3. Vowels and consonants

Vowels vs. Consonants

1. Acoustic feature: vowels are produced without noise, only voice (tone) is heard; consonants are always produced with noise.

2. Articulatory features:

(a) vowels are produced without an obstruction to the air stream; consonants are produced with an obstruction to the air stream;

(b) in the production of vowels the tension of the organs of speech is not localized at a particular place; in the production of consonants the tension of the organs of speech is localized at the place of obstruction;

(c) in the production of vowels the air stream is weak; in the production of consonants the air stream is strong.

3. Functional feature: vowels form syllables; most consonants do not form syllables.

Classifications of vowels. English vowels are 20 in num­ber. They are classified:

- according to the stability of articulation,

- according to the lip position,

- according to the tongue position,

- according to the character of vowel end,

- according to their length,

- according to the degree of tenseness.

• According to the stability of articulation English vowels are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids (diphthongized vowels).

MONOPHTHONGS are vowels in the pronunciation of which the organs of speech do not change their position throughout the duration of the sound. They are: /a:, , u:, u, , e, , , o, o:, i:, i/

DIPHTHONGS are vowels in the pronunciation of which the organs of speech move from one vowel position to another. Thus a diphthong is a complex sound consisting of two vowel elements forming a single syllable. The strong starting point of the diphthong is called the nucleus, the weak final point of the diphthong is called the glide. There are 8 diphthongs in English:

/ai, oi, ei, i , υ , , aυ, υ, /

DIPHTHONGOIDS are vowels in the pronunciation of which the organs of speech change their position but slightly (not as much аs in diphthongs). They are:

/i:, u:/.

• According to the lip position English vowels are divided into rounded and unrounded.

ROUNDED VOWELS are pronounced with the lips rounded and protruded. Rounded vowels are:

/o, o:, υ, u:/.

UNROUNDED VOWELS are pronounced with the lips neutral or spread. Unrounded vowels are:

• According to the tongue position English vowels are classified in regard to the horizontal or the vertical movement of the tongue.

1. According to the horizontal movement of the tongue there are such groups of vowels:

FRONT VOWELS, in the pronunciation of which the bulk of the tongue is in the front part of the mouth cavity. Front vowels are: / /.

FRONT-RETRACTED VOWELS, in the pronunciation of which the bulk of the tongue is in the front part of the mouth cavity, but somewhat retracted. Front-retracted vowels are: /i, i( )/.

CENTRAL VOWELS, in the pronunciation of which the cen­tral part of the tongue is raised towards the juncture of the hard and the soft palate. Central vowels are: / /.

BACK-ADVANCED VOWELS, in the pronunciation of which the bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth cavity but somewhat advanced. Back advanced are: /υ, υ( )/.

BАСК VOWELS, in the pronunciation of which the tongue is in the back part of the mouth cavity. Back vowels are: / /

2. According to the vertical movement of the tongue there are such groups of vowels:

CLOSE (or HIGH) VOWELS, which are pronounced with some part of the tongue close to the roof of the mouth; the air-passage is narrowed. Close vowels are: /i:, u:, /.

OPEN (or LOW) VOWELS, which are pronounced with the tongue very low in the mouth; the air-passage is wide. Open vowels are:

/ /.

MID (or MID-OPEN) VOWELS, which are pronounced with the tongue half-way between its high and low positi­ons. Mid vowels are:

/e, e(i), E:, E(υ), A, q/.

Regarding the air-passage, close, open and mid vowels may have either narrow or broad variants (variations),

e.g. /i:/ is close, narrow variant,

/I/ is close, broad variant.

d/ According to the character of vowel end English vowels are divided into checked and free.

CHECKED VOWELS have strong ends and occur in closed syl­lables ending in a voiceless consonant,

e.g. art/a:t/, back/bxk/, of ten/ 'Pf-tqn/.

FREE VOWELS have weak ends and occur either in open syl­lables or in closed syllables ending in a voiced conso­nant or a sonorant,

e.g. tea/ti:/, big/bIg/, board/bLd/.

Checked and free vowels are monophthongs in their stres­sed position.

e/ According to their length English monophthongs are divided into long and short.

LONG VOWELS are: /i:, a:, L, u:, E:/.

SHORT VOWELS are: /i, e, A, P, υ, q/.

The vowel /e/ is neither long nor short.

The length of both monophthongs and the nuclei of the diphthongs may be influenced by their position. Thus different allophones of one and the same phoneme appear:

- vowels are fully long when they are final,

e.g. see/si:/, fur/fE:/, toy/tOI/

- vowels are somewhat shorter in a closed syllable ending in a voiced consonant or a sonorant.

e.g. seen/si:n/, girl/gE:l/ bag/bxg/, toys/tOiz/

- vowels are the shortest in a closed syllable ending in a voiceless consonant,

e.g. seek/si:k/, irk/E:k/, back/bxk/.

Besides, all English vowels are longer when they occur in the last stressed syllable of a sense-group.

f/ According to the degree of tenseness English vowels are divided into tense and lax. TENSE VOWELS are produced when the organs of speech are tense. All long vowels are tense.

LAX VOWELS are produced with lesser tenseness of the speech organs. All short vowels are lax.

• Classifications of consonants: (1) according to the degree of noise and the force of articulation; (2) according to the manner of articulation; (3) according to the active organ of speech; (4) according to the place of obstruction; (5) labialisation; palatalisation and velarisation; nazalisation; aspiration (See 3).

English consonants are 24 in number. They are classified:

- according to the degree of noise and the force of articulation;

- according to the manner of articulation;

- according to the active organ of speech;

- according to the place of obstruction;

- according to the position of the soft palate.

a/ According to the degree of noise English consonants are divided into sonorants (sonorous consonants) and noise consonants.

In SONORANTS voice prevails over noise. They are:

/m, n, ŋ, r, l, w, j/.

In NOISE CONSONANTS noise prevails over voice. Noise consonants are VOICED and VOICELESS. In voiced conso­nants there is both voice and noise. In voiceless con­sonants there is only noise.

Voiced consonants are: /b, d, g, v, ð, z, Z, G/.

Voiceless consonants are: /p, t, k, f, θ, s, S, C, h/.

According to the force of articulation noise consonants are STRONG (FORTIS) when they are voiceless, and WEAK (LENIS) when they are voiced. Strong consonants are produced with greater energy.

b/ According to the manner of articulation consonants are dividеd into occlusive, constrictive, occlusive-constrictive, and rolled.

In OCCLUSIVE CONSONANTS the obstruction to the air-stream is complete. They are:

noise (stops, plosives) /p, b, t, d, k, g/;

nasal sonorants /m, n, ŋ /.

In CONSTRICTIVE CONSONANTS the obstruction to the air-stream is incomplete, the air-passage is constricted. The air-stream escapes through the mouth cavity with friction. They are:

noise (fricatives) /f, v_, θ, ð, s, z, S, Z, h/; sonorants /w, r, 1, j/.

In OCCLUSIVE-CONSTRICTIVE CONSONANTS (AF'FRICATES) a com­plete obstruction is slowly released, and the air passes through the mouth with friction. They are:

noise consonants /C, G/.

ROLLED CONSONANTS are produced with momentary obstruc­tions. There are no rolled consonants in English. In Rus­sian they are /p, p^΄/.

c/ According to the active organ of speech consonants are divided into labial, lingual, and glottal.

LABIAL CONSONANTS are articulated by the lips. Labial consonants are of two types: bilabial and labio-dental.

BILABIAL CONSONANTS are articulated by the two lips:

/p, b, m, w /.

LABIO-DENTAL CONSONANTS are articulated by the upper teeth and the lower lip:

/f, v /.

LINGUAL C0NSONANTS are produced with the tongue. According to the active part of the tongue they are subdivided into foreligual, medio-lingual, and back-lingual.

FORELINGUAL CONSONANTS are produced with the tip or the blade of the tongue. They are: noise /θ, ð, t, d, s, z, S, Z, C, G/; sonorants /n, 1, r /.

The blade of the tongue may be differently shaped. It is tense and active for the APICAL CONSONANTS /t, d, s, z, θ, ð, S, Z, C, G; n, l/. It is relaxed and passive for the DORSAL CONSONANTS. There are no dorsal consonants in English. In Russian they are /т, т΄, с, с΄, н, н΄, з, з΄, ч΄, ц/. The blade of the tongue is cup-shaped for the cacuminal /r/ in English and /р, р΄/ in Russian.

MEDIO-LINGUAL CONSONANTS are made with the front part of the tongue. In English it is the sound /j/.

BACK-LINGUAL CONSONANTS are made with the back part of the tongue. They are the English sounds /k, g, ŋ/_.

The GLOTTAL CONSONANT /h/ is articulated in the glottis.

d/ According to the place of obstruction

forelingual consonants are:

INTERDENTAL, pronounced between the teeth:

/θ, ð/

DENTAL, pronounced against the teeth:

Russian /д, д΄_, т, т΄, з. з΄, с, с΄, ц, н, н΄/

ALVEOLAR, pronounced against the alveolar ridge:

/t, d, s, z; 1, n /

POST-ALVEOLAR, pronounced behind the alveolar ridge:

/r/

PALATO-ALVEOLAR, pronounced both against the alveolar ridge and the hard palate:

/S, Z, C, G/.

Medio-lingual consonant /j/ is pronounced against the hard palate, thus it is PALATAL.

Back-lingual consonants /k, g, ŋ / are pronounced against the soft palate (Lat. velum), thus they are VELAR.

e/ According to the position of the soft palate English consonants are nasal and oral.

NASAL CONSONANTS are produced with the soft palate lowered. As a result_, the air escapes through the nasal cavity. Nasal consonants are /m, n, ŋ /.

ORAL CONSONANTS are produced when the soft palate is raised, and the air

escapes through the mouth. All the consonants but nasal are oral.

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• Combinatory phonetic changes are caused by the distribution of a phoneme, or its neighboring sounds.

1. Assimilation: definition. Types of assimilation: a) according to its direction, b) according to the degree of completeness, c) according to the degree of stability. (See 3).

2. Assimilation is a phonetic process in which one sound influences the neighbouring sound making it similar to itself.

3. As to its direction, assimilation is of three types: progressive, regressive, and reciprocal (or double).

1. In PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION the preceding sound influence the following one,

e .g. place /pleis/: /1/ is partly devoiced under the influence of voiceless /p/.

2. In REGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION the following sound influences the preceding оne,

e .g_. in the /in ðə/: /n/ becomes dental under the influence of interdental /ð/

3 . In RECIPROCAL (DOUBLE) ASSIMILATION the influence of the neighbouring sounds on each other is mutual,

e.g. twice /twais/: /t/ is labialized under the in­fluence of bilabial /w/; /w/ is partly devoiced under the influ­ence of voiceless /t/.

c) As to the degree of completeness, assimilation is complete, incomplete and intermediate.

1. ASSIMILATION is COMPLETE when the two adjoining sounds become alike,

e.g. horse-shoe / ΄ho:s ΄΄Su: > 'ho:SSu:/: the sound /s/ changes into /S/.

2. ASSIMILATION is INCOMPLBTE when the assimilated sound is substituted by a new allophone of the same phoneme,

e.g. all the /Ll ðə/: the alveolar allophone is substituted by the dental allophone of the phoneme /1/.

3 . ASSIMILATION is INTERMEDIATE when the assimilated sound is substituted by a new phoneme that doesn't coincide with the assimilating sound,

e.g. gooseberry /΄gu:s ΄beri > ΄gu:zberi/: /s/ is voiced under the influence of the voiced sound /b/, as a result, a new phoneme -/z/- appears.

d) As to the degree of stability, assimilation is obligatory and non-obligatory.

1. OBLIGATORY ASSIMILATION is the language norm. Obligatory assimilation is historical and contextual.

-HISTORICAL ASSIMILATION took place at an earlier stage of language development,

e.g. In French borrowings /zj/ > */Z/, /sj/ > /S/, /tj/ > /C/:

occasion /ə΄keizjon > ə΄кеiZn/

*Read: / > / turns (turned) into.

question /΄kwestjon > ΄kwestSn/

session /΄sesjon > ΄seSn/.

Historical assimilation which occurs mainly within words is still in process. That accounts for the two variants of pronunciation in:

issue /΄isju:, ΄iSju:/,

schedule /΄Sedju:l, (АE) ΄skedZl/, etc.

Sometimes historical assimilation is reflected in spelling:

ort+yard > orchard

/΄Lrtja:d > ΄LtSəd/.

Nowadays the processes similar to historical assimilation influence the boundaries of words in colloqual speech:

would you / ΄wυd ju, ΄wυdZu/,

in case you /in ΄keis ju, in ΄keiSu/, etc.

- CONTEXTUAL ASSIMILATION occurs both within words and at the word boundaries. It results in the appearance of a certain allophone of the phoneme. The usage of a wrong allophone reveals a foreign accent,

e .g. tenth /tenθ/: dental allophone of the phoneme /n/ must be used; hot wind /΄hot ΄wind/: labialized allo­phone of the phoneme /t/ must be used.

2. NON-OBLIGATORY ASSIMILATION is not the language norm. It occurs in a rapid speech at the word bounda­ries,

e .g. ten minutes /ten ΄minits > tem 'minits/

t hat place /ðæt ΄pleis >ðæp ΄pleis/.

2) Enlarge on the theory using the materials: S: pp.66-68; V: pp.72-74. Copy out from the textbooks all the examples to illustrate the theoretical material concerning the direction of assimilation, its degree of completeness and its degree of stability.

3) In the examples that you have copied out define the types of sound interaction (merging of stages, interpenetration of stages and its variants).

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4) Learn the theoretical material about the types of assimilation as to its affecting the articulation of English consonants:

a/ Consonant assimilation may affect:

- the place of obstruction and the active organ of speech;

- the work of the vocal cords;

- the lip position;

- the position of the soft palate;

- the manner of the release of plosive consonants.

b/ Assimilation affects the place of obstruction and the active organs of speech when:

1. alveolar /t, d, s, z, n, 1/ become dental under the influence of the following interdental /θ, ð/,

e.g. sixth /siksθ /, on the desk /on ðə΄desk/.

2. alveolar /t, d/ become post-alveolar under the in­fluence of the following post-alveolar /r/,

e.g. trip /trip/, would read /wυd ΄ri:d/.

3 . bilabial /m/ and alveolar /n/ become labio-dental under the influence of the following labio-dental /f, v/,

e.g. comfort /΄kAmfət/, invention /in΄venSn/,

ten fingers /΄ten ^΄fingəz/.

c/ Assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords can be PROGRESSIVE when:

1. the sonorants /m, n, 1, w, r, j/ are partially devoiced under the influence of the preceding voiceless consonants,

e.g. small /smo:l /, slow /slEυ/, try /trai/.

2 . voiced /z/ is replaced by voiceless /s/ under the influence of the preceding voiceless consonant in contracted verb-forms,

e.g. that is /ðæt iz/ > that’s /ðætz > ðæts/,

Jack has done it /΄dZæk həz ΄dAn it/ >

Jack's done it /dZækz > dZæks ΄dAn it/.

3. the possessive suffixes "-΄s", "-s΄", and the plural suffix "-(e)s" of nouns; the verbal suffix "-s" of the 3ed person singular, the Present Indefinite

Tense are pronounced as:

/s/ after a voiceless consonant,

/z/ after a voiced consonant, sonorant or vowel,

/iz/ after the phonemes /s, z, S, Z, C, G/,

e.g. books/bυks/, Jack's/dZæks/, asks/a:sks/;

girls/gE:lz/, boy's/bOiz/, reads/ri:dz/;

boxes/bPksiz/, Dickens' s/'dikenziz/, washes/wPSiz/.

4. the suffix "-ed" of regular verbs is pronounced as:

/t/ after a voiceless consonant,

/d/ after a voiced consonant, sonorant or vowel,

/id/ after the phonemes /t, d/,

e.g. asked/a:skt/, lived/livd/, played/pleid/, expected /iks΄pektid/.

Assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords can be REGRESSIVE when:

1 . historical voicing or devoicing takes place in com­pounds,

e.g. fivepence/΄faivpens > ΄faifpəns/,

gooseberry/΄gu:sberi > ΄gυzbəri/.

2. contextual voicing or devoicing takes place in closely connected pairs of words,

e.g. I have to /ai 'hæv tə > ai hæftə/,

I used to /ai ΄ju:zd tə > ai ΄ju:st tə/,

Does she? /΄dAz Si? > ΄dASSi/.

NOTE: Regressive assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords doesn’t take place in other cases.

e.g. birthday/ ΄b :θdei/, this book /΄ðis ΄bυk/.

d/ Assimilation affects the lip position when the consonants become lip-rounded under the influence of the following/w/,

e.g. swim /swim/, twice /twais/.

e/ Assimilation affects the position of the soft palate when:

1. /d/ changes into /n/ under the influence of the pre­ceding phoneme /n/,

e .g. handsome /^΄hændsəm >΄hænnsəm >΄hænsm/,

h andmade /΄hændmeid > ΄hænnmeid > ΄hænmeid/.

2. /d/ changes into /n, m/ under the influence of the following phonemes /n, m/ in rapid speech,

e .g. She wouldn't do it /Si ΄wυdnt ΄du: it > Si ΄wυnnt ΄du: it/.

G ood morning /gυd ^΄mO:ning > gυm 'mO:ning/.

f/ Assimilation affects the manner of the release of plosive consonants that lose the third stage of their articulati­on when:

1. an incomplete plosion takes place at the juncture of two plosives; as a result, only one explosion is left,

e.g. attraction/ә'trxkSn/, bookcase/'bυkkeia/.

2. a nasal plosion takes place at the juncture of a plosive and the following syllabic /n, m/; as a result, the air-stream escapes through the nasal cavity,

e.g. button/ 'bAtn/, garden/'ga:dn/;

the same occurs at word boundaries,

e.g. slot mashine /´slPtmә"Si:n/.

3. a lateral plosion takes piаса at the juncture of a plosive and the following sonorant /1/; as a result, the air-stream еscaреs through the mouth cavity along the sides of the tongue,

e.g. please/pli:z/, cattle/'kxtl/, candle/'kxndl/.

4. Synharmony, or harmony of vowels is a type of assimilation which takes place when the vowel in the first syllable requires the presence of vowels of the same class (front or back) in the other syllables. Languages that display harmony as a systematic feature of their sound system are Turkish and Hungarian. These languages are agglutinative, i.e. the grammatical forms of words are manifested by affixes each of which has only one grammatical meaning. The vowels in affixes must be ‘in harmony’ with the vowel in the root. E.g. Turkish oda ‘room’ – odalar ‘rooms’; ev ‘house’ – evler ‘houses’; Hungarian leves ‘soup’ – levesek ‘soups’; salato ‘salad’ – salatak ‘salads’.

5. Dissimilation is the influence exercised by one sound segment upon another, similar in pronunciation, so that the sounds become less alike; contrasts with assimilation. The effects are often seen in the history of a language, e.g. the change of [r] to [l] in the derivation of English pilgrim from Latin peregrinus.

Types of dissimilation:

• According to the place in a word, dissimilation can be contact and distant.

In contact dissimilation, it is the adjacent sounds that become less alike, e.g. Ukr. трамвай  *транвай, Non-Received Pronunciation – NRP (/м/ labial + /в/ labial  /н/ dental + /в/ labial); бомба  *бонба, NRP (/м/ labial + /б/ labial  /н/ dental + /б/ labial).

In distant dissimilation, the dissimilated sounds stand apart, e.g. Ukr. лабораторія  *лаболаторія, NRP; коридор  *колидор, NRP (/р/ + /р/  /л/ dental + /р/ alveolar).

• According to its direction, dissimilation can be progressive and regressive.

In progressive dissimilation, it is the following sound that changes its articulation, E.g. Ukr. асфальт  *асвальт, NRP (/с/ noise, voiceless + /ф/ noise, voiceless  /с/ noise, voiceless + /в/ noise, voiced); прорубь  *пролубь, NRP (/p/ + /p/  /p/ alveolar + /л/ dental).

In regressive dissimilation, it is the preceding sound that changes its articulation, e.g. Ukr. секретар  *секлетар, NRP (/р/ + /р/  /л/ dental + /р/ alveolar).

6. Accommodation is a combinatory phonetic process that is caused by interacting of the neighboring vowel and consonant sounds. As a result, either a vowel or a consonant becomes similar to the adjacent sound. Accommodation causes the appearance of an allophone of one and the same phoneme. E.g. Engl. /`tu:/ ‘two’, ‘too’ (an unrounded consonant becomes rounded before a rounded vowel); Engl. /`ti:/ ‘tea’, Russ. /лик/ ‘лик’ (a consonant becomes palatalized before a front vowel); Russ. /лыко/ ‘лыко’ (a consonant becomes velarised, or made harder, before a back vowel); Engl. /`stju:dent/ ‘student’ (a fully back vowel becomes slightly advanced after the medio-lingual consonant /j/); Engl. /`bel/ ‘bell’ (a vowel becomes slightly more open before the dark / l /).

7. Elision is the omission of one of the similar adjacent sounds in connected speech, e.g. Russ. /сонце/ ‘солнце’, /лесница/ ‘лестница’. Haplology is the omission of one of the similar adjacent syllables in connected speech, e.g. Engl. /`laibri:/ ‘library’, /`probli:/ ‘probably’. The process is common in the study of historical sound change, e.g. Old English Englaland became England in Modern English. Cf. Russ. знаменоносец  знаменосец, розововатый  розоватый.

8. Intrusion, or epenthesis / ep n `0i:sis/, is the addition of sounds in connected speech; contrasts with elision. Anaptyxis / en p `tiksis/ is the a type of intrusion, when an extra sound is added within a word, e.g. Engl.*/fil m/, ‘film’ NRP; Russ. */пелемени/ ‘пельмени’ NRP (non-received pronumciation), */учавствовать/ ‘участвовать’ NRP, Ukr. *[рехферендум] ‘референдум’ NRP. Prothesis /pr `0i:sis/ is a type of intrusion, when an extra sound is added initially, e.g. Latin schola ‘school’ became Spanish escuela; Latin octo became Russian восемь. Cf. Russ. Анна and Ukr. Ганна; Ukr. RP (received pronunciation) Умань, аптека, оселедець and Ukr. dialectal Гумань (Умань), гаптека, госеледець. Linking is a type of intrusion, when an extra sound is added between two words. A common example in English is the use of intrusive /r/ between vowels in Received Pronunciation when there is no r in spelling, as in / `lo:r nd `o:d / ‘law and order’, /` efrik r nd `ei / ‘Africa and Asia’.

9. Metathesis /m ` te0 sis/ is an alteration in the normal sequence of sounds or syllables in a word. The effect may be heard in everyday speech, as when people say aks foe ask, but it is also a noticeable feature of language history. E.g. Old English hros became Modern English horse; Latin marmur became Russian мрамор. Cf. also Ukr. RP шосе and NRP соша.

• Positional phonetic changes result from the weak position of a phoneme. The most typical case of positional phonetic changes is reduction. Reduction and its types. (See 3).

• Orthoepy (Receved Pronunciation – RP) is a standardized system of rules for pronunciation in a specific language. Cf. NRP – non-received pronunciation, or deviation from the standard pronunciation.

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• Syllable is the minimal unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds, acting as a unit of rhythm. It consists of an obligatory nucleus (typically, a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants).

E.g. /`pen/: /e/ – the nucleus; /p/, /n/ – the margins.

Structural classifications also recognize a division between an initial onset and a following rhyme (or rime). The rhyme is further subdivided into a peak followed by a coda. The onset corresponds to the initial margin, the peak to the nucleus, and the coda to the final margin. E.g. /`pen/: /p/ – the onset; /en/ – the rhyme; /e/ – the peak, /n/ – the coda.

A syllable ending in a vowel is an open syllable; one ending in a consonant is a closed, or checked, syllable. The division of a word into syllables is called syllabification. A segment which can act as a syllabic nucleus is described as syllabic. The number of syllables in a word equals to the number of syllabic segments.

• According to the sonorous theory, a syllable is the minimal portion of voice energy which has its peak (the maximum of voice) and the margins (the minimum of voice). The peak is a syllabic sound – a vowel or sonorant; the margins are consonants. According to the muscular theory, a syllable relates to the increase of muscular tension at the beginning and its decrease at the end of a syllable.

• In the majority of languages the division of a word into morphemes and its division into syllables do not coincide. However, there are languages where these divisions mostly coincide: here, all or most of the morphemes or words consist of single syllables. Such languages are called monosyllabic. E.g. Chinese, Thai, and Tibetan.

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• Prosody is the unity of stress and intonation.

• Syllabic stress is a phonetic property of syllables. It relates to the way in which a stressed syllable is singled out, or made more prominent, in a word. Types of syllabic stress:

1. Dynamic stress: the stressed syllable is pronounced louder than the unstressed ones. This type of stress, combined with quantitative stress, is typical of Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, and many other languages. In Swedish, dynamic stress combines with musical stress.

2. Quantitative stress: the stressed syllable is longer than the unstressed ones. This stress hardly occurs by itself. It integrates with the other types of stress. Quantitative stress is most salient in New Greek.

3. Musical, or tone, stress: the stressed syllable has a particular pitch melody. The same syllable spoken with a different tone each time has a different meaning. Such languages are called tone languages. The examples are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Old Greek.

• Word stress relates to the location of stress in a word, and to the number of stresses with different degrees of prominence. Types of word stress:

1. With regard to its location in a word the following types are distinguished:

1. Free word stress, which can rest on any syllable in a word; it can move from one syllable to another. The examples are set by Ukrainian, Russian, and English. E.g. Ukr. ліс – ліси – лісовий; Russ. дом – дома – дома – домашний; Engl. artist – artistic, subject – subject. The change of stress may cause the change of meaning.

2. Fixed word stress rests on one and the same syllable in all words. E.g. in Czech, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Latvian stress rests on the first syllable; in French and in most Turkish languages stress rests on the last syllable; in Polish the last but one syllable is stressed.

3. Bound word stress is a kind of fixed stress which has a restricted zone within which it falls on a particular syllable. The example is Latin, where word stress rests on either the second or the third syllable from the end.

2. Provided there are two stressed syllables in a word, they may differ in the degree of prominence. Accordingly, the distinction is made between:

   1. Primary stress, which is more prominent, and

   2. Secondary stress, which is less prominent. E.g. Engl. /a: tikju:`lei n/

‘articulation’, /pr n nsi `ei n/ ‘pronunciation’.

• Metrical phonology studies the interplay of stresses and unstressed syllables in words and word groups. (See 4).

• Sentence stress performs syntactic and semantic functions: it unites words into meaningful phrases. Sentence stress is a component of intonation. Sentence stress is based on the word stress. Types of sentence stress:

1. P hrasal, or syntagmatic, stress makes the phrase a syntactic whole where some words are stressed and some are unstressed. One of the stressed syllables (usually, that which is final) has a conventional tone associated with a particular meaning. Phrasal stress is compulsory for a sentence. E.g. Ukr. Вони навчаються в універси теті. Вони навчаються в универcи теті. Engl. They study at the uni versity. Do they study at the uni versity?

2. Logical stress highlights the most important information, which may be conveyed by any word in the phrase, even that which is conventionally unstressed. The logically stressed word is pronounced louder than the other words. This type of stress is not compulsory for a sentence. E.g. Engl. THEY study at the university. Your book is UNDER the table. It is not ON the table. The cup ISN’T broken.

3. Emphatic, or emotional, stress is intended for conveying the attitude of the speaker towards the highlighted information. Emphasis is exposed through the change of voice pitch. This type of stress is not compulsory for a sentence. E.g. Engl. It’s so ``WONDERFUL. He knows``NOTHING about it (High Fall).

• Stress group is a sequence of syllables constituting a rhythm unit that contains one primary stress. A stress group may include one stressed word and one or more unstressed ones. As a rhythm unit, they make up ‘a phonetic word’. The unstressed words attached to the stressed one are called clitics. Clitics include enclitics and proclitics.

Enclitic is an unstressed word attached to the preceding stressed word. E.g. Ukr. сказав би; Russ. без вести, по миру, по воду; Engl. cannot.

Proclitic is an unstressed word attached to the following stressed word. E.g. Ukr. на столі; Russ. мой дядя; Engl. an apple, my uncle.

• Intonation is a complex unity of speech melody, sentence stress, rhythm, tempo of speech, pauses, and voice timbre.

Speech melody is represented by variations of voice pitch produced by significant moves of the voice up and down.

Sentence stress: see above.

Rhythm is a regular flow of speech in which stressed and unstressed syllables occur at definite intervals. There are two kinds of rhythm: syllable-timed rhythm and stress-timed rhythm. In languages spoken with syllable-timed rhythm (e.g. French and Japanese), all syllables are of equal value; they follow each other with fairly equal length and force. The rhythm is even, based on a smooth flow of syllables without a strong contrast of stress. To an English-speaking person this kind of rhythm sounds mechanically regular. English with this kind of rhythm would be hard to understand. In languages with stress-timed rhythm (e.g. English, Ukrainian, Russian), there is alteration of strongly and weakly stressed syllables. It is the stress (stressed syllable) that occurs at fairly equal intervals of time.

Tempo of speech is the relative speed or slowness of utterance which is measured by the rate of syllable succession, and the number and duration of pauses in a sentence. The average rate of delivery may contain 2 to 4 syllables per second for slow speech (lento), from 3 to 6 syllables per second for normal speech, and 5 to 9 syllables per second for fast speech (allegro).

Pause is an act of stopping in the flow of speech. Acoustically, a pause is the absence of sound. Physiologically, it is the absence of articulation. Pauses are used for physiological purposes (to inhale the air), for semantic purposes (to show the link between phrases or syntagms / `sint mz/), and for emphatic purposes (e.g. to express surprise, bewilderment, astonishment, etc).

Voice timbre is the ‘color’ or ‘tonal quality’ of voice. Timbre depends on the physiological properties and psychological state of a person.

LITERATURE:

1. Соколова М.А. и др. Практическая фонетика английского языка. М., 1984. Chapter 1: The Production of Speech (pp. 10 – 13).

2. Васильев В.А. English Phonetics. M., 1980. Chapter 1: The Organs of Speech and their Functions (pp. 15 – 16).

3. Жаботинская С.А. Методическая разработка по практической фонетике английского языка для студентов 1-3 курсов факультета иностранных языков. Часть 1. Основы теории: ЗВУКИ И СЛОВА. – Черкассы, ЧГПИ, 1988. (pp. 4-25; 32-40).

4. Aitchison, J. Linguistics. – Chicago, 1993. Chapter 5: Sound Patterns (pp. 37 – 47).