3. ENGLISH VOWELS: ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION

Білан - Долецька

English vowels are classified according to the following criteria:

1. stability of articulation;

2. length of articulation;

3. tongue position;

4. tenseness;

5. lip position

(see Supplement E)

4. ENGLISH CONSONANTS: ARTICULATORY CLASSIFICATION

English consonants are defined as speech sounds in the production of which:

1. there is an articulatory obstruction;

2. muscular tension is concentrated at the place of articulation;

3. the air-pressure is rather strong (see Supplement E).

5. SPEECH SOUNDS: THE FUNCTIONAL ASPECT

5.1. Speech is the manifestation of language. Spoken language is a continuum of sound. Speech sounds or segments when studied in isolation as abstract linguistic units are called phonemes. The complete set of phonemes is called the phonemic structure of language. The different phonetic realizations of a phoneme are called allophones.

The number of phonemes in different languages varies. In average it is about 50 units:

	Ukrainian	Russian	English
Vowel phonemes	6	6	20
Consonant phonemes	32	35	24
Total	38	41	44

 The number of phonemes in each language is much smaller than the number of sounds actually produced.

It is necessary to know how speech sounds are produced and how they function as the medium of human communication.

Theory of the phoneme. The definitions of the ‘phoneme’ vary. Most linguists consider the phoneme as the basic language unit.

Schools of phonology

Leningrad Phonological School

(L.V.Sherba): phonemes are "sound types which are capable of distinguishing the meaning and the form of words".

A phoneme is an autonomous unit.

Moscow Phonological School

(R.I.Avanesov, P.S.Kuznetsov, A.A.Reformatsky):

a phoneme is the smallest sound unit. Phonemes constitute the sound forms of morphemes and words.

Copenhahen Linguistic School, or Danish Structuralism

(L.Helmslev, H.J.Uldall, K.Togby): A phoneme has no meaning of its own, but it helps to differentiate between the meanings of larger units (words).

Prague Linguistic School

(N.S.Trubetskoi, A.Martine): A phoneme is a constituent of the sound form of words. Such elements are similar in different words. Comparison of words and word-forms which differ in one sound results in distinguishing phonemic oppositions (contrasting pairs of sounds/ minimal pairs).

American School of Descriptive Linguistics

(K.L.Pike, Ch.Hockett): introduced the definition of an allophone as a positional variant of one and the same phoneme. The school considered various types of contexts (distributions) in which phonemes can occur. A phoneme as a sound type is represented by its allophones.

Phonemic oppositions are the pairs of phonemes that have integral features, but are opposed to each other by one or several differential features.

Types of phonemic oppositions
1	one-feature opposition	Engl. /t/ :: /d/ – voiceless :: voiced	the phonemes have one differential feature
2	multi-feature opposition	Engl. /p/ :: /z/ – voiceless :: voiced, labial :: lingual, occlusive:: constrictive	the phonemes have several differential features
3	typical opposition	Engl. /p/ :: /b/, /t/ :: /d/, /k/ :: /g/ – voiceless :: voiced;	is revealed in a number of sound pairs
4	isolative oppositions	Ukr. /в/ :: Engl. /w/.	the opposed phonemes belong to different languages

Neutralization of phonemic oppositions occurs in one-feature opposition, when one of its members loses its differential feature while used in a weak position. Thus, the opposition is reduced to one member, e.g. Russ. /кот/ “код” :: /кот/ “кот” – /д/ :: /т/ = /т/.

Allophones are positional variants of one and the same phoneme. Unlike phonemes, allophones don’t differentiate between meanings:

e.g. short and long vowels in Ukrainian /'мама/ & ['ма:ма];

aspirated and non-aspirated consonants in English /pet/ & [p^het].

These sounds differ in one articulatory feature only.

 Allophones occur in different positions in the word (i.e. different environments). Allophones can’t contrast with each other.

Principal allophones do not undergo

any great changes

In speech

Subsidiary allophones

are those, articulation of which is influenced

by neighbouring sounds.

e

Such changes

are quite predictable

.g. door, darn, down – /d/ retains its typical articulatory characteristics.

/d/ - is slightly palatized before front vowels and the sonorant /j/, e.g. deal, day, did, did you;

/d/ - is pronounced without any plosion before another stop,

e.g. bedtime, bad pain, good dog;

/d/ is pronounced with the nasal plosion before nasal sonorants /n/ and /m/, e.g. sudden, admit;

/d/ when followed by /r/ becomes post-alveolar, e.g. dry, dream;

/d/ becomes dental when followed by the interdental /θ/, /ð/,

e.g. lead the way, good things;

/d/ becomes labialized when followed by the labial /w/, e.g. dweller. the plosion is lateral before lateral sonorant /l/, e.g. middle, badly

Allophones of the same phoneme:

- possess similar articulatory features (the same invariant);

- can show considerable phonetic differences.

phoneme	features	Vowels	Consonants
Strong position	are most distinct	when stressed	when stand before a vowel or a sonorous consonant
Weak position	some features become indistinct or even disappear	when unstressed	when stand before noise consonants or at the end of the word

Phonological mistake: an allophone of some phoneme is replaced by an allophone of a different phoneme; the meaning of the word is inevitably affected.

E.g. /i:/ in “beat” may become slightly more open, or may no longer be diphthongized – “beat” may be perceived as quite a different word “bit”.

Phonetic mistake: an allophone of some phoneme is replaced by another allophone of the same phoneme; the meaning of the word is not affected; the accent occurs (see Supplement E).

5.6. Transcription is a set of symbols representing speech sounds.

Phonemic (broad) transcription provides special symbols for all the phonemes of the language; it incorporates as much phonetic information as it is necessary to distinguish the functioning of the language sounds.

Allophonic (narrow) transcription suggests special symbols to denote allophonic modifications, e.g. [k^hu:l] – the symbol [^h] indicates aspirated articulation.

6. SOUND ADJUSTMENTS IN CONNECTED SPEECH

In the flow of connected speech sounds are pronounced in a certain way. Their articulation is attuned to the articulation of surrounding sounds. These phonetic changes are not occasional. They are typical of the language.

To sound properly the speaker is to follow the patterns of English sound adjustments. There are combinatory and positional phonetic changes.

6.1. Combinatory phonetic changes are caused by the distribution of a phoneme. They are:

• ASSIMILATION

• DISSIMILATION

• ACCOMODATION

• NASALIZATION

• ELISION

• INSERTION

6.1.1. ASSIMILATION is the adaptive modification of a consonant by a neighbouring consonant in the speech chain:

according to its direction:	acc. to the degree of completeness:
regressive – loss of plosion: glad to see you progressive – Engl. sonorants /m/, /n/, /r/, /l/, /j/, /w/ preceded by the fortis voiceless consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/ are partially devoiced: play, twins, tray, snake.	partial: plate [pleIt], skate [skeIt]– no [h]. complete that pen / ðæp pen/ that girl / ðæk gз:l/ has she? /hæ∫ ∫i:/