8. Modifications of consonants in speech

Speech is performed in larger units: words, phrases and texts. There are very big differences between pronouncing a word in isolation and a word in connected speech.

There is a problem of defining the phonetic status of sounds in connected speech. As a result there are some processes of phonetic changes in connected speech:

1. assimilation;

2. accommodation;

3. vowel reduction;

4. elision.

Assimilation is the adaptive modification of a consonant by neighboring sound:

eighth - at three

alveolar [t] becomes dental [Ɵ]

Accommodation is the adaptation of sounds combinations of vowel-consonants type and consonant-vowel type:

never - man (consonant-vowel type)

nasal pronunciation of vowels

больно - конь - думать

Labialization of consonants is before labialized vowels.

Vowel reduction is a quantitative or qualitative weakening of vowels in unstressed positions:

board - blackboard

man - postman

Elision is a complete loss of sounds, both vowels and consonants. In informal speech we can lose many sounds. The process cannot be neglected in defining the

phonemic status of speech sounds. These phenomena represent the economy of energy from the part of the speaker. Usually the listener doesn’t even notice this

because these changes don’t influence the meaning. The target of listener is usually to understand the meaning but sometimes the meaning can also be influenced,

for example [z] can represent has, is, does, plural, possessive, third person singular. Now let us consider which qualitative characteristics of consonants can

be changed in connected speech. Consonants can be modified according to the place of articulation: assimilation takes place when a sound changes its character

in order to look like a neighboring sound and the characteristic which is involved in this is almost always a place of articulation:

1. eighth - at the - said that

[t] [d] alveolar + [Ɵ] [ð] interdental = dental [t] [d]

Partial regressive assimilation

2. tree - true - dry - dream

[t] [d] alveolar + post alveolar [r] = post alveolar [t] [d]

Partial regressive assimilation

3. horseshoe - this shop

[s] [z] alveolar + [ʃ] post alveolar = post alveolar [s] [z]

Complete regressive assimilation

4. graduate - congratulate - did you - could you

[t] + [j]; [d] + [j] = affricates [ʧ] [ʤ]

Partial regressive assimilation

5. symphony

[m] bilabial + [f] labiodentals = [m] labiodentals

Partial regressive assimilation

Manner of articulation is also changed as a result of assimilation.

9. The notion of articulatory basis. Its difference in English and Russian.

The differences in the articulation of sounds in different languages are explained by the fact, that each language has it's own tendencies and most of articulation, which form the articulation basis of the language.

The articulation basis of the language is all the articulatory habits, characteristic of all the native speakers of the given language.

The main peculiarities of the English articulation basis are:

1) the tongue is broadened and flattened;

2) the tip is slightly hollowed out and slightly drawn back from the teeth;

3) the lips are neutral, they are deliberately neutralized and spread, the upper lip is tense.

English	Russian
Consonants
Near the teeth reach, apical position of the tongue	Tends to move to the upper front teeth, it's dorsal position	Tip of the tongue
Tends to occupy more retraced, more flat and lower positions, than in the articulation of the Russian consonants	<--	The bulk of the tongue
Voiceless consonants in final positions are strong, while voiced consonants are weak and partially devoiced, e.g. kept, bag	Voiced consonants are impossible in final positions and voiceless consonants are weak (sonorants - exception)	Voice/voiceless distinction
Vowels
In the articulation of the similar English sounds the protrusion does not take place [o,o:,u,u;]	The lips are deliberately protruded and rounded, especially [a,o]	Lips
The tongue is slightly drawn back	The tongue occupies mostly the front part of the mouth	The place of the tongue
Although not very tense objectively, English vowels seem tense in comparison to Russian vowels, because in English an unstressed vowel does not always differ in quality from a stressed one, e.g. [ou]open, window	In Russian an unstressed vowel is always short, lax and different in quality from the same vowel in a stressed syllable	Tension
Vowels differ in length. There are historically long and short vowels. The length of vowels can differenciate words, e.g.bit - beat	In Russian vowels differ in quality, but not in quantity. They may be pronounced in a longer way for purposes of emphasis, but the length of vowels doesn't differenciate words with different meanings	Difference between vowels