Modifications of Phonemes in Connected Speech PDF

CHAPTER 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. 4.1. THE MECHANISM CONNECTED SPEECH OF ARTICULATORY TRANSITION OF...

CHAPTER 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. 4.1. THE MECHANISM CONNECTED SPEECH OF ARTICULATORY TRANSITION OF PHONEMES IN Sounds in actual speech are usually pronounced together with other sounds within single words and at the junction of words in phrases and sentences. To join the sounds together in the proper way it is necessary to understand the mechanism of articulatory transition. Every speech sound pronounced in isolation has three stages of articulation. The on-glide (the initial stage, excursion), or the beginning of a sound, is the stage during which the organs of speech move away from a neutral position to take up the position necessary for the pronunciation of a consonant or a vowel. The on-glide produces no audible sound. 53 The hold stage (the medial stage, the retention stage), or the middle of a sound, is the stage during which the organs of speech are kept for some time either in the same position necessary to pronounce the sound (in the case of non-complex sounds) or move from one position to another (in the case of complex sounds, such as diphthongs, diphthongoids or affricates). The off-glide (the final stage, recursion), or the end of a sound, is the stage during which the organs of speech move away to a neutral position. For example, the on-glide of [p] is the closure of the lips, the second phase is the pause, the off-glide is the explosion. To illustrate these three articulatory stages let us analyse the work of the organs of speech in pronouncing the consonant [p]. During the on-glide of this consonant the soft palate is raised, and the lips are brought together to form a complete obstruction. At the same time the vocal cords are kept apart. As soon as the lips are closed to form a complete obstruction, the retention stage of the sound begins. It is immediately followed by the offglide, or release. During this stage the lips are quickly opened, and the air escapes from the mouth with plosion. The soft palate is lowered. Thus the organs of speech take up a neutral position. In English there are two principal ways of joining two adjacent speech sounds: 1. Merging of stages. 2. Interpenetration of stages. The type of junction depends on the nature of the sounds that are joined together (C+V, V+C, C+C, V+V). 54 Merging of stages. It usually takes place when two adjacent sounds of different nature are joined together (the sounds articulated by different organs of speech, by different parts of the tongue or articulated both by different organs of speech and by different parts of the tongue). In this case the end of the preceding sound penetrates into the beginning of the following sound. In other words, the end of the first sound and the beginning of the second sound are articulated almost simultaneously (arm [ɑːm]). Fig. 4: Interpenetration of stages. It usually takes place when consonants of a similar or identical nature are joined. In this case the end of the first sound penetrates not only into the beginning but also into the middle part of the second sound ([tl] in kettle ['ketl]). Fig. 5: Two identical sounds are joined together in the following way: the second sound penetrates into the beginning of the first one, that is the 55 organs of speech, while moving to take up the position necessary to pronounce the first sound, are already fully prepared for the pronunciation of the second sound (unknown [ʌn'nəʊn], this story ['ðɪs 'stɔːrɪ]). There is no interruption in the articulation of the two sounds, but we hear both of them due to the change in their tenseness. The tenseness decreases at the end of the hold stage of the first sound and increases at the beginning of the hold stage of the second sound. 4.2. ASSIMILATION. TYPES OF ASSIMILATION Two adjacent consonants within a word or at word boundaries often influence each other in such a way that the articulation of one sound becomes similar to or even identical with the articulation of the other one. This phenomenon is called assimilation. The consonant whose articulation is modified under the influence of a neighbouring consonant is called the assimilated sound; the consonant which influences the articulation of a neighbouring consonant is called the assimilating sound. Assimilation can be conditioned by the complementary distribution of the phonemes, by the contextual variations in which phonemes may occur at the junction of words and by the style of speech (official or rapid colloquial). Assimilation is the main factor under the influence of which the principal variants of the phonemes are modified into subsidiary ones. Assimilation may affect all the features of the articulation of a consonant or only some of them. Thus we can speak of: 56 1. assimilation affecting the place of articulation, or, both the place of articulation and the active organ of speech (tenth); 2. assimilation affecting the manner of the production of noise (give me); 3. assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords (used to); 4. assimilation affecting the lip position (twenty, swim); 5. assimilation affecting the position of the soft palate (grandmother). Assimilation can be of three degrees: complete, partial and intermediate. Assimilation is said to be complete when the articulation of the assimilated consonant fully coincides with that of the assimilating one (in the word horse-shoe ['hɔːʃ ʃuː] which is a compound of the words horse [hɔːs] and shoe [ʃuː], [s] in the word [hɔːs]) is changed to [ʃ] under the influence of [ʃ] in the word [ʃuː]). Assimilation is said to be partial when the assimilated consonant retains its main phonemic features and becomes only partly similar in some feature of its articulation to the assimilating sound (in twice [twaɪs] the principal (fully voiced) variant of the phoneme [w] is replaced by its partly devoiced variant). Assimilation is said to be intermediate between complete and partial when the assimilated consonant changes into a different sound, but does not coincide with the assimilating consonant (in the word gooseberry ['ɡuzbərɪ], [s] in goose [ɡuːs] is replaced by [z] under the influence of [b] in berry). 57 Assimilation can be of three types as far as its direction is concerned: progressive, regressive and double (reciprocal). In progressive assimilation the assimilated consonant is influenced by the preceding consonant (in the word place the fully voiced variant of the consonant phoneme [l] is assimilated to [p] and is replaced by a partly devoiced variant of the same phoneme). In regressive assimilation the preceding consonant is influenced by the following one (the voiced consonant [z] in news [njuːz] is replaced by the voiceless consonant [s] in the compound newspaper ['njuːspeɪpə] under the influence of the voiceless sound [p]). In double, or reciprocal, assimilation two adjacent consonants influence each other (in twenty ['twentɪ], the sonorant [w] is assimilated to the voiceless plosive consonant [t] by becoming partly devoiced and [t] is assimilated to [w] and is represented by its labialized variant). Assimilation which occurs in everyday speech in the present-day pronunciation is called living (let you out [ˏlet ju 'aʊt - ˏletʃu 'aʊt]. If the present-day pronunciation of a word is the result of an assimilation which took place at an earlier stage in the history of the language, we have the so-called historical assimilation (occasion [ə'keɪʒən] from [o'kæzjon]). In the pronunciation of such compounds as horse-shoe ['hɔːʃ ʃuː], gooseberry ['ɡuzbərɪ], we have contextual assimilations. In contextual assimilation a word comes to have a pronunciation different from that which it has when said by itself. It is useful to distinguish between obligatory assimilation and nonobligatory assimilation. Obligatory assimilation occurs in the speech of all people who speak a certain language, no matter what style of speech is used. Non-obligatory assimilation appears in rapid and careless speech. 58 Teachers, public speakers, lecturers should avoid using this assimilation and foreign students should not try to imitate such speech. The modification in the articulation of a vowel under the influence of an adjacent consonant, or, vice versa, the modification in the articulation of a consonant under the influence of an adjacent vowel is called adaptation, or accommodation. In accommodation the accommodated sound does not change its main phonemic features and is pronounced as a variant of the same phoneme slightly modified under the influence of a neighbouring sound. In modern English there are three main types of accommodation. 1. An unrounded variant of a consonant phoneme is replaced by its rounded variant under the influence of a following rounded vowel phoneme (tea [tiː] – too [tuː]). 2. A fully back variant of a back vowel phoneme is replaced by its slightly advanced variant under the influence of the preceding mediolingual phoneme [j] (moon [muːn] – music ['mjuːzɪk]). 3. A vowel phoneme is represented by its slightly more open variant before the dark [ł] under the influence of the latter’s back secondary focus (the vowel sound in bell, tell is slightly more open than the vowel in bed, ten). 4.3. ELISION AND REDUCTION In rapid colloquial speech certain notional words may lose some of their sounds (vowels and consonants). This phenomenon is called elision. Elision occurs both within words and at word boundaries (next day ['nekst 'deɪ] - ['neks 'deɪ]). 59 Elision can be historical: walk [wɔːk], knight [naɪt], castle ['kɑːsl]. There is a tendency nowadays to pronounce sounds which are not pronounced as a result of historical assimilation: often ['ɒf(ə)n] → ['ɒft(ə)n]. The most common cases of contemporary elision are the following: − elision of [t, d] in [ft, st, ʃt, θt, vd, zd, ðd] sequences: waste paper [ˏweɪs ʹpeɪpə], closed doors [ʹkləʊz ˎdɔ:z]; − elision of [t, d] in [pt, kt, bd, ɡd, ʧt, ʤd] sequences: dubbed film [ʹdub ˎfilm], trapped by [ʹtræp ˎbaɪ]; − elision of [d] in [md, nd, ŋd] sequences: slammed the door [ʹslæm ðə ˎdɔ:]; There are some words in which elision frequently exists in everyday speech. Some of them are: − months and clothes with elided dental fricatives: [mʌnθs] → [mʌns], [kləʊðz] → [kləʊz]; − sixth elides the consonant which precedes [θ]: [sɪksθ] → [sɪkθ]; − of elides [v] before [ð] or before other consonants in rapid colloquial speech: six of the best [ʹsiks ə ðəˎbest], two pounds of pears [ʹtu: ʹpaʊnz əˎpeəz]; − going to has the form [ɡənə] in all cases except very careful speech. P. Roach states that producing elisions is something which foreign learners do not need to learn to do, but it is important for them to be aware that when native speakers of English talk to each other, quite a number of phonemes that the foreigner might expect to hear are not actually pronounced. The phonetic process that affects English vowels in connected speech is called reduction. It is a process of shortening, weakening or 60 disappearance of vowel sounds in unstressed positions (combine ['kɒmbaɪn] – to combine [kəm'baɪn]). Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables is very common both in English and in Russian. Reduction is realized: (a) in unstressed syllables within words (demonstrative [dɪ'mɒnstrətɪv]); (b) in unstressed form-words, auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns within intonation groups and phrases. Reduction can be quantitative and qualitative. 1. Quantitative reduction (shortening of a vowel sound in the unstressed position) affects mainly long vowels (he [hiː - hi·- hi]). 2. Qualitative reduction (obscuration of vowels towards [ə, ɪ, ʊ]) affects both long and short vowels (can [kæn - kən]). Vowels in unstressed form-words in most cases undergo both quantitative and qualitative reduction (to [tu: - tu· - tu]). 4.4. SOUND ALTERNATIONS Sound alternations (or sound interchange) are sound variations in words, their derivatives and grammatical forms of words. It is obvious, that sound alternations are caused by assimilation, accommodation and reduction in speech. Some sound alternations are traced to the phonetic changes in earlier periods of the language development and known as historical. Historical alternations include all alternations for which no causes can be found in the present-day language. They can only be explained on the basis 61 of the history of the language. Historical alternations always have definite grammatical functions. They are therefore very stable and are preserved in the language for centuries. Historical alternations mark both vowels and consonants. The following list of examples presents the most common types of alternations: 1. Vowel alternations. a) Distinction of irregular verbal forms: [i: - e - e]: meet – met – met [ɪ - ʌ - ʌ]: dig – dug – dug [ɪ - æ - ʌ]: sing – sang – sung [i: - ɔ: - ɔ:]: teach – taught – taught [ɪ - æ - æ]: sit – sat – sat [ʌ - eɪ- ʌ]: become – became – become and other verbal alternations of this type. b) Distinction of casual verbal forms: [ɪ - e]: sit – set [aɪ - eɪ]: rise – raise [ɔ: - e]: fall – fell c) Distinction of singular and plural forms of nouns: [æ - e]: man – men [ʊ - i:]: foot – feet [u: - i:]: tooth – teeth [aʊ - aɪ]: mouse – mice [ʊ - ɪ]: woman – women [aɪ - ɪ]: child – children d) Distinction of parts of speech in etymologically correlated words: [ɑ: - æ]: class – classify 62 [ɔ: - e]: broad – breadth 2. Consonant alternations. a) Distinction of irregular verbal forms: [d - t]: send – sent, lend – lent e) Distinction of parts of speech in etymologically correlated words: [s - z]: advice – advise, house – house, use – use [s - d]: defence – defend [t - d]: intent – intend [k - ʧ]: speak – speech 3. Vowel + consonant alternations. [ɪ - aɪ] + [v - f]: live – life [ɑ: - eɪ] + [θ - ð]: bath – bathe. Sound alternations are also widely spread in the present-day English and are known as phonetic. They are the result of the phonetic laws which function in the language. The causes of phonetic alternations can be easily observed. In English the most important phonetic alternations are those which accompany grammatical phenomena. They are: − [t - d - ɪd] – in the suffix –(e)d of the Past Tense of regular verbs; − [s - z - ɪz] – in the plural suffix –(e)s of nouns; − [s - z - ɪz] – in the suffix –(e)s of the 3rd person singular verbs (Present Simple). An alternation of corresponding voiced and voiceless consonants can be explained by progressive assimilation in the three suffixes mentioned above. 63 The difference between the strong and the weak forms of auxiliary words and some other elements of speech is also based on phonetic alternations of vowels and consonants: There she is! [´ðeə ʃɪ· iz] There’s no time. [ðəz ´nəʊ ˎtaɪm]. A great number of English words with a final "r" have two pronunciations: with [r]: four or six times [´fɔ:r ə ´sɪks ˎtaɪmz] without [r]: four lamps [´fɔ: ´læmps]. In this case, the historical "r" that has been preserved in the spelling of words, is used in present-day English in the form of the socalled "linking [r] ". Another case of alternations concerns the definite and indefinite articles: the – [i - ə]: the open door [ðɪ ´əʊpn ´dɔ:] and the door [ðə ´dɔ:]. Questions: 1. What are the three stages of articulation of a speech sound? 2. What is the merging of stages? 3. What is the interpenetration of stages? 4. What is assimilation, adaptation, elision, reduction? 5. What types of assimilation do you know? Give definitions of the following phonetic terms: accommodation, assimilation, close transition, complete assimilation, contextual assimilation, elision, historical assimilation, incomplete (partial) 64