Билет 5. Realization of segmental and suprasegmental phonemes in speech. Allophones and allotones

Distribution.

Each phoneme manifests itself in a certain pattern of distribution. The simplest pattern of distribution is free variation, i.e. the variation of one and the same phoneme pronounced by different speakers: e.g. different degrees of aspiration of initial "p". /w/ may be replaced by /м/ depending on the individual manner of one's pronunciation.

Complementary distribution takes place when a phoneme occurs in such positions where no other phoneme can occur (clear & dark "1" in "little" In BE).

Contrastive distribution takes place when we deal with phonemes in contrasted pairs big- beg, bake-cake, bit-beet, etc.

Phonetics is divided into segmental end suprasegmental. In segmental phonetics we can divide a sentence into segments and describe these segments. Segmental phonetics deals with speech sounds. Suprasegmental phonetics deals with intonational characteristics - pitch, strength, length.

Speech sounds are regarded as physical properties. Frequency - the number of vibrations per second which is measured in cycles per second. The pitch of our voice is determined by its frequency: male voices are lower in pitch than female.

Loudness of a sound depends on the changes of its intensity: the greater the amplitude of vibration the greater the intensity of a sound which is measured in decibels.

Duration of speech sounds is measured in milliseconds.

Articulatory and physiological aspect of speech sounds can't be studied without the description the articulatory mechanism including the power mechanism, the vibrator mechanism, the resonator mechanism, the obstructer mechanism. They work simultaneously for every speech sound.

The organic basis of English consonants and vowels has certain peculiarities as compared to Russian ones. In the articulations of the English consonants the tip of the tongue is near the teeth ridge (apical position) while in Russian it moves to the upper front teeth (dorsal position).

The bulk of the tongue in the articulation of the English consonants is more retracted, more flat and low than in the articulation of the Russian consonants.

The phoneme is a functional unit. Its function is to discriminate between morphemes, words, utterances (but-beat).

The phoneme is material, real and objective. They realize themselves in speech through speech sounds, heir allophones which are characterized by some phonetic similarity between them. All the allophones are important for practical purpose: if they are not pronounced properly it makes a speech foreign. Allophones are divided into positional (used in certain positions traditionally) and combinatory (the result of assimilation and accommodation). Phonemes can be neutralized [d:t]. Here we receive an arch phoneme.

It is quire evident that "t" and "d" are different segmental phonetical units but such words as "try", "take" "bat", "at the", t_b t2, t3, U are also different from the acoustic and articulatory point of view. It is not proper to apply the term sound in both cases. We use the term phoneme when "t" is contrasted to "d" and allophone for variants of the phoneme "t" - they usually occur in different positions in the word. They do not contrast with each other and are not used to make meaningful distinctions.

Though in actual speech we utter a great variety of sounds, these sounds may be united into comparatively small number of sound types which are capable to distinguish the meaning and the from of the words.

There are many definitions of the phoneme which reflect different aspects of this linguistic unit. The first definition runs as follows: the phoneme is a minimal abstract linguistic unit realized in speech in the form of speech sounds. It is opposed to other phonemes of the same language to distinguish the meaning of morphemes and words.

The phoneme is a functional unit. Its function is to discriminate between morphemes, words and utterances: but//beat, bed//bad, ship//sheep pit//bit, Ben//pen, back//bag. Phonemes fulfill here a distinctive function.

The functions that phonemes perform in speech are:

1. Constitutive (sounds constitute words, phrases and sentences);

2. Distinctive (sounds help to distinguish words);

3. Recognitive (allophones help to recognize words, sentences and phrases). Allotones. Any section of the intonation pattern, any of its 3 constituents can perform the distinctive function thus being phonological units. These units like phonemes consist of a number of variants. The terminal tones for instance consist of a number of allotones, which are mutually non-distinctive. The principal allotone is realized in the nucleus alone. The subsidiary allotones are realized not only in the nucleus, but also in the pre-head in the tail if there are any.

No. No, Tom. Oh, no Mary.

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