A). Consonants. 1 страница

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Distinctive oppositions of English consonants
Classificatory principles and subclasses of phonemes	Types of oppositions	Examples
1. Work of the vocal cords: - voiced [b, d, g, v, z, ð,3, d3, l, m, n, j, w, r, ŋ]; - voiceless [p, t, k, f, s, θ, ∫, t∫, h].	voiced – voiceless The English consonants [l, m, n, j, w, r, ŋ, h] do not enter this opposition.	gum – come dear – tear bat – pat jin – chin thy – thigh
2. Position of the soft palate: - nasal [m, n, ŋ]; - oral (all the rest).	oral – nasal	pit – pin seek – seen sick – sing
3. Active organ of speech and the place of articulation: a) labial: - bilabial [p, b, w, m]; - labio-dental [f, v]; b) lingual: - forelingual [ð, θ, t, d, s, z, n, l, ∫, 3, d3, t∫]; - mediolingual [j]; - backlingual [k, g, ŋ]; c) glottal [h].	labial – lingual lingual – glottal labial – glottal bilabial – labio-dental forelingual – mediolingual forelingual – backlingual mediolingual – backlingual	pain – cane this – hiss foam – home wear – fair jet – yet thing – king yes – guess
4. Manner of the production of noise: a) occlusive: - plosive [p, t, k, b, d, g] - sonorant [m, n, ŋ]; b) constrictive: - fricative [s, f, z, ð, θ, ∫, v,3, h]; - sonorant [w, r, j, l]; c) occlusive-constrictive (affricates) [t∫, d3].	occlusive – constrictive affricate – constrictive affricate – occlusive occlusive: plosive – sonorant constrictive: fricative – sonorant	bat – that fair – chair chin – pin pine – mine same – lame

Distinctive oppositions of English vowels
Classificatory principles and subclasses of phonemes	Types of oppositions	Examples
1. Position of the lips: - rounded [o, o:, u, u:]; - unrounded (all the rest).	rounded – unrounded	pot – pat
2. Stability of articulation: - monophthongs [i, i:, u, u:, o, o:, e, ə, Λ, α:, æ, з:]; - diphthongs [ai, oi, ei, au, əu, εə, uə, iə].	monophthong – diphthong	bit – bait but – bite debt – doubt bird – beard
3. Degree of tenseness, character of the end and length: - tense, free and long [i:, u:, o:, α:, з:]; - lax, checked and short [i, u, o, æ, e, ə, Λ].	tense lax free — checked long short	peel – pill
4. Position of the tongue: a) horizontal: - front [i:, e, æ]; - front-retracted [i]; - central [з:, ə, Λ]; - back-advanced [u, α:]; - back [o, o:, u:]; b) vertical: – high: - narrow [i:, u:]; - broad [i, u]; – mid: - narrow [ə]; - broad [e, o:, з:]; – low: - narrow [Λ]; - broad [æ, α:, o:].	front – central back – central front – back front – front-retracted back – back-advanced     high – mid low – mid high – low high narrow – high broad mid narrow – mid broad low narrow – low broad	cab – curb pull – pearl read – rod bet – bit card – cord     week – work lack – lurk big – bag pool – pull foreword – forward bad – bard

24. Differences in the articulation basis of English and Russian vowel and consonant phonemes and their peculiarities.

Speech sounds belonging to the most general types are found in all languages. This general typological community of speech sounds existing in different languages is due to the typologically and functionally identical structure of the speech organs of people, belonging to different races and nationalities. And yet, despite the typological community of speech sounds in different languages, not a single sound of one language is absolutely identical spectrally with a typologically identical sound of another language. One of the principal causes of spectral differences in typologically identical sounds of different languages is the difference in the articulation basis.

The articulation basis of a language may be defined as the sum total of general tendencies in the movements and positions of the speech organs, both during the speech and in neutral position, characteristic of all the native speakers of that language. The articulation basis of one language may differ from that of another in the general tendencies its native speakers have in the way they move and hold their lips and tongues both in speech and in silence, in the way they coordinate the work of the obstructer and vibrator mechanisms etc.

The peculiarities of the sound system of a language are caused by those of its articulation basis and should not be confused with the latter. The most general and characteristic points of difference between the articulation basis of English and that of Russian in the matter of lip and tongue positions is the general tendency toward retracted positions in English and toward advanced position in Russian. Accordingly, lip protrusion does not normally occur in English speech, whereas it is common in Russian. The result is that the formation of the English rounded vowels is not accompanied by lip protrusion, as the case is in English.

Besides, in the articulation of the English vowels the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in the production of the Russian vowels. When the bulk of the tongue moves in the horizontal direction it may occupy five positions in English (fully front, front-retracted, central, fully back and back-advanced). Each of the three vertical positions of the tongue (high, mid, low) in English is subdivided into a narrow and broad variety. Such variety of the bulk of the tongue positions is not observed in the production of the Russian vowel sounds. In Russian there are only three horizontal positions (front, central and back) and three vertical positions (high, mid, low) do not have narrow and broad varieties. The articulatory peculiarities in the pronunciation of English vowels constitute the basis for the formation of diphthongs when the position of the tongue changes within the articulation of one and the same vowel. There are no diphthongs in the Russian vowel system.

In the English vowel system length is phonologically relevant feature, and according to it the English vowels are subdivided into long and short, while in the Russian vowel system length is a phonologically irrelevant feature.

According to the character of their end some of the English vowels are checked others are free while all Russian vowels are free.

Russian vowels are not differentiated according to their tenseness as this feature is determined by the length and the character of the end of the vowel. All Russian vowels are more tense in a stressed position than in an unstressed one. In English the long vowels are tense, the short ones are lax.

In general there are 6 vowel phonemes in Russian and 20 in English, and all English vowels have no counterparts in Russian.

As it has already been mentioned, in English the tongue in neutral position lies somewhat farther back than in Russian. At the same time in English the tip of the tongue has a general tendency to move towards the teeth-ridge, whereas in Russian the blade of the tongue tends to move towards the upper front teeth. The result is that forelingual consonants [t, d, s, z, l, n] are alveolar and apical in English and dental and dorsal in Russian.

Palatalization, or soft colouring of consonants is not a phonemic feature of English phonemes [∫, 3, d 3, t∫], whereas it is a phonemic feature in Russian which has 16 pairs of palatalized and non-palatalized consonant phonemes.

The English voiceless consonants [p, t, k, f, s, ∫, t∫] are pronounced more energetically than the similar Russian consonants. The English voiced consonants [b, d, g, v, z, ð, 3 ] are not replaced by the corresponding voiceless consonants in the word-final position and before voiceless consonants as the similar Russian consonants.

The English voiceless plosives [p, t, k] are pronounced with aspiration when followed by a stressed vowel and not preceded by [s], whereas similar Russian consonants are pronounced without aspiration.

The English consonants [∫, 3 ] are short, the similar Russian consonants are long. There are no long consonant phonemes in English at all.

In English word-final sonorants [m, n, l, ŋ] are lengthened before a pause, especially when they are preceded by a short vowel whereas the similar Russian consonants are short in the same position.

In general there are 24 consonant phonemes in English and 36 in Russian.

Consonant phonemes in English which have no counterparts in Russian are the following: the bilabial constrictive sonorant [w], the interdental fricatives [θ, ð], the voiced affricate [d 3 ], the post alveolar constrictive sonorant [r], the backlingual nasal sonorant [ŋ], the glottal fricative [h].

Consonant phonemes in Russian which have no counterparts in English are the following: the palatalized consonants [п’,б’, т’,д’, к’, г’, м’, н’, ф’, в’, с, з’, р’], the voiceless affricate [ц], the rolled alveolar sonorant [р], the backlingual voiceless fricative [х].

25.. The definition and general characteristics of a syllable.

It is generally known that speech is a continuum. The segmentation of the speech continuum into discreet sounds and the allocation of the latter to phonemic categories is the result of the linguistic analysis. According to the immediate auditory impression of linguistically untrained users, pronounced sound sequences are acoustically broken up into smaller units which are articulated with alternately increasing and diminishing energy. Such minimal units of sounding speech are called syllables. Thus, syllables may be defined as the smallest pronounceable units into which sounds tend to group themselves and which in their turn are joined into meaningful language units that are morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. Each of these units is characterized by a certain syllabic structure and consequently has two aspects: syllable formation and syllable division which form a dialectal unity.

The syllable is a complicated phenomenon and like the phoneme it can be analyzed from the acoustic, auditory, articulatory and functional points of view. Acoustically and auditorily a syllable is characterized by the force of utterance, or accent, pitch of the voice, sonority and length, that is by prosodic features. Articulatory characteristics of a syllable are connected with the syllabic formation and division. Functional characteristics of a syllable are connected with the constitutive, recognitive and distinctive properties of a syllable.

In English syllable formation is based on the phonological opposition vowel – consonant. Vowels are usually syllabic, while consonants are not, with the exception of the sonorants [l], [m], [n] which become syllabic if they occur in an unstressed final position preceded by a noise consonant.

A syllable may consist of one phoneme or a number of phonemes. The syllabic phoneme forms the peak of prominence (the crest, or the peak of the syllable). One ore more consonant phonemes preceding or following the peak of prominence are called slopes. The boundary between two syllables is called the valley of prominence.

As to the number of syllables in the English word it can vary from one to eight. Ex. come [kΛm], city ['si-ti], family ['fæ-mi-li], simplicity [sim-'pli-si-ti], unnaturally [Λn-'næ-t∫ə-rə-li], unsophisticated [Λn-sə-'fi-sti-kei-tid], incompatibility ['in-kom-pæ-ti-'bi-li-ti], unintelligibility ['Λn-in-te-li d 3 i-'bi-li-ti].

26. The principles of syllable classification. Types of syllables.

There are several generally accepted classifications of syllables based upon various criteria.

First of all phonetic syllables which are distinguished in the actual pronunciation of words should not be mixed up with orthographic syllables, or syllabographs into which words are divided in writing and print or for the application of the so-called reading rules. Syllables of phonetic type need not coincide with those of the orthographic type as the latter are closely connected with the morphemic structure of words.

The further classifications concern phonetic syllables.

The syllable as a whole is the carrier of a dynamic stress – variation in the force of utterance. So syllables can be classified according to the accentual weight as stressed and unstressed.

From the view point of syllabic formation that is to say, whether a syllable begins and ends with a vowel or a consonant sound, syllables are classified as open, closed, covered and uncovered. A syllable which begins with a consonant sound and ends in a vowel sound is called covered and open (ex. now [nau]). A syllable which begins with a vowel sound and ends in a consonant sound is called uncovered and closed (ex. on [on]). A syllable which begins and ends in a consonant sound is called covered and closed (ex. man [mæn]). A syllable which begins and ends in a vowel sound is called uncovered and open (ex. awe [o:]).

G.P. Torsuev introduced the following terminology to be applied to the types of syllables mentioned above: initially covered, finally-covered, fully-closed, fully-open.

In some languages syllables are classified from the point of view of their duration (long and short) and from the point of view of their pitch. Thus, in tone languages, where the variation of the pitch of the voice is a distinctive feature, the following types of syllables are distinguished:

a) those pronounced with even pitch;

b) those pronounced on different pitch level (high-level, mid-level);

c) those pronounced with changes of pitch going from one level to another (fall, rise);

d) those pronounced with combination of such changes (fall-rise, rise-fall).

27. Functional characteristics of syllables.

Correct syllable formation and syllable division is of great practical importance because syllables perform constitutive, distinctive and recognitive functions.

Constitutive function of the syllable lies in its ability to be a part of a word or a word itself. The syllable forms language units of greater magnitude that is morphemes, words and utterances. The syllable is the unit within which the relations between the distinctive features of the phonemes are revealed. Within a syllable (or a sequence of syllables) prosodic characteristics of speech are realized which form the stress-pattern of a word and the rhythmic and intonation structures of an utterance. So the syllable is a specific minimal structure of both segmental and suprasegmental features.

The other function of the syllable is distinctive. In this respect the syllable is characterized by its ability to differentiate words and word forms. It can be proved by the phonological oppositions based on a difference in syllable division.

The distinction here lies:

a) in the degree of aspiration of [t] which is greater in the first member of the opposition than in the second;

b) in the slightly devoiced articulation of [r] in the first member of the opposition under the influence of the initial [t];

c) in the length of the diphthong [ai] which is shorter in the second member of the opposition, because it is followed by a voiceless consonant.

The differentiation is effected in this case through the opposition strong-end consonant/weak-end consonant resulting in a different position of the point of syllable division. The differentiation is achieved by beginning of fresh articulatory effort at different points.

So, on the one hand, the realization of the phoneme in different positions in a syllable (initial, medial, final) results in different allophones, on the other hand, qualitative and/or quantitative peculiarities of certain allophones of the phoneme indicate the beginning or the end of the syllable.

The difference in syllable division is the basic ground for differentiation of words, word combinations, sentences and the mixed cases.The recognitive function of the syllable facilitates their identification. It is conditioned by the pronunciation of the speaker. The listener can understand the meaning of the utterance only if he perceives the correct syllabic boundary.

28 (expiratory, chest-pulse, or pressure) theory is based on the fact that expiration in speech is not a continuous and uninterrupted process as it is in ordinary breathing, but a pulsating one. According to this theory there are as many syllables in a word as there are expiration pulses made during its utterance, because each syllable corresponds to a single expiration. Each vowel sound is pronounced with a fresh expiration, so vowel sounds are always syllabic. The borderline between the syllables is, according to this theory, at the point where a fresh expiratory pulse begins that is the moment of the weakest expiration. The American scholar Stetson tried to prove the validity of the expiratory theory of the syllable by an instrumental investigation of syllable formation and syllable division, the results of which he published in 1951 in his book “Motor Phonetics, a Study of Speech Movements in Action”. He used a number of instrumental techniques to record the lip, tongue and chest movements and to measure variations in the lung and subglottic air pressure during phonation.

The expiratory theory is strongly criticized by both Russian and foreign linguists. Thus N.I. Zhinkin questions the correctness of the instrumental techniques used by Stetson and doubts the validity of his conclusions which run counter to easily observable facts, because more than ten syllables are easily uttered with a single expiration. G.P. Torsuyev writes that in a phrase a number of words and consequently syllables can be pronounced with a single expiration without breaking it up into pulses. This theory is inconsistent also because of the impossibility of explaining all cases of syllable formation on its basis.

29. The so-called relative sonority theory of the syllable was put forward by O. Jespersen and further developed by other western linguists who often refer to it also as the “prominence” theory. By the term “sonority” is meant here the prevalence in a speech sound of musical tone over noise (hence the word “sonorant”). In this theory the term “sonority” is used in the meaning which is conveyed by the precise acoustic term “carrying power”. The latter means the acoustic property of speech sounds which determines the degree of their perceptibility. Thus, sonority theory is based upon the fact that each sound has a different carrying power. Jespersen by means of linguistic experiments proved that the most sonorous sounds are the vowels, the low vowels are more sonorous than the high and the back vowels are more sonorous than the front of corresponding height. Next lower in sonority are semi-vowels [w, j], the frictionless continuants [l, r, m, n, ŋ], the voice fricatives [v, ð, z, 3 ], the voice stops (plosives) [b, d, g], the voiceless fricatives [f, θ, s, ∫] and least sonorous of all the voiceless stops (plosives) [p, t, k] which apart from their closure and release have no sound at all. The sonority theory states that there are as many syllables in a word as there are peaks of prominence according to the scale of sonority.

Ex. In the word “sudden” the most sonorous is the vowel [Λ], then goes the nasal sonorant [n], which forms the second peak of prominence, [s] and [d] are sounds of low sonority, they cannot be considered as syllable forming:

[s Λ d n]

So in any sequence the most sonorous sounds tend to form the center of the syllable and the least sonorous – the marginal segments; a syllable contains one peak of sonority (or prominence) separated from other peaks by “valleys” of lower sonority (or prominence).

The sonority theory helps to establish the number of syllables in a word, but fails to explain the actual mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division, because it does not state to which syllable the weak sound at the boundary of two syllables belongs. Besides it is valid only for the artificial conditions under which it was established. But in speech, length, force and pitch are constantly varying, so that the sonority of different speech sounds in actual use varies considerably from the established scale of sonority. Thus in the word “puzzle” [z] can be made much more “sonorous” than [l]. The drawbacks of this theory were admitted by its creator and its adherents D. Jones, A. Gimson.

30. The muscular tension theory (articulatory tension, or energy theory) was put forward by L.V. Shcherba. He explained the phenomenon of syllable formation by muscular tension impulses. The fact that syllables cannot be further subdivided in connected speech proves that in speaking muscular tension impulses follow one another. Each impulse has its strongest point – the peak of prominence and its weakest point – the valley of prominence. Valleys of prominence correspond to points of syllable division. In the center of the syllable there is a syllabic phoneme which is usually a vowel. In pronouncing a syllable the energy of articulation increases within the range of prevocalic consonants and then decreases within the range of postvocalic consonants.

Unfortunately Shcherba has not left any further explanations of his theory of the syllable, with the result that some of its points remain unclear.

This theory has been modified by V.A. Vassiliev who stated that the syllable like any other pronounceable unit can be characterized by three physical parameters: pitch, intensity and length. Within the range of the syllable these parameters vary from minimum on the prevocalic consonants to maximum on the center of the syllable, and then there is another decrease within the postvocalic consonants. So the acoustic properties increase and decrease the tension of articulation and thus form an arc.

31. The three types of consonants theory was also put forward by Shcherba To explain the mechanism of syllable division he distinguished between the three types of consonants, such as initially strong, finally strong and geminate, or double. The difference between these types is in the way they are pronounced. In the initially strong consonants the beginning is more energetic, while the end is weaker. In the finally strong consonants the beginning is weak and the end is more energetic. Geminate (or double) consonants are pronounced in such a way that both the beginning and the end are energetic with a weakening of muscular tension in the middle. Acoustically, they give the impression of two consonants. The more energetic part of a consonant is attached to a vowel, so that initially strong consonants occur at the end of a syllable, while finally strong consonants occur at the beginning of a syllable.

In English geminate (double) consonants usually occur at the juncture of words or morphemes. Initially strong consonants follow short vowels, while finally strong consonants follow long vowels or diphthongs. Acoustically, finally strong consonants produce the impression of an intimate blend with a vowel which follows.

The use of a finally strong consonant instead of an initially strong one in similar sound sequences strikes the ear of a native as incorrect.

Since in syllable division the character of the end of a consonant is more important that that of its beginning, it is more convenient to use terms “strong-end” (finally strong) and “weak-end” (finally weak) consonants.

32. The so-called “loudness theory” was put forward by N.I. Zhinkin. On the basis of his analysis of the x-ray moving pictures, together with the sound spectrograms and kymograms he has found the organ which is immediately responsible for syllable formation. This organ is the pharyngeal cavity, or rather its walls. Their contraction gradually narrows the pharyngeal passage, which together with the resulting increase in the muscular tension of its walls just at the vocalic peak of the syllable, increases the amplitude of sound waves and correspondingly the actual loudness of this vocalic element to such an extent that it becomes the peak of the syllable.

So according to this theory the syllable can be thought of as the arc (or curve) of loudness which correlates with the arc of articulatory effort since variations in loudness are due to the work of all the speech mechanisms. This arc is weak in the beginning and in the end and strong in the middle.

In terms of the loudness theory there are as many syllables as in a word as there are “arcs of loudness” and the point of syllable division corresponds to the moment when the arc of loudness begins or ends, that is finally strong consonants begin a syllable, finally weak consonants end it.

The loudness theory combines both the level of production and the level of perception of the syllable, due to which the syllable can be defined as a phonetic unit which is pronounced by one articulatory effort, by one muscular contraction, which results auditory in one uninterrupted arc of loudness. But Zhinkin has not investigated the mechanism of the formation of syllables by sonorants and as far as English is concerned, it is not clear, how the pharyngeal contraction theory can account for the formation of syllables by sonorants.

So it is obvious that the syllable is not a simple phenomenon. No phonetician has succeeded so far in giving an exhaustive and adequate explanation of what it is. The difficulties seem to arise from the various possibilities of approach to this unit.

33. The definition and general characteristics of word-stress.

Inseparable from the syllabic structure of words is their accentual structure (or stress-pattern) because the sequence of syllables in the word is not pronounced identically. If the syllable or syllables of the word are uttered with special prominence they are said to be stressed, or accented. Special prominence should not be mixed up with the inherent prominence of speech sounds, their carrying power which is determined according to the scale of sonority. Special prominence is given to that or this syllable on purpose in order to single it out among the other syllables. The correlation of varying prominence of syllables in a word is the accentual structure of the word, or its stress-pattern.

Actually it is the vowel in a syllable which is made specially prominent and is a carrier of stress. Special prominence of a vowel and thus of the whole syllable is acquired partly by means of a stronger current of air (by a stronger expiration), but mostly by a more energetic articulation energy which produces the impression of loudness. The influence of more energetic expiration upon stress is not so important as the role of articulation, because vowels do not require a stronger current of air in order to be intensified, what they need is an intensification of musical tone, which is achieved through the tenseness of the vocal cords, the walls of the resonance chamber and all the speech organs in general.

So, in any stressed syllable the force of utterance is greater, which is connected with more energetic articulation; the pitch of the voice is higher which is connected with stronger tenseness of the vocal cords and the walls of the resonance chamber; the quantity of the vowel is greater, which means that the vowel becomes longer, the quality of the vowel is different, which means that the vowel sounds very distinct.

There are several definitions of word-stress, all of them are correct, it is difficult to state which of them is more precise as they are focused on different aspects:

1). Word-stress is the singling out of one or more syllables in a word which is accompanied by the change of the force of utterance, pitch of the voice, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the sound, which is usually a vowel.

2). Word-stress is a complex phenomenon, marked by the variations in force, pitch, quantity and quality.

3). Word-stress is a greater degree of prominence, given to one or more syllables in a word, which singles it out through changes in the pitch and intensity of the voice and results in qualitative and quantitative modifications of sounds in the accented syllable.

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