Vowel Alternations

The notion of alternation and its types

Contextual alternations in English

The notion of alternation and its types

Outline

IX. Alternations of speech sounds in English

Questions

1) What phases can the articulation of one sound be analysed into?

2) What are the main ways of joining the sounds?

3) What is the phenomenon of adaptation (assimilation)?

4) What kinds of assimilation (adaptation) do you know?

5) What is the difference between obligatory and non-obligatory assimilations?

6) Present day assimilation can be divided into two subgroups, cannot it?

7) Speak about the types of partial assimilation?

8) How many types of modifications of sounds are observed within words and word boundaries?

9) What varieties of modifications of vowels are traced in connected speech?

10) Speak on the typology of modifications of consonants in connected speech?

The sound variations in words, their derivatives and grammatical forms of words, are known as sound alternations.

It is perfectly obvious that sound alternations of this type are caused by assimilation, accommodation and reduction in speech. For example: the dark [ł] in spell alternates with the clear [l] in spelling. Vowel alternations are the result of the reduction in unstressed positions: e.g. combine (n) [‘kQmbain], combine [kəm’baIn] where [Q] in the stressed syllable of the noun alternates with the neutral sound in the unstressed syllable of the verb. To approach the matter from the phonological viewpoint, it is important to differentiate phonemic and allophone alternations. Some sound alternations are traced to the phonemic changes in earlier periods ofthe language development and are known as historical. Historical alternations mark both vowels and consonants, though the alternating sounds are not affected by the phonemic position or context. The sound changes, which occurred in the process of historical development of the language, are reflected in present-day English as alternations of phonemes differentiating words, their derivatives and grammatical forms. The following list of examples presents the types of alternations:

1. Distinction of irregular verbal forms:

[i: – e – e]: mean – meant – meant

[I – V– V]: dig – dug – dug

[ai – @u – I]: write – wrote – written

2. Distinction of causal verbal forms:

[I – e]: sit – set

[ai – ei]: rise – raise

[O: – e] fall – fell

3. Distinction of singular and plural forms of nouns:

[æ – e]: man – men

[U – i:]: foot – feet

[u: – i:]: tooth – teeth

4. Distinction of parts of speech in etymologically correlated words:

[i: – e]: feast – festive

[a: – æ]: class – classify

[Q – e]: long – length

This type of alternation is often strengthened not only by suffixation but also by the shifting of stress like in: part– par'ticular, 'climate – cli'matic.

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