Sound [eI]

- No pains no gains.

- To call a spade a spade.

2) Ship or Sheep U-14, 15

3) Listening U-14, 15

4) Pronunciation Tasks U-42

5) Divide the words into syllables: needless, Britain, huddle, possibly, suppose, boundary, temporary, reasonable, parliament.

Control Questions:

1) What is a syllable?

2) What sounds can make a syllable?

Literature:

1. Vasiliev V.A. English Phonetics. 1980, p. 86-89

UNIT 15

SYLLABLE DIVISION

Main Theoretical Concepts:

I. Syllable division is effected by an increase in the force of utterance including an increase in muscular tension and in the force of exhalation or the onset of a fresh breath pulse at the beginning of a syllable

e.g. without

1) [wIDQut] An increase of the force of utterance takes place at the beginning of the consonant [D]. The point of syllable division is between the vowel [I] and the consonant [D]

2) [wID-Qut] – an increase of the force of utterance takes place at the beginning of the diphthong [Qu]

II. Correct syllable division at the junction of words may be of phonological importance because the wrong syllable division may lead to the confusion or to a phonological mistake

e.g. She saw them eat [SI sL Dqm Jt]

She saw the meat [SI sL Dq mJt]

III. Phonetic syllables do not coincide with the graphic ones: writ-ing [rQI-tIN], bet-ter [be-tq], mak-er [meI-kq]

IV. The division of English words into syllables is governed by the following principle rules:

1) Because of their weak off – glide the English long monophthongs, diphthongs and unstressed short vowels [I, q, u] always occur in a phonologically open syllable.

The point of syllable division is immediately after them when they are separated from a following syllabic sound by only one consonant

e.g. ordinarily [L-dI-nx-rI-lI], meeting [mJ-tIN]

2) A short stressed vowel in the same position - when it is separated from a following syllabic sound by only one consonant always occurs in a closed syllable, the syllable boundary being within the consonant

V. Functions of syllables:

1) constructive - syllables form words, phrases, sentences

2) distinctive: a nice house [q nQIs hQus]

an ice house [qn QIs hQus]

I scream [QI skrJm]

ice – cream [QIskrJm]

an ocean [qn quSn]

a notion [q nquSn]

Practical Tasks:

1) Ship or Sheep U – 15

2) Listening U – 15

3) Pronunciation tasks U – 42

4) Devide the words suggested by the teacher into syllables.

Control Questions:

1) What influences the syllable division? Give the examples.

Literature:

1. Vasiliev V.A. English Phonetics. M., 1980, p. 86-89

2. Leontieva S.F. A Theoretical Course of English Phonetics. M., 1989

TEST

1. Answer the questions

• What is a syllable?

• What makes a syllable?

• How can we divide a word into syllables?

2. Divide the suggested words into syllables.

`

UNIT 16 – 17

THE ACCENTUAL STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH WORDS

Closely connected with the syllabic structure of words is their accentual structure, because it's the syllable that bears what is known as word – stress or word accent.

The accentual structure of a word can be shown graphically by the stress marks placed above (primary stress) or below (secondary stress).

[ ImpLt]; [Im pLt]; [In fInItIv]; [ IndI vIzI bIlItI]

The basic rules of English word accentuation are as follows:

a) In most disyllabic words the accent falls on the initial syllable : ready [ redI], mother [mADq], colour [ kAlq]

b) In disyllabic words with a prefix which has lost its meaning the stress falls on the second syllable, that is to say, on the root syllable: become [bI kAm], begin [bI gIn], pronounce [prq nQuns]

c) In disyllabic verbs ending in –ate, -ise, -ze, -fy the stress falls on the last syllable: dictate [dIk teIt], surprise [sq prQIz], defy [dI fQI]

In most words of three or four syllables the accent falls on the third syllable from the end of the word: family [ fxmIlI], cinema [ sInqmq]

Most words of more than four syllables have two stresses: primary (nuclear) and secondary. The primary stress falls either on the third or second syllable from the end. In most words the secondary stress falls on the syllable separated from the nuclear syllable by one unstressed syllable: pronunciation [prq nAnsI eIS(q)n]

Most English words which have two primary stresses are formed with prefixes or suffixes. One of two primary stresses falls on the root syllable, the other - on the suffix or the prefix: Chinese [ CQI nJz], misprint [ mIs prInt].

The compound nouns have:

a) the nuclear accent on the second element the first being unstressed: mankind [mxn kInd], shortcoming [SLt kAmIN]

b) the nuclear accent on the first element and the secondary on the second one which is pronounced on a low level pitch: hair – dresser [ heq dresq]

c) the pre – nuclear primary accent on the first element and the nuclear one on the second one: ice cream [ QIs krJm], tea – pot [ tJ pPt]

Practical Tasks:

1) Write the words in the groups according to the accentual types.

2) Write the words in groups according to the accentual types indicated in the following table

1	2
Words With the Suffixes Stressed	Words With the Suffixes Unstressed

4) Transcribe (marking the stress) and read the following words.

5) Answer the theoretical questions

6)