A. Vowels

III. The Articulatory classification of English speech sounds

II. The articulation basis of English.

Due to identical structure of speech organs of people of different races and nationalities all languages have sounds of identical type. (Russian [н] and English [n]) But being identical typologically, the sounds are not identical articulatory. Each language has its own tendencies and models of articulation. These articulatory habits (characteristic of all the native speakers of a language are called the articulation basis of the language.

The articulation basis of English differs from Russian: voiced consonants are less energetic, whereas voiceless consonants are much more energetic, the lips do not protrude for [D:, u: ] a, they do for (o, y), the tongue is slightly drawn back.

The notion of the articulation basis of a language can be broadened if we analyze not only the articulation part in sounds production but phonation as well. The phonation habits of the native speakers of different languages may differ depending on the character of sounds, such as clicks and suction which are pronounced during inspiration, checked vowels in English which require a great force of utterance at the end of their articulation. The phonation habits may also be dependent on the amount of consonants that occur in consonantal clusters and on the character of sound transition in connected speech.

The articulation basis, therefore, comprises both the articulatory, and phonational habits of the native speakers of a language.

The peculiarities of the articulation basis of English determine the specific articulatory characteristics of it sound system the character of sound modifications in connected speech and the physiological mechanism of syllable formation.

The various qualities (timbres) of English vowels are determined by the oral resonator - its size, volume, shape. The resonator is modified by the most movable speech organs - the tongue, the lips. Moreover, the quality of a vowel depends on whether the speech organs are tense or lax and whether the force of articulation weakens or is stable.

The position of the speech organs in the articulation of vowels may be kept for a variable period of time.

All these factors predetermine the principles according to which vowels are classified:

1) - According to the horizontal movement of the tongue, English vowels are classified into front () and nuclei of the diphthongs () front-retracted: () and the nucleus of the diphthongs (); mixed () back-advanced: () and the nuclei of the diphthongs () and back ()

- According to the vertical movement of the tongue;

- According to the position of the lips;

- According to the degree of the muscular tension of the articulatory organs;

- According to the force of articulation at the end of vowel;

- According to the stability of articulation;

- According to the length of a vowel.

2) According to the vertical movement of the tongue, English vowels have been traditionally subdivided into close (high), mid and open (low).

Soviet phoneticians G. Torsuyev, V. Vassilyev classify these sounds

subdividing each class (close, mid, open) into narrow and broad variation. Thus, according to the height of the tongue, vowels can be classified as high-narrow [i:, u:], high-broad [i, u], mid-narrow [e;3;,oftf) mid-broad [$,£ p) ]. W- Wao^/>; a;J, -tW-fuW Lae, <? £ I\ v J a:;

Their classification reflects the distinctive differences in the quality of the historically long and historically short vowels.

3) According to the position of the lips, i.e. whether they are rounded spread or neutral. English vowels are classified into rounded [0; ^p,U: tf ] and run rounded [i:jl3e>€£,a,ai^e- ]■

4) According to the degree of muscular tension, English vowels are classified into tense and lax. Thus for instance English [i:] and [u:] are characterized as tense, because the speech organs that participate in their formation (the tongue and the lips) are considerably tensed. In the articulation of short [i] and [u] there organs are relatively relaxed so these vowels are lax.

All the long vowels are considered to be tense, while short vowels are lax.

5. According to the force of articulation at the end of the vowel (the character of the end). English vowels are subdivided into free and checked. Free vowels are pronounced in an open syllable with a weakening in the force of articulation toward their end, i.e. they have a fading character. These are all the English long monophthongs and diphthongs and unstressed short vowels.

Checked vowels are those in the articulation of which these are no weakening of the force of articulation.

They are pronounced abruptly at the end, immediately followed by a consonant that checks them. These are historically short vowels under stress.

6. According to the stability of articulation, English vowels are classed into monophthongs [t;,!,<£, a^ g \ A.QI^^;^] diphthongoids, or diphthongized vowel ^^;^

The stability of articulation is in the case of monophthongs or in instability as in the case of diphthongs and diphthong vied is the stability (or instability) of the oral resonator.

In diphthongs two vowel elements are distinguished the nucleus and the glide. The nucleus is stronger, more definite in timber, more prominent and syllabic.

English diphthongs are falling. They consist of a nucleus followed by a glide. The total amount of articulator energy falls toward the second element.

In some phonetic context English diphthongs [ ] may be pronounced

with the second element stronger and more prominent than the first and are rising.

7. Closely connected with the quality of vowels is the quantity or length. Any speech sound must have certain duration to display its quality to be perceived. According to their length, English vowels are divided into long [ \ i; ft 1 0', ^U\ 3 and short [p,b,t,d,k,g]th is historical. It differs from the positional length of the same vowels. In connected speech historically long vowels may be of the same length of historically short ones and even shorter t

g p

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