- •Theoretical english phonetics phonic substance of language and ways of its analysis and description
- •1. Language use in oral verbal communication
- •2. Pronunciation as a way of materializing of oral form of language
- •3. Phonic structure of language and its components
- •4. Units of language vs. Speech
- •5. Phonetics as a science and its branches. Phonetics and phonology
- •Pronunciation varieties/accents of english
- •1. Defining an accent
- •2. Major accents of english
- •1) Southern English or rp/bbc English;
- •2) General American/GenAm or Network English.
- •3. Social shapes of english
- •4. Pronunciation norm and its codification
- •5. Specialist dictionaries of english pronunciation
- •Articulatory and functional aspects of speech sounds
- •1. Aspects of speech sounds
- •2. Speech sounds as articulatory units and the problem of their classification
- •The sounds of English
- •3. The articulatory classification of the english vowels
- •4. The articulatory classification of the english consonants
- •5. Vowel and consonant adjustments in connected speech: coarticulatory phenomena
- •Basic rules of syllabification in english
- •Guidelines for syllabification of syllabic consonants
- •Division into syllables in writing
- •Word stress
- •1. The nature of english word stress
- •2. Types of english word stress
- •3. English word stress functions
- •4. Word accentual paterns. Guidelines to english word stress placement
- •Lexical stress of three-syllable simple words
- •Lexical stress of words of four or more syllables
- •Words with prefixes
- •References
Theoretical english phonetics phonic substance of language and ways of its analysis and description
1. Language use in oral verbal communication
Language teachers are expected to know: 1) how oral speech is produced for successful verbal communication; 2) what language resources are used; 3) how they function to create a particular linguistic meaning.
Verbal communication is the process of transmitting a verbal message from a speaker to a listener through a channel.
For sending messages the communicators use a code: “any systems of signals used for sending messages. The senders are said to encode the message and the receivers to decode it” Encoding is a process of putting the speaker’s thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes into a form recognizable by the listeners. The encoded message is then transmitted via a particular channel to a listener.
Typically in verbal communication the communicators use a verbal code - language and a system of nonverbal codes (body language, touch and spatial behaviour, appearance, etc.). Language as a code consists of the following resources: a lexicon, a grammar and a phonology. It exists in its two material forms: oral and written. Oral language form has its sound/phonic material substance, and written language form - graphic.
When language is used for verbal communication the communicators 1) apply language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) 2) put their knowledge of language resources (phonology, grammar and vocabulary) into action 3) produce a discourse (дискурс).
A discourse is a continuous stretch of language - oral or written - which has been produced as the result of an act of communication; “… it is perceived by the interlocutors as meaningful, unified and purposive”.
2. Pronunciation as a way of materializing of oral form of language
Phonic shaping of oral form of language is called pronunciation. The concept pronunciation has several meanings in present-day phonetics.
In its narrow meaning it is restricted to the features manifested in the articulation of the sounds of a language.
Its wide interpretation implies the entity of discourse features relating to:
1) the SOUND SYSTEM of a language (the so-called segmental phonemes in the form of their actual speech manifestations - allophones or variants);
2) the SYLLABIC STRUCTURE of a language (syllable formation and syllable division);
3) WORD-STRESS/LEXICAL STRESS;
4) INTONATION as a complex unity of pitch (тональний), force (силовий) and temporal (темпоральний) components.
Pronunciation is the primary medium through which we bring our use of language to the attention of other people. It is a process of materializing of features relating to the system of sounds/phonemes, the syllabic structure, prosody (word stress and intonation) while speech/oral verbal message is constructed.
3. Phonic structure of language and its components
Language is shaped into a spoken message by means of its phonic structure/sound matter (звукові матерії) which is traditionally treated as a combination of four components:
1) the segmental/phonemic component;
2) the syllabic structure;
3) the accentual structure/word stress/lexical stress;
4) intonation.
Word stress and intonation can be treated together under the heading supra-segmental or prosodic component because these effects are superimposed on the segmental chain of sounds and carry the information which the sounds do not contain.