- •Министерство образования и науки
- •Рецензенты:
- •Введение
- •Section 1 the system of english consonants
- •Assimilation of consonants
- •Types of assimilation
- •1. Train different degrees of aspiration in the following pairs of words:
- •2. Train the loss of aspiration in the following words:
- •3. Read aloud the following words and word combinations. Mind the nasal plosion within the words and at word boundaries:
- •4. Read aloud the following words and word combinations. Mind the lateral plosion within the words and word boundaries:
- •Practise palataization of some consonants:
- •Train ”light” and ”dark” variants of the phoneme [l]:
- •Train a slight palatalization of the following consonants. To achieve this raise the front of the tongue towards the soft palate:
- •7. Train the loss of plosion in the following words and at word boundaries:
- •12. Train the following cases of false assimilation. Try to pronounce distinctly sound combinations:
- •13. Find the examples of true and false assimilation in the following words and word combinations written in transcription:
- •14. Read in a loud voice the following combinations of words with consonant clusters. Mind different phonetic phenomena in them:
- •15. Identify different phonetic phenomena in the following rhyme. Read the rhyme:
- •I’ll meet you any time you want,
- •Section 2 the system of english vowels
- •Phonetic peculiarities of english vowels
- •Practical material
- •Practice to pronounce the combinations of two vowels smoothly:
- •2. Mind positional length of the phonemes [j] and [l] in the following chains of words:
- •3. Train the phonetic syllabication in the following phrases:
- •5. Train the pronunciation of the linking [r] in the following phrases:
- •6. Make vowel rhymes choosing the correct word on the right:
- •7. Cross out the word which does not contain the vowel sound on the left:
- •8. Read aloud the phrases below. Pay attention to the pronunciation of front vowels:
- •9. Read aloud the sentences below. Be careful to pronounce correctly the front vowels:
- •10. Read aloud the phrases below. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the back vowels:
- •11. Read aloud the sentences below. Be careful to pronounce correctly the back vowels:
- •12. From each line write out one word in which the stressed vowel is pronounced differently.
- •Our queer language
- •Section 3 reduction of vowels
- •3. The following words are never reduced:
- •Indefinite pronoun ”some” in the meaning of “certain”
- •The table of weak and strong forms of form words
- •Practical material
- •1. Pronounce each of the following expressions as a blend unit. Be careful to weaken unstressed syllables properly:
- •2. Read and transcribe the following sentences:
- •3. Compare the full forms of the vowels in the words from the left column with the reduced form in the words from the right column:
- •4. Read the following sentences, paying attention to prepositions before final pronouns. The prepositions may have no stress, but they are used in their strong forms:
- •Section 4 accentual sructure of english words
- •Practical exercises
- •Pronounce the following words observing full or partial stress. Then read the sentences paying special attention to the words with two stresses:
- •6. Read the following sentences paying attention to the differentiating function of stress in the italized words:
- •7. Find the meaning of the following words which may be used either as nouns and verbs. Write these words in transcription. Mind their pronunciation:
- •9. Put the following countries into the correct stress columns below:
- •10. Write the nationality words next to each country.
- •11. Read the following sentences aloud. Mind the sentence stress.
- •12. Mark the sentence stress in the following sentences. Practice reading the sentences aloud:
- •13.* Listen to the following sentences and mark the sentence stress in them:
- •14. Give the stress patterns for these sentences.
- •15. * Listen to the poem and mark the sentence stress. The first verse is done for you. Then read aloud the verse. Future intentions
- •16. Read the poem and mark the sentence stress. Learn it by heart:
- •17. By using the logical stress, make the following sentences serve as an answer to each of the following questions.
- •I put my black coat away.
- •She lost her pocketbook.
- •18. Read the following sentences according to the indications given in brackets.
- •19. In the following sentences, the words which are logically stressed are in bold type. Read the sentences, note the shift of nucleus in them.
- •20. Read the following sentences paying attention to the unstressed as…as:
- •21. Care should be taken not to put a stress on as…as:
- •23. Read the following sentences, paying attention to prepositions preceded by the verb “to be”. They are usually stressed when there is no stressed word before them.
- •Section 5 english rhythm
- •Practical exercises
- •2. Break the following sentences into rhythmical groups and read them fluently beating the time:
- •3. The following exercise will help you to maintain the regular beat of the stresses. Read the lines aloud:
- •4. Read the following sentences, paying attention to the number of syllables in each group in bold type and changing the rate of speech accordingly.
- •6.* Listen to the following dialogues and imitate the rhythm in them:
- •7.* Let’s sing a song!
- •8. Read the following rhymes. Mind the English rhythm:
- •9. Mark the sentence stress in the following sentences. Match them with the rhythmic patterns given below. One sentence is odd:
- •10. Sentences for rapid reading. Note the loss of stress:
- •Section 6 english intonation
- •Intonation is a complex unity of variations in pitch, stress, tempo and timbre.
- •Low fall
- •Practical exercises
- •1. Reading practice. Read the following sentences and write tonograms to each of them:
- •2. Read the following short imperatives and then expand them using the words in brackets. Observe the change of the position of the Low Fall in them:
- •Low rise
- •Practical material
- •1. Reading practice. Read the following sentences and write tonograms for each of them:
- •Intonation of enumeration
- •Practical material
- •1. Train the intonation of enumeration in the following sentences:
- •2. Intone the following poem and read it:
- •Intonation of commands, violations, requests and advice
- •Practical material
- •Sequence of tones in alternative sentences
- •Practical material
- •1. Read the following alternative questions:
- •Practical exercises
- •1. Reading practice. Read the following sentences and write tonograms to each of them:
- •2. Reading practice. Train the Low Fall, Low Rise and High Fall in the following sentences:
- •High rise
- •Practical material
- •1. Reading practice. Read the following sentences and write tonograms for each of them:
- •2. Reading practice. Work in pairs training the High Rise. Change the roles:
- •Accidental Rise (Special Rise)
- •Fall rise
- •Practical material
- •1. Reading practice. Train the Fall-Rise in pairs. Change the roles:
- •2. Train the “undivided” Fall-Rise in the following sentences:
- •3. Train the “divided” Fall-Rise in the following sentences. Write tonograms for them:
- •4. Reading practice. Train 5 Nuclear Tones:
- •Rise-fall
- •Practical material
- •1. Train the Rise-Fall in the following sentences.
- •2. Reading practice. Train 6 Nuclear Tones:
- •Rise-fall-rise
- •Level tones
- •Intonation of parentheses
- •Intonation of vocatives
- •Intonation of the author’s words (reporting phrases)
- •Sequence of tones Sequence of Tones in simple sentences
- •Sequence of Tones in complex sentences
- •Practical material
- •Read the following sentences; practise the Rising Intonation in
- •2. Read the following sentences; practice the Falling Intonation in the first sense-group. It is frequently heard in grammatically complete non-final groups:
- •3. Read the following sentences; practise the Rising Intonation of final phrases and clauses added to a statement as an afterthought:
- •Sequence of Tones in alternative questions
- •1. Read the following alternative questions, paying attention to the combination of tones:
- •The scheme of the phonetic analysis
- •1. Analize the following sentences according to the scheme:
- •Section 7 supplementary material Limerics
- •In England once there lived a big
- •Reading dialogues
- •Sightseeing
- •2. Catching a bus
- •3. Dinner invitation
- •4. Discussing a new story
- •5. Daily needs
- •6. Greetings a. Acquaintances
- •B. Good friends
- •Elevenses (Lunch)
- •8. About prices
- •9. At the Police
- •10. Gossips
- •In this dialogue train the Rise-Fall in short general questions to show surprise.
- •11. Home-made food
- •In the following dialogue choose the right Nuclear Tones while pronouncing the interjection “mm”. It has several meanings. “Mm” means “What did you said?”, “Yes” and “How nice!”
- •12. At the shop
- •Reading Texts
15. Identify different phonetic phenomena in the following rhyme. Read the rhyme:
Meet me in the morning,
Meet me at noon
Meet me in September,
Or the middle of June.
Meet me in the summer,
Meet me in the fall,
Meet me in the evening,
Meet me in the hall.
Meet me at midnight,
Meet me at eight.
I’ll meet you any time you want,
But, please, don’t be late!
Section 2 the system of english vowels
There are 5 vowel letters in the English alphabet but there are 20 vowel sounds. A vowel is a voiced sound produced when there is no obstruction to the air stream. Vowels are sounds of pure musical tone. While pronouncing them the air stream is weak, the tongue and the vocal cords are rather tense. The only vowel sound which is completely relaxed is the sound [q] ( schwa sound or neutral sound). That is why the English phoneticians sometimes call it “lazy” sound. The English vowel sounds are classified according to different principles. One of them is the principle of stability of articulation of the organs of speech. According to it all the vowel sounds are classified into three groups.
Monophthongs are unchanging sounds, that is the organs of speech do not change their position throughout their duration. There are 10 monophthongs: seven short sounds – [i] [e] [x] [O] [u] [A] [q] and three long ones – [R] [L] [W].
Diphthongs are complex sounds consisting of two vowel elements. In the pronunciation of a diphthong the organs of speech start in the position of one vowel and glide gradually in the direction of another vowel. The first element is called a nucleus. It is strong, clear and distinct. The second element is rather weak, it is called a glide. There are 8 diphthongs in English: [ei], [ai], [OI],[au], [ou], [iq]. [eq], [uq].
Diphthongoids are vowel sounds in the articulation of which the organs of speech change their position but very slightly. They are: [J] = [I] > [J]
[H] = [q] > [H]
Some phoneticians also distinguish triphthongs which are usually composed by a diphthong and a neutral sound [q]. They are:
[aiq] [haiq] [laiqn] [taiqd] [paiq'niq] [saiqns] ['vaiqlit] ['daiqri] [kwaiqt]
[auq] [flauq] [pauq] [sauq] [Sauq] [tauq] [dauq] [tauql]
[eiq] [kqn'veiq] [sq'veiq] [leiq] [pleiq]
[ouq] [louq] [slouq] [Souq] [widouq]
[Oiq] [dis'trOiq] [im'plOiq] [q'nOiqns]
Phonetic peculiarities of english vowels
Positional length of vowels is the length which depends on the position of the vowel in a word.
The longest duration of the vowel is observed in a stressed syllable at the end of a word (in an open position): sea, bore, for. It is a little bit shorter before voiced consonants, and it is the shortest before voiceless consonants. Compare the length of vowels in these chains of words: see – seen – seat; bore – bored – bought.
A vowel is usually longer a) in a monosyllabic word than in a polysyllabic one: e.g. work - worker; b) in a stressed position than in an unstressed one: e.g. art – articulation.
Within a word or at the junction of words which are not separated by a pause, a combination of two vowels must be pronounced without interruption before the second vowel: e.g. radiator, the apple.
The same is true with a combination of a consonant and a vowel at junction of words. The final consonant of the first word tends to become the initial consonant of the second word when the second word begins with a vowel. The whole phrase will be pronounced as one unit. This is called phonetic syllabication( link of words). e.g. Take a cup of coffee. Take it away.