7) The classification of english vowels

- Vowels are normally made with the air stream that meets no obstruction in the mouth, pharyngeal and nasal cavities. - On the articulatory level the description of vowels notes changes:

1. in the stability of articulation

2. in the tongue position

3. in the lip position

4. in their length

The stability of articulation All English vowels are divided into 3 groups: monophthongs, diphthongs, diphthongoids. Monophthongs are vowels the articulation of which is almost unchanging. They are - [i e ǽ a: o o: U Λ ə: ə ]. In the pronunciation of diphthongs the organs of speech glide from one vowel position to another within one syllable. The starting point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct. They are - [ei ai oi au əu iə εə uə] In the pronunciation of diphthongoids the articulation is slightly changing but the difference between the starting point and the end is not so distinct as it is in the case of diphthongs. They are - [i: u:] Tongue Position The tongue may move forward, backward, up, down, thus changing the quality of vowels. 1. When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth and the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate a front vowel is pronounced. They are - [i: e ǽ] 2. When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted and the part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to front is raised, a front-retracted vowel is pronounced. It is - [i]. 3. When the front of the tongue is raised towards the back part of the hard palate the vowel is called central. They are - [Λ ə: ə]. 4. When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth and the back of it is raised towards the soft palate a back vowel is pronounced. They are - [a: o o: u:]. 5. When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth but is slightly advanced and the central part of it is raised towards the front part of the soft palate a back-advanced vowel is pronounced. It is - [U]. Moving up and down in the mouth the tongue may be raised to different height towards the roof of the mouth. 1. When the front or the back of the tongue is raised high towards the palate the vowel is called close. They are - [ i: I u u:]. 2. When the front or the back of the tongue is as low as possible in the mouth open vowelsare pronounced. They are - [ǽ a: o o:]. 3. When the highest part of the tongue occupies the position intermediate between the close and the open one mid vowels are pronounced. They are - [e Λ ə: ə]. Lip Position When the lips are neutral or spread the vowels are called unrounded. They are - [i: i e ǽ a: Λ ə: ə]. When the lips are drawn together so that the opening between them is more or less round the vowel is called rounded. They are - [o o: u u:]. Vowel Length All English vowels are divided into long and short vowels. Long vowels are - [i: a: o: u: ə:] Short vowels are - [i e o u Λ ə]

DIFFERENCES IN THE ARTICULATION  BASES OF ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN jVOWELS

Articulation bases of English and Russian vowels are different.

(1)          The lips. In the production of Russian vowels the lips are con­ siderably protruded and rounded /о, у/. In the articulation of the similar English h, o:/, /u, u:/ considerable protrusion does not take place. Englishmen have the so called "flat-type" position of the lips, their lips are more tense than the lips of the Russian, and the corners of the lips are raised, which resembles a smile.

(2)          The bulk of the tongue. In the articulation of the English vow­ els the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in the pro­ duction of the Russian yowels. When the bulk of the tongue moves in the horizontal direction it may occupy a fully front and a front- retracted, a fully back and a back-advanced position. Horizontal move­ ments of the tongue condition the articulation of the /э, э:/ vowels, which are of mixed type.

Each of the three vertical positions of the tongue (high, mid, low) in English is subdivided into a narrow and broad variety. Thus, sixgroups of vowel sounds are formed in the system of English vowels.

Such broad variety of the bulk of the tongue positions is not ob­served in the production of the Russian vowel sounds. When clas­sified according to the vertical movement of the tongue they may be divided into; high — /и, ы, у/, mid — /э, о/ and low — /a/.

According to the horizontal movement of the bulk of the tongue Russian vowels may be subdivided into: front — /и, э/, central — /ьг, a/ and back — /о, у/. The articulatory peculiarities in the pro­nunciation of English vowels constitute the basis for the formation of diphthongs when the position of the tongue changes within the articulation of one and the same vowel.

(3)  The principle of the degree of tenseness in vowel classification is inseparably connected with the free or unchecked and checked char­ acter of the vowels.

(4)       The length of the vowels. Long vowels in English are consid­ ered to be tense. There are no long vowels which can be opposed pho- neraically to short vowels in the Russian language. Length in the Russian vowel system is an irrelevant feature.

(5)       The stability of articulation. There are monophthongs and diphthongoids in the Russian vowel system, but there are no diph­ thongs.

(6)       There are 6 vowel phonemes in Russian and 20 in English. Given below are English vowels which have no counterparts in Rus­ sian:

-      slightly rounded, but not protruded vowels /u:, o:/;

-       vowels articulated with the "flat" position of the lips in the /i:, i, e, ei/ production;

-      very low vowels, such as /se, v, a/;

-     front-retracted /i/ and back-advanced /u, a/;

-      central or mixed /э, s:/;

-      checked and free vowels;

-      diphthongs /ei, ai, oi, ю₇ еэ, иэ, аи, эй/.

In articulating EngHsh vowels Russian students are apt to make the following mistakes:

(1)    they do not observe the quantitative character of the long vowels;

(2)    they do not observe the qualitative difference in the artic­ ulation of such vowels as /i:—if, /и:—и/, /э:—1>/;

(3)           they replace the English vowels /i:, о:, и:, л, за, о., и/ by the Russian vowels /и, о, у, а, э/;

(4)   they pronounce /i:, i,  e, ei/ without the "flat position" of the lips;

(5)          they soften consonants which precede /i:, i, e, se, ei/ front vowels as a result of which the latter become more narrow and the consonants are palatalyzed.

(6)          they articulate /t>,  o:, u, u:, эй/ with  the lips too much rounded and protruded;

(7)          they make the sounds /se, d/ more narrow because they don't open  the mouth properly,  similarly to the Russian /э, о/;

 

(8)         they do not observe the positional length of vowels;

(9)         they make both elements of the diphthongs equally distinct; (10) they pronounce initial vowels with a glottal stop (?).