help to interpret them as socially significant elements. It studies the way in which sound phenomena function in a particular language, how they are utilized in that language and what part they play in manifesting the meaningful distinctions of the language. So this is the branch of phonetics that studies the linguistic function of consonant and vowel sounds, syllabic structure, word accent and prosodic features, such as pitch, stress and tempo. In linguistics, function is usually understood to mean discriminatory function, that is, the role of the various elements of the language in the distinguishing of one sequence of sounds, such as a word or a sequence of words, from another of different meaning. The basic method is commutation or substitution, substituting sounds in different environments.

Phonemes, syllables, stress, and intonation are linguistic phenomena. They constitute meaningful units (morphemes, words, word-forms, utterances). Sounds of speech perform different linguistic functions.

We distinguish between subjective, introspective methods of phonetic investigation and objective methods.

The oldest, simplest and most readily available method is the method of direct observation. This method consists in observing the movements and positions of one's own or other people's organs of speech in pronouncing various speech sounds, as well as in analyzing one's own kinaesthetic sensations during the articulation of speech sound in comparing them with auditory impressions.

Objective methods involve the use of various instrumental techniques (palatography, laryngoscopy, photography, cinematography, X-ray photography and cinematography and electromyography). This type of investigation together with direct observation is widely used in experimental phonetics. The objective methods and the subjective ones are complementary and not opposite to one another. Nowadays we may use the up-to-date complex set to fix the articulatory parameters of speech - so called articulograph.

Acoustic phonetics comes close to studying physics and the tools used in this field enable the investigator to measure and analyze the movement of the air in the terms of acoustics. This generally means introducing a microphone into the speech chain, converting the air movement into corresponding electrical activity and analyzing (Ксень, это слово у Красы через «s», но, по-моему, тут «z») the result in terms of frequency of vibration and the amplitude of vibration in relation to time. The spectra of speech sounds are investigated by means of the apparatus called the sound spectrograph. Pitch as a component of intonation can be investigated by intonograph.

The acoustic aspect of speech sounds is investigated not only with the help of sound-analyzing techniques, but also by means of speech-synthesizing devices.

Classification of pronunciation variants in English. British and
American pronunciation models

The written form of language is usually a generally accepted standard and is the same throughout the country. But spoken language may vary from place to place. Such distinct forms of language are called dialects. The varieties of the language are conditioned by language communities ranging from small groups to nations. Speaking about the nations we refer to the national variants of the language. According to A.D. Schweitzer national language is a historical category evolving from conditions of economic and political concentration which characterizes the formation of nation.

Being spoken on all continents, English is the most widely spread language on earth. It is used by hundreds of millions of people, as a mother tongue, but also as a second language. The immense geographical spread of English makes it very different in various places. There are traditional dialectal differences as those between standard British English and the English dialects spoken in the UK and Ireland, but there are also differences due to the separate evolution of the language in various parts of the world (e.g. USA and Canada), or to the contact between English and the language of a colonized territory (e.g. Hong Kong or South Africa).

In the case of English there exists a great diversity in the realization of the language and particularly in terms of pronunciation. Though every national variant of English has considerable differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar; they all have much in common which gives us ground to speak of one and the same language - the English language.

Every national variety of language falls into territorial or regional dialects. Dialects are distinguished from each other by differences in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. When we refer to varieties in pronunciation only, we use the term accent. So local accents may have many features of pronunciation in common and are grouped into territorial or area accents. For certain reasons one of the dialects becomes the standard language of the nation and its pronunciation or accent - the standard pronunciation.

The literary spoken form has its national pronunciation standard. A standard may be defined as "a socially accepted variety of language established by a codified norm of correctness" (K. Macanalay). Standard national pronunciation is sometimes called "an orthoepic norm''. Some phoneticians however prefer the term "literary pronunciation".

Nowadays two main types of English are spoken in the English-speaking world: British English and American English.

According to British dialectologists (P. Trudgill, J. Hannah, A. Hughes and others), the following variants of English are referred to the English-based group: English English, Welsh English, Australian English, New Zealand English; to the American-based group: United States English, Canadian English. Scottish English and Ireland English fall somewhere between the two, being somewhat by themselves.

According to M. Sokolova and others, English English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Northern Irish English should be better combined into the British English subgroup, on the ground of political, geographical, cultural unity which brought more similarities - then differences for those variants of pronunciation.

Teaching practice as well as a pronouncing dictionary must base their
recommendations on one or more models. A pronunciation model is a carefully chosen and defined accent of a language.

In the nineteenth century Received Pronunciation (RP) was a social marker, a prestige accent of an Englishman. "Received" was understood in the sense of "accepted in the best society". The speech of aristocracy and the court phonetically was that of the London area. Then it lost its local characteristics and was finally fixed as a ruling-class accent, often referred to as "King's English". It was also the accent taught at public schools. With the spread of education cultured people not belonging to upper classes were eager to modify their accent in the direction of social standards.

In the first edition of English Pronouncing Dictionary (1917), Daniel Jones defined the type of pronunciation recorded as "Public School Pronunciation". He had by 1926, however, abandoned the term PSP in favour of "Received Pronunciation". The type of speech he had in mind was not restricted to London and the Home Counties, however being characteristic by the nineteenth century of upper-class speech throughout the country. The Editor of the 14th Edition of the dictionary, A.C. Gimson, commented in 1977 "Such a definition of RP is hardly tenable today". A more broadly-based and accessible model accent for British English is represented in the 15th (1997) and the16th (2003) editions – ВВС English. This is the pronunciation of professional speakers employed by the BBC as newsreaders and announcers. Of course, one finds differences between such speakers - they have their own personal characteristics, and an increasing number of broadcasters with Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents are employed. On this ground J.C. Wells (Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 33rd edition - 2000) considers that the term BBC pronunciation has become less appropriate. According to J.C. Wells, in England and Wales RP is widely regarded as a model for correct pronunciation, particularly for educated formal speech.

ForAmerican English, the selection also follows what is frequently heard from professional voices on national. network news and information programmes. It is similar to what has been termed General American, which refers to a geographically (largely non-coastal) and socially based set of pronunciation features. It is important to note that no single dialect - regional or social - has been singled out as an American standard. Even national media (radio, television, movies, CD-ROM, etc.), with professionally trained voices have speakers with regionally mixed features. However, Network English, in its most colourless form, can be described as a relatively homogeneous dialect that reflects the ongoing development of progressive American dialects. This "dialect" itself contains some variant forms. The variants involve vowels before [r], possible differences in words like cot and caught and some vowels before [l]. It is fully rhotic. These differences largely pass unnoticed by the audiences for Network English, and are also reflective of age differences. What are thought to be the more progressive (used by educated, socially mobile, and younger speakers) variants are considered as first variants. J.C. Wells prefers the term General American. This is what is spoken by the majority of Americans, namely those who do not have a noticeable eastern or southern accent.

Types and styles of pronunciation

Styles of speech or pronunciation are those special forms of speech suited to the aim and the contents of the utterance, the circumstances of communication, the character of the audience, etc. As D. Jones points out, a person may pronounce the same word or sequence of words quite differently under different circumstances.

Thus in ordinary conversation the word and is frequently pronounced [n] when unstressed (e.g. in bread and butter ['bredn 'butэ], but in serious conversation the word, even when unstressed, might often be pronounced [ænd]. In other words, all speakers use more than one style of pronunciation, and variations in the pronunciation of speech sounds, words and sentences peculiar to different styles of speech may be called stylistic variations.

Several different styles of pronunciation may be distinguished, although no generally accepted classification of styles of pronunciation has been worked out and the peculiarities of different styles have not yet been sufficiently investigated.

D. Jones distinguishes among different styles of pronunciation the rapid familiar style, the slower colloquial style, the natural style used in addressing a fair-sized audience, the acquired style of the stage, and the acquired style used in singing.

L.V. Shcherba wrote of the need to distinguish a great variety of styles of speech, in accordance with the great variety of different social occasions and situations, but for the sake of simplicity he suggested that only two styles of pronunciation should be distinguished: (1) colloquial style characteristic of people's quiet talk, and (2) full style, which we use when we want to make our speech especially distinct and, for this purpose, clearly articulate all the syllables of each word.

The kind of style used in pronunciation has a definite effect on the phonemic and allophonic composition of words. More deliberate and distinct utterance resultsin the use of full vowel sounds in some of the unstressed syllables. Consonants, too, uttered in formal style, will sometimes disappear in colloquial. It is clear that the chief phonetic characteristics of the colloquial style are various forms of the reduction of speech sounds and various kinds of assimilation. The degree of reduction and assimilation depends on the tempo of speech.

S.M. Gaiduchic distinguishes five phonetic styles: solemn (торжественный), "scientific business (научно-деловой), official business (официально-деловой), everyday (бытовой), and familiar (непринужденный). As we may see the above-mentioned phonetic styles on the whole correlate with functional styles of the language. They are differentiated on the basis of spheres of discourse.

The other way of classifying phonetic styles is suggested by J.A. Dubovsky who discriminates the following five styles: informal ordinary, formal neutral, formal official, informal familiar, and declamatory. The division is based on different degrees of formality or rather familiarity between the speaker and the listener. Within each style subdivisions are observed. M.Sokolova and other's approach is slightly different. When we consider the problem of classifying phonetic styles according to the criteria described above we should distinguish between segmental and suprasegmental level of analysis because some of them (the aim of the utterance, for example) result in variations of mainly suprasegmental level, while others (the formality of situation, for example) reveal segmental varieties. So it seems preferable to consider each level separately until a more adequate system of correlation is found.

The style-differentiating characteristics mentioned above give good grounds for establishing intonational styles. Intonational style – a system of interrelated intonational means which is used in a social sphere and serves s definite aim of communication.

There are five intonational styles singled out mainly according to the purpose of communication and to which we could refer all the main varieties of the texts. They are as follows: Informational style; Academic style (Scientific); Publicistic style; Declamatory style (Artistic); Conversational style (Familiar).

1) Informational - in press reporting, educational descriptive texts. May be represented in monologues, dialogues, polylogues. Phonostylistic characteristics: Loudness normal or increased; pauses are rather long; rhythm is stable, properly organized; falling tones on the semantic centres, falling-rising or rising in the initial intonation groups.

2) Academic (scientific) - style of lectures (conferences, seminars). It is determined by the purpose of communication as the speaker*s aim is to attract the listener*s attention, to establish close contacts with the audience and to direct the public attention to the message carried in the contents of the text. Phonostylistic characteristics: Loudness increased; pauses are rather long; rhythm is properly organized; high proportion of compound terminal tones (high fall + low rise, fall – rise, rise-fall-rise), a great number of high categoric falls.

3) Publicistic (oratorial)-this term serves for many kinds of oratorial activities (especially this style uses in political speeches). Phonostylistic characteristics: Loudness enormously increased; pauses are definitely long between the passages; rhythm is properly organized; tones mostly emphatic, especially emotionally underlined semantic centres, in non-final intonational groups falling-rising tones are frequent.

4) Declamatory (artistic) - this is the style of declamation. This is a highly emotional and expressive intonational style, that is why it needs special training. Attitudinal, volitional and intellectual functions of intonation are of primary importance here and serve to appeal to the mind, will and feelings of the listener. This style can be heard on the stage, on the screen, in a TV studio, thus we see that it is always a written form of the language read aloud or recited. Phonostylistic characteristics: Loudness varied according to the size of the audience and to the emotional setting; pauses are long especially between the passages, prolonged emphatic pauses are used to underline the emphasis; rhythm is properly organized; common use of categoric low and high falls in final and initial intination groups and on semantic centres.

5) Conversational (familiar) - this kind of English is a means for everyday communication, heard in natural conversational interaction between speakers. This style occurs mainly in informal external and internal relationships in speech of relatives, friends, well - acquainted people and so on. So this is spontaneous, colloquial, informal, everyday speech.

But differentiation of intonation according to the purpose of communication is not enough; there are other factors that affect intonation in various situations. Besides any style is seldom realized in its pure form.

CONTROL TASKS

1. Which linguistic branches do you know? How is phonetics connected with other sciences? What are the branches of phonetics? What are the methods and devices of phonetic investigation? Why is it difficult to learn the sounds of a foreign language? What is the practical and theoretical significance of phonetics? Which are the most important varieties of English? What are the main reasons of English wide spreading? What is standard pronunciation? What are the main differences between RP and GA a) systems of consonants; b) systems of vowels; c) accentual structure and intonation? What is “advanced” RP? Describe the main intonational styles.

2. Compare the English and the Russian alphabets.

3. Give examples to prove that phonetics is connected with other sciences.

LESSON 2. Articulatory phonetics. Classification of English speech sounds. Articulatory classification of English consonants. Articulatory classification of English vowels.

The physical processes involved in the production of speech sounds are the domains of articulatory phonetics, which uses a lot of data from human anatomy and physiology in its descriptions. This is so because the same organs, which are involved in breathing processes, also participate in the production of speech. Speech sounds result from the modification of the volume and direction of the airflow originating in the lungs, which are carried out through the vocal tract.

The opposition "vowels vs. consonants" is a linguistic universal. The distinction is based mainly on auditory effect. Consonants are known to have voice and noise combined, while vowels are sounds consisting of voice only. From the articulatory point of view the difference is due to the work of speech organs. In case of vowels no obstruction is made, so on the perception level their integral characteristic is tone, not noise. In case of consonants various obstructions are made. So consonants are characterized by a complete, partial or intermittent blockage of the air passage. The closure is formed in such a way that the air stream is blocked or hindered or otherwise gives rise to audible friction. As a result consonants are sounds which have noise as their indispensable characteristic.

The articulatory classification of English Consonants

On the articulatory level each consonant may be identified by stating two general facts: what sort of articulatory posture it is formed by; whereabout in the mouth (or pharynx) it is produced.

Besides these major characteristics the particular quality of a consonant may depend on a lot of other factors, that is by what articulatory organ (or organs) an obstruction is made, how vocal cords work at the moment of production, what cavity is used as a resonator, what is the force of articulatory effect and many others.

According to V.A.Vassilyev primary importance should be given to the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise. On this ground he distinguishes two large classes of consonants:

a) occlusive, in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed;

b) constrictive, in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed.

The phonological relevance of this feature could be exampled in the following oppositions: [ti:] – [si:] – tea – sea (occlusive – constrictive); [si:d] – [si:z] – seed – seas (occlusive – constructive); [pul] – [ful] – pull – full (occlusive – constrictive); [bəut] – [vəut] – boat – vote (occlusive – constrictive).

Each of two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants. The division is based on the factor of prevailing either noise or tone component in the auditory characteristic of a sound. In their turn noise consonants are divided into plosive consonants (or stops) and affricates.

Another point of is that the first and basic principle of classification should be the degree noise. Such consideration leads to dividing English consonants into two general kinds: noise consonants; sonorants.

In production of sonorants the air passage between the two organs of speech is fairly wide, that is much wider than in the production of noise consonants. As a result, the auditory effect is tone, not noise - [r], [j], [w], for example. They are also characterized by sharply defined formant structure and the total energy of most of them is very high.

The phonological relevance of the degree of noise could be proved by the following oppositions: [beik] - [meik] bake - make (noise consonant - sonorant); [vi:l - [wi:l] veal - wheel (noise consonant - sonorant)

The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of articulation. According to this principle the English consonants are classed into: labial, lingual, glottal.

The class of labial consonants is subdivided into: a) bilabial; b) labio-dental; and among the class of lingual consonants three subclasses are distinguished; they are: a) forelingual, b) mediolngual and c) backlingual. The following oppositions exist: [pæn] - [tæn] pan - tan (bilabial - forelingual);

[wai] - [lai] why - lie (bilabial - forelingual);

[weil] - [jeil] weil - yale (bilabial - mediolingual);

[pik] - [kik] pick - kick (bilabial - backlingual);

[les] - [jes] less - yes (forelingual - mediolingual);

[dei] - [gei] day - gay (forelingual - backlingual);

[sai] - [hai] sigh - high (forelingual - glottal);

[fi:t] - [si:t] feet - seat (labio-dental - forelingual).

Another sound property is voiced - voiceless characteristic which depends on the work of the vocal cords. [p, b], [t, d], [k, g], [∫-Ʒ], [s, z], [f, v], [ θ- ð], [t∫ - ʤ]. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless consonants are strong (fortis). Thus it may be said that the these oppositions are primarily based on energy difference, that is on fortis - lenis articulation, which are their phonologically relevant features. It is for this reason that such characteristics as voiceless - voiced have given place to "fortis" - "lenis" terms.

There is one more articulatory characteristic which is usually included into the set of principles on the basis of which the English consonants are classified, that is the position of the soft palate. According to this principle consonants can be oral and nasal. There are relatively few consonantal types in English which require the lowered position of the soft palate. They are the nasal occlusive sonorants [m], [n] and [ŋ]. They differ from oral plosives in that the soft palate is lowered allowing the escape of air into the nasal cavity.

The articulatory classification of English Vowels

The quality of a vowel is known to be determined by the size, volume, and shape of the mouth resonator, which are modified by the movement of active speech organs, that is the tongue and the lips. Besides, a particular quality of a vowel can depend on a lot of other articulatory characteristics, such as relative stability of the tongue, the position of the lips, physical duration of segment, force of articulation, degree of tenseness of speech organs. So vowel quality could be thought of as a bundle of definite articulatory characteristics which are sometimes intricately interconnected and interdependent.

The first linguist who tried to describe and classify English vowels was D. Jones. He devised the system of 8 Cardinal Vowels. The basis of the system is physiological. Cardinal vowel No. 1 corresponds to the position of the front part of the tongue raised as closed as possible to the palate. The gradual lowering of the tongue to the back lowest position gives another point for cardinal vowel No.5. The lowest front position of the tongue gives the point for cardinal vowel No.4. The upper back limit for the tongue position gives the point for cardinal No.8. These positions for Cardinal vowels were copied from X-ray photographs. The tongue positions between these points were X-rayed and the equidistant points for No.2, 3, 6, 7 were found. The IPA symbols (International Phonetic Alphabet) for the 8 Cardinal Vowels are: 1 -i, 2 - e, 3 - ε, 4 - a, 5 - a:, 6 - ɔ, 7 - o, 8 - u.

The system of Cardinal Vowels is an international standard. In spite of the theoretical significance of the Cardinal Vowel system its practical application is limited. In language teaching this system can be learned only by oral instructions from a teacher who knows how to pronounce the Cardinal Vowels.

Russian phoneticians suggest a classification of vowels according to the following principles: 1) stability of articulation; 2) tongue position; 3) lip position; 4) character of the vowel end; 5) length; 6) tenseness.

Stability of articulation specifies the actual position of the articulating organ in the process of the articulation of a vowel. There are two possible varieties: a) the tongue position is stable; b) it changes, that is the tongue moves from one position to another. In the first case the articulated vowel is relatively pure, in the second case a vowel consists of two clearly perceptible elements. Diphthongs consist of two elements, the first of which, the nucleus, being strong and distinct and the second, the glide, being very weak and indistinct.

There exists in addition a third variety, an intermediate case, when the change in the tongue position is fairly weak. So according to this principle the English vowels are subdivided into: a) monophthongs, b) diphthongs, c) diphthongoids.

This principle is not singled out by British and American phoneticians. Thus, P. Roach writes: "British English (BBC accent) is generally described as having short vowels, long vowels and diphthongs". According to Russian scholars vowels are subdivided into: a) monophthongs (the tongue position is stable); b) diphthongs (it changes, that is the tongue moves from one position to another); c) diphthongoids (an intermediate case, when the change in the position is fairly weak).

Diphthongs are defined differently by different authors. A.C. Gimson, for example, distinguishes 20 vocalic phonemes which are made of vowels and vowel glides. D. Jones defines diphthongs as unisyllabic gliding sounds in the articulation of which the organs of speech start from one position and then elide to another position. There are two vowels in English [i:, u:] that may have a diphthongal glide where they have full length (be, do), and the tendency for diphthongization is becoming gradually stronger.

Another principle of classification is the position of the tongue. The position of the tongue in the mouth cavity is characterized by two aspects, that is the horizontal and vertical movement.

According to the horizontal movement there are five classes of English vowels. They are:

1) front: [i:], [e], [ei], [εə], [æ];

2) front-retracted: [i], [iә]; [ai];

3) central: [ə:] [ə] [Ù];

4) back [u:], [o:], [oi], [əu]; [ɔ];

5) back-advanced: [u], [uə], [au]; [a:].

British phoneticians do not single out the classes of front-retracted and back-advanced vowels. So both [i:] and [i] are classed as front, and both [u:] and [u] are classed as back.

Vertical movement of the tongue:

1) close: a) narrow: [i:] [u:]; b) broad: [i], [u], [iə], [uə];

2) mid: a) narrow: [e], [ei], [ə:], [oi]; b) broad: [eə], [ə]; [o:];

3) open: a) narrow: [Ù], [əu]; b) broad: [æ], [ai], [au], [a:], [ɔ].

The following examples represent the oppositions: [pen - pæn] pen - pan; [kæp - ka:p] cap - carp; [pen - pin] pen - pin; [kæp - kÙp] cap - cup; [bin - bi:n] bin - been; [bÙn - ba:n] bun - barn.

The way British and Russian phoneticians approach the vertical movement of the tongue is also slightly different. British scholars distinguish three classes of vowels: high (or close), mid (or half-open) and low (or open) vowels. Russian phoneticians made the classification more detailed distinguishing two subclasses in each class, i.e. broad and narrow variations of the three vertical positions. Consequently, six groups of vowels are distinguished.

Another principle of classification is lip rounding. Three lip positions are distinguished: spread, neutral and rounded. For the purpose of classification it is sufficient to distinguish between two lip positions: rounded and unrounded, or neutral. Any back vowel is produced with rounded lips, the degree of rounding is different and depends on the height of the raised part of the tongue; the higher it is raised the more rounded the lips are.

The next point is checkness. This quality depends on the character of the articulatory transition from a vowel to a consonant. This transition (VC) is very closed in English unlike Russian. As a result all English short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness may vary and depends on the following consonants (+ voiceless - voiced - sonorant -). As a result all English short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness may vary and depends on the following consonant. Before fortis voiceless consonant it is more perceptible than before a lenis voiced consonant or sonorant. All long vowels are free.

Another articulatory characteristic of English vowels is their length or quantity. The monophthongs are divided into two varieties according to their length: a) short vowels: [i], [e], [ə], [æ], [Ù], [u], [ɔ]; b) long vowels: [i:], [a:], [o:], [ə:], [u:].

We should point out that vowel length or quantity has for a long time been the point of disagreement among phoneticians. It is a common knowledge that a vowel like any sound has physical duration. When sounds are used in connected speech they cannot help being influenced by one another. Duration of a vowel depends on the following factors: 1) its own length; 2) the accent of the syllable in which it occurs; 3) phonetic context; 4) the position in a rhythmic structure; 5) the position in a tone group; 6) the position in an utterance; 7) the tempo of the whole utterance; 8) the type of pronunciation. The problem the analysts are concerned with is whether variations in quantity are meaningful (relevant). Such contrasts are investigated in phonology.

Vowel like any sound has physical duration - time which is required for its production (articulation). When sounds are used in connected speech they cannot help being influenced by one another. Duration is one of the characteristics of a vowel which is modified by and depends on the following factors: its own length, the accent of the syllable in which it occurs, phonetic context, the position of the sound in a syllable, the position in a rhythmic structure, the position in a tone group, the position in a phrase, the position in an utterance, the tempo of the whole utterance, the type of pronunciation, the style of pronunciation.

There is one more articulatory characteristic - tenseness. It characterizes the state of the organs of speech at the moment of production of a vowel. It characterizes the state of the organs of speech at the moment of vowel production. Special instrumental analysis shows that historically long vowels are tense while historically short are lax.

CONTROL TASKS

1. What differs vowels from consonants in articulatory aspect? Which positions of vocal cords do you know? What is the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds? How is glottal stop articulated? Which active and passive articulators do you know? Witch types of manner of articulation do you know? How are plosives/ fricatives/ affricates articulated? How are nasals articulated? Witch places of articulation do you know and how can they be grouped? What is the difference between second articulation and double articulation? What mistakes may the Russian students make because of the articulation differences in the pronunciation of English and Russian vowels?

2. What are the active and passive articulators in the production of the following underlined sounds: very, then, yet, happy, singing, cherry, dear, bridge, shoe?

3. Explain the articulatory differences between the [i:] - [i], [u:] - [u], [o:] - [ɔ] sounds.

4. Explain the difference in pronunciation of words in the following series:

a) beat – bit – bed – bad – bud – bird;

b) beat - bead – been – beef – be;

c) pan – peal - lap – spell;

d) killed – kilt, pens – pence, mend – meant.

5. Prove by examples that the Russian sound combinations [ой], [ай], [эй] are not diphthongs.

6. Analyze the phonetic transcription of the following text. Then check yourself with the help of orthography.

Frustration is a burst hot-water bottle, or loathing every moment of a holiday you're paying a fortune for. It's using the wrong side of the Sellotape, forgetting what you were going to say, or locking yourself out. Frustration is other people parking in front of your garage, or a stranger reading a riveting letter on the bus and turning over before you get to the bottom of the page.

7. Transcribe the following text.

The weather today will be warm for the time of year and fine on the whole. There will be showers here and there though some places will miss out completely. The good spell should hold over the next two days but there may be fog over low ground in the early mornings. That is the end of the general forecast.

 

 

LESSON 3. Phonology. Phoneme as a unit of language. Types of allophones and main features of the phoneme. Methods of the phonemic analysis. The system of English consonant phonemes. Problem of affricates. The system of vowel phonemes. Problems of diphthongs and vowel length.

Unlike phonetics, which deals with more or less universal features of sounds, phonology studies the relationships and functions of sounds, the way they are organized into patterns and systems and the way they interact with each other. However, there is no clear-cut boundary between the two disciplines of linguistics: in fact. One could not separate the phonetic features of a sound from its phonological environment, nor could one analyze a phonological process without taking into account its phonetic characteristics.

Definition of the phoneme and its functions

To know how sounds are produced is not enough to describe and classify them as language units. When we talk about the sounds of language, the term "sound" can be interpreted in two different ways. First, we can say that [t] and [d], for example, are two different sounds in English: e.g. ten-den, seat-seed. But on the other hand, we know that [t] in let us and [t] in let them are not the same. In both examples the sounds differ in one articulatory feature only. In the second case the difference between the sounds has functionally no significance. It is clear that the sense of "sound" in these two cases is different. To avoid this ambiguity, linguists use two separate terms: phoneme and allophone.

The definitions of the phoneme vary greatly.

L.V.Shcherba: the phoneme may be viewed as a functional, material and abstract unit. V.A.Vassilyev: The phoneme is a smallest unit capable of distinguishing one word from another word, one grammatical form of word from another. Bloch: phoneme is a class of phonemically similar sounds contrasting and mutually exclusive with all similar classes in the language. Jacobson: phoneme is a minimal sound by which meaning may be discriminated.

The phoneme can be seen as a minimal abstract linguistic unit realized in speech in the form of speech sounds opposable to other phonemes of the same language to distinguish the meaning of morphemes and words.

Let us consider the phoneme from the point of view of its aspects.

Firstly, the phoneme is a functional unit. In phonetics function is usually understood as a role of the various units of the phonetic system in distinguishing one morpheme from another, one word from another or one utterance from another. The opposition of phonemes in the same phonetic environment differentiates the meaning of morphemes and words: e.g. bath-path, light-like. Sometimes the opposition of phonemes serves to distinguish the meaning of the whole phrases: He was heard badly - He was hurt badly. Thus we may say that the phoneme can fulfill the distinctive function.

Secondly, the phoneme is material, real and objective. That means it is realized in speech in the form of speech sounds, its allophones. The phonemes constitute the material form of morphemes, so this function may be called constitutive function.

Thirdly, the phoneme performs the recognitive function, because the use of the right allophones and other phonetic units facilitates normal recognition. We may add that the phoneme is a material and objective unit as well as an abstract and generalized one at the same time.

Types of allophones and the main features of the phoneme

Let us consider the English phoneme [d]. It is occlusive, forelingual, apical, alveolar, lenis consonant. This is how it sounds in isolation or in such words as door, darn, down, etc, when it retains its typical articulatory characteristics. In this case the consonant [d] is called principal allophone. The allophones which do not undergo any distinguishable changes in speech are called principal.

Allophones that occur under influence of the neighboring sounds in different phonetic situations are called subsidiary, e.g.:

deal, did - it is slightly palatalized before front vowels;

bad pain, bedtime - it is pronounced without any plosion;

sudden, admit - it is pronounced with nasal plosion before [n], [m];

dry - it becomes post-alveolar followed by [r].

If we consider the production of the allophones of the phoneme above we will find out that they possess three articulatory features in common - all of them are forelingual lenis stops. Consequently, though allophones of the same phoneme possess similar articulatory features they may frequently show considerable phonetic differences.

Native speakers do not observe the difference between the allophones of the same phoneme. At the same time they realize that allophones of each phoneme possess a bundle of distinctive features that makes this phoneme functionally different from all other phonemes of the language. This functionally relevant bundle is called the invariant of the phoneme. All the allophones of the phoneme [d] instance, are occlusive, forelingual, lenis. If occlusive articulation is changed for constrictive one [d] will be replaced by [z]: e. g. breed - breeze, deal - zeal, thearticulatory features which form the invariant of the phoneme are called distinctive or relevant.

To extract relevant features of the phoneme we have to oppose it to some other phoneme in the phonetic context. When they contrast in a minimal pair, phonemes oppose each other in terms of one or more distinctive features.

If the opposed sounds differ in one articulatory feature and this difference brings about changes in the meaning this feature is called relevant: for example, port - court, [p] and [k] are consonants, occlusive, fortis; the only difference being that [p] is labial and [t] is lingual.

The articulatory features which do not serve to distinguish meaning are called non-distinctive, irrelevant or redundant. For example, it is impossible to oppose an aspirated [ph] to a non-aspirated one in the same phonetic context to distinguish meaning.

We know that anyone who studies a foreign language makes mistakes in the articulation of sounds. L.V. Shcherba classifies the pronunciation errors as phonological and phonetic. If an allophone is replaced by an allophone of a different phoneme the mistake is called phonological. If an allophone of the phoneme is replaced by another allophone of the same phoneme the mistake is called phonetic.

Methods of the phonemic analysis

The aim of the phonological analysis is, firstly, to determine which differences of sounds are phonemic and which are non-phonemic and, secondly, to find the inventory of phonemes of the language.

As it was mentioned above, phonology has its own methods of investigation. Semantic method is applied for phonological analysis of both unknown languages and languages already described. The method is based on a phonemic rule that phonemes can distinguish words and morphemes when opposed to one another. It consists in systematic substitution of one sound for another in order to find out in which cases where the phonetic context remains the same such replacing leads to a change of meaning. This procedure is called the commutation test. It consists in finding minimal pairs of words and their grammatical forms. For example: pen [pen]; Ben [ben]; gain [gein]; cane [kein]; ten [ten]; den[den].

Minimal pairs are useful for establishing the phonemes of the language. Thus, a phoneme can only perform its distinctive function if it is opposed to another phoneme in the same position. Such an opposition is called phonological. Let us consider the classification of phonological oppositions worked out by N.S. Trubetzkoy. It is based on the number of distinctive articulatory features underlying the opposition.

1. If the opposition is based on a single difference in the articulation of two speech sounds, it is a single phonological opposition, e.g. [p]-[t], as in [pen]-[ten]; bilabial vs. forelingual, all the other features are the same.

2. If the sounds in distinctive opposition have two differences in their articulation, the opposition is double one, or a sum of two single oppositions, e.g. [p]-[d], as in [pen]-[den], 1) bilabial vs. forelingual 2) voiceless-fortis vs. voiced-lenis.

3. If there are three articulatory differences, the opposition is triple one, or a sum of three single oppositions, e.g. [p]- [ð], as in [pei]-[ ðei]: 1) bilabial vs. forelingual, 2) occlusive vs. constrictive, 3) voiceless-fortis vs. voiced-lenis.

American descriptivists, whose most zealous representative is, perhaps, Zellig Harris, declare the distributional method to be the only scientific one. At the same time they declare the semantic method unscientific because they consider recourse to meaning external to linguistics. Descriptivists consider the phonemic analysis in terms of distribution. They consider it possible to discover the phonemes of a language by the rigid application of a distributional method. It means to group all the sounds pronounced by native speakers into phoneme according to the laws of phonemic and allophonic distribution:

1. Allophones of different phonemes occur in the same phonetic context. In this case their distribution is contrastive.

2. Allophones of the same phoneme(s) never occur in the same phonetic context. In this case their distribution is complementary.

There is, however, a third possibility, namely, that the sounds both occur in a language but the speakers are inconsistent in the way they use them, for example, калоши-галоши, and. In such cases we must take them as free variants of a single phoneme. We could explain the case on the basis of sociolinguistics. Thus, there are three types of distribution: contrastive, complementary and free variation.

The system of consonant phonemes. Problem of affricates

There are few ways of seeing situation concerning the classification of English consonants. According to V.A. Vassilyev primary importance should be given to the type of obstruction and the manner of production noise. On this ground he distinguishes two large classes:

a) occlusive, in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed;

b) constrictive, in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is
formed. Each of two classless is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants.

Another point of view is shared by a group of Russian phoneticians. They suggest that the first and basic principle of classification should be the degree of noise. Such consideration leads to dividing English consonants into two general kinds: a) noise consonants; b) sonorants.

The term "degree of noise" belongs to auditory level of analysis. But there is an intrinsic connection between articulatory and auditory aspects of describing speech sounds. In this case the term of auditory aspect defines the characteristic more adequately.

Sonorants are sounds that differ greatly from other consonants. This is due to the fact that in their production the air passage between the two organs of speech is fairly wide, that is much wider than in the production of noise consonants. As a result, the auditory effect is tone, not noise. This peculiarity of articulation makes sonorants sound more like vowels than consonants. Acoustically sonorants are opposed to all other consonants because they are characterized by sharply defined formant structure and the total energy of most of them is very high.

There are no sonorants in the classifications suggested by British and American scholars. Daniel Jones and Henry A. Gleason, for example, give separate groups of nasals [m, n, ŋ], the lateral [1] and semi-vowels, or glides [w, r, j (y)]. Bernard Bloch and George Trager besides nasals and lateral give trilled [r]. According to Russian phoneticians sonorants are considered to be consonants from articulatory, acoustic and phonological point of view.

The distinctive feature of place of articulation is described rather universally. The only difference is that V.A. Vassilyev, G.P. Torsuev, O.I. Dikushina, A.C. Gimson give more detailed and precise enumerations of active organs of speech than H.A. Gleason, B. Bloch, G. Trager and others. There is, however, controversy about terming the active organs of speech. Thus, Russian phoneticians divide the tongue into the following parts: (1) front with the tip, (2) middle, and (3) back. Following L.V. Shcherba's terminology the front part of the tongue is subdivided into: (a) apical, (b) dorsal, (c) cacuminal and (d) retroflexed according to the position of the tip and the blade of the tongue in relation to the teeth ridge. А.С. Gimson's terms differ from those used by Russian phoneticians: apical is equivalent to forelingual; frontal is equivalent to mediolingual; dorsum is the whole upper area of the tongue. H.A. Gleason's terms in respect to the bulk of the tongue are: apex - the part of the tongue that lies at rest opposite the alveoli; front - the part of the tongue that lies at rest opposite the fore part of the palate; back, or dorsum - the part of the tongue that lies at rest opposite the velum or the back part of the palate.

A.L. Trakhterov, G.P. Torsyev, V.A. Vassilyev and other Russian scholars consider the principle of classification according to the manner of articulation to be one of the most important and classify consonants very accurately, logically and thoroughly. They suggest a classification from the point of view of the closure. It may be: (1) complete closure, then occlusive (stop or plosive) consonants are produced; (2) incomplete closure, then constrictive consonants are produced; (3) the combination of the two closures, then occlusive-constrictive consonants, or affricates, are produced; (4) intermittent closure, then rolled, or trilled consonants are produced.

A.C. Gimson, H.A. Gleason, D. Jones and other foreign phoneticians include in the manner of noise production groups of lateral, nasals, and semi­vowels - subgroups of consonants which do not belong to a single class.

Russian phoneticians subdivide consonants into unicentral (pronounced with one focus) and bicentral (pronounced with two foci), according to the number of noise producing centers, or foci.

According to the shape of narrowing constrictive consonants and affricates are subdivided into sounds with flat narrowing and round narrowing.

According to the position of the soft palate all consonants are
subdivided into oral and nasal. When the soft palate is raised oral consonants are produced; when the soft palate is lowered nasal consonants are produced.

According to the force of articulation consonants may be fortis and lenis. This characteristic is connected with the work of the vocal cords: voiceless consonants are strong and voiced are weak.

The phonological analysis of English consonant sounds helps to distinguish 24 phonemes: [p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫, Ʒ, h, t∫,ʤ , m, n, ŋ, w, r, 1, j]. Russian phoneticians classify consonants according to the following principles: degree of noise; place of articulation; manner of articulation; position of the soft palate; v) force of articulation. Principles of classification suggested by Russian phoneticians provide the basis for establishing of the following distinctive oppositions in the system of English consonants:

1.Degree of noise: bake - make, veal - wheel;

2.Place of articulation:

a. labial vs. lingual: pain - cane;

b. lingual vs. glottal: foam - home, care - hair, Tim - him;

3.Manner of articulation:

a. occlusive vs. constrictive pine -fine, bat - that, bee – thee;

b. constrictive vs. affricates fare - chair, fail –jail;

c. constrictive unicentral vs. constrictive bicentral: same – shame.

4. Work of the vocal cords and the force of articulation:

voiceless fortis vs. voiced lenis: pen - Ben, ten - den, coat - goal

5. Position of the soft palate: oral vs. nasal: pit - pin, seek - seen

There are some problems of phonological character in the English consonantal system; it is the problem of affricates - their phonological status and their number. The question is: what kind of facts a phonological theory has to explain.

1) Are the English [t∫, ʤ]sounds monophonemic entities or biphonemic combinations (sequences, clusters).

2) If they are monophonemic, how many phonemes of the same kind exist in English, or, in other words, can such clusters as [tr, dr] and [tθ, dð] be considered affricates.

To define it is not an easy matter. One thing is clear: these sounds are complexes because articulatory we can distinguish two elements. Considering phonemic duality of affricates, it is necessary to analyze the relation of affricates to other consonant phonemes to be able to define their status in the system.

The problem of affricates is a point of considerable controversy among phoneticians. According to Russian specialists in English phonetics, there are two affricates in English: [t∫, ʤ]. D. Jones points out there are six of them: [t∫, ʤ], [ts, dz], and [tr, dr]. A.C. Gimson increases their number adding two more affricates: [tθ, tð]. Russian phoneticians look at English affricates through the eyes of a phoneme theory, according to which a phoneme has three aspects: articulatory, acoustic and functional, the latter being the most significant one. As to British phoneticians, their primary concern is the articulatory-acoustic unity of these complexes.

Before looking at these complexes from a functional point of view it is necessary to define their articulatory indivisibility.

According to N.S. Trubetzkoy's point of view a

 




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