Теориялық фонетика

4) Define which subtype of free word accent the following words belong to (constant or shifting):

Diverse, diversiform, diversify, diversity, diversion; habit, habitual; consult, consultation; photograph, photography, photographer, photographic; bad, badly, badness.

5) Analyze the following words form the viewpoint of the word accentuation tendencies. Say which tendencies (or the semantic factor) they illustrate.

Obliteration, family, maker, pronunciation, genealogic, hungry, reprint, vice-governor, unused, colony, darken, underneath, overbalance.

 

 

7 Ағылшын тіліндегі екпінсіз вокализм – Unstressed vocalism

 

The English vowels occurring in unstressed syllables form a definite system that is called the system of unstressed vocalism. The vowels in unstressed syllables may be pronounced in three different ways:

1. a vowel of full formation may be used in an unstressed syllable;
2. a semi-weak vowel may be used in an unstressed syllable;
3. an unstressed vowel may undergo different types of reduction.

The English language is characterized by a specific way of uttering unstressed syllables which is not typical of Russian. Practically any vowel of full formation may be used in unstressed, as in the case of:

niece – grandniece

fit – benefit; etc.

Such vowels of full formation are used in all types of pronunciation. Their substitution by a reduced vowel is incorrect.

A semi-weak vowel may be used in an unstressed syllable as well.

I. Ward defines a semi-weak vowel as “a vowel that lies in an intermediate position between the strong vowel and the neutral /ə/”. She gives /o/ as an example for it, as in:

/ou’bei – o’bei - ə’bei/

the unstressed vowel in the first column are of full formation; in the second the vowel is semi-weak; and in the third it is reduced to the neutral vowel /ə/.

I.Ward’s definition of a semi-weak vowel seems to be incomplete. Prof.V.A.Vassilyev’s definition of a semi-weak vowel runs as follows “ ... a semi-weak vowel may, therefore, be defined as a partially reduced vowel, which is used in a more careful style of pronunciation instead of the neutral vowel used in the rapid colloquial style and instead of the corresponding vowel of full format1on used in the full style”. G.P.Torsuyev regards semi-weak vowels as products of partial reduction.

A vowel in an unstressed syllable is most commonly reduced. Vowel reduction is a characteristic feature of English Russian and some other languages. A vowel in an unstressed syllable becomes shorter weaker and less distinct.

There are three degrees of reduction in English.

1) quantitative;

2) qualitative;

3) zero.

In quantitative reduction it is the length of a vowel which is reduced, as in:

 

4-кесте – Quantitative reduction

	Strong forms	Quantitatively reduced forms
your	jo:	Jo
me	mi:	Mi

 

In qualitative reduction the quality of a sound is changed as in the following:

 

5-кесте – Qualitative reduction

	Strong forms	Qualitatively reduced forms
were	wə:	wə
for	fo:	fə

 

Zero reduction consists in dropping out a vowel or a consonant, as in the case of:

 

 6-кесте – Zero reduction

	Strong forms	reduced forms with zero reduction
shall	ʃæl	ʃl, l
am	æm	M

 

Reduction is one of the phonetic changes taking place in the historical development of a language.

The most important role in the system of unstressed vocalism in English is played by the neutral vowel phoneme /ə/, which has a number of allophones.

Vowels in stressed position usually alternate with vowels in unstressed position. Such alternation between stressed and unstressed vowels is called vowel gradation (чередование гласных). There are several types of vowel gradation in English. They are:

Any English vowel of full formation in a stressed position may alternate with the neutral vowel /ə/:

/ði: - ðə/ (the)

/ ðem – ðəm/ (them)

 

The stressed /i:/ alternates with the unstressed /i/:

/ri’pi:t – repi’tiʃn/ (repeat – epetition)

 

The stressed /e/ alternates with the unstressed /i/:

/ik’sel – ‘eksələnt/ (exel – exellent)

 

     The stressed /ei/ alternates with the unstressed /i/:

/dei – ‘fraidi/ (day – Friday).

 

Though the neutral vowel sound is short and indistinct it is capable of forming minimal pairs thus differentiating one word from another. The most common opposition is /ə - i/ though   /ə - ou / is also possible. For instance:

/ ‘houlə - ‘houli / (holer – holey);

/ ək’sept – ik’sept / (accept – exept);

/’tempə - ‘tempou/ (temper – tempo);

/’soulə - ‘soulou/.

 

Questions

1. In what different ways may vowels in unstressed position be pronounced in English?
2. What vowels of full formation may be used in unstressed positions?
3. What is a semi-weak vowel?
4. What usually happens to a vowel in an unstressed syllable?
5. What is a reduced vowel like?
6. How many degrees of reduction do you know of in English?
7. Which vowel phoneme plays the most important role in the system of English unstressed vocalism?
8. What do we call vowel gradation?
9. How many types of vowel gradation do you know?

10. What do the oppositions of the neutral vowel to other vowel prove?

 

Practical task:

1) Make a glossary of the main notions and give their definitions.

2) Transcribe the following words and point out three degree of reduction in English.

We, the, he, your, a, and, an, she, at, for, but, can, have, him, some, me, shall, must, were, is, will, am, as, us, had, could, would.

 

 

8 Ағылшын сөйлемдерінің интонациялық құрылысы – Intonational structure of the English language

 

It is fairly obvious that words are seldom pronounced by themselves, as vocabulary items. They are usually arranged into sentences in accordance with the grammatical and phonetic structures of the language. And, as we know, one of the components of the phonetic structure of a language is its intonation. Intonation is the main factor that turns a word a group of words into a sentence.

Intonation is defined differently by different phoneticians here and abroad. Most foreign linguists consider intonation as variation in voice pitch. For instance, L. Armstrong and I. Ward make it clear that: “By intonation we mean the rise and fall of the pitch of the voice when we speak”. The components of intonation all function together, they all inseparable form one another. Speech melody is one of the leading components of intonation. It is closely connected with sentence stress. Each intonation  group may consist of the following sections: prehead, head, body, nucleus, tail. There are six main types of body:

1) regular descending;

2) broken descending;

3) low;

4) ascending;

5) sliding;

6) scandent.

There are eight main types of nuclear tones: high fall, low fall, low rise, high rise, fall-rise, rise-fall, rise-fall-rise, level.

The tail may be: descending, level or ascending. Sentence stress is one of the important component of the intonational structure. Sentence-stress is a special prominence which is given to one  or more words so as to single them out from other words in the same intonation-group. Stress may be syntagmatic, syntactic and logical.

Syntagmatic stress is placed on the semantic centre of the sense-group which is the nucleus.

Syntactic stress singles out the other semantically important words of the sentence.

When the semantic centre is shifted from the last notional word of the sentence to sоmе other words we get logical stress.

Tempo, rhythm and pauses are considered to be temporal (преходящий) components of intonation.

Tempo is the rate, or duration of speech. It may be slow, formal or quick. Through tempo we appreciate the relative importance of sentences and their sense-groups. The more important parts of a sentence are pronounced at a slow tempo, the less important ones are said quickly.

Tempo is closely connected with rhythm. Our speech is subdivided rhythmically into unites. Speech rhythm may be defined as a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables. Rhythmic characteristics of speech have been looked into by people for a long time.

Rhythm is closely connected with stress. Sense-groups in English are divided into rhythmical groups. Each rhythmical group consists of a stressed syllable alone, or combined with one or more unstressed syllables attached to it.

Pauses are closely connected with other components of intonation. Between intonation-group there mаy be pauses of different lengths. At the end of a sentence the pause is long. It is indicated by a double vertical bar. A pause between clauses is short, it is indicated with a large vertical bar.

There is a non-obligatory pause between parts of the sentence. It is a very short one and is indicated with a wavy vertical line.

The last component of intonation is voice-tamber, or voice quality. It is a common knowledge that sentences may be pronounced with different voice colouring expressing all shades of emotions, such as joy, happiness, sadness, irony, indifference, indignation, hostility, and many others. Voice-tamber is connected with the pitch of the voice and the tempo of speech.

We do not know anything about the physical nature of this phenomenon, because the voice-tamber component has not been investigated at all.

All the components of intonation exist and develop together. English intonation as a whole carries important information and like all other phonetic phenomena (phoneme, syllable, accent) intonation also fulfils three main functions: constitutive, distinctive, recognitive.

 The constitutive function of intonation consists in the fact that:

1. each syllable of each section of an intonation-group has  
   a certain pitch and cannot exist without it;
2. the end of an intonation-group is marked by a change of 
   pitch direction or pitch level. (This constitutive function is often called sentence-delimiting function.);

     3) each intonation-group must have at least one prominent word which is pronounced with sentence-stress;

     4) an intonation-group cannot exist without the temporal component either, because each intonation-group is pronounced at a certain tempo, it has its own rhythm, the end of an intonation-group is indicated by a pause, etc.

All this proves that intonation (or rather all its components) fulfill the constitutive function. No sentence can exist without intonation. (intonation is present in any written sentence as well.)

The most important is the distinctive function of intonation which manifests itself in the fact that intonation as a whole is capable of differentiating one sense-group or sentence from another sense-group or sentence. The role of different components of intonation in differentiating sentences is not of equal importance, though. Some components play the leading role, while others play a subsidiary role.

The distinctive function of intonation is most vividly observed in phonological oppositions. The number of phonological oppositions is quite considerable. According different intontional components sentence may sound categorical and non-categorical, emphatic and unemphatic, as a statement or general question, a statement or exclamation etc.

The third function of intonation is its recognitive function. It consists in the use of the right intonation pattern in the sentence.

Nowadays there are exist two principal methods of indicating intonation: in the line of text and outside the line of text. In both methods only its pitch and force components can be indicated.

The method of indicating intonation outside of text is represented by the well-known system of tonograms. Two horizontal lines show graphically the upper and the lower limits of the human voice pitch. Different signs are used between the lines to indicate the stressed and unstressed syllables.

L. E. Armstrong and I. C. Ward introduced the system of lines (now called dashes) corresponding to stressed syllables, and dots corresponding to unstressed ones. Downward curves represent falling tones, upward curves represent rising tones. This system was introduced in 1925 and its ling existence has proved it to be both easy and useful.

Another group of linguists used large and small dots for stressed and unstressed syllables. Large dots with tail-like curves indicated falling and rising tones depending on the direction of the curve.

Rodger Kingdon used wedge-like signs for stressed syllables and small dots for unstressed ones.

Worth mentioning is the music notation system which is used when it is necessary to show the exact stress-pattern or uneven rhythms.

The system of indicating intonation outside the line of text is rather valuable because the intonation may be shown on the staves with great accuracy. But we must admit that it is very difficult to see both the tonogram and the text at first glance.

Intonation may also be shown in the line of text itself which may be written either in phonetic transcription or in orthographic spelling. Several systems are distinguished here too:

H. E. Palmer’s system was widely spread and used most commonly in our country until recently. He distinguished the following kinds of nuclear tones:

1) falling nucleus;

2) rising nucleus;

3) falling nucleus with intensification;

4) falling-rising nucleus.

The syllables preceding the nucleus are marked thus:

 1) superior head;

 2) scandent head;

 3) inferior head.

R. Kingdon has introduced the so-called “tonetic stress-mark system”, which indicates speech melody as well as sentence-stress.

R. Kingdon’s “tonetic stress-mark system” has the great advantage of indicating intonation in printed texts. Such texts can be written quickly and with no difficulty whatever.

American descriptivist indicate intonation in the line of text with the so-called ‘stair-steps’ which are based on Kenneth L. Pike’s system.

Pike distinguishes 4 levels of speech melody: low, mid (normal), high and extra high.

In the USA it is the only system in indicating intonation in printed text and it is considered there to be the most teachable because of its clarity and simplicity. It is really quite easy to read but the

Process of drawing the stair-steps is rather slow and laborious. That’ why American system hasn’t been adopted in our country. So for indicating intonation in the line of text the most widely used are the British intonation system and Kingdon’s “tonetic stress-mark system”. For indicating intonation outside the line of text the most widely used is L. E. Armstrong and I. C. Ward’ system of staves.

 

Questions

1. How do British phoneticians define intonation?
2. Do American descriptivists define intonation alike?
3. What do you know about speech melody?
4. What section may an intonation-group consist of?
5. What can you say about sentence stress?
6. What types of sentence stress do you know?
7. What does tempo mean?
8. What is speech rhythm?
9. What types of pauses do you know?

     10. What functions does intonation fulfill?

 

Practical task:

1) Make a glossary of the main notions and give their definitions.

2) Match the given utterances with the adequate nuclear tone and attitude.

a.FALL	b.RISE	c.FALL-RISE	d.RISE-FALL
Finality	General questions	Uncertainty, doubt	Surprise, being
definiteness	encouraging	requesting	impressed

________1. It’s possible.

________2. It won’t hurt.

________3. I phoned them right away (and they agreed to come)

________4. Red, brown, yellow or …

________5. She was first!

________6. I’m absolutely certain.

 

 

9 Британ аралындағы ағылшын тілінің әдеби айтылуы және айтылу стильдері – English pronunciation in the British Isles

 

The English language is widely distributed over the globe. After Chinese it has the world’s largest speaking population – some 300 million, or, to put it in another way, one person out of every ten in the world. It is the official language of countries covering one fifth of the earth’s surface.

It is the language of trade and business. Three fourths of the world’s mail is written in English. English is at present the most widely studied language in countries where it is not native. It is the favored foreign language in the higher educational curriculum in such countries as Japan, Turkey and other countries. Five million people of the European countries speak English in addition to their native tongues.

English is not concentrated in one land mass. It is spread from the British Isles to the far corners of the earth. Besides Great, English is the mother tongue of the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. It is also used by the greater part of the population of Canada and the republic of South Africa.

Spoken English is not uniform geographically. It may vary from country to country, from district to district, or even from city to city. Though the variants of English spoken in different countries have many features in common, they differ from Standard English in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. This is due to the different conditions in which they developed after separation from British English.

The official literary languages of most countries are based upon a local dialect of the capital. Such is the case of Great Britain, France, and other countries. It is the London dialect that served the basis for the literary language of Great Britain, because as early as the 14^th century London became the center of economy, policy, commerce and learning. At present there exist literary English of Scotland, Oreland, England and Wales. Each of these has their local dialects. There are nine principal dialects in Scotland, three in Ireland, thirty in England and Wales.