- •Содержание
- •1. The subject matter of phonetics. The contribution of Russian and foreign linguists into the development of phonetics as a linguistic science.
- •2. The connection of phonetics with other branches of linguistics.
- •Grammar and phonetics.
- •3. General and special phonetics and their interconnection. Historical, descriptive and comparative phonetics as branches of special phonetics.
- •4. Four aspects of speech sounds. Branches of phonetics based on these aspects and their connection with non-linguistic sciences.
- •5. Methods and instruments of phonetic investigation.
- •6. Main trends in the phoneme theory
- •7. The Kazan school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •8. The Leningrad school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory
- •9. The Moscow school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •10. The Prague school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •11. The London school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •12. The American school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •13. The definition and characteristics of the phoneme as a unity of three aspects.
- •14. Phonemic variants and their classification Modification of English vowels in connected speech.
- •15. Phonemic variants and their classification Modification of English consonants in connected speech.
- •16. Relevant and irrelevant features of phonemic variants. The invariant. Allophones and phones.
- •17. Distribution of phonemes. Phonemic oppositions.
- •18. Classificatory principles of English consonants as the basis for the phonological oppositions in the system of English consonant phonemes.
- •Work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation.
- •Active organ of speech and the place of obstruction
- •Manner of the noise production and the type of obstruction.
- •19. Classificatory principles of English vowels as the basis for the phonological oppositions in the system of English vowel phonemes.
- •Position of the lips.
- •Position of the tongue.
- •Length.
- •Degree of tenseness
- •The character of the end.
- •20. Differences in articulation basis of English and Russian vowel and consonant phonemes.
- •21. The definition general characteristics and structure of syllables.
- •22. The definition of the syllable. General principles of classification of syllables. Types of syllables.
- •23. The definition of the syllable. Functional characteristics of syllables.
- •24. The definition of the syllable. The expiratory theory of syllable formation.
- •25. The definition of the syllable. The relative sonority theory of syllable formation.
- •26. The definition of the syllable. The muscular tension theory of syllable formation.
- •27. The definition of the syllable. The three types of consonant theory of syllable division.
- •28. The definition of the syllable. The loudness theory of syllable formation.
- •29. The definition and general characteristics of word-stress. Terms synonymous to stress.
- •30. The definition of word-stress. The classification of word-stress according to its relevant features.
- •31. The definition of word-stress. The classification of word-stress according to its position.
- •32. The definition of word-stress. The degrees of word-stress.
- •33. The definition of word-stress. Accentuation tendencies of English.
- •34. The definition of word-stress. Functional characteristics of word-stress.
- •35. The definition if intonation. Voice tambre and temporal characteristics of intonation.
- •36. The definition of intonation. Speech melody as a component of English intonation.
- •37. The definition of intonation. Sentence stress as a component of English intonation.
- •38. The definition of intonation. Rhythm as a component of English intonation.
- •39. The definition of intonation. Functional characteristics of intonation.
- •40. The definition of intonation. Unemphatic and emphatic intonation.
- •41. The definition of a syntagm and its general characteristics.
- •42. The definition of a syntagm. The head, pre-head, tail as elements of a syntagm.
- •43. The nucleus of a syntagm. The principle nuclear tones in English.
- •44. Standard pronunciation of English and its regional variants. Received Pronunciation and non-rp dialects.
- •45. National variants of English pronunciation. The main types of American pronunciation.
- •46. The main differences between Received Pronunciation and General American pronunciation.
37. The definition of intonation. Sentence stress as a component of English intonation.
Intonation - is a complex unity of communicatively relevant variations of non-segmental, or prosodic features of speech which include melody, or the changes of the pitch of the voice, sentence stress, or the greater prominence of some words among other words of the utterance, tamber, or the special colouring of the voice and temporal characteristics.
Sentence-stress. The function of word-stress is to mould the words by indicating the strongest syllable in a word. Sentence stress organizes the phrase phonetically, helps to make speech articulate, provides the basis for identification and understanding of the contents by contribution to clear rendering of the meaning. It indicates the end of the syntagm by means of strengthening the last syllable, by a definite pitch-pattern and frequently also by a pause. Sentence-stress is used to indicate the important words in a syntagm (from the point of view of grammar, meaning or the speaker’s attitude).
In accordance with these functions of sentence-stress, we may distinguish three types of it: (1) syntagm stress (unemphatic or normal sentence-stress); (2) logical sentence-stress; (3) emphatic sentence-stress. Each type is characterized by different degree of stress.
Syntagm stress is used in unemphatic speech to break up connected speech into syntagms and to indicate the important words in syntagms. Some linguists distinguish between syntagmatic (or primary) stress which singles out only the semantic centre of a syntagm and is usually realized in the last stressed word, and syntactic (or subsidiary) stress which emphasizes all the other notional elements of speech.
Logical stress is used to push into prominence a word or words in a syntagm that are significant from the point of view of meaning or of the speaker’s attitude to the subject discussed. It consists in shifting the syntagmatic stress from its normal place in the last stressed syllable to one of the preceding words.
So there are two positions of syntagmatic stress – unmarked, or normal position on the last lexical item of the syntagm, and marked, or special position on an earlier part of the syntagm, when the speaker wants to draw attention to it, usually to contrast it with something already mentioned, or understood in the context. In the first case the nucleus is called the end-focus. In the second case the nucleus is called contrastive-focus.
Emphatic stress is used to express the speaker’s emotions or to suggest to the listener some idea or some shade of meaning which is not expressed in words. Sentence stress is made emphatic by widening the range of pitch of the nucleus, increasing the degree of loudness of the syllable, slowing down the tempo.
Degrees of stress in an utterance correlate with the pitch range system. Nuclear stress is the strongest – it carries the most important information. Non-nuclear stresses are subdivided into full and partial. Full stress occurs only in the head, partial stress occurs also in the pre-head and tail. Words given partial stress do not lose prominence completely, they may retain the whole quality of their vowels.
Sentence-stress and word-stress are mutually dependent. Their relationships consist in the modifications which the accent of a word undergoes when this word is used in a sentence. These modifications are as follows:
The functions of sentence-stress are accomplished in the English language by means of two main principles: the dynamic (the greater force of utterance) and the musical (changes in the direction of voice pitch), as well as by two subsidiary principles: the qualitative and the quantitative.
The dynamic principle applies also to word-stress; however, sentence-stress makes use of the emphatic degree of stress which is expressed partly by pitch variations, partly by the following methods:
a) glottal stop; b) modifications of stress; c) specially distinct articulation of words, syllable by syllable.
The activity of the musical principle is expressed in the pitch-patterns that are used in final stressed elements of syntagms, and also in the variations of pitch among the stressed elements within the same syntagm.
The quantitative principle, which plays a subsidiary role in English, mostly concerns consonants which are frequently lengthened for the sake of emphasis, especially sonorants.
In unemphatic speech there is a certain uniformity in the distribution of sentence-stress in a syntagm. Of course, these principles vary in different languages. In an English syntagm, stress mostly marks groups of words and less frequently – words. These so called “stress groups” give to an English syntagm, and, consequently, to English speech in general, a peculiar rhythmical pattern. Thus, an English syntagm consists of a number of “stress-groups”; a “stress-group”, in its turn, consists of a number of unstressed syllables which are grouped around a stressed one.