VIII. Strong andweak forms. Unstressed vocalism

Put down stress marks in the sentences below. Translate them into Russian-

Use the words below in the examples of your own.

I import—im 'port ' transport—transport

'increase—inJcrease 'object—ob'ject

¹ protest—pro 'test I forecast—fore least

¹ record—re'eord icontrast—conl tr ast

1. The abstract is short. Abstract this theory. 2. This accent is on. the first syllable. Mark it with a weak accent. He accents the word» It's the word "son" you are to accent. 3. A conflict took place. They conflict with this theory. It's finished in a conflict. Still, they con­flict. 4. The contest wasfriendly. They contest this statement. It's a contest. They contest it. 5. The contract was signed. They contract serious diseases. It's a contract. These diseases they contract.

9. Read the following compounds. Translate them into Russian.

'throw-back, Uook-out, fflashbacki Qie-idown, 'look-iround, lali iin, 'head 'first, 'head-'on, iknocker-lup,ilooker-'on, 'runner-lup, iwash-ing-'up, 'pick-up

In actual speech there is a great number of words which are pro­nounced in the weak or contracted form. They are more common than non-contracted or full forms. It applies to all styles and different man­ner of speech — formal or informal, slow or rapid tempo.

Given below are the lists of essential weak and contracted forms.

The Use of Weak and Contracted Forms

1. If a word is stressed the strong form must be used.

2. Strong forms are used at the end of the intonation group
<even if the word is unstressed, e.g.

Where did Mary come irom? /Iwss did imsan ₄клт fn>m/

The only exceptions are pronouns. They retain the weak form in final position, e.g.

John suspects her./idstm sas^pekts Ьэ/ We adore them, /wi- s_vdo: 5эт/

3. Demonstrative pronoun that always has the strong form (even
if not stressed), e.g.

That's exactly what I want. /Basts igizaekth wot ai,wont/ That play I saw was wonderful. /9set iplei ai iso: wsz»d

4. Weak forms ending in /э/ are not used before vowels (see
table for special forms).

5. The weak forms of words beginning with /h/, e. g. have, has,
lie, him, etc. may or may not be preceded by /h/. The /h/ is in­
variably used following a pause, for example at the beginning of
a sentence. In other cases the use of the /h/-forms is in free varia­
tion with /h/-less forms.

6. Have as a main verb is usually in the strong form, s de­
laines contracted forms with have may be used: I've, we've, they've
{never he has, she has), e.g.

'I've, 'we've, ithey've a 'bit of a problem, /'aiv, 'wi:v, iSeiv э 'bit 9v э_чртЫзт/

7. Scnorants /1, m, n/ in contracted forms are typically syllabic.
e.g.

I John¹11 come. /1(%оп1_хклт/ ibread and _vbuiter /'oread n

8. <ls> is pronounced as /z/ after all lenis (excluding /z, 5,
and after vowels:

Tibs 7

Essential Weak Forms

Class	Word	Weak Forms
articles	a an the	/э/ not before vowels /эп, n/ only before vowels /?a, ffi/ before vowels
conjunctions	and as than that but or	/and, an, n/ /az/ /San/; /ffsen/ is hardly ever used /Sat/ /bat/ /o-, a/ before consonants /эт, or/ before vowels
particles	there to	/ffa/ before consonants /0эг/ before vowels /ta/ before consonants /tu/ before vowels
prepositions	at for from of to' into through	/at/ /fa/; /far/ before vowels /fram/ /av/: /a/ often used before /ö/ /ta/; /tu:, tu/ used before vowels /mta/; /intu/ before vowels /Bra/
verb be	am ('m') are ('re) is ('s) was were	/эт, т/ /a/; /ar/ before vowels /s, z/ /wa/; /war/ used before vowels
auxiliary v^rh have	has ('s) have ('ve) had (*d)	/az, s, z/ /av, V/ /ad, d/
other auxiliary and modal verbs	do does can will shall would should must could	/da, du/ /dAZ/ /кэп/ AM/'' /ad, d/ /sd, d/ /mast, mas/ /kud, kd/

I9L

Продолжение

Class	Word	Weak Forms
pronouns	them us our you he she we me her	/Ээт, EFm/ /as/ /a-/ (is also used in stressed contexts) /juV. /Ju/ /hi, hi, t, i/ /Л. Л/ /wi, wi/ /mi, mi/ /ha, з:/; /э/ before consonants
negatives	not nor	/not, at/ /no/ before consonants /пэг/ before vowels

Essential Contracted Forms

Deriva­tion	Full Form	Written Con­tracted Form	Spoken Con­tracted Form	Comments
be	I am you are he is she is it is we are they are	I'm you're he's she's it's we're they're	/aim/ /jo:, jua/ /hfcz/» /W* /its/ /'wte/ /Зеэг/	Лкг, juar/ before vowels /wfcar/ "1 before /Эеэг/ / vowels
have	I have you have he has she has it has we have they have	I've you've he's she's it's we've they've	/aiv/ /J«v/ * fill'Of /its/ /wkv/» /9eiv/	Not necessarily used if have is a main verb. Cannot be used iF have is a main verb. Not necessarily used if have is a main verb.
shall will	I shall you will he will she will	I'll you'll he'll she'll	/ail/ г Ä/

■ These may be contracted /tiB, Jiz, w», Juv, wiv, Jul, wid, Jud/,

Продолжение

Deriva­tion	Full Form	Written Con­tracted Form	Spoken Con­tracted Form	Comments
	it will we shall/will they will	tfii we'll they'll	/'Itl/ /Wi:l/ /foil/
had+ should/ would	I had (should) would you had (should) would he had/would she had/would it had/would we had/would they had/would	I'd you'd he'd she'd it'd we'd they'd	/aid/ /jad/ /hi;d/ Affcd/ /itad/ /wfcd/ /Seid/	Context usually makes it clear whether had or should/ would is meant.
not	are not were not do not shall not will not cannot must not dare not	aren't weren't don't shan't won't can't mustn't daren't	/d;nt/1 /wa:nt/ /daunt/ /Jamt/ /waunt/ Aant/ /'nusnt/ /desnt/	Also used in aren't. All auxiliaries may combine with n't to form contracted forms and only the most significant and/or irregular are given here. There are many more such as isn't, wasn't, couldn't, shouldn't /iznt, woznt, kudnt, 'Judnt/.
let	let us	let's	/lets/	Only as auxiliary verb.
there	there is there are there wil! there would	there's there are there'll there'd	/Эеэг, Яег, Ээг/ /Яеагэ, Зегэ/ /Эта!,»э1/ /Dead, ifed/	/'ffearer, 'Эегэг/ be­fore vowels

The older contracted form of aren't and Isn't was uln't. This Is tiow heard only In
7-182 193

iBob's _vhere. /ob _t/ iVan's,come. /ivsenz _чклт/ Boy's gone, /tboiz _vgon/

<is> is pronounced as /s/ after the fortis (excluding /s, X, tf/)j

Uack's here, /'dsseks _vhi3/ (Robert's gone, /irrjbsts _%gon' I Pete's come. /ipi:ts ₄клт/

<is> is pronounced as /iz/ after /s, z, J¹, g, t)7, <has> is pro­nounced as /3z/, e.g.

Max is coming later, /imseks iz ikAmirj Jeite/

Mr. Hodge has arrived, /miste 'tradj эг a,raivd/

Jones has decided to leave, /icfceunz ez difsaidid ta _%li:v/

9. Some common grammatical words do not have a regular weak form, e.g.

on, up, when, then, one, what, where

As has already been mentioned, unstressed vowels in English may either change their quality and quantity or remain unchanged. For example the indefinite article a may be pronounced as /э/, which differs from /ei/ qualitatively. He may be pronounced as /hi'/ which diilers from /hi:/ quantitatively. In the word potato the final /9U/ remains unchanged though it occurs in an unaccented syllable /pa'teitsu/.

The major role in the system of unstressed vocalism in English belongs to the neutral vowel /a/. It originated as a result of the development of the analytical grammar structures, which led to the reduction of some vowels not only in inflexions but also in other parts of lexical and grammatical words.

According to the data of modern phoneticians /i, э, u, ou/ are always unstressed, /ei, ai/ are unstressed rather often, /d:, л, э: au, is/ are rarely unstressed, ja., u:, i:, 01, еэ, иэ/ are practically never unstressed.

The neutral vowel /з/ may alternate with any vowel of full formation, e.g.

/i:/—/э/ the /5i:/— the lesson /Зэ Uesn/

/e/—/9/ pence /pens/—three pence /trepans/

/se/—/э/ land /lsend/—England /lirjgfend/

/a/—/3/ particle /«ptttikl/—particular /psltikjula/

Ы—Ш a combine /э ikombain/—to combine /Ь кэт'Ьат/

/и/—/э/ fully /ifult/—playfully /ipleifah/

/и:/—/э/ to him /tu- him/—to the table /ta Ъ Iteibl/

/Л/—/Э/ some Mm/—tiresome /itaiasgm/

/3.7—/э/ herd /ha:d/—shepherd /^!j"ep3d/.

/ei/—/э/ face /feis/—preface /iprefas/

/ai/—/э/ shire /J¹ аю/—Yorkshire /ijo:kjty

/аи/— Ш mouth /mau0/—Plymouth /'рктэО/

/эй/—/э/ folk /fouk/—Norfolk /'пэ:Гэк/ /га/—/э/ revere /nivis/—reverence /irevarens/ /еэ/—/э/ there's /Öeaz/—there's S

On the phonological level the question arises about the phonemic status of the neutral vowel /э/. Is it an independent phoneme, or a va­riant of the phoneme with which it alternates? This question can be answered in terms of the distinctive function of the phoneme. In pairs like, for example, some /элт/ — some /sam/ /3/ performs distinctive function. In the sentence / read some /алт/ book some means "a certain". In the sentence / read some /sam/ books some means "several". Similar pairs in which the members differ in quality prove the independent phonemic status of the /э/ phoneme.

From the position of the Moscow and Leningrad phonological schools the relations between the vowel of full formation and /э/ in the pairs mentioned above should be viewed differently.

The representatives of the Moscow phonological school consider such relations to be interaHophonic, because Ы is considered by them in the pairs like /sAm/ — /ssm/ to be an allophone of the /л/ phoneme, or hyperphoneme.

The representatives of the Leningrad school state that in the above examples /3/ and /л/ undergo interphonemic changes and that they are separate phonemes.

In the Russian language vowels in unstressed syllables may coincide in speech. E.g. /0, a/ in the first pretonic syllable are both pronounced as /л/: /л/ ват, IЦ лень.

The peculiarity of the unstressed vocalism of Russian is that an unstressed vowel never preserves its full form. Cases like potato /pa'teitgu/, artistic /o:itistik/ are very common in English, e.g. /ib/ paragraph /ipasragrof/

conservatoire /kanJseivatva:/ radar /ireida:/, /ireida/ /1/ graduate /tgrsedjuit/

surface /'seihs/

effect /lifekt/

ticket /itikit/ /эй/ also /Id:Is9U/ zero /tziaröu/ /л/ tumult /ltju:mAlt/

There are some digraphs in English which are pronounced in unstressed syllables either as /э/ or /1/, e. g. er — teacher /ftiitfa/ ar—mortar /'mo:to/ or—motor /imauts/ et—foreign /iform/ ir—elixir /iihksa/ ie—hobbie /Ihobi/ ou(s)—famous /ifeimas/

7* 195

Questions

1. Are weak and contracted forms common for actual speech? 2. Give examples in which articles, conjunctions, particles and preposi­tions are pronounced in the weak forms. 3. Give examples in which the verbs to be, to have and the negatives not, nor are pronounced in the weak forms. 4. Give examples in which auxiliary verbs are pronounced in their weak forms. 5. What are essential contracted forms for the verbs to be, to have, shall, will, had + should, would, for the nega­tive not, particles let, there} Use them in your own examples or in the examples taken from literature. 6. What rules for the use of weak and contracted forms do you know? 7. What role does the phoneme /э/ play in the system of unstressed vocalism? 8. With what vowels of full formation does hi alternate? 9. What phonological status does Ы possess? 10. What are the peculiar features of English unstressed vocalism?

Exercises

•1. Transcribe these words. Single out the pairs of phonemes in which /э/ al­ternates with the vowel of full formation in the unstressed position.

armour (броня) —army (армия)

allusion (намек) —illusion (иллюзия)

tell 'em (скажи им) —tell him (скажи ему)

sitter (живая натура) —city (город)

forward (передний) —foreword (предисловие)

experiment (опыт) —experiment (экспериментиро­
вать)

some (некоторое количество) —some (некоторый, какой-то)

that (который, относительное —that (тот, указательное ме-

местоимение) стоимение)

variety (разнообразие) —various (различный)

estimable (достойный уважения) —estimate (оценивать)

*2. Transcribe these words. Underline the vowels of full formation in the un­stressed position.

protest n, content n, comment n, abstract adj, asphalt n, cannot, epoch, blackguard, export n, humbug, expert n, institute

*3. Transcribe these words. Read them. Mind the dropping off of hi in the unstressed position.

often, session, special, difficult, some, can, conference, dictionary, April, have

*4. a) Transcribe these words and underline the sounds of full formation in the pretonJc syllables, b) Give examples of Russian vowel reduction in a similar position.

emission usurp aorta

eleven Uganda oil-painting

ensign upturn coyote

abstract urbane aerologist

objective idea hereunder

orchestral outwit Eurasian

S. Read the exercise. Pay attention to the strong and weak forms which are singled out.

Red and white. /Ired (3)n,wait/ That man said: "That's good." /'Sset imaen _vsed iSssts»gud/ Let's do it tomorrow, /llets Idu: it ts.nrarau/ I'm a student, /aim э _vstjudsnt/ These boys are naughty. /Jöi:z 'boiz э ₄no:ti/ These books are interesting. /I8i:z ibuks эг _kin-tnstirj/ These bags are black. /'Öi:z ibsegz э Jilgsk/ Which is cor­rect? /iwitj* iz kajekt/ I have many books, /ai lhaev 'mem _vbuks/ He needs some books, /hi 'ni:dz ssm _vbuks/ I want some book, /ai iwont isAra,buk/

Come for the ticket. /1клт fa 5з»tikit/ Come for a change, /1клт far 3 _vfeind5/ Would you like to stay? /iwud ju Uaik ta ₄stei/ Do you want to argue? /Idu ju iwrjnt tu,agju:/ You shouldn't have done it /ju Ijudnt av _kdAn it/

Control Tasks

*1. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the peculiar feature of the 2j [English unstressed vocalism,

latchkey, simplicity, protest n, skylark, pantheon, bulldog, out­door, dining-room, into, mildew, woodcut, heart-burn, humpback, highway, simplify, highbrow, convoy, rainbow, raincoat, underwear, armature

2. Give some examples from the English language to illustrate the qualitative
and quantitative changes of vowels in the unstressed position.

3. Prove the functional independence of the id phoneme in the English language.

*4. Transcribe the passage below. Write out some examples of the strong and weak forms. Mark them with SF, WF, accordingly.

The Guardian newspaper is famous for its misprints. Why, there is even a Guardian, misprint preserved in brass for posterity. Some years ago the El Vino wine bar decided to put up a plaque in honour of Philip Hope-Wallace, its most faithful and probably wittiest habit­ue. And so, mentioning his eminence as a wit, raconteur and critic, it was duly placed above his usual seat on the wall and unveiled at a small ritual.

'I don't want to seem ungrateful,' said the recipient, peering at it closely, 'but there's only one "1" in Philip and you've put in two.'

'How can that be?' gasped the management. 'We were careful to check with the Guardian.'

IX. INTONATION

Intonation is a complex unity of non-segmental, or prosodic fea­tures of speech: 1. melody, pitch of the voice; 2. sentence stress; 3. temporal characteristics (duration, tempo, pausation); 4. rhythm; 5. tamber (voice quality).

Intonation is very important. It organizes a sentence, determines communicative types of sentences and clauses, divides sentences into intonation groups, gives prominence to words and phrases, expresses contrasts and attitudes. The two main functions of intonation are: communicative and expressive.

There are two main approaches to the problem of intonation in Great Britain. One is known as a contour analysis and the other may be called grammatical.

The first is represented by a large group of phoneticians: H. Sweet, D. Jones, G. Palmer, L. Armstrong, I. Ward, R. Kingdon, J. О 'Con­nor, A. Gimson and others. It is traditional and widely used. Accord­ing to this approach the smallest unit to which linguistic meaning can be attached is a tone-group (sense-group). Their theory is based on the assumption that intonation consists of basic functional "blocks". They pay much attention to these "blocks" but not to the way they are connected. Intonation is treated by them as a layer that is superim­posed on the lexico-grammatical structure. In fact the aim of commu­nication determines the intonation structure not vice versa.

The grammatical approach to the study of intonation was worked out by M. Halliday, The main unit of intonation is a clause. Intona­tion is a complex of three systemic variables: tonality, tonicity and tone, which are connected with grammatical categories. Tonality marks the beginning and the end of a tone-group, Tonicity marks the focal point of each tone-group. Tone is the third unit in Halliday's system. Tones can be primary and secondary. They convey the atti­tude of the speaker. Halliday's theory is based on the syntactical function of intonation.

The founder of the^TAmerican school of intonation is K. Pike. In his book "The Intonation of American English" he considers "pitch phonemes" and "contours" to'be the main units of intonation. He des­cribes different contours and their meanings, but the word "meaning" stands apart from communicative function of intonation. A. Anti-pova in her "System of English Intonation" characterizes the approach of the American school to the study of intonation system as "mechani­cal".

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