Зырянова+Теоретическая+фонетика.pdf

ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА Челябинск 2016 0 Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Южно-Уральский государственный гуманитарно-педагогический университет» ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА АНГ...

ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА Челябинск 2016 0 Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Южно-Уральский государственный гуманитарно-педагогический университет» ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА УЧЕБНО-ПРАКТИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ Челябинск 2016 1 УДК 42-4 (076) ББК 81.432.1-1-923 Т 33 Теоретическая фонетика английского языка [Текст]: учебнопрактическое пособие / сост. А.В. Зырянова. – Челябинск: Изд-во Юж.-Урал. гос. гуман.-пед. ун-та, 2016. – 154 с. В пособии кратко и в доступной форме изложены основы теоретической фонетики современного английского языка в сопоставлении с фонетическим строем русского языка. Вопросы и упражнения к каждому разделу дают возможность закрепить изученный теоретический материал и усвоить его практическое применение. В конце пособия представлен словарь основных фонетических терминов и англо-русский словарь. Предназначено для студентов педагогических университетов, углубленно изучающих английский язык. Рецензенты: О.Ю. Павлова, канд. ист. наук, доцент Н.В. Маврина, канд. пед. наук, доцент © сост. А.В. Зырянова, 2016 © Издательство Южно-Уральского государственного гуманитарно-педагогического университета, 2016 2 СОДЕРЖАНИЕ ВВЕДЕНИЕ ……………………………..……………….…………………………..... 7 1. PHONETICS AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTICS ……………………….. 9 1.1. THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PHONETICS …………..……………..…… 1.2. BRANCHES AND DIVISIONS OF PHONETICS …………………………. 1.3. METHODS OF PHONETIC INVESTIGATION ……………………….….. 1.4. PHONETICS AND OTHER DISCIPLINES ………………………….…….. 1.5. PRACTICAL APPLICATION AND THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PHONETICS ………………………………………… 9 10 13 14 2. SOUNDS OF SPEECH AS ACOUSTIC AND ARTICULATORY UNITS ……………………..………………………… 2.1. ACOUSTIC ASPECT OF SPEECH SOUNDS ……………….……………. 2.2. ARTICULATORY ASPECT OF SPEECH SOUNDS ………………………. 2.3. THE MAIN CRITERIA OF THE ARTICULATORY AND ACOUSTIC CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS ………………….…….………. 2.4. THE ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS ………………………………………….…. 2.5. DIFFERENCES IN THE ARTICULATION BASES OF THE ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN CONSONANTS .…….…………….. 3 16 19 19 21 25 26 30 2.6. Differences in the Articulation Bases of the English and Russian Vowels …………………………………………….…. 3. THE FUNCTIONAL ASPECT OF SPEECH SOUNDS ……………..….. 3.1. PHONOLOGY. METHODS OF PHONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION …………………………………………………………… 3.2. DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF THE PHONEME. ASPECTS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PHONEME ………………..…... 3.3. PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES. TYPES OF ALLOPHONES …………………………………………………….…… 3.4. PATTERNS OF PHONEME DISTRIBUTION. TYPES OF PHONOLOGICAL OPPOSITIONS ……………………………………. 3.5. TRANSCRIPTION. TYPES OF TRANSCRIPTION ………………………………………………………. 4. MODIFICATIONS OF PHONEMES IN CONNECTED SPEECH ………………………………………………………………………….……….. 4.1. THE MECHANISM OF ARTICULATORY TRANSITION OF PHONEMES IN CONNECTED SPEECH …………………………………. 4.2. ASSIMILATION. TYPES OF ASSIMILATION ……………………….…... 4.3. ELISION AND REDUCTION ……………………………………….……... 4.4. SOUND ALTERNATIONS ……………………………………………….... 5. SYLLABLE ……………………………………………………………………….…… 5.1. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SYLLABLE ……………………………..… 5.2. SYLLABLE FORMATION ………………………………………………….. 4 36 40 40 41 43 45 46 53 53 56 59 61 67 67 69 5.3. SYLLABLE DIVISION…………………………………………………….…. 5.4. FUNCTIONAL ASPECT OF THE SYLLABLE ………………………….….. 5.5. GRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYLLABLE ……………………... 71 72 73 6. WORD STRESS …………………………………………………….…………..…. 6.1. THE NATURE OF WORD STRESS …………………….………………... 6.2. TYPES OF WORD STRESS …………………………….…………….…… 6.3. DEGREES OF WORD STRESS …………………………………………... 6.4. PLACEMENT OF WORD STRESS …………………………………..…... 6.5. TENDENCIES IN THE PLACEMENT OF WORD STRESS ……………... 6.6. FUNCTIONS OF WORD STRESS ………………………………………… 77 77 79 80 81 84 88 7. INTONATION ……………………………………………………………..….…… 7.1. DEFINITION OF INTONATION …………………………………………… 7.2. COMPONENTS OF INTONATION ……………………………….………. 7.3. THE STRUCTURE OF INTONATION PATTERN ………………………… 7.4. SENTENCE STRESS AND RHYTHM ……………..………………………. 7.5. FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION …………………………………………... 7.6. STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION ……………………………………….. 92 92 94 96 100 102 104 8. VARIETIES OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ………………….………. 8.1. THE ORTHOEPIC NORM ………………….……………………….……. 8.2. NATIONAL VARIANTS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ……………… 8.3. REGIONAL TYPES OF PRONUNCIATION IN GREAT BRITAIN ………………………………………………….…… 8.4. REGIONAL TYPES OF PRONUNCIATION IN THE USA ………………. 111 111 113 5 114 116 8.5. THE MAIN POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RP AND GA …………………………………………………….…………. 8.6. STYLES OF PRONUNCIATION ……………………………………………. 8.7. THE CHOICE OF THE TEACHING NORM ………………………………. 117 120 122 GLOSSARY OF PHONETIC TERMS …………………………………..………. 124 PHONETIC VOCABULARY ……………………………………………..………… 138 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………… 152 6 ВВЕДЕНИЕ Настоящее учебно-практическое пособие по теоретической фонетике английского языка предназначено для студентов педагогических университетов. Роль и место теоретической фонетики в профессиональной подготовке выпускника обусловлены логической последовательностью изучения теоретических курсов. В системе языковых дисциплин по подготовке учителей иностранного языка теоретическая фонетика вместе с лексикологией, теоретической грамматикой и стилистикой составляют единый комплекс теоретических знаний по изучаемому языку. Курс теоретической фонетики углубляет общеязыковую подготовку студентов, развивает их исследовательские навыки, расширяет профессиональный кругозор. Цель пособия – помочь студентам – будущим учителям английского языка овладеть основами теории фонетики в тесной связи с практическим применением, что будет способствовать совершенствованию их навыков владения речью и более профессиональной подготовке к практической работе в общеобразовательных учреждениях. При составлении пособия учитывались требования, изложенные в программе по теоретическому курсу фонетики английского языка: − ознакомить студентов с состоянием науки о фонетическом строе английского языка на современном этапе; 7 − обобщить и углубить знания по фонетике, полученные студентами при изучении нормативного курса; − развить у студентов умение делать самостоятельные практические выводы из наблюдений над теоретическим материалом и применять теоретические положения курса в преподавании английского языка. Задача настоящего пособия – на основе систематизации элементов фонетической теории в краткой форме дать знания обо всех компонентах фонетического строя современного английского языка в сопоставлении с фонетическим строем русского языка. Учебно-практическое пособие «Теоретическая фонетика английского языка» включает в себя 8 разделов. Каждый из разделов состоит из 4 частей: 1) теоретической части, 2) вопросов, 3) терминологического минимума, 4) упражнений. В пособие включен словарь базовых понятий и терминов теоретической фонетики, а также англо-русский словарь. 8 CHAPTER 1 Phonetics as a Branch of Linguistics 1.1. The Subject-matter of Phonetics. 1.2. Branches and Divisions of Phonetics. 1.3. Methods of Phonetic Investigation. 1.4. Phonetics and Other Disciplines. 1.5. Practical Application and Theoretical Significance of Phonetics. 1.1. THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF PHONETICS The word “phonetics" is derived from the Greek “φωνη” (sound). Phonetics is not a separate science. It is a branch of linguistics, like the other branches, such as grammar, lexicology and stylistics. It studies the phonetic structure of the language, i.e. speech sounds, word stress, syllabic structure and intonation. These four components form the pronunciation of a language. Therefore, the knowledge of the phonetic system of the language and the mastery of its pronunciation involve the study and mastery of each component of its phonetic structure. 9 Phonetics is quite independent and develops according to its own laws. As an independent branch of linguistics, it has developed branches of its own. Today the sphere of phonetics is wide and deep. It deals with phonemes and their distribution in words, their mutual adaptation, syllable formation, stress, intonation, the relation between oral and written speech and a number of other problems. 1.2. BRANCHES AND DIVISIONS OF PHONETICS Speech sounds have four aspects: articulatory, acoustic, auditory, and functional (social). According to V.A. Vassilyev, these four aspects cannot be separated from one another in the actual process of communication, but each of these four aspects can be singled out for purposes of linguistic analysis and thus becomes a separate object of investigation, which necessitates the division of phonetics as a science into several branches. Each of these branches of phonetics has its own methods of investigation and its own terminology. The branch of phonetics which is concerned with the study, description and classification of speech sounds as regards their production by the human organs of speech is called articulatory phonetics. It is the oldest, the most developed and productive branch of phonetics. Acoustic phonetics studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear, in other words, the acoustic aspect of speech sounds (their physical properties). It is sometimes called 10 experimental, instrumental or laboratory phonetics, because experimental methods and instrumental techniques are widely used here. The branch of phonetics investigating the perception process is known as auditory phonetics. The branch of phonetics that studies the functional (linguistic, social) aspect of speech sounds and all the other components of the sound matter of the language (syllabic structure, word stress and intonation) is called phonology. It investigates sounds as units that serve communicative purposes. Besides the branches of phonetics described above, there are other divisions of phonetics. Traditionally phonetics is divided into general phonetics which studies the nature of phonetic phenomena and formulates phonetic laws and principles and special phonetics which is concerned with the phonetic structure of a particular language. Special phonetics is subdivided into descriptive and historical. Special descriptive phonetics studies the phonetic structure of the language synchronically (i.e. it studies its contemporary phonetic system), while historical phonetics looks at it in its historical development (diachronically). The study of the historical development of the phonetic system of a language helps to understand its present and predict its future. Historical phonetics is connected with general history and the history of the people whose language is studied. Historical phonetics uses the philological method of investigation, which consists in studying written monuments and comparing different spellings of one and the same word. 11 Closely connected with historical phonetics is comparative phonetics which studies the correlation between the phonetic systems of two or more languages. Another important division of phonetics is into segmental phonetics, which is concerned with individual sounds (i.e. “segments” of speech) and suprasegmental phonetics, which deals with the larger units of connected speech: syllables, words, phrases and texts. Phonetics can also be practical and theoretical. Practical phonetics studies the material form of phonetic phenomena in relation to meaning. Theoretical phonetics is mainly concerned with the functioning of phonetic units in the language. There are branches of linguistics which are closely connected with phonetics because some phonetic information and facts are of great importance in their spheres of investigation. Phonostylistics studies phonetic phenomena and processes from the stylistic point of view. It studies the way phonetic means are used in this or that particular situation. Another linguistic branch is phonosemantics. It investigates the connection between the sound form and the meaning. This connection may easily be observed in onomatopoeia (ping-pong, cuckoo). It is also realized in sound symbolism which implies that some sounds and some combinations of sounds may evoke different semantic associations. For example, some words beginning with sl are ugly and unpleasant (slime, slush, slum, slug, slough, slash, slop, sludge). Though there are lots of neutral words. 12 1.3. METHODS OF PHONETIC INVESTIGATION Each branch of phonetics uses its own methods of research. M.A. Sokolova states that phoneticians generally distinguish methods of direct observation (they are carried out without any other instruments of analysis than the human senses) and instrumental methods. The methods of direct observation are the oldest, simplest and most available. They consist in observing the movements and positions of one’s own or other people’s organs of speech in pronouncing various speech sounds, as well as in analysing one’s own muscle sense during the articulation of speech sounds and comparing them with the resultant auditory impressions. These methods can be effective only if a person using them is specially trained. Instrumental methods were introduced into phonetics in the second half of the 19th century in order to supplement the impressions deriving from the human senses. They are based on the use of special technical devices, such as hand mirror, spectrograph, intonograph, oscillograph, xray photography and cinematography, CD records, laryngoscope and others. These two ways of phonetic investigation are widely used in modern phonetics and combined in research work. The “subjective” methods of analysis by sensory impression and the “objective” methods of analysis by instruments are complementary. For instance, articulatory phonetics borders with anatomy and physiology, it uses methods of direct observation, whenever it is possible (lip movements, some tongue movements) combined with x-ray photography or x-ray cinematography, 13 observation through mirrors as in the laryngoscopic investigation of vocal cord movements, etc. Phonology possesses its own methods of investigation (special linguistic methods), which help to interpret phonological and functional properties of sounds as socially significant elements. They will be described later in the course. 1.4. PHONETICS AND OTHER DISCIPLINES Phonetics is one of the basic branches of linguistics and it is closely connected with the other linguistic disciplines: lexicology, grammar, stylistics. This connection is determined by the fact that language is a system whose component parts are inseparably connected with one another, and therefore the sciences that study these component parts must be interconnected too. S.F. Leontyeva points out that phonetics formulates the rules of pronunciation for separate sounds and sound combinations. The rules of reading are based on the relation of sounds to orthography and present certain difficulties in learning the English language. Thus, vowel sounds are pronounced not only as we name the letters corresponding to them: the letter a [ei] can be pronounced as [æ] – can, [ɑ:] – car, [eə] – care. Through the system of rules of reading phonetics is connected with grammar. It helps to pronounce singular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense forms and past participles of English regular verbs correctly (to beg – begged [d], to wish – wished [t]). Another manifestation of the connection of phonetics with grammar is sound interchange (or sound 14 alternation). This connection can be observed in the category of number (the interchange of [f –v], [s –z], [θ –ð] helps to differentiate singular and plural forms of such nouns as: calf – calves, leaf – leaves, house – houses). Vowel interchange is connected with the tense forms of irregular verbs (sing – sang – sung, write – wrote – written). It can also be observed in onomatopoeic compounds (flap-flop, hip-hop). Phonetics is also connected with lexicology. Due to the accurate presence of stress, or accent, we can distinguish certain nouns from verbs ('object предмет – to ob'ject возражать). Due to the position of word stress we can distinguish between homonymous words and word groups (`blackbird дрозд - 'black `bird черная птица). Besides we can differentiate homographs only due to pronunciation, because they are identical in spelling (bow [bəʊ] лук – bow [baʊ] поклон). S.F. Leontyeva also notes that phonetics is connected with stylistics. First of all, through intonation and its components: speech melody, utterance stress, rhythm, pausation and voice timbre which serve to express emotions, to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the author and speaker. Phonetics is also connected with stylistics through repetition of words, phrases and sounds. Repetition of this kind serves the basis of rhythm, rhyme and alliteration. Onomatopoeia, a combination of sounds which imitate sounds produced in nature, is one more stylistic device which can serve as an example of the connection between phonetics and stylistics (tinkle, jingle, clink, ting, chink; clap, dab, smack; crash, bang). Phonetics is also closely connected with a number of non-linguistic disciplines which study different aspects of speech production and speech 15 perception: physiology, anatomy, physics (acoustics). Mathematics, statistics, logic and computer science are used in phonetic research too. 1.5. PRACTICAL APPLICATION AND THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PHONETICS Phonetics is indispensable to the teaching of the pronunciation of foreign languages. The teachers have to know the sound system of the pupil’s mother tongue and the sound system of the foreign language to be learnt so that they can help the pupils to master its pronunciation. It is necessary to be able to point out the differences between these two languages and to provide adequate training exercises. Ear training and articulation training are both equally important in modern language teaching. For those who work in speech therapy (logopedics) phonetics forms an essential part of the professional training syllabus. Phonetics also enters into the training of teachers of the deaf and dumb people and can be of relevance to a number of medical and dental problems. Phonetics is useful in such spheres as investigations in the historical aspects of languages, in the field of dialectology; designing or improving systems of writing or spelling (orthographies for unwritten languages, shorthand, spelling reforms), in questions involving the spelling or pronunciation of personal or place names borrowed from other languages. Phonetics contributes important information to the research in criminology aimed at identifying individuals by voices. It is also widely used in teaching correct pronunciation and good elocution to actors, singers, radio-announcers and other public speakers. 16 Nowadays phonetics is important in a number of technological fields connected with communication. The results of phonetic investigations are used in communication engineering. For example, phonetic data is needed for creating machines converting the printed symbols or letters into synthetic speech or automatic typewriters that convert speech directly into printed words on paper. According to S.F. Leontyeva, theoretical significance of phonetics is connected with the further development of the problem of the synchronic study and description of the phonetic system of a national language, the comparative analysis and description of different languages, the study of the correspondences between them, the diachronic description of successive changes in the phonetic system of a language or different languages. Questions: 1. How do you prove that phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics? 2. What are the four components of the pronunciation of a language? 3. What are the aspects of speech sounds? 4. What are the branches and divisions of phonetics? 5. What are the methods and devices of phonetic investigation? 6. How is phonetics connected with other sciences? 7. What is the practical application of phonetics? 8. What is the theoretical significance of phonetics? 17 Give definitions of the following phonetic terms: acoustic phonetics, articulation, articulatory phonetics, comparative phonetics, descriptive phonetics, general phonetics, historical phonetics, phonetics, phonology, phonosemantics, phonostylistics, practical phonetics, segmental phonetics, supra-segmental phonetics, theoretical phonetics. Exercises: 1. Write the plural form of the following words and transcribe them. Use these examples to prove that phonetics is connected with grammar: calf, loaf, wife, foot, basis, knife, thief, goose, crisis. 2. These pairs of words are homographs. Transcribe and translate them. Use these examples to prove that phonetics is connected with lexicology: bow – bow, lead – lead, row – row, sewer – sewer, tear – tear, wind – wind. 3. Read the words and word combinations. Translate them into Russian and prove that phonetics is connected with lexicology through word stress: ʹbluebell – ʹblue ʹbell, ʹbluestone – ʹblue ʹstone, ʹbluecoat – ʹblue ʹcoat, ʹblackface – ʹblack ʹface, ʹbluestocking – ʹblue ʹstocking. 4. Read and translate the following. State what phonetic means is used to form such compounds: knick-knack, ping-pong, slip-slop, tip-top, zig-zag, shilly-shally, wishywashy. 18 CHAPTER 2 Sounds of Speech as Acoustic and Articulatory Units 2.1. Acoustic Aspect of Speech Sounds. 2.2. Articulatory Aspect of Speech Sounds. 2.3. The Main Criteria of the Articulatory and Acoustic Classification of Speech Sounds. 2.4. The Articulatory Classification of English Consonants. 2.5. Differences in the articulation Bases of the English and Russian Consonants. 2.6. The Articulatory Classification of English Vowels. 2.7. Differences in the Articulation Bases of the English and Russian Vowels. 2.1. ACOUSTIC ASPECT OF SPEECH SOUNDS As V.A. Vassilyev points out, sound is a physical phenomenon, a kind of energy generated by some vibrating body (a string, a tuning fork or the vocal cords) set into vibration by the application of some external force (a blow or the pressure of air). This energy travels in waves through the air and another medium. Sounds can be periodical (the vibrations of a physical body are rhythmical) and non-periodical (the vibrations are not rhythmical). The auditory impression of periodical waves is a musical tone. The auditory impression of non-periodical waves is noise. 19 The sound has a number of physical properties which all exist and manifest themselves simultaneously, but each of them can be singled out and separated from the others for purposes of analysis. V.A. Vassilyev remarks that the first property is frequency which is the number of vibrations per second. Sound waves may follow one another at different rates of frequency. Therefore, the number of vibrations per second varies greatly. Dependent on the frequency of vibrations is the length of the sound wave, i.e. the distance between the points having the same phase (position) in two adjacent waves. Wave length is proportional to the frequency of vibrations: the higher the frequency, the shorter the wave length. Our perception of the frequency of repeated pressures on the eardrum is the pitch of the sound. The greater the frequency, the higher the pitch, and vice versa. The frequency of the sound depends on the mass, length and tension of the vibrator. The greater the mass of the vibrator, the slower its vibrations, and the lower the pitch. Some people’s vocal cords are thicker and heavier than those of others and their voices are lower than the voices of those with thinner and lighter vocal cords. The longer the vibrator, the slower the vibrations, the lower the frequency and the pitch. A man’s voice is lower than a woman’s partly because his vocal cords are longer. As the tension increases, the frequency increases and the pitch rises. The second physical property of the sound is intensity, changes in which are perceived as variations in the loudness of the sound. The intensity is produced by the amplitude of vibrations and it is measured in 20 decibels. The intensity and frequency of the sound are closely interdependent. Sounds can only exist and move in time. In other words, any sound has a certain duration. The duration, or length, of a sound is the quantity of time, during which the same vibratory motion is maintained. For this reason, the duration of a sound is often referred to as its quantity. The duration of speech sounds is usually measured in milliseconds. In speech there are no definite boundaries between different speech sounds: one speech sound gradually passes into another. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to measure the length of speech sounds exactly. These physical properties of speech sounds will be referred to further in this course. 2.2. Articulatory Aspect of Speech Sounds Speech is impossible without the work of the following four mechanisms: − the power mechanism − the vibrator mechanism − the resonator mechanism − the obstructor mechanism This division is not rigid, because the four mechanisms are closely interconnected and the speech organs forming part of one mechanism may form at the same time part of another mechanism. The power mechanism consists of the diaphragm, the lungs, the bronchi, the windpipe (or trachea), the glottis, the larynx, the mouth cavity 21 and the nasal cavity. The function of this mechanism is to supply energy in the form of air pressure and to regulate the force of the air-stream. The vibrator mechanism (the voice producing mechanism) consists of the vocal cords. They are in the larynx. They are two horizontal folds of elastic tissue. They may be wide open (for breath), completely closed (for glottal stop [ʔ]) and incompletely closed and vibrating (for voice). So voice is produced by the vocal cords vibration. The pitch of the voice depends on the frequency of vibration: the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch of the sound produced. The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. S.F. Leontyeva points out that according to the data of acoustic investigations there are two more sources that participate in the production of speech sounds besides the vocal cords: the turbulent noise (it results from some constriction in the flow of air) and the impulse wave (it is formed when the complete construction to the flow of air in the mouth cavity is suddenly broken). These sources of speech sounds can work separately or simultaneously. For example, the vocal cords produce vibration in the articulation of vowels, the turbulent noise helps to produce voiceless constrictive consonants [f, s, ʃ], the impulse wave helps to produce voiceless plosive consonants [p, t, k]. The resonator mechanism consists of the pharynx, the mouth cavity and the nasal cavity. These three cavities function as the principal resonator. It influences the formation of the sounds and their quality, i.e. its main function is to form the sounds and intensify them. Each cavity has boundaries, or walls, which are formed by various parts of the speech apparatus. 22 Fig. 1: 1 – the diaphragm, 2 – the lungs, 3 – the bronchi, 4 – the windpipe, 5 – the glottis, 6 – the larynx, 7 – the mouth cavity, 8 – the nasal cavity Some of them are more or less soft and movable (the soft palate, the tongue, the lower jaw) while the others are hard and fixed (the teeth, the hard palate). The obstructor mechanism consists of the tongue, the lips, the teeth, the soft palate with the uvula, the hard palate and the alveolar ridge. This mechanism helps to create an obstruction for producing consonant sounds. There are two types of articulatory obstruction: complete (when 23 two organs of speech come in contact with each other and the air passage through the mouth is blocked) and incomplete (when an articulating organ is held so close to the point of articulation as to narrow or constrict the air passage without blocking it). Fig. 2: 1 – the mouth cavity, 2 – the pharynx, 3 – the nasal cavity Fig. 3: 1 – the tongue (a – the blade with the tip, b – front part, c – back part), 2 – the lips, 3 – the teeth, 4 – the soft palate with the uvula, 5 – the hard palate, 6 – the alveolar ridge The bulk of the tongue can be approximately divided into the blade with the tip, the front part (middle part) and the back part (dorsum). The tip of the tongue can occupy a number of positions in the production of English and Russian forelingual consonants. The lips can be rounded, 24 slightly protruded or spread. The lower lip may move close to the upper teeth. The two lips can close to block the air stream. The teeth also act as an obstruction to the air stream. The upper teeth are the most important for the articulation. The alveolar ridge can be felt with the tip of the tongue as a corrugated ridge just behind the upper front teeth. These four mechanisms work simultaneously and each speech sound is the result of the simultaneous work of all of them. 2.3. THE MAIN CRITERIA OF THE ARTICULATORY AND ACOUSTIC CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS S.F. Leontyeva draws our attention to the fact that articulatory differences between vowels, consonants and sonorants depend on the following criteria: − the presence or absence of an articulatory obstruction to the air stream in the larynx or in the supra-glottal cavities; − the concentrated or diffused character of muscular tension; − the force of exhalation. On the basis of these criteria consonants may be defined as sounds in the production of which (a) there is an articulatory obstruction to the air stream (complete or incomplete); (b) muscular tension is concentrated in the place of obstruction; (c) the force of exhalation is rather strong. Vowels may be defined as sounds in the production of which (a) there is no articulatory obstruction to the air stream; (b) muscular tension is diffused; (c) the force of exhalation is rather weak. 25 Sonorants are sounds intermediate between noise consonants and vowels because they have features common to both. The obstruction is complete or incomplete, but narrow enough to produce noise. Muscular tension is concentrated in the place of obstruction, but the force of exhalation is rather weak. English sonorants are: [m, n, ŋ, l, w, r, j]. 2.4. THE ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS Russian phoneticians classify English consonants according to the following principles: − work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation; − active organ of speech and the place of articulation; − manner of noise production and the type of obstruction; − position of the soft palate. 1. According to the work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation English consonants are divided into voiced [b, d, ɡ, z, v, ð, ʒ, m, n, ŋ, l, r, j, w, dʒ] and voiceless [p, t, k, s, f, θ, h, ʃ, ʧ]. The force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension are greater in the production of voiceless consonants therefore they are called “fortis”, which means “strong, energetic”. Voiced consonants are called “lenis”, which means “soft, weak”, because the force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension in their articulation are weaker. The English consonants [h, m, n, ŋ, l, w, r, j] do not enter the fortis-lenis opposition according to some phoneticians. In Russian such energy contrast doesn’t play an important role. 26 2. According to the position of the active organ of speech against the place of articulation English consonants are classified into labial, lingual and glottal. Labial consonants are subdivided into bilabial and labiodental. Bilabial consonants are produced with both lips. They are [p, b, m, w]. Labiodental consonants are articulated with the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth. They are [f, v]. Lingual consonants are subdivided into forelingual, mediolingual and backlingual. Forelingual consonants are articulated with the tip of the blade of the tongue. According to the position of the tip of the tongue they may be apical (articulated by the tip of the tongue against either the upper teeth or the alveolar ridge) – [θ, ð, t, d, l, n, s, z], cacuminal (articulated by the tongue tip raised against the back part of the alveolar ridge) – [r] and dorsal (there are no dorsal consonants in English). According to the place of articulation forelingual consonants may be interdental, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar and palato-alveolar. Interdental consonants are articulated against the upper teeth with the tip. They are [θ, ð]. Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. They are [t, d, s, z, n, l]. Post-alveolar consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue against the back part of the alveolar ridge. In English it is [r]. Palato-alveolar consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, but the front part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. They are [ʧ, ʤ, ʃ, ʒ]. There are no dental (articulated with the blade of the tongue against the upper teeth) consonants in English. 27 Mediolingual consonants are produced with the front part of the tongue raised high to the hard palate. In English it is [j]. Backlingual consonants are also called velar. They are produced with the back part of the tongue raised towards the soft palate. They are [k, ɡ, ŋ]. The glottal consonant [h] is articulated in the glottis. 3. According to the manner of noise production and the type of obstruction English consonants can be classified in the following way. From the view point of the obstruction, which is formed in their articulation, they are occlusive (complete obstruction) and constrictive (incomplete obstruction). According to the principle of voice or noise prevalence, Russian phoneticians suggest a subdivision of the group of occlusive and the group of constrictive consonants into noise consonants (in their production noise prevails over tone) and sonorants (in their production tone prevails over noise). According to the manner of the production of noise, occlusive noise consonants are divided into plosive consonants or stops – [p, b, t, d, k, ɡ] and affricates – [ʧ, ʤ]. In the production of plosive consonants, the speech organs form a complete obstruction which is then quickly released with plosion. In the production of affricates, the speech organs form a complete obstruction which is then released so slowly that considerable friction occurs at the point of articulation. They are also called occlusiveconstrictive (there is a combination of the two obstructions). There are different opinions on the nature of English affricates. The most extreme are the views expressed by B. Bloch and G. Trager who deny the existence of affricates as monophonemic entities and state that they 28 are biphonemic sequences. The other extreme point of view is that expressed by D. Jones and I. Ward who state that there are six or even eight affricates in the system of English consonants: [ʧ, ʤ, ts, dz, tr, dr, tθ, dð]. Russian phoneticians consider affricates as units which are articulatory and acoustically indivisible and morphologically unique. In English the only occlusive-constrictive consonants are [ʧ, ʤ]. In the production of occlusive sonorants [m, n, ŋ] the speech organs form a complete obstruction in the mouth cavity which is not released, the soft palate is lowered and the air escapes through the nasal cavity. English constrictive noise consonants (fricatives) are [f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h]. In their production the speech organs form an incomplete obstruction. In the production of constrictive sonorants, the air passage is fairly wide so that the air passing through the mouth does not produce audible friction and tone prevails over noise. Constrictive sonorants may be median [w, j, r] and lateral [l]. In the production of median sonorants, the air escapes without audible friction over the central part of the tongue, the sides of the tongue being raised. In the production of lateral sonorants, the tongue is pressed against the alveolar ridge or the teeth, and the sides of the tongue are lowered, leaving the air passage open along them. 4. According to the position of the soft palate all English consonants are divided into oral and nasal. When the soft palate is raised and the air from the lungs escapes through the mouth cavity, oral consonants are produced. When the soft palate is lowered and the air escapes through the nasal cavity, nasal consonants are produced. They are [m, n, ŋ]. 29 2.5. DIFFERENCES IN THE ARTICULATION BASES OF THE ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN CONSONANTS S.F. Leontyeva differentiates some peculiarities of the articulation bases in English and in Russian which cause the differences in the systems of consonants in these two languages. They are the following: 1. The English forelingual consonants are articulated with the apicoalveolar position of the tip of the tongue. The Russian forelingual consonants are mainly dorsal: in their articulation the tip of the tongue is passive and lowered, the blade is placed against the upper teeth [т, т’, д, д’, н, н’, с, с’, з, з’, ч’, ц]. The Russian forelingual apical consonants are only [л, л’, ш, ш’, ж, ж’]. 2. In the production of the Russian consonants the bulk of the tongue is mainly in the front-mid part of the mouth resonator. In the production of the English forelingual consonants the tip of the tongue and the front edges are very tense. It results in the depression in the front part of the tongue, which enlarges the size of the front resonator. 3. The English voiceless consonants [p, t, k, f, s, ʃ, ʧ] are pronounced more energetically than similar Russian consonants. The English voiced consonants [b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ] are not replaced by the corresponding voiceless sounds in word-final positions and before voiceless consonants ['biɡ ˎteibl]. The English voiceless consonants [p, t, k] are aspirated, when followed by a stressed vowel and not preceded by [s]. 4. Consonants in English which have no counterparts in Russian are: [w, θ, ð, ʤ, r, ŋ, h]. 30 5. There is no opposition between palatalized and non-palatalized consonants in English. The most common mistakes that may result from the differences in the articulation bases of the English and Russian languages are the following: − dorsal articulation of the English forelingual apical [t, d]; − the use of the Russian rolled [р] instead of the English postalveolar [r]; − the use of the Russian [х] instead of the English glottal [h]; − mispronunciation of the English interdental [θ, ð]: the use of [s, f] for [θ] and [d, z] for [ð]; − the use of the forelingual [n] instead of the backlingual velar [ŋ]; − the use of the labio-dental [v, в] instead of the bilabial [w]; − absence of aspiration in [p, t, k] when they occur initially; − weak pronunciation of voiceless fortis [p, t, k, f, s, ʃ, ʧ]; − devoicing of voiced [b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ] in the terminal position. 2.6. THE ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH VOWELS The first linguist who tried to describe and classify vowels for all languages was D. Jones. He invented the system of 8 Cardinal Vowels on the physiological bases. It is supposed to be an international standard set of vowel sounds chosen to form a scale of reference. According to D. Jones, they can be produced with the bulk of the tongue at the four cardinal points in the front part of the mouth cavity and at the four cardinal points 31 in the back part of the mouth cavity. But in spite of the theoretical significance of the Cardinal Vowel System its practical application is limited. Russian phoneticians classify English vowels according to the following principles: − position of the lips; − position of the tongue; − length; − degree of tenseness and the character of the end; − stability of articulation. 1. According to the position of the lips English vowels are classified into rounded (labialized) [ʊ - u:, ɒ - ɔ:] and unrounded (non-labialized). Rounded vowels are produced when the lips are more or less rounded and slightly protruded. Unrounded vowels are produced when the lips are spread or neutral. The main effects of lip rounding are to enlarge the mouth cavity and to diminish the size of the opening of the mouth cavity. Both of these deepen the pitch. 2. According to the position of the tongue it is the bulk of the tongue that is the most important in the production of vowels. It can move forward and backward, it can be raised and lowered in the mouth cavity. So Russian phoneticians divide vowels according to the horizontal and vertical movements of the tongue. According to the horizontal movements of the tongue vowels are subdivided into back [ɒ, ɔ:, u:] (when the bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth, while the back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate), back-advanced [ʊ, ɑ:] (when the back part of the tongue is raised highest towards the soft palate), front [i:, e, æ] (when the bulk of the 32 tongue is in the front part of the mouth, while he front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate), front-retracted [ɪ] (when the front part of the tongue is raised highest towards the hard palate) and central [ɜ:, ə, ʌ] (when the tongue is almost flat and its central part is raised towards the juncture between the hard and soft palate). According to the vertical movements of the tongue English vowels are subdivided into high (close) [i:, ɪ, ʊ, u:], mid-open (half-open, mid) [e, ɜ:, ə, ɔ:] and low (open) [ʌ, æ, ɑ:, ɒ]. High (close) vowels are produced when one of the parts of the tongue comes close to the roof of the mouth and the air passage is narrowed, but not so much as to form a consonant. Low (open) vowels are produced when the raised part of the tongue is very low in the mouth, and the air passage is very wide. Mid-open (mid) vowels are produced when the raised part of the tongue is half-way between its high and low positions. Each of the subclasses is subdivided into vowels of narrow variation and vowels of broad variation. 3. According to the length English vowels are subdivided into (historically) long and (historically) short. Vowel length may depend on a number of linguistic factors: position of the vowel in a word (in the terminal position a vowel is the longest, it shortens before a voiced consonant and it is the shortest before a voiceless consonant: be – bead – beat), word stress (a vowel is longer in a stressed syllable than in an unstressed syllable), the number of syllables in a word ([ɜ:] in verse is longer than in university), the character of the syllabic structure. Besides vowel length depends on the tempo of speech: the higher the rate of speech the shorter the vowels. 33 4. According to the degree of tenseness traditionally long vowels are defined as tense (when the muscles of the lips, tongue, cheeks and the back walls of the pharynx are tense) and short vowels are defined as lax (when these organs are relatively relaxed). English vowels can be checked and unchecked according to the character of their end. The checked vowels are those which occur in stressed closed syllables, ending in a fortis voiceless consonant: [e] in [bet]. These vowels are pronounced without any lessening in the force of utterance towards their end. They are abruptly interrupted by the following voiceless consonant and they can only occur in a closed syllable. The unchecked vowels are those which are pronounced with lessening the force of utterance towards their end. Therefore, they have weak end and occur terminally, or are followed by a lenis voiced consonant: [i:] in [bi:], [ɑ:] in [kɑ:d]. There are no checked vowels in Russian. All of them are unchecked. 5. According to the stability of articulation English vowels are subdivided into monophthongs (simple vowels) and diphthongs (complex vowels) by Russian phoneticians. English monophthongs are pronounced with more or less stable lip, tongue and mouth walls position (the organs of speech do not perceptibly change their position throughout the duration of the vowel). They are [ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ʌ, ə, ɑ:, ɔ:, ɜ:]. Diphthongs consist of two vowel elements pronounced so as to form a single syllable. In their pronunciation the organs of speech start in the position of one vowel and glide gradually in the direction of another vowel, 34 whose full formation is generally not accomplished. The first element of an English diphthong is called the nucleus. It is strong, clear and distinct. The second element is rather weak. It is called the glide. English diphthongs are [eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ, əʊ, iə, eə, uə]. Besides these diphthongs, there are two vowels in English [i:] and [u:] which may have a diphthongal pronunciation. In the articulation of these vowels the organs of speech change their position but very slightly. These vowels are called diphthongoids. According to S.F. Leontyeva diphthongs are defined differently by different authors. One definition is based on the ability of a vowel to form a syllable (as in the diphthong only one element serves as a syllabic nucleus, a diphthong is a single sound). Another definition of a diphthong as a single sound is based on the instability of the second element. Some scientists define a diphthong from the accentual point of view (as only one element is accented and the other is unaccented, a diphthong is a single sound). D. Jones defines diphthongs as unisyllabic sounds in the articulation of which organs of speech change their position. N. Trubetskoy also defines diphthongs as unisyllabic and states that the parts of a diphthong cannot belong to two syllables. L. Zinder adds that phonemically diphthongs are sounds that cannot be divided morphologically. The classification of English vowels suggested by Russian scientists is more exact from the articulatory point of view and more simple for teaching purposes. 35 2.6. DIFFERENCES IN THE ARTICULATION BASES OF THE ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN VOWELS Articulation bases of English and Russian vowels are different. S.F. Leontyeva differentiates the following peculiarities: 1. The lips. In the production of Russian vowels, the lips are considerably protruded and rounded: [о, у]. In the production of similar English [ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:] protrusion does not take place. 2. The bulk of the tongue. In the articulation of the English vowels the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in production of the Russian vowels. 3. The length of the vowels. Long vowels in English are considered to be tense. There are no long vowels which can be opposed phonemically to short vowels in the Russian language. Length in the Russian vowel system is an irrelevant feature. 4. The stability of articulation. There are no diphthongs in the Russian vowel system. 5. There are 6 vowels in Russian and 20 vowels in English. In articulating English vowels Russian students can make the following mistakes: − they do not observe the quantitative character of the long vowels; − they do not observe the qualitative difference in the articulation of such vowels as: [i: - ɪ], [u: - ʊ], [ɔ: - ɒ]; − pronounce [i:, ɪ, e, eɪ] without the “flat position” of the lips; − pronounce initial vowels with a glottal stop; − make both elements of the diphthongs equally distinct; 36 − do not observe the positional length of vowels; − make the sounds [æ, ɒ] more narrow because they do not open the mouth properly; − articulate [ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:] with the lips too much rounded and protruded. Questions: 1. What are the mechanisms for the production of speech sounds? 2. What are the articulatory differences between vowels, consonants and sonorants? 3. What are the four main principles of consonant classification? 4. What are different opinions on the nature of English affricates? 5. What are the principal differences in the articulation bases of the English and Russian consonants? 6. What mistakes result from the differences in the articulation bases of English and Russian consonants? 7. What are the principles of vowel classification? 8. What are different opinions on English diphthongs? 9. What are the principal differences in the articulation bases of the English and Russian vowels? 10. What mistakes result from the differences in the articulation bases of English and Russian vowels? Give definitions of the following phonetic terms: (1) affricates, apical consonants, articulation, backlingual consonants, bilabial consonants, cacuminal consonants, consonants, constrictive consonants, 37 forelingual consonants, glottal consonants, labial consonants, labio-dental consonants, lateral sonorants, lingual consonants, median sonorants, mediolingual consonants, nasal consonants, noise consonants, obstruction, occlusive consonants, oral consonants, organs of speech, plosive consonants, sonorants, voiced consonants, voiceless consonants; (2) back vowels, back-advanced vowels, central vowels, checked vowels, close (high) vowels, diphthongs, diphthongoids, front vowels, front-retracted vowels, the glide of a diphthong, lax vowels, long vowels, mid vowels, monophthongs, the nucleus of a diphthong, open (low) vowels, rounded vowels, short vowels, tense vowels, unchecked vowels, unrounded vowels, vowels. Exercises: 1. Explain the articulation of [p, t, k] and [b, d, ɡ] from the viewpoint of the work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation. Define the sounds. 2. Explain the articulation of [m, n, ŋ] from the point of view of the position of the soft palate. Define the sounds. 3. Explain the articulation of [w, j, h] from the viewpoint of the active organ of speech. Define the sounds. 4. Explain the articulation of the sounds [b, v, ʧ] from the viewpoint of the manner of noise production. Define the sounds. 5. Explain the articulation of [u:, ʊ, æ] from the viewpoint of the horizontal and vertical movements of the tongue. Define the sounds. 6. Explain the articulation of [aʊ, ɑ:, i:] from the viewpoint of the stability of articulation. Define the sounds. 38 7. Explain the articulation of the [i:, e, æ] sounds from the viewpoint of the horizontal and vertical movements of the tongue. 8. Explain the articulatory differences between the Russian [т, р] and the English [t, r] sounds. 9. Explain the articulatory differences between the [i: - ɪ], [u: - ʊ] sounds. 10. Give articulatory definitions of the following consonants: [l, f, r, ð, s, m, p, w, θ, k, d, n, ʃ, ʧ, ʤ, j, ɡ]. 11. Give articulatory definitions of the following vowels: [ɪ, i:, ʊ, æ, e, u:, ə, ɜ:]. 12. Draw the following table: classification of English consonants according to the main principles (the work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation, the active organ of speech and the place of obstruction, the manner of noise production and the type of obstruction, the position of the soft palate). 13. Draw the following table: classification of English vowels according to the main principles (the position of the lips, the position of the tongue, the degree of tenseness and the character of the end, the length, the stability of articulation). 39 CHAPTER 3 The Functional Aspect of Speech Sounds 3.1. Phonology. Methods of Phonological Investigation. 3.2. Different Conceptions of the Phoneme. Aspects and Functions of the Phoneme. 3.3. Phonemes and Allophones. Types of Allophones. 3.4. Patterns of Phoneme Distribution. Types of Phonological Oppositions. 3.5. Transcription. Types of Transcription. 3.1. PHONOLOGY. METHODS OF PHONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION S.F. Leontyeva states that phonetics studies speech sounds as articulatory and acoustic units, phonology investigates them as units, which serve communicative purposes. Phonetics and phonology are closely connected. The unit of phonetics is a speech sound, the unit of phonology is a phoneme. The phoneme is the smallest unit of the language system. Phonemes can be discovered by the method of minimal pairs (commutation test or the method of substitution), which consists in finding pairs of words which differ in one phoneme. For example, ban – fan is a 40 pair of words distinguished in meaning by a single sound change. Two words of this kind are termed “minimal pair”. It is possible to take this process further and we can also produce can – ran – man – it is a minimal set. To establish the phonemes of the language the phonologist tries to find pairs that show which sounds occur or do not occur in identical positions. The method of minimal pairs helps to identify 24 consonant phonemes and 20 vowel phonemes in the phonological system of the English language. The phonemes of a language form a system of oppositions, in which any one phoneme is usually opposed to any other phoneme in at least one position, in at least one minimal pair. If the substitution of one sound for another results in the change of the meaning, the commuted sounds are different phonemes, speech sounds, which are phonologically significant. The statistical method is also used in phonology. Its aim is to establish the frequency, probability and predictability of occurrence of phonemes and their allophones in different positions. 3.2. DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF THE PHONEME. ASPECTS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PHONEME The founder of the phoneme theory was L. A. Baudouin de Courtrney. His theory of the phoneme was developed and perfected by L.V. Shcherba. He stated that in actual speech we utter a much greater variety of sounds than we are aware of, and that in every language these 41 sounds are united in a comparatively small number of sound types, which are capable of distinguishing the meaning and the form of words; so they serve the purpose of social communication. As S.F. Leontyeva points out, there are different opinions on the nature of the phoneme and its definition. Ferdinand de Saussure suggested the abstractional conception of the phoneme. It is regarded as independent of the phonetic properties according to this theory. N.S. Trubetskoy and L. Bloomfield viewed the phoneme as the minimal sound units by which meanings may be differentiated. D. Jones defined the phoneme as a “family” of sounds. The members of the family show phonetic similarity. No member of the family can occur in the same phonetic context as any other member. This view was shared by American scientists B. Bloch and G. Trager. They define the phoneme as a class of phonetically similar sounds, contrasting and mutually exclusive with all similar classes in the language. L.V. Shcherba was the first to define the phoneme as a real, independent distinctive unit which manifests itself in the form of allophones. Prof. V.A. Vassilyev developed this theory and presented a detailed definition of the phoneme. He states that a phoneme is a dialectical unity of three aspects: (1) material, real and objective (it really exists in the material form of speech sounds and allophones), (2) abstract and generalized (it exists independently from our will or intentio