I.3. Some principal differences between Russian and English articulation.

The basis of articulation is to be very important in foreign-language teaching: “…better results are achieved when the learner gets the basis of articulation right rather than trying for the foreign sound sequences from the basis of his own language” (p.289 Phonetics I.D. O'Connor 1978). We are to know the differences in tension, in tongue shape, in pressure of the articulators, in lip and cheek and jaw posture and movement, which run through the whole articulatory process.

The student should mind some principal differences between Russian (R) and English (E) articulation.

I. R: Dorsal pronunciation manner is peculiar for Russian articulatory basis. A Latin word "dorβum" (the upper area of the tongue) means for us a specific position of the tongue in the pronunciation of all Russian forelingual consonants /т, д, с, з …etc./, articulated with the concave relationship of the tongue body with the roof of the mouth.

Figure 1: Dorsal pronunciation manner.

E: Apical position of the tongue is peculiar for English articulatory basis. A Latin word "apex" (the top of smth.) means for us a specific position of the tongue in the pronunciation of forelingual English consonants /, z …etc./, articulated with the tip of the tongue raised up.

Figure 2: Apical pronunciation manner.

II. R: All Russian voiceless consonants are weak or lenis (formed with a small amount of air pressure) in all possible positions

/ п, п’, т, т’ … etc./.

E: All English voiceless consonants are very strong or fortis (formed with a large amount of air pressure), especially in some positions. But every student should bear in mind that English plosives

/ / are not strong in certain phonetic contexts. See I.7.

III. R: Each consonant of Russian is commonly classified as to

the presence or absence of voice. All Russian voiced consonants are strong /д , д’, б, б’… etc./.

E: All English voiced consonants are weak: / v … etc./.

Specifying these features of consonants we need to mention that voiced/voiceless character is of great relevance in Russian.

In English, fortis/lenis character of a consonant is of greater relevance than that of voiced/voiceless one.

IV. R: Voiced consonants do not exist in final position in a word: коз / кос/, столбов / сталбоф /, рожь / рош / etc.

E: Lenis consonants are never devoiced in final position but they are much weaker in that position than they are in the initial position of a word: seed / ί ^>w /, close/ U Z^>w /, leave/ ί ^>w / etc.

V. R: Palatalization in Russian is a phonemic phenomenon. There exists a group of palatalized consonants phonemically opposed to a group of non-palatalized consonants: / м // м’ /, / п // п’ /, / л // л’/.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking, for instance, that palatalization in Russian is realized within the consonant itself. It has been proved, that it is revealed in the "и - beginning” of the neighbouring vowel: тётя / т^и о т^и а/, дядя / д^и а д^и а / etc.

E: There shouldn't be any palatalization in English, but

to our regret it exists as a mistake in the speech of Russian learners of English. It occurs, as a rule, in the realization of consonants preceding front closed vowels // and /ί/, for example: pill /, meal/ί/ etc.

If the bulk of the tongue is raised very high in the direction of a hard palate, like in the process of articulating Russian / и /, we face the process of palatalization. It is considered to be a strong accent in E.

6. R: Neither nasal nor oral sonants in Russian are syllabic.

E: Some nasal and oral sonants are syllabic if they follow some noise consonants: / /, / /, /  /:

Figure 3: Noise + sonant = a syllable. ( / / )

VII. R: Lips can be called “inert” or “flaccid” in Russian. There's

no tenseness in muscular force spread over the whole surface of lips.

Figure 4: Russian / п /

The energy is concentrated in the middle part of the lips.

E: Lips can be called “strong” in English, as there's a specific

muscular tension spread over the whole surface of the lips.

Figure 5: English  /

The energy is evenly distributed over the whole surface of the lips.

VIII. R: There are 6 vowels in Russian and all of them are lax:

/ а /, / о /, / у /, / и /, / ы /, / э /;

E: There are two groups of vowels in the vocalic system of English: the group of tense vowels:/ ί /, /  /, /  /, /  /,   / and the group of lax vowels, comprising seven monophthongs:/  /, /  /, /  /, /  /,/  /, /  /, /  /, all the diphthongs: //, //, //, //, / /, /  /, /  /, / / and triphthongs: //, //, //, //, //.

IX.R: Russian pure plosives /п, п’, т, т’, к, к’, б, б’, д, д’, г, г’/, coming into contact with each other form the cluster, in which the preceding consonant preserves its slight plosion, for example: акт/ак^hт/.

E: When English pure plosives /p, t, k, b, d,  form the cluster with each other, a preceding consonant loses its plosion, for example, act / ^×  ^×. That phenomenon is called Loss of Plosion.