Theory of English Phonetics = Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Учебно-методическое пособие

ARTICULATORY

AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

OF ENGLISH PHONEMES

1.Answer the following questions:

1.What is a consonant sound?

2.How do the consonants change on the articulatory level?

3.What are the two consonant classes according to the degree of noise?

4.What is the function of the vocal cords in the production of voiced and voiceless noise consonants?

5.How does the degree of noise vary according to the force of articulation?

6.What is a sonorant? State the difference between sonorants and noise consonants.

9.Which consonant sounds are called occlusive?

10.Why are plosives called “stops”?

11.Which consonant sounds are called constrictive?

12.How else are constrictive noise consonants called and why?

13.How do the fricatives vary in the work of the vocal cords and in the degree of force of articulation?

14.How are the constrictive sonorants made?

15.Which consonant sounds are occlusive-constrictive?

16.Enumerate the consonant groups according to the place of articulation.

17.How are the forelingual consonants classified according to the work of the tip of the tongue?

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THEORY OF ENGLISH PHONETICS | ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯФОНЕТИКААНГЛИЙСКОГОЯЗЫКА

18.How do the forelingual consonants differ according to the place of obstruction?

19.Why do phoneticians distinguish three groups of vowels according to the stability of articulation?

20.What characteristics do all front vowels have in common that is differing them from the back vowels?

21.What is the difference between front and front-retracted vowels?

22.What is the difference between back and back-advanced vowels?

23.What makes central and front vowels different?

24.What characteristic makes close vowels unlike mid and open ones?

25.What are the two types of vowels according to the degree of tenseness?

26.How do different phonetic contexts modify vowel length in English?

2.Give the definition of the terms:

Consonant sound, noise consonant, sonorant, nasal sonorant, oral sonorant, lenis consonant, fortis consonant, voiceless consonant, voiced consonant, plosives, fricatives, affricates, labial consonants, forelingual consonants, palatals, velar consonants, glottal consonant, vowel sound, monophthong, diphthong, diphthongoid, front vowels, front-retracted vowels, central vowels, back vowels, back-advanced vowels, close (high) vowels, open (low) vowels, mid vowels, rounded vowels, tense vowels, lax vowels.

3.What consonants are characterized as:

a.lenis, interdental;

b.fortis, labio-dental, fricative;

c.velar, nasal;

d.palatal, sonorant;

e.voiced, palato-alveolar, affricate;

f.aspirated, alveolar, plosive.

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Articulatory and physiological classification of english phonemes

4.Decide whether the final sound of the following words is voiced or voiceless:

bus, use (noun), as, breathe, has, off, buzz, teeth, of, booth

5.In each of the groups of sounds below there is one that is not produced at the same place of articulation as the others. Identify this odd one out.

6.Below are some English words. Follow a suggested change for each of the words.

a)fight: change a labiodental consonant into a voiceless velar consonant

b)take: change an alveolar consonant into a postalveolar consonant

c)bathe: change an interdental consonant into an alveolar sonorant

d)new: change an alveolar consonant into a bilabial sonorant

e)peer: change a bilabial consonant into a voiced alveolar consonant

7.Which of the following English words contain no sonorants? soon, clasp, talked, beauty, sky, cows, thorough, quick, captive, chalk

8.Insert the appropriate consonant sound for each description.

a)Put the front of your tongue against the back of your upper teeth. Let the air pass through as you breath out

b)Put your lips together. Use your voice, and let the air escape through your nose

c)Open your mouth and breathe out. Don’t use your voice, but try to make a noise

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THEORY OF ENGLISH PHONETICS | ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯФОНЕТИКААНГЛИЙСКОГОЯЗЫКА

9.Fill in Table 2.

Table 2

Classification of English Consonants

10.What vowels are characterized as:

a.front, high;

b.back, diphthongoid;

c.central, long;

d.central, low;

e.back-advanced, unrounded

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Articulatory and physiological classification of english phonemes

11.Each of the following sets of vowels has an ‘odd one out’. Identify it and say why it is unlike the others.

a) /æ ɪ eə ʊ e / b) /i: e æ u:/ c) /u: ɜ: ɒ i: ɑ:/ d) / ɑ: æ ɒ i:/

12.Illustrate the following oppositions:

a.Consonants:

voiced – voiceless, occlusive – constrictive, noise – sonorous, labial – forelingual, labial – backlingual, bilabial – labiodental, interdental – alveolar

b.Vowels:

front – back, long – short, high – low, rounded – unrounded, monophthong – diphthong, tense – lax

13.Fill in Table 3.

14.Compile a list of the vowel sounds you have difficulties with, give possible simple explanations how to create the sounds.

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THEORY OF ENGLISH PHONETICS | ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯФОНЕТИКААНГЛИЙСКОГОЯЗЫКА

15.Make a list of the consonant sounds a student can have difficulties with. Think of ways of helping the students overcome the difficulties.

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GRAPHEMES, PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES

1.Answer the following questions:

1.What is phonology?

2.How are phonemes discovered?

3.What is the difference between phonemes and allophones?

4.How are allophones classified?

5.What features are called distinctive (relevant) and nondistinctive (irrelevant)? Give examples.

6.What patterns of phoneme distribution do you know?

7.Speak on the method of discovery of minimal distinctive features.

8.How is a phoneme defined by different scientists?

9.What are the aspects and functions of the phoneme?

10.What is a grapheme in linguistics? What is the relationship between graphemes and phonemes?

2.Give the definition of the terms:

Phonology, phoneme, allophone, principals, subsidiary allophones, positional allophones, combinatory allophones, free variation, complementary distribution, contrastive distribution, minimal pair, single opposition, double opposition, multiple opposition.

3.Analyze the words given from the viewpoint of the inventory of graphemes, phonemes, letters.

chaos, vest, duty, shame, chorus, hymn, dawn, light, guitar, work, archaic, committee, cough, watched, exceptional

4.Watch an extract from an American sitcom I love Lucy https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZV40f0cXF4 Write down words

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THEORY OF ENGLISH PHONETICS | ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯФОНЕТИКААНГЛИЙСКОГОЯЗЫКА

with the grapheme ough and compare their pronunciation. Give other examples showing that one grapheme may represent different phonemes.

5.Compare the ways of representing /u:/ sound in boot, fruit, crew. Give other examples showing that one phoneme may be represented by different graphemes.

6.Give the phonetic reference of the digraph “-ed” in the words: stepped, limited, pinned, begged, added, watched, barred, cared

7.Transcribe these homophones. Prove the differentiatory function of graphemes. Give your examples.

pact-packed pair-pare-pear franc-frank wear-where weather-whether scene-seen berth-birth ceiling-sealing

8.Read the pairs of words given below. State which of them represent minimal pairs and which sub-minimal pairs.

9.In the minimal pairs below single out the phonemes which are contrasted.

pet – pat, ware – hair, cake – lake, called – cold, farm – calm, bake – badge, thumb – theme, tribe – trite, whim – win, prime – prim, scream – stream, fare – fear, start – stout, pool – pull

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Graphemes, phonemes and allophones

10. Give examples to prove that the following features of the English consonants and vowels are distinctive.

orality – nasality tenseness – laxness frontness – backness voicelessness – voicedness

plosiveness – constrictiveness

11.Read these words. Comment on the allophonic difference of the vowel phonemes.

lee – league – leak dee – dean – deep knee – need – neat saw – sword – sought sir – serve – serf

12.According to what distinctive features are the following phonemes contrasted?

/b/ – /m/, /t/ – /ʧ/, /z/ – /ʒ/, /t/ – /s/, /θ/ – /s/, /f/ – /v/, /eɪ/ – /e/, /i:/ – /ɪ/

13.Make minimal pairs with the first word.

14.Which of the following pairs are minimal pairs?

a)ship – sheep

b)cat – car

c)cheap – chip

d)heart – hear

e)cat – cut

f)kite – coat

g)bought – boat

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THEORY OF ENGLISH PHONETICS | ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯФОНЕТИКААНГЛИЙСКОГОЯЗЫКА

h) hit – heat

i)trick – treat

j)bins – beans

15.Provide minimal pairs for the following phonemes:

16.Using the method of minimal pairs show that /t-s/, /θ-s/, /f-s/ are different phonemes.

17.Prove that the Russian sounds [л] and [лˈ] are the phonemes whereas the English sounds [ł] and [lˈ] are the allophones.

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