- •1. The Branch of Phonetics.
- •2. Branches of Phonetics.
- •5. The connection of phonetics with other branches of linguistics.
- •6. Interdisciplinary subjects connected with phonetics.
- •7. The theoretical importance of phonetics.
- •8. The notion of the phoneme. Phoneme theory.
- •9. The relationship between the Phoneme and its allophones.
- •10. The aspects of the phoneme.
- •11. The functions of phoneme.
- •12. The Phonetic structure of the language.
- •13. The Articulation Basis.
- •14. The types of transcription.
- •15. Theories of syllable formation and division.
- •16. The structure of syllables in English.
- •17. The Function of Syllables in English.
- •18. The nature of word stress.
- •19. The Place of Word Stress in English. The Degrees of Stress.
- •20. The functions and tendencies of the English stress.
- •Identificatory / recognitive function
- •21. The Typology of Accentual Structure.
- •22. Intonation: Definition, Approaches, Functions.
- •Informational function
- •Indexical function
- •23. The components of intonation.
- •If the intonation properties of a sense-group are meant, the sense-group is called a tone unit /an intonation group.
- •24. The phonology aspect of intonation
- •25. The notation varieties of English pronunciation.
- •26. Rp/bbc English as the British National Standard of pronunciation. Major accents in uk.
- •27. General American as the American English pronunciation standard.
- •28. Accents of English outside the uk and the usa.
13. The Articulation Basis.
Each linguistic community uses a system of typical articulations of speech organs in the process of speaking. The articulation basis may be defined as:
The whole complex of movements and positions of speech organs which are habitual for a given language;
The articulation basis of every language is specific. The articulation basis is closely connected with the phonetics system of a language and depends upon it considerably. It is a perfect knowledge of the articulation basis of the studied language that insures successful mastering of the entire system of its articulation.
14. The types of transcription.
There are different types of transcription depending upon the degree of the exactness required. If it is accuracy only in the representation of the phoneme of the language that is required, the transcription should provide each phoneme with a distinctive symbol to avoid ambiguity – this type of transcription is generally called PHONEMIC or BROAD. It contains as many symbols as there are phonemes in the language. The phonemic data is usually enclosed between virgules (also called diagonals or slant brackets): /t/.
Those which provide some of the typical allophones with distinctive symbols and introduce special maks to denote different features the allophones are characterized by are called PHONETIC or NARROW TRANSCRIPTION. Sometimes it’s called ALLOPHONIC. The phonetic data is customarily enclosed in square brackets. This type of transcription is used when for the focus is on particular details of pronunciation.
A phonemic transcription is particularly useful as a corrective instrument in a language like English where the orthography does not consistently mirror present-day pronunciation.
15. Theories of syllable formation and division.
There have been suggested several theories to explain the mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division in different languages.
The chest-pulse or breath puff theory
According to this theory, syllables are formed by breath-puffs. At present this theory is considered as not scientifically grounded; it has been proved experimentally that speakers take a new breath at the end of a syntagm and no increase of breath force necessarily accompanies every syllable.
The relative sonority theory or the prominence theory
It is based upon the fact that each sound has a different carrying power which is based on their sonority. The sonority of a sound is its relative loudness compared to other sounds, everything else (pitch, etc.) being equal.
The creator of this theory, the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen, has proved that the least sonorous sounds which have the least carrying power, are those for which the mouth is closed (voiceless oral stops), while the most sonorous sounds are those for which the mouth is wide open (low vowels).
All other sounds are ranked in between these two extreme points of the sonority scale (from the highest degree to the lowest):
Low vowels (a:, o, ...).
High vowels (і:, і, ...)
Semivowels (j,w)
Liquids (l, r)
Nasals (m, n, ŋ)
Fricatives (voiced) (v, z, ð)
Fricatives (voiceless) (f, s, θ)
Oral stops (voiced) (b, d, g)
Oral stops (voiceless) (p, t, k).
By this theory the syllable is treated as the combination of a more sonorous sound with a less sonorous one.
The muscular tension theory
It was put forward by the French linguist Michaelle Grammont and supported and further developed by the Russian linguist Lev Volodymyrovych Scherba. Academician Lev Volodymyrovych Scherba explained syllable formation by muscular tension impulses and three types of consonants. In speaking, muscular tension impulses follow one another. Each impulse has its strongest point and its weakest prominence. The end of one syllable and the beginning of the next one can be ascertained by determining the type of consonants which take part in forming the syllables.
Consonants may be pronounced:
initially strong – the beginning of a consonant may be more energetic, while the end may be weaker; finally strong – the beginning of the consonant may be weak, and its end -more energetic;
geminate or double – both the beginning and the end are energetic with a weakening of muscular tension in the middle, acoustically, they give the impression of two consonants.
The more energetic part of a consonant is attached to a vowel, so that initially strong consonant occurs at the end of a close syllable, while finally strong consonant occurs at the beginning of a syllable.