Книга фонетика

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Eg. /→wɒt dju θɪŋk ju kən ˎdu:/

Three different types of reduction are noticed in English.

1.Quantitative reduction, i.e. shortening of a vowel sound in the unstressed position, affects mainly long vowels, eg. he /hi: - hi – hɪ/

'He was the one to come first.

He had 'come at last.

He 'came at last.

2.Qualitative reduction, i.e. obscuration of vowels towards /ə,i/ , affects both long and short vowels, eg. can /kæn - kən/

-Soft results in /i/ from e, i, y;

-Hard results in /ə/ from a, o, u + -er, -or, -ar.

3.Complete (zero) reduction is a full disappearance of a vowel in an unstressed position. It occurs before the syllabic sonorants /m, n, l/ in postonic position.

STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

Spoken English shows a marked contrast between its stressed and unstressed syllables. Words which bear the major part of information are generally stressed and are called content (or notional) words. These are: nouns, adjectives, notional verbs, adverbs, numerals, interrogative and demonstrative pronouns. The other words in a sentence are mostly form (or structural) words which link the content words and help us in this way to form an utterance. They are: articles, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, and also auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns. These are not many in number but they are among the commonest words of the language. As form-words are normally unstressed in a sentence their weak reduced forms are generally used in speech, eg. /hi sed hɪd 'kʌm ɪn ðə ˎmͻ:nɪŋ/.

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The weak forms of the words listed in the table below should be used in

unstressed positions.

The strong forms of auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive

pronouns and form-words are by far more rarely used. They are used in their strong forms when they are said in isolation, when they become the communicative centres of utterances. The following cases should be also remembered as the traditional use of strong forms in the English language.

Prepositions have their strong forms though they might remain unstressed

(a)At the very end of an intonation group or phrase, eg. /→wɒt ə jʊ ˎlʊkɪŋ æt//

(b)At the end of an intonation group or phrase when they are followed by the unstressed pronoun. Monosyllabic prepositions are either stressed or not, according to the rhythmic pattern of the phrase, eg. /aɪm →nɒt ˎtͻ:kɪŋ tu: jʊ/ but /aɪm nɒt 'tͻ:kɪŋ tə ˎju:/.

Polysyllabic prepositions followed by a pronoun at the end of a phrase are stressed as a rule, eg. / hæv ə 'lʊk ˎʌndər ɪt//

Auxiliary and modal verbs have their strong forms:

(a) At the end of an intonation group or a phrase whether stressed or not, eg. Who has done it? – Mary has. /ˎmeərɪ hæz/

Are you free? – I am. /aɪ ˎæm/

(b)At the beginning of general and alternative questions in careful colloquial style, while in rapid colloquial style they are unstressed and reduced, eg. / kæn jʊ 'get ɪt baɪ təˏmɒrəʊ/ but /həv jʊ →gɒt enɪ ˌmætʃɪz/.

(c)In contracted negative forms, eg. /aɪ →dəʊnt ˎnəʊ ðə mæn/.

The following form-words should be remembered as having no weak forms whatsoever: what, where, when, how, which, in, on, with, then.

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LECTURE 7. CONSONANT SYSTEM OF ENGLISH

The difference between the number of letters and sounds found in English, so dramatic in the case of vowels, is far less significant in the case of consonants. There are 21 consonant letters in the written alphabet and there are 24 consonant sounds.

All consonants have certain properties in common, which identify them in contrast to vowels.

From a phonetic point of view, they are articulated in one of two ways: either there is a closing movement of one of the vocal organs, forming such a narrow constriction that it is possible to hear the sound of the air passing through; or the closing movement is complete, giving a total blockage. The closing movement may involve the lips, the tongue, or the throat, but in each case overall effect is very different from the relatively open and unimpeded articulation found in vowels.

From a phonological point of view, they are units of the sound system which typically occupy the edges of a syllable (the margins). They may also appear in sequences (clusters), eg dogs, glad.

Some consonants involve the vibration of the vocal cords: these are the

voiced consonants, such as / b / and / m /. Others have no vocal cord vibration:

these are the voiceless consonants, such as / p / and / s /.

An alternative way of capturing the difference between such consonant pairs as / p / and / b / is to compare the force with which they are articulated. Voiceless consonants are produced with much greater force than their voiced counterparts, and the terms fortis (strong) and lenis (weak) have come to identify the two types.

Unlike vowels, some consonants are primarily identified through their use of the nasal cavity. Normally, in English, when we speak we keep the soft palate raised, so that it presses against the back of the throat and allows no air out through the nose. With the three nasal sonorants, / m /, / n /, and / ŋ /, however, the soft

palate remains lowered (as it is when we breathe), and the result is a series of

sounds with a distinctive nasal resonance.

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Consonant or vowel:

The distinction between consonant and vowel is fundamental, but some sounds sit uneasily between the two, being articulated in the same way as vowels, but functioning in the language in the same way as consonants. / j / as in yes and

/w / as in we are like this. / j / is formed like a very short / ɪ / vowel, but it occurs at the beginning of the word, as do other consonants. Similarly, / w / is formed like a short / ʊ / vowel, but acts as a consonant. These two consonants are therefore sometimes described as semi-vowels.

Certain other consonants are also somewhat vowel-like, in that they can be sounded continuously without any audible friction: the three nasals, / m /, / n /, and

/ŋ /, / l / as in lie and / r / as in red. These can all be classed together as (frictionless) continuants or sonorants, within which the four oral items ( / l /, / r /,

/w /, / j /) are often recognized as forming a distinct group.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION according to:

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3) the articulatory organ / the place of articulation

- labial

dʒ

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LECTURE 8. ASSIMILATION

Assimilation is a process of alteration of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sound becomes fully or partially similar to the adjoining sound. The word “assimilation” is an example of this phenomenon. This Latin word is composed of the preposition “ad” – to, and the adjective “similis” alike, similar: ad-similatio – assimilation: /ds˃ss/ (/d/ under the influence of the following /s/ was changed to /s/)/

The nature of assimilation is determined by objective physical and physiological conditions. Assimilation exists in every language, but its laws and forms in each language depend on the historically formed articulatory tendencies, typical of every language, and specific phonetic structures.

Types of assimilation can be distinguished according to: (1) direction, (2) degree of completeness, (3) degree of stability.

Assimilation can effect the place of obstruction and the active organ of speech; the work of the vocal cords; the position of the lips; the position of the soft palate; the manner of the release of plosive consonants.

DIRECTION OF ASSIMILATION

The influence of the neighbouring sounds in English can act in a progressive, regressive or reciprocal (double) direction.

When some articulatory features of the following sound are changed under the influence of the preceding sound, which remains unchanged, assimilation is called progressive. For example,

(1)The pronounciation of the plural suffix –s of nouns depends on the quality of the preceding consonant: it is pronounced as /z/ after voiced consonants, eg. pens /penz/, calls /kͻ:lz/ and as /s/ after viceless consonants, eg. desks / desks/, books /bʊks/.