16. Differences between Received Pronunciation and General American pronunciation.

GA is the form of speech used by the radio & TV. It’s mostly used in scientific, cultural & business intercourse. GA is the prevailing form of speech & pronunciation in New York & St. Louis. Differences: 1) classification of vowels accord to the stability of articulation is the most controversial (спорный ) subject in GA . there are 5 diphthongs in GA: [ei, ai, oi, au, ou], in RP there are 8: + [iэ, uэ, зu]. 2) The pronunciation of [r] sound between a vowel & a consonant: [tз:rn], [bз:rd], [sta:r]. thus GA is rhotic. E.g. far in GA [fa:r], in RP [fa:]. 3) One more peculiar feature of pronunciation of vowels in GA is their nasalation, when they are preceded or followed by a nasal consonant (taka, small, name). nasalation is often called an American twang (гнусавость). 4) GA front vowels are somewhat different from RP. In words like very, pity GA has [i:] rather than [i]. Vowel [e] is more open in GA. 5) GA [r] is articulated differently from RP one. The impression is one of greater retroflexion (the tip of the tongue is curled back further than in RP). 6) The “wh” spelling in GA is represent by [w] sound or sometimes transcribed as [hw]. Most Americans make a clear distinction betw [wh] & [w] words: where-ware, which-witch. 7) The sonorant [j] is usually weakened or omitted altogether in GA betw a consonant & [u:] as in the words: news [nu:z], student [stu:dent].

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17. Phonostylistics as a science.

19. The subject-matter of phonostylistics (Phs.).

Phs. studies the way P. means are used in this or that particular situation which exercises the conditioning influence of a set of factors which are referred to as extra linguistic. The aim of Phs. is to analyse all possible kinds of spoken utterances with the main purpose of identifying the P. features, both segmental and suprasegmental, which are restricted to certain kinds of contexts, to explain why such features have been used and to classify them into categories based upon a view of their f. Style-forming and style-modifying factors: is the aim or purpose of the utterance. The aim is the strategy of the speaker. 1)the form of communication (monologue or dialogue); 2)the speaker’s attitude to the situation (emotions, thoughts, etc); 3)the degree of formality (formal – informal); 4) the degree of spontaneity or of preparedness (the speaker’s educational background played a great role). Styles of speech according to the purpose of communication: 1)informational 2)academic (scientific) 3)publicistic (oratorical) 4)declamatory (artistic) 5)colloquial (familiar). 1)Using the informational style the speaker ought to be careful not to distract the listener by what he is saying (TV-announcers). Written representation of oral and prepared speech. 2)Scientific style is used in lectures or science subjects or when reading out loud a piece of scientific prose. The purpose is to attract the listener’s attention to what is the most important in the lecture. 3)Publicistic style is used by politicians, the purpose is to except the influence of the listener to convince him of smth., & make him accept the speaker’s point of view. 4)It is used in reading poetry, prose aloud, in stage speech to appeal to the feelings of the listener. 5)Conversational formulae familiar of everyday communication are used in speech of friends within similar groups. It can have a wide range of intonation patterns.