LECTURE 1

The Phonetic System of a Language

1. Aspects of Sound Phenomena.

2. Methods applied in Phonetics.

3. Phonetics as a Science.

4. Branches of Phonetics.

The phonetic system of a language contains two systems (levels) segmental & suprasegmental (prosodic). Segmental units are sounds, vowels & consonants which form the vocalic & consonantal subsystems. Prosodic units are syllables, accentual (rhythmical) units, and intonation groups, utterances, which form the subsystems of pitch, stress, rhythm, tempo, and pauses.

Segmental & prosodic units serve to form and differentiate units of other subsystems of language, the lexical and grammatical units. The modifications of words and their combination into utterances (sentences) are first of all sound phenomena. The grammatical form of a verb or a noun can be changed only by changing the sounds which compose them. By changing the prosodic structure (int-n) of an utterance one changes the meaning of the utterance. For example «Well done? » pr-ed w/ the rising tone, is a question, expressing the speaker's uncertainty and desire to get further information. «Well done!", pr-ed w/ the falling tone, wide pitch range and greater loudness, is an exclamation , expressing the speaker's evaluation.

To underline the importance of the sound medium of language H. Gleason notes that to speak any language a person must know nearly all the 100% of its phonetics, while only 50-90% of its grammar and 1% of the vocabulary may be sufficient.

Sound phenomena have different aspects: the articulatory aspect, the acoustic, the auditory and the linguistic aspect.

The articulatory (sound production) aspect - Speech sounds are products of human organs of speech. They result from the activities of the diaphragm, the lungs, the bronchi, and the trachea, the larynx w/ the vocal cords in it, the pharynx, the mouth cavity w/ the speech organs in it and the nasal cavity.

Sound production is impossible without, respiration which consists of 2 alternating phrases - inspiration and expiration. Speech sounds are based chiefly on expiration, though in some African languages there are sounds produced by inspiration.

Expiration, during which speech sounds are produced, is called phonic expiration as distinct from quiet breathing. In phonic expiration the air comes from the lungs not freely but in spurts, bec during speech the air passage is periodically blocked by the speech organs. Therefore in speech, expiration lasts much longer than inspiration, whereas in quite breathing inspiration and expiration each takes about the same period of time.

The lungs supply the necessary air-pressure and regulate its force, thus producing variations in the intensity of speech sounds.

Sound production actually takes place in the larynx, the pharynx and the oral and nasal cavities. The air-stream coming from the lungs undergoes important modifications in them.

One part of sound production is phonation, or voice-production.

When the vocal cords, situated in the larynx are tensed and brought loosely together, the air -pressure below the vocal cords becomes very high and the air comes from the lungs in regular puffs making the vocal cords vibrate. Their vibrations are complex, though mainly regular or periodic.

The regular vibrations of the vocal cords are transmitted to the air-stream and the acoustic effect perceived by the human ear is that of a vocal tone. This is what we call voice.

The other part of sound-production is articulation which comprises all the movements and positions of the speech organs necessary to pronounce a speech sound. The movements of speech organs modify the shape, size and volume of the supralaryngeal cavities (the pharynx, the mouth and nasal cavity) thus modifying the voice which comes from the lungs. As a result, a vowel sound of a certain quality is produced.

When in the supralaryngeal cavities there is an obstruction to the air-stream, a noise is produced. The character of the noise (friction or plosion), depends on the type of obstruction (a constriction or a complete closure) and determines the particular quality of a cons-t. When an obstruction is created and the vocal cords vibrate, a voiced consonant is produced. When the vocal cords do not vibrate, the result is the voiceless consonant

Thus there are two main sources of vibration in the production of speech sounds- the vocal cords and various kinds of obstruction.

The acoustic aspect - Like any other sound of nature speech sounds exist in the form of sound waves and have the same physical properties-frequency, intensity, duration and spectrum.

A sound wave is created by a vibration which may be periodic or non-periodic, simple or complex.

The vocal cords vibrate in such a way that they produce various kinds of waves simultaneously. The basic vibrations of the vocal cords over their whole length produce the fundamental tone of voice. The simultaneous vibrations of each part of the vocal cords produce partial tones (overtones or harmonies).

The number of vibrations per second is called frequency. Frequency is measured in hertz or cycles per second. Frequency of the basic vibrations of the vocal cords is the fundamental frequency. The fundamental frequency determines the pitch of the voice and forms an acoustic basis of speech melody.

The superposition of the fundamental and partial vibrations results in a complex tone.

The complex tone is modified in the oral and nasal resonators. Due to the particular changes in their shape, size and volume of the oral and nasal cavities function as acoustic filter: they intensify certain frequencies contained in the complex tone and weaken the others. Thus the specific qualities of vowel sounds are achieved.

The complex range of intensified frequencies which form the quality of a sound is called the acoustic spectrum of the sound. The intensified frequencies in the spectrum which characterize the quality of a sound and distinguish it from other sounds of different quality are called formants. Intensity of speech sounds depends on the amplitude of vibration. Changes in intensity are associated w/stress. It is measured in decibels (d.B.)

Any sound has certain duration. The duration of sounds is measured in milliseconds (ms.).

The auditory (sound perception) aspect - Speech sounds may also be analyzed from the point of view of perception. The perception of speech sounds involves the activity of our hearing mechanism, which can be viewed in 2 ways.

On the one hand, it is a physiological mechanism which reacts to acoustic stimuli: the human ear transforms mechanical vibrations of the air into nervous stimuli and transmits them to the brain. The listener hears the acoustic features of fundamental frequency, formant frequency, intensity and duration in terms of 4 perceptible categories of pitch, quality, loudness and length.

On the other hand, it is also a psychological mechanism which selects from the great amount of acoustic information only that which is linguistically significant.

The linguistic aspect - Segmental sounds and prosodic features are linguistic phenomena. Representing language units in actual speech, they perform certain linguistic functions. They constitute the meaningful units-morphemes, words, word-forms, utterances. All the words of a language consist of speech sounds which are grouped and arranged in the way specific for the language and which are unified by stress. All the utterances consist of words, and consequently, of sounds; they are characterized by certain pitch-and-stress patterns, temporal features, rhythm.

Most of the meaningful distinctions of the language are based on distinctions in sound.

Sounds and prosodic features serve to differentiate the units they form since communication by means of language is possible only bec. sound phenomena can be opposed to one another for purposes of differentiating words, word-forms and utterances.

Simultaneously, the sound phenomena enable the listener to identify them as concrete words, word-forms or utterances.

Thus, segmental sounds and prosodic features of speech perform constitutive, distinctive and recognitive functions. The linguistic aspect of speech sounds is also called the functional or social aspect, bec. of the role which sound matter plays in the functioning of language as a social phenomenon.

Phonetics as a Science - The study of the sound phenomena of language, in all their aspects and varieties, constitutes the subject of the phonetic science. Phonetics as a branch of linguistics studies sounds in the broad sense, comprising segmental sounds and prosodic phenomena (pitch, stress, tempo, rhythm, pauses). Phonetics occupies itself w/ the study of the ways in which the sounds are organized into a system of units and the variation of the units in all types and styles of spoken language. It also studies the acoustic properties of sounds, the physiological basis of sound production and the sound phenomena that reveal the individual peculiarities of the speaker.

Phonetics as a science is a branch of linguistics. Being a science in its own right, it is at the same time closely connected w/ other linguistic sciences-grammar, lexicology, stylistics and history of the language, since the phonetic system of a language, its vocabulary and grammar constitutes one indivisible whole. It is also closely connected with physiology, biology, physics, pedagogy psychology, mathematics, cybernetics.

Branches of phonetics

Phonetics is subdivided into four main branches. Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the study of sounds as the result of the activities of speech organs. It deals with our voice-producing mechanism and the way we produce sounds and prosodic phenomena. It studies respiration, phonation (voice-production), articulation and also the mental processes necessary for the mastery of phonetic system.

Methods employed in articulatory phonetics are experimental. They involve palatography, laryngoscopy, photography, cinematography, X-ray photography, X-ray cinematography, electromyography, and various kinds of technique to study sound-perception.

Besides these objective methods articulatory phonetics uses its oldest, subjective method - the method of direct observation.

Perceptual (auditory) phonetics occupies itself with the study of man's perception of segmental sounds, pitch variation, loudness and duration. It studies the ways in which sound perception is determined by the phonetic system of a language.

The methods used in auditory phonetics are also experimental.

They include various kinds of auditory tests. Since sound production and sound perception are physiological processes, articulatory and perceptual phonetics are generally termed physiological phonetics.

Acoustic phonetics is concerned with the acoustic aspect of speech sounds. It studies speech sounds with the help of experimental methods. Various kinds of apparatus are applied for analyzing the acoustic structure of segmental sounds and prosodic phenomena: e.g. a spectrograph, oscillograph and intonograph. Phonology or functional phonetics is a purely linguistic branch of phonetics. It deals with the functional aspect of the sound phenomena. Phonology sets out to discover those segmental and prosodic features that have differential value in a language, and it establishes the system of phonemes and prosodemes.

The basis of phonology is the phoneme theory, created in Russia by I. Baudouin de Courtney and developed by his pupils and followers. Phonology was founded in Prague by a group of linguists (N. Trubetzkoy, R. Jakobson and others).

The methods employed by phonology are linguistic. N. Trubetzkoy claims that phonology should be separated from phonetics. Phonetics and phonology are independent sciences: phonetics is a biological science and is concerned with physical and physiological characteristics of speech sounds; phonology is a linguistic science and is concerned with the social function of phonetic phenomena. This point of view is supported by the Danish Linguist L. Hjelmslev. But the vast majority of the former Soviet phoneticians do not consider it logical to separate function from form and to exclude phonetics from the linguistic sciences.

There are other branches of phonetics, such as: special, general, and historical descriptive, comparative, applied. Special phonetics is concerned with the study of the phonetic system of a concrete language. When the phonetic system is studied in its static form at a particular period (synchronically), we deal with descriptive phonetics. When the system is studied in its historical development (diachronically) we speak about historical phonetics.

General phonetics is concerned with the study of man's sound-producing possibilities and the functioning of his speech mechanism. It establishes the types of speech sounds in various languages, the way they are produced and the role they play when forming and expressing thoughts. It is based on the extensive material which is provided by the special phonetics of a number of languages and on the material of other sciences.

Theoretical phonetics of a particular language applies those theories to the language it analyzes.

Comparative phonetics is concerned w/ the comparative study of the phonetic systems of 2 or more languages, especially kindred ones.

By applied phonetics we mean all the practical applications of phonetics. Phonetics is of considerable importance for other fields of language study, which have made use of the approaches and the linguistic methods worked out by phonetics.

All the branches of phonetics are of great use and importance in teaching pronunciation of foreign languages.

Phonetics is of great practical importance in teaching of diction to actors, singers, radio - announcers and other public speakers. Phonetics is applied in logopedics i.e. in correcting speech defects and in curing pathological phenomena of speech, such as aphasia. Phonetics is widely used in telephony, broadcasting speech recognition.

LECTURE 2

The Functional Aspect of Speech Sounds

1. The Phoneme. Allophones of a Phoneme.

2. Aspects of the Phoneme and their Critical Analysis.

3. The Functions of the Phoneme.

4. The Main Problems of Phonological Analysis.

In connected speech a sound is generally modified by its phonetic environment, (i.e. by the neighboring sounds), by the position it occupies in a word or an utterance; it is also modified by prosodic features, such as stress, speech melody, & tempo of speech.

Compare / p / in "pill" (i.e. in initial position), in "spill" (i.e. after /s/), in "slip" (i.e. in final position), in "slipper" (i.e. between vowels). These various / p / sounds differ in manner of articulation or in acoustic qualities. But they don't differ phonologically, if one of the various / p / sounds are substituted for another, the meaning of the word will not change. That’s why for the English speaking people it is of no linguistic importance to discriminate various /p/ sounds. But it is linguistically important for English speakers to discriminate between / p / & / b / (as in "pill" and "bill") or / p / & / m / (as in "pill" & "mill"), though the differences in their production might not be much more notable than the differences in the production of the various /p/ sounds.

Every language has a limited number of sound types which are shared by all the speakers of the language & are linguistically important bec. they distinguish words in the language. In English there are 20 vowel phonemes & 24 consonant phonemes.

All the actual speech sounds are allophones (or variants) of the phonemes that exist in the language. Those that distinguish words, when opposed to one another in the same phonetic position, are realizations of different phonemes. E.g. /V/ & /W/ in English are realizations of 2 different phonemes bec. they distinguish such words as "vine" & "wine", "veal" & "wheel" etc.

Those sounds that can not distinguish words in a definite language & occur only in certain positions or in combination w/ certain sounds are realizations of one and the same phoneme, its allophones (or variants). E.g. the "dark" / l / & the "clear" / l / are variants, or allophones of the same phoneme.

Therefore, the phoneme may be defined as the smallest linguistically relevant unit of the sound structure of a given language which serves to distinguish one word from another.

Allophones of a certain phoneme are speech sounds which are realizations of one and the same phoneme & which, therefore, can not distinguish words. Their articulatory & acoustic distinctions are conditioned by their position & their phonetic environment.

On the one hand, the phoneme is an abstraction & a generalization. It is abstracted from its variants that exist in actual speech & is characterized by features that are common to all its variants (e.g. / b / is an occlusive, bilabial, lenis consonant, as these features are common to all its allophones).

On the other hand, the phoneme is material, real & objective, because in speech it is represented by concrete material sounds. In other words, the phoneme exists in speech in the material form of speech sounds.

The phoneme can therefore be regarded as a dialectal unity of its 2 aspects: the material & the abstracted aspects. None of these aspects of the phoneme can be neglected or disregarded. That is the materialistic view of the phoneme.

Some linguists consider the phoneme to be but an abstraction & deny its material character. This viewpoint is expressed by linguists of the Prague Phonological School, for whom a phoneme is but an abstract concept. Other linguists overestimate the material, real & objective character of the phoneme. D. Jones considers a phoneme to be a family of sounds; others consider it to be a class of sounds.

The phoneme has 3 main linguistic functions: the constitutive, the distinctive, & the

indentificatory function. Though the phonemes themselves, in isolation, have no meaning, they are linguistically important, since, in their material form they constitute morphemes, words, all of which are meaningful. Hence, the constitutive function of the phoneme. The phoneme performs the distinctive function, because phonemes distinguish one word from another.

The phoneme has the recognitive function as well, because native speakers identify definite combinations of phonemes as meaningful ling-c units (words, word combinations, or phrases). When identifying linguistic units the use of the right phoneme is not the only significant factor, the use of the right allophone is not much less important.

The phoneme is a linguistically relevant unit that exists in speech in the material form of its allophones. The phoneme is, therefore, a phonological unit which is represented in speech by phonetic units (the speech sounds). In analyzing speech we constantly carry out a phonetic & a phonological analysis. The analysis is primarily phonetic when we describe the articulatory & acoustic characteristics of particular sounds & their combinations; but when we determine the role of those sounds in communication, it is mainly phonological analysis. The main problems of phonological analysis are as follows:

a) the identification of the phonemic inventories for each individual 1-ge;

b) the identification of the inventory of phonologically relevant features of a 1anguage;

c) the interrelationships among the phonemes of a 1-ge.

The 1^st problem of phonological analysis is to establish the phonemes in a definite 1-ge. This can be carried out only by phonological analysis based on phonological rules. There are 2 methods to do that: the distributional method & the semantic method.

The distributional method is based on the phonological rule that different ph-ms can freely occur in one and the same position, while allophones of one & the same phoneme occur in different positions and therefore can not be opposed (phonologically) to each other. E.g, "pea"- "bee”, "cap"-"tap", (p-b, k-t etc.) are different phonemes. But one can not find [p] aspirated & [p] non-aspirated in the same phonetic position in English. Therefore in English they are allophones of one & the same phoneme, whereas in Chinese the aspirated & non-aspirated stops are regarded as different phonemes, because they occur in the same phonetic positions.

The distributional method of analysis is a purely formal method of identifying the phonemes of a language. That's why the distributional method of identification of the phonemes in a language works even when one does not know the language at all. The method is widely used by the American linguistics who studies the languages of the Red Indians. But it appears to be complicated & the investigators very often can not do without native speakers to confirm their conclusions concerning the phonemic status of certain speech sounds.

The semantic method, in its turn, is based on the phonological rule that a phoneme can distinguish words when opposed to another phoneme or zero in an identical phonetic position.

The opposition / z / versus / t / is called a phonological opposition. The opposition / z / versus /-/ is called a zero phonological opposition. The pairs of words which differ only in one speech sound are called minimal pairs.

The semantic method of identification of the phonemes in a language attaches great significance to meaning. The investigator studies the function of sounds by collecting minimal pairs of words in the language. If 2 speech sounds distinguish words with different meanings, they form a phonological opposition & are realizations of 2 different phonemes. If not, they are allophones of one & the same phoneme. Thus, it is clearly evident that in English [ s ] & [ t ] are realizations of two different phonemes (sea - tea, so - toe, while [ t ] aspirated & [ t ] non-aspirated are allophones of one & the same phoneme as they can not distinguish words: Such analysis is referred to as "minimal pair test".

But to identify all the phonemes of a 1anguage is not always a simple thing to do. Time & again there emerge difficulties as to the phonemic status of certain sounds. Such difficulties arise when one deals with weakened vowels in unstressed position. It primarily concerns the schwa vowel / ə / in English which occurs only in unstressed position.

The problem is whether there is a schwa vowel / ə / phoneme in English. Scholars are not in agreement on this point. Though / ə / can be opposed only to weakened vowel phonemes, which are partially reduced due to their position in unstressed syllables, it can form phonologica1 oppositions with a number of other phonemes & can distinguish words.

E.g., /ə/ vs /1/ accept-except; armor-army.

/ə/ vs /ov/ temper-tempo; solar-solo.

/ə/ vs /ə:/ forward - foreword.

It is sometime considered that /ə/ is an allophone of / ^ /, because /^/ is almost exclusively used in stressed syllables as in "comfort" / 'k^mfət /, "abundant" /ə' b^ndənt /, whereas / 0/ occurs only in unstressed syllables.

The second problem of phonological analysis is the identification of the inventory of distinctive features on which all the phonological oppositions in the 1anguage are based.

Every sound is characterized by a number of features, not all of which are equally important for communication. If one compares some of the allophones of /p/, it appears that all of them have common features & features which characterize only a few of them. The problem is to decide which of the features of a group of common sounds in a certain 1anguage are phonologically relevant & which of them are irrelevant.

Each phoneme is characterized by a certain number of phonologically relevant features, which are its constant distinctive features.

Each allophones of a certain phoneme is characterized by definite phonologically relevant features (which are common to all its allophones) plus a number of irrelevant features (which distinguish the allophone from all the other allophones of the phoneme).

The phonological relevant features that characterize the phoneme /p/ are, therefore, bilabial, occlusive & fortis. Aspiration, plosive ness, labialization, etc. are phonologically irrelevant features.

Phonologically irrelevant doesn't necessarily mean useless for communication. The aspiration of/p/ helps the listener to distinguish it from /b/ (as in "pride'-'bride','' "pie-buy"). The substitution of one irrelevant feature for another (say, aspirated for non-aspirated) results in a different allophone of one & the same phoneme ([p] aspirated & [p] non-aspirated). Such a substitution does not affect communication.

Different Schools in Identifying the Phonemes in "Weak" positions

Once the phonemes of a language are established and their phonologically relevant features are determined, there arises another phonological problem: to describe the interrelationships among the phonemes of a language. Can different phonemes have common allophones?

Can allophones of a phoneme lose any of their phonologically relevant features in certain phonetic positions?

There are 3 views on the problem.

Scholars who support the morphonological viewpoint (A. Avanesov, P. Kuznetsov, A. Reformatsky and others) claim that a phoneme in a "weak" position may lose one of its distinctive /phonologically relevant/ features and therefore lose its distinctive function. For example, Russian voiced consonants lose their voiced character & are pronounced as voiceless in final position (as in "луг" /к/, «глаз» /s/), etc. This leads to the loss of the distinction between /k/ and /g/, or /к-г/ and /c/ and /з/, or / s & z/. Therefore in word final position the phonological oppositions based on the phonologically relevant features «voiced vs voiceless» are neutralized in Russian. Scholars’ term is phenomenon neutralization of phonological oppositions.

Neutralization of phonological oppositions is the loss of a distinctive (phonologically) relevant feature by one of the phonemes of an opposition.

Those who support this view consider that a phoneme is morphemically bound and, therefore in all the derivatives of "луга" (лугов, луг) we deal with the allophones of one and the same phoneme /r/, and in all the derivatives of « лука» (луком, лук) we deal with the allophones of the phoneme /k/.

Consequently, different phonemes may have common allophones and sometimes a sound may be assigned to either of two phonemes. In the case of/k/, it may either be considered an allophone of the phoneme /k/ (as in "лук") or an allophone of the phoneme /r/ (as in "луг).

But the Russian language is the only language in which the phenomenon of neutralization has been examined more or less in depth.

The supporters of the phonological viewpoint (L. V. Scherba, D. Jones, K. Pike and others) reject the notion of «neutralization of phonological oppositions ". They consider that an allophone cannot lose any of its distinctive features. If it does, it becomes an allophone of the phoneme the distinctive features of which it acquires. Thus, /k/ in "луг" is an allophone of/k/, /d/ in "addition" is an allophone of the schwa vowel phoneme /ə/ (and is not an allophone of /аə/, as in "add"; /t/ in "walked" is an allophone of /t/).

The third viewpoint is that of N. Trubetzkoy, R. Jacobson, and some other linguists who consider that there are phonological units higher than a phoneme -the archiphonemes.

The archiphoneme is an abstraction which combines the distinctive features common to two phonemes. According to this viewpoint both /k/ and /r/ in "лук" and "луг" are assigned to the archiphoneme /K/ which is neither voiced, nor voiceless.

We assume that for teaching purposes the most suitable viewpoint is that of L. Scherba and his followers. Accordingly, the phoneme is characterized by definite articulatory and acoustic characteristics and can be easily described as a separate unit of the sound system of language. Whereas the other viewpoints treat the phoneme as a phonological unit which is actually devoid of articulatory and acoustic characteristics, because even its phonologically relevant features appear to be unstable (they can be neutralized). Moreover, the phoneme in that sense embraces sounds that can be assigned to other phonemes as well (the so called "common" allophones). Such an approach hinders the practical application of phonology to teaching pronunciation.

The existence of a number of viewpoints on phonological problems can be explained by the well-known fact that language is too complicated for all its features to be described in terms of any one theory.

Phonological schools in Russia and abroad

The phoneme theory was first formulated at the end of the 19^th century. Its founder was Prof. I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay (Kazan, St. Petersburg). Though his theory lacks consistency and there are some drawbacks in it. It initiated the development of the phoneme theory in Russia as well as abroad.

The various phonological schools chiefly differ in their solution of the two main problems of phonology: (1) the definition of the inventory of the phonemes of a given language and (2) the definition of the phonemic status of speech sounds in unstressed positions.

The phoneme theory in Russia is developing in two directions. Hence, two phonological schools are distinguished here: the Moscow School and the St. Petersburg School.

To the Moscow School belong R.I. Avanesov, R. I. Reformatsky, P.S. Kuznetsov, N.P. Yakovlev, V.N. Sidorov and their supporters. They have developed Baudounfs morphonological conception of the early period. They investigate the phoneme mostly on the basis of the Russian language.

To the St. Petersburg school belong L. Scherba and his followers (L.R. Zinder, O.I. Dikushina, M.I. Matusevitch, V.A. Vassilyev, G.P. Torsuyev and others). They investigate the problem on the basis of foreign languages.

Prof. L.V. Scherba has adopted and developed I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay's psychological conception of the late period. Continuing the work of his teacher L.V. Scherba has created a truly materialistic phoneme theory and was the first to advance the idea of the distinctive function of the phoneme.

The representatives of the Moscow phonological school consider that the same speech sound may belong to different phonemes. For instance, the following pairs of words are pronounced identically:

Луг- лук рос – роз

Рот - род кос – коз

Бачок - бочок вода - вод

(The voiced consonants in final position are devoiced; the vowels in unstressed position are reduced.)

According to the Moscow School the /k/ sound of the word "лук" is an allophone of the /k/ phoneme, whereas the /k/ sound of the word "луг" is an allophone of the /r/ phoneme. Consequently, the /^/ sound of the word "бачок" is an allophone of the /a/ phoneme, but the /^/ sound of the word "бочок" is an allophone of the /o/ phoneme.

According to the Moscow School the neutral vowel sound in "progressive" /prə`gresiv/ belongs to the English /ou/ phoneme, because /ou/ occurs in a stressed position in "progress" /`prougres/. The neutral vowel sound in "activity" /ək`tiviti / belongs to the English /əe/ phoneme, because /əe/ occurs in a stressed position in "act" / əekt /. The neutral vowel sound in "gooseberry" /guzbəri/ belongs to the /ə/ phoneme, because /e/ occurs in a stressed position in "berry" /'beri/. Consequently, the /z/ sound in the word "gooseberry" / guzbsri / belongs to the /s/ phoneme, because /s/ is used in a strong position in "goose" /gu:s/, but the /s/ sound in the word "newspaper" /'nju:speipə/ belongs to the /z/ phoneme, because /z/ is used in a strong position in "news" /nju:z/.

The representatives of the St. Petersburg phonological school consider that the /k/ sound of the words "лук" and "луг" are allophones of the /k/ phoneme. The neutral sound of the words "бочок" and "бачок" are allophones of the neutral vowel phoneme /^/

According to the St. Petersburg School the neutral vowel sound in the words "progressive" / prə'gresiv /, "activity" /ək`tiviti/, "gooseberry" /guzbəri / ets. belong to the neutral phoneme /ə/. Consequently, the /s/ sounds in the words "goose" /gu:s/ and "newspaper" /'nju:speipə/ belong to the /s/ phoneme, whereas the /z/ sounds in the words "gooseberry" /guzbəri/ and "news" /nju:z/ belong to the /z/ phoneme.

The St. Petersburg School analyses and investigates sounds as real speech units, which is of great practical value in the process of teaching a foreign language to students.

There is a third phonological school which is known as the Prague linguistic Circle. To this school belong N. S. Trubetzkoy, R. Jakobson, A. Martinet and others. The originator of it was N. S. Trubetzkoy. He became acquainted with Baudouin's phoneme theory when he was studying at Moscow University. He admits that his own theory is a development of Baudouin de Courtenay and Scherba's phoneme systems.

One of the main points of his theory is that of archiphonemes. According to N.S. Trubetzkoy the archiphoneme is a combination of distinctive features common to two phonemes. For instance, the speech sounds /k/ and /r/ (in the words "лук", "луг" and "кот", "год") differ only by the work of the vocal cords but possess the following identical features: (1) plosive, (2) back lingual. These two common features are called relevant and they constitute the archiphoneme to which both /k/ and /г/ belong. It is neither voiced nor voiceless and is designated by the capital letter /K/. According to N.S. Trubetzkoy a speech sound is a combination of all the features, both relevant and irrelevant, while the archiphoneme is a combination of relevant features only.

The London phonological school is represented by Prof. D. Jones of London University. In his monograph "The Phoneme: its Nature and Use" he says that the phoneme theory was first introduced to him in 1911 by L.V. Scherba of St. Petersburg. D. Jones' own definition of the phoneme is as follows: "... a phoneme is a family of sound in a given language, which are related in character and are used in such a way that no one member ever occurs in the same phonetic context as any other member".

In this and other definitions of the phoneme he does not mention the distinctive function of the phoneme but he tells about it in his later works. In his work " The Phoneme: its Nature and Use " D. Jones develops the so called "atomistic" conception of the phoneme. According to it he breaks up the phonemes into atoms which are different features of the phonemes, such as quality, length, tone, etc. Such distinctive features exist independently from each other. Jones' atomistic theory is criticized because one distinctive feature cannot exist apart from all the others. For example, length by itself is an abstraction, while a long phoneme is a reality.

The American phonological school is headed by Leonard Bloomfield and Edward Sapir. Here also belong W. F. Twaddell, Ch. F. Hockett and others.

L. Bloomfield's definition of the phoneme runs as follows: "...a minimum unit of distinctive sound — features..."W. F. Twaddell defines it as "an abstractional fiction ".The representatives of the American phonological school tend more and more to develop an abstractional view of the phoneme.Ch. F. Hockett says that language may be compared to any system of codes, such as Morse code or the waving flags code.

LECTURE 3

Modification of phonemes in speech

Every phoneme displays a vast range of variation in connected speech. Among the different types of variation we distinguish idiolectal /'idiəlektl/- индивидуальный, diaphonic and allophonic variation.

Idiolectal variation embraces the individual peculiarities of articulating sounds, which are caused by the shape and form of the speaker’s speech organs and by his articulatory habits. For instance, a speaker may mumble, or lisp (шепелявить) / say “thish ish” for “this is”/, or stammer (say “a f-f-f-fine d-d-d-day”). Idiolectal variation may cause a lot of difficulties in communication. At the same time it enables people to identify the speech of certain individuals.

Diaphonic variation affects the quality and quantity of particular phonemes. E.g. the diaphonic variation of /æ / involves significant changes in length, because in some dialects / æ / is much longer than the standard sound. Its quality ranges from a front open / æ / in the southern part of England to /a/ in Northern England.

Diaphonic variants do not affect intelligibility of speech, yet they inform the listener about the speaker’s origin (i.e. the region he comes from) and his social standing. The listener easily notices both idiolectal and diaphonic variants, but it does not take him much time to “tune in” to the speakers manner of speech and understand him.

The less noticeable variation of phonemes is allophonic one, which is conditioned by phonetic position and phonetic environment.

English vowels are modified by the neighboring consonants, mainly by the following consonant, or a consonant to a vowel, is known as accommodation.

Accommodation can be progressive, regressive or mutual. If the articulation of a sound is modified under the influence of the preceding sound, i.e. its articulation is adapted to the articulation of the preceding sound the accommodation is progressive (e.g. the ~ of /i:/ in “mẽ”). If the articulation of a sound is adapted to the articulation of the following sound, the accommodation is regressive (e.g. the labialization of /t/ in “toe”).

If the articulatory movements of both the sounds are adapted to each other, the accommodation is mutual (e.g. in /tu:/ /t/ is labialized under the influence of /u:/ and /u:/ is a little bit advanced under the influence of /t/).

Assimilation is the process of adapting the articulation of sounds that are of a similar or identical nature. Assimilation involves changes in the central phases of the adjoining sounds (as in /nð/ or even in all their phases (as in /sj/>/ /).

When two consonants assimilate, different phonetic phenomena may occur, such as:

1. Vocalization and devocalization, which involve the work of the vocal cords (as in / tra:nz'leit for /……/ /tra:ns'leit/).

2. Coalescent assimilation, when under the influence of mutual assimilation there appears a new phoneme (as in /sj/>/ /, /zj/>/ /, / />/ /, /dj/>/ /.

3. Labialization under the influence of /w/ (as in /tw/, /kw/, etc.

4. Dentalization, which is change in the articulation of alveolar sounds under the influence of dental sounds (as in /nθ/, /zð/).

5. Loss of aspiration, when a fortis plosive is unaspirated under the influence of a neighboring sound (as in /spi:k/).

6. Changes in the articulation of plosives, such as:

   1. Nasal plosion produced by the soft palate when a plosive is followed by a nasal consonant (as in /t n/, /d n/, /p m/);e.g. upmost=uppermost.

   2. lateral plosion produced at the sides of the tongue when a plosive is followed by /1/ (as in /t1/, /d1/); *turtle, curdle-свертывать; о крови

   3. Restricted plosion, which is an incomplete plosion that occurs when a plosive is followed by a constrictive (as in /p1/, / gr /, / kr /).

   4. Loss of plosion when a plosive is followed by a plosive (as in /d t/, /t t/ /k k/, etc.).

7. Changes involving both the work of the active organs and the place of obstruction, which result in allophonic and phonemic change (e.g. /kən'qrætjuleit/ or /kəŋ'/ where /n/>/ŋ/ under the influence of /g/.

The mutual influence that the sounds of a similar or identical nature exert upon each other may result in either allophonic modifications or phonemic changes. Phonological analysis shows that

assimilation resulting in phonemic changes occurs mainly at the juncture between words: won’t you / />/ / would you /dj/>/d /, of course /vk/>/fk/.

It may also occur at the juncture between the parts of a compound word: gooseberry /s b/>/z b/, newspaper /z p/>/s p/, horseshoe /s />/ /.

Assimilation resulting in allophonic modifications may occur within a syllable (e.g. in “train” /r/ is voiceless, or partly devoiced), at the juncture of syllables (e.g. in “anthem” /n/ is dental under the influence of /θ/), or at the juncture of two words (e.g. “but the” where /t/ is dental).

If the assimilated sound is partially altered and acquires only some features of the assimilating sound (as in “try”, where /t/ is post-alveolar), the assimilation is said to be partial.

If the assimilated sound is completely altered and acquired all the main features of the assimilating sound as in “horseshoe”, “does she” /'dΛ i/, the assimilation is said to be complete.

The influence that sounds exert upon each other may vary in direction.

If a sound is influenced by the preceding sound and acquires some of its features as in “cry”, where /r/ is partly devoiced under the influence of /k/, the assimilation is progressive.

If a sound is influenced by the following sound and acquires some of its features as in “gooseberry”, where /s/ is voiced and replaced by /z/ under the influence of /b/, the assimilation is regressive.

If the sound influence each other equally, i.e. each sound acquires some features of the other sound as in “twenty”, where /t/ is labialized under the influence of /w/, and /w/ is partly devoiced under the influence of /t/, the assimilation is mutual.

Junctural assimilation may also vary in the extend of the modifications that take place. It may either be complete as in “Is she” /'i i/,”has she” /’hæ i/, “good bye” /qub'bai/, or partial as in “in the”, “at the”, where /n/ and /t/ are dental.

It may vary in direction as well, and we distinguish progressive junctural assimilation as in “what’s” /w ts/, “It’s” /its/, “open the door” /'oupmðəd :/, regressive junctural assimilation as in “of course” /əf'k :s/, “with thanks” /wiθ'θæŋks/, “in case” /iŋ'keis/, “I have to go” /ai'hæftə`gəu/ and mutual junctural assimilation /as in “would you” /wud ə; 'wount ə/ “won’t you”.

Junctural assimilation may be either obligatory as in “in the”, “at the”, or

non-obligatory as in “let me” /'lemmi/, “give me” /'gimmi/, “How do you do” /'haud ə`du:/, “good bye” /gub'bai/.

Reduction is the modification of the quality and length of a vowel due to a weakening of its articulation and a shortening of its duration. Reduction of vowel occurs only in weakly stressed or unstressed positions.

Vowels can be partially reduced /so ‘leit /. Vowels can be reduced to /ə/. E.g. /ai bə'li:v/ for bi'li:v- where /i/ is reduced to /ə/ ; /'intrəstiŋ/ for /'intristiŋ/.

Elision is the leaving out of sound as a means of simplifying the pronunciation of a word or a rhythmic group.

In a cluster of 3 consonants within a word, the middle one is elided. E.g., in “empty”, “tempt”, “Christmas”, “castle”, the elision of /t/ and/p/ is the norm. In “exactly”, “restless”, “handbag”, “handsome”, “friendship” elision takes place only in rapid colloquial speech, the pronunciation of the alveolar /t/, /d/ being characteristic of careful speech. Whenever the consonant is retained, it loses its plosion.

Such cases of elision occur rather in careful speech. E.g. pos(t)man, gran(d)father, nex(t)day, bread an(d) butter, up an(d) down, wasn’(t) that, Doesn’(t) she know?

The elision of one of a cluster of 2 consonants at the boundary of words is considered to be vulgar and occur in rapid careless speech only.

E.g., he went away /hi'wenə,wei/, I want to come / ai'w nə'kΛm/,

Let me see /'lemiֽsi: /, give me / 'gimi /.

The manner of linking neighbouring words is known as liaision (связывание конечного согласного с начальным гласным следующего слова). Liaision is a phonetic phenomenon which modifies the sound structure of an utterance.

Though liaision has not yet been fully investigated, there are 2 features which are clearly distinguished: the “linking”/r/ and the “intrusive”/r/.

The linking /r/ is inserted after words that in their old pronunciation (the 16^th century and earlier) had a final /r/, which still remains in the spelling of those words. E.g. here /r/ and there, for /r/ a minute, later /r/ on, for /r/ instance.

The linking /r/ does not normally occur before words pronounced with emphasis. E.g., we were “absolutely” sure.

The linking /r/ is usually inserted at the juncture of 2 words belonging to one and the same Intonation group. E.g. the door opened and I peeped in. But: He locked the door and put the key into his pocket.

The intrusive /r/, which has been brought about by analogy with the linking /r/, is believed to have appeared in the 17^th century. But until lately it was looked upon as a vulgarism. In the latest papers and articles on English pronunciation it is generally noted that the intrusive /r/ is being used more widely, even by RP speakers.

E.g. Asia/r/ and Africa, the idea/r/ of it, the sofa/r/ over there, the law/r/ of the sea, papa/r/ isn’t in.

Elision of vowels is closely connected with the process of reduction. Just as reduction, it is considered by the general tendency to produce the weakly stressed syllables with minimal articulatory effort.

Elision of a vowel is the leaving out of a vowel. In English there are certain phonetic positions in which the elision of a weakly stressed vowel does not affect intelligibility of speech. Moreover, instances of such elision are commonly used by RP speakers.

A.C.Gimson notes that the elision of vowels can now be observed in the following phonetic positions:

1) in post-nuclear positions in the sequence. Consonant+/ə/+/r/+weak vowel, e.g. “preferable” /'prefrəbl/, “temperature” /'temprət ə/, “camera” /'kæmrə/, “territory” /'teritri/.

2) in post-nuclear positions in the sequence. Consonant+weak vowel+/1/+ weak vowel, e.g. “easily” /'l:zli/, “carefully” /'kεəfli/, “novelist” /'n vlist/, “family” /'fæmli/.

3) in pre-nuclear positions /ə/ or /i/ of the weak syllable preceding the primary stress is apt to be elided in very rapid speech, e.g. “police” /'pli:s/, “terrific” /'trifik/, “correct” /'krekt/, “believe” /'bli:v/, “phonetics” /'fnetiks/, “suppose” /'spouz/, “perhaps” /'præps/.

Elision of vowels may occur at word boundaries as well. E.g. “after a while” /'a:ftə`wail/, “father and son” /'fa:ðrə'sΛŋ/, “as a matter of fact” /æzə'mætrəv'fækt/.

The accentual structure of English words is generally retained in speech. But it appears that English is a language in which a relatively high percentage of words change their accentual structure in the speech continuum under the influence of rhythm.

Modifications of the accentual structure in English involve words that in isolation are double stressed. In English double-stressed words may be either simple or compound, e.g. 'dis'agree 'aftern'oon

'thir'teen 'well-'known

'six'teen 'so-'called

'inc'apable 'grey-'haired

When in the speech continuum such words are preceded or followed by a strongly stressed syllable, their accentual structure is modified e.g.

'This after`noon 'afternoon`tea

It’s 'nine ֽthirt`een 'thirteen`pence

'Notֽfull-`grown a'full-grown`man

Thus, in a speech continuum there can be observed a variety of phonetic phenomena, which affect the sound structure, the syllabic structure and the accentual structure of words constituting the speech continuum. The neighboring sounds, the rhythmic patter, the degree of prominence, the speed of utterance and other factors affect the extent of the phonetic modifications, such as accommodation, reduction, elision, liaision and shifting of stress.

Besides, the pronunciation of a word with special prominence in the utterance (the nucleus of the utterance) is modified less than the pronunciation of the same word when weakly stressed.

Therefore, the phonetic modifications of the sound structure, the syllabic structure and the accentual structure of a word in the speech continuum depend on:

1. the phonetic environment of the word;

2. its phonetic position in the speech continuum;

3. the prosodic features of the speech continuum the word occurs in (pitch pattern, the tempo of speech, the rhythmic pattern, the degree of prominence).

LECTURE 4

THE SYLLABIC STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH WORDS

Theories of Syllables

1. The Expiratory Theory.

2. The Prominence Theory.

3. The Muscular Tension Theory. Peculiarities of the Syllabic structure of thy English language.

4. Functions of the Syllable.

In connected speech sounds are not pronounced by “themselves”. It is practically impossible to draw articulatory boundaries between them. If we slow down the tempo of utterance & articulate the sounds distinctly we shall see that the smallest unit into which the speech continuum is divided, are syllables.

The boundaries between the consonant & the vowel are not clearly marked. On the contrary, boundaries between syllables are marked by the alternation of openings & closings in sound production &, as a result, by the alternation of increases & decreases in articulatory tension. So the smallest pronunciation (articulatory) unit is the syllable.

It has been proved experimentally that the syllable is also the smallest perceptible unit. A number of experiments, carried out by Russian linguists L. Chistovitch, V. Kozhevnikov, Z. Dzhaparidze, show that the listener can recognize the preceding sound only after he has analyzed the whole syllable.

A syllable can be considered as both a phonetic & a phonological unit. As a phonetic unit the syllable is defined in articulatory, auditory (perceptual) & acoustic terms with universal application for all languages.

As a phonological unit the syllable can be defined only with reference to the structure of one particular language. The very term “syllable” denotes particular ways in which phonemes are combined in a language. (CF. The Greek syllable, “smth. Taken together”, from syn., “together” & labein, “take”).

The ancient Greek scholars noticed that the two main phonological types of sounds – vowels & consonants fulfill different functions in speech. The function of a vowel is to occupy the central position in certain combinations of sounds, whereas consonants serve as the margins of the sound combinations (Hence, the term “consonant”, which means “sounding with smth.” Con+sonant).

In other words, vowels are always syllabic & consonants are incapable of forming syllables without vowels.

But in a number of languages some sonorous consonants, such as /n, l, r, m/, can also be syllabic bec. of their strong vocalic features, e.g. in Czech – “krk” (neck), “vlk” (wolf) & in English “garden” / ga:-dn /, “needn’t” / ni:-dnt /, “castle” / kas:-sl /, “lighten” / lai-tn /.

So, phonologically, the syllable is a structural unit, which consists of a vowel alone or of vowel (or a syllabic sonorant) surrounded by consonants in the numbers &

arrangement permitted by a given language. Phoneticians are not always in agreement in their definition of the syllable bec. in their analysis they proceed from either articulatory or acoustic aspects of the unit.

One of the ancient phonetic theories – the expiratory (chest pulse) theory – define the syllable as a sound or a group of sounds that are pronounced in one chest pulse, accompanied by increases in air pressure. According to this definition, there are as many syllables in a word as there are chest pulses (expirations) made during the utterance of the word. Each vowels sound is pronounced with increased expiration. Consequently, vowels are always syllabic. Boundaries between syllables are in the place where there occur changes in the air pressure. But it is impossible to explain all cases of syllable formation on the basis of the expiratory, & therefore, to determine boundaries between syllables. A. Gimson notes that it is doubtful whether a double chest pulse will be evident in the pronunciation of juxtaposed vowels as, e.g. in “seeing” / si:-in /, though such words consist of two syllables.

The relative sonority theory (the prominence) created by the Danish phonetician O. Jesperson, considers that sounds tend to group themselves according to their sonority (prominence, audibility or carrying power). The most sonorous sounds are vowels, less sonorous are sonorants / w, j, r, m, n, n / & the least sonorous are noise consonants. O. Jesperson classifies sounds according to the degree of sonority in the following way (beginning with the most sonorous):

1. Open vowels / /

2. Mid-Open vowels / /

3. Close vowels / i:, i, , u: /

4. Sonants / /

5. Voiced fricatives / /

6. Voiced stops / b, d, g /

7. Voiceless fricatives / f, , s /

8. Voiceless stops / p, t, k /.

Sounds are grouped around the most sonorous ones, i.e. vowels (& sometimes sonants) which from the peak of sonority in a syllable. One peak of sonority is separated from another peaks by sounds of lower sonority i.e. consonants. This distance between the 2 points of lower sonority is a syllable, e.g. / k – to - b / “October”. The number of syllables is determined by the number of peaks of prominence. Thus in the word / melt / “melt” there is one peak of sonority / e / & the word is monosyllabic. In the word / metl / “metal” there are two peaks of sonority - / e / and / l /, separated by the least sonorous / t /, & consequently, there are two peaks.

In Czech words like “vlk”, “krk” & in English “pst” the sounds / l, r, s / are sonorous peaks. But there are cases that contradict Jesperson’s theory e.g. / sta: / “star”, / skeit / “skate”, / nekst / “next”. In these words the sound / s / is more sonorous than / t / & / k / & forms the second peak of sonority. Yet, the words are monosyllabic. It is evident that the relative sonority theory doesn’t explain the mechanism of syllable formation. It only makes an attempt at explaining our perception of a syllable. Neither does it explain syllable division, as it doesn’t say to which syllable the less sonorous sounds belong, e.g. / n aism n / “an ice-man” & / nais m n / “a nice man”, / n eim / “an aim” & / neim/ “a name”, / s m dresiz / “some addresses” & / s m dresiz / “summer dresses”.

Nevertheless, the relative sonority theory has been accepted by D. Jones & some other phoneticians.

The widespread among Russian linguists is the muscular tension (or the articulatory effort) theory which is known as Scherba’s theory. According to this theory a syllable is characterized by variations in muscular tension. The energy of articulation increases at the beginning of a syllable reaches its maximum with the vowel (or the sonant) & decreases towards the end of the syllable. So, a syllable is an arc of muscular tension. The boundaries between syllables are determined by the occurrence of the lower articulatory energy. There are as many syllables in a word as there are maxima of muscular tension in it. Cf. / ta: / “tar” & / ta: / “tower” (a reduced variant of / ta /). The sound / a:/ in the second example is pronounced with two articulatory efforts, so there are 2 arcs of muscular tension & therefore, 2 syllables. Consonants within a syllable are characterized by different distribution of muscular tension. In accordance with this, L. Shcherba distinguishes the following 3 types of consonants.

1. Initially strong consonants, in the articulation of which the beginning is stronger while the end is weaker. They occur at the end of a closed syllable.

E.g. / I|t /, / |s /, / pi|n /, / s |d /, / pa:|t/.

2. Finally strong consonants, in the articulation of which the beginning is weak while the end is more energetic. They occur at the beginning of a syllable. E.g. / m|I /, / t|ai /, / p|a:t /, / s| d /.

3. Double peaked consonants, in the articulation of which both the beginning & the end are energetic whereas the middle is weak. They produce the impression of two consonants. These consonants occur at the junction of words or morphemes. E.g. / pe|nn|aif /, / tt|aim /, / mi|dd|ei/. The type of consonant is therefore a cue for syllable division. If in / nais ha s/, the sound / n / is initially strong, the syllabic boundary is after the /n / - / n ais ha s /. If the sound / n / is finally strong, the boundary is before it - / nais ha s /. In other words, if there is a new onset of muscular tension on the sound / n /, the latter belongs to the second syllable, & if the new onset of muscular tension is on / ai /, the sound / n / belongs to the first syllable.

The above theories define syllables on either the production or perception level. N. Zhinkin has worked out the so-called loudness theory, which takes into account both the levels. On the perception level the syllable is defined as an arc of actual loudness. The experiments, carried out by Zhinkin, showed that the organ immediately responsible for the variations in loudness of a syllable in the pharynx. The narrowing of the pharyngeal passage & the resulting increase in muscular tension of its walls reinforce the actual loudness of the vowel thus forming the peak of the syllable, while the loudness variations of all the speech mechanisms are involved. So on the speech production level the correlate of “arc of loudness” is “the arc of articulatory effort” (the latter term is suggested by V. A. Vassilyev).

The acoustic aspect of the syllable has been studied by E. Zwirner, R. Jacobson & M. Halle. According to the results obtained, the peak of the syllable (a vowel or sonant) has a higher intensity than its consonants & in many cases a higher fundamental frequency. Perceptually, the peak is louder & higher in pitch. These acoustic features easily agree with physiological definition of the syllable as an arc of articulatory effort (muscular tension).

In analyzing the above theories of the syllable, we cannot but agree with the scholar who point out that each of the existing theories is correct to a certain extent, but none

of them is able to explain reliably all the cases of syll. boundaries.

2. Peculiarities of the Syllabic Structure of English

The syllabic structure of English has certain peculiarities. They are as follows:

1. Syllabic structure in English is not only vowels, but also sonants / m, n, l / when they are preceded by a noise consonant. E.g. / teibl / “table”, / ga:dn / “garden”.

2. As to the type of sounds constituting the syllable (V, C) there exist 23 syllable structures in English. Depending on the position of vowels, which is the peak of the syllable, and that of the consonant (C), which form margins of the syllable, we distinguish the following 4 types of syllables in English.

a) Open syllables, when there is no consonant after the vocalic peak, (CV) e.g. far, sea, tie.

b) Closed syllables, when the vocalic peak is followed by a consonant, (VC) e.g. art, sit.

c) Covered syllables, (CV(c)), when the peak is preceded by a consonant, e.g. long, shore.

d) Uncovered syllables, (VC(c)), when there is no consonant before the peak, e.g. apt, eat.

The fundamental syllable type in English is closed syll., the most frequent type in English is CVC.

3. Consonant clusters are very characteristic of the syll. structure of English, 19 structures out of 23 consonant clusters.

4. English checked vowels (i.e. short vowels) occur only in a closed syll. Checked vowels are always followed by initially strong consonants. E.g. bed, Sunday, put. English free vowels (long monophthongs, diphthongs & unstressed short monophthongs) can occur both in the open & in the closed syll., bec. the end of free vowels is weaker than the beginning. E.g. car, tie, (s n) di, / dvais /.

5. The syll. boundary never occurs after checked vowel. E.g. / twen-ti /, / kwik-li /, / let /, / big /.

If a checked vowel is separated from a succeeding stressed vowel by only one consonant sound, the syll. in which such a vowel occurs is always open. E.g. / ai-di /, / ka: tu:n /, / i-rekt /.

7. When there is a cluster of consonants between 2 vowels the place of the syllabic boundary is conditioned by whether this cluster occurs word-initially or not. If it does occur at the beginning of vowels, the syllabic boundary is before it. E.g. / gri: /, / rigret/. If it doesn’t the boundary between the consonants. E.g. / dmit /, / d vais /. When two vowels are separated by more than 2 consonants as e.g. in / ekstr / the boundary may be both before / s / & / t /, bec. / str / & / tr / occur at the beginning of words.

8. The so-called triphthongs in English are disyllabic combinations. E.g. / sain- ns /, / fla - /.

9. The structure of the stressed syll. in English is different from the structure of the unstressed syllable. The main difference is in the peak. The peak of the stressed syll. is always vocalic. In the unstressed syllable the peak may be a vowel or a consonant. When the peak of the stressed syllable is checked, the syllable must be “closed” by a

consonant. The structure of the stressed syllable ((open or closed) may be presented by the following formula:

a. (C)V(C) – where V is a historically long monophthong or a diphthong & the brackets show that the consonant may be absent;

b. (C)V(C) – where V is a historically long monophthongs.

Summing up we can say that syllabic formation & syllabic division can more usefully be described with the reference to an individual language, since each particular language has its own syllabic structure.