ICCEP

UNIT 5

Refer back to the [ ], [ ] and [ ] sounds from Unit 4

Exercises

Ex. 2.Practise reading the pairs of words making the difference between [ ] and [ ] clear:

Ex.3. Pronounce the words with the [ ] sound. Mind the positional length of the diphthong:

Ex. 4. Read the following sentences paying attention to the [ ] and [ ] sounds:

l. 'Once beaten | 'twice shy.

[ i: ]

2.'Make 'hay while the 'sun shines.

[ ]

3.A 'stitch in 'time 'saves nine.

[ ]

4. The 'man had a 'hammer in his hand.

[ ]

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5.'Alice and 'Agnes 'sat in the hammock.

[ ]

6.'Handsome 'is as handsome does.

[ z]

The Phoneme [l]

There are two main variants of the phoneme [1] in the English language.

One is called the “clear” [1]. It is used before vowels and [j], e.g. [lesn] lesson, [ ] live, [ :] value.

The second is called the “dark” [1]. It is used before consonants and in word-final position, e.g. [ ] children, [bel] bell, unless followed by a vowel or the sonorant [j] in the same sense-group. In the latter case the clear variant is used:

cf. [tel] tell – [ ] tell us; [ ] will – [ ] will you.

In pronouncing both variants of the phoneme [1] the soft palate is raised. The tip of the tongue is slightly pressed against the teeth-ridge while the sides of the tongue are lowered forming rather wide passages.

The air passes along these channels without audible friction. As a result, tone prevails over noise in the articulation of the phoneme [1].

In the articulation of the clear variant of the phoneme [1] the middle part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate. This slightly palatalizes the sound.

In the articulation of the dark variant the back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate giving a dark colouring to the sound.

In the articulation of both variants of the phoneme [1] the vocal cords are brought close together, drawn tight and vibrate.

Whereas the English clear [1] and dark [1] are two variants of one and the same phoneme, their use being determined by their different positions in the word, the Russian consonants [л] and [л’] are different phonemes, because they are capable of distinguishing Russian words otherwise alike and occur, therefore, in one and the same position, cf: [мол] мол – [мол’] моль, [лук] лук – [л’ук] люк.

The Russian palatalized phoneme [л’] is more palatalized than the English clear variant of the phoneme [l], because in the articulation of the Russian [л’] the middle of the tongue is raised still higher. The Russian non-palatalized phoneme [л] is darker than the English dark variant of the phoneme [1], because in the articulation of the Russian [л] the back of the tongue is raised still higher while the middle of the tongue is lower.

In pronouncing the English [1]- phoneme Russian learners are apt to make the following mistakes:

a)they replace the principal alveolar variant of [1] by the Russian dental consonant [л];

b)they make the English dark [1] too dark and the clear [1]too palatalized;

c)they make the dark [1] after a stressed short vowel at the end of a word or before a voiced consonant too short and less sonorous that it should be sometimes even devoicing the final [1] and making it non-syllabic after a consonant.

Ex. 1. Focus on soft and dark variants of the [l] phoneme:

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The Phoneme [r]

In the articulation of the phoneme [r] the soft palate is raised. The tip of the tongue is raised towards the back part of the teeth-ridge, forming a rather wide narrowing, while a spoonshaped depression is made in the middle part of the tongue (cacuminal articulation).

The sides of the tongue are raised, leaving the air-passage open along the central part of the tongue. As the air-passage is rather wide, the air passes through the narrowing without any audible friction. As a result tone prevails over noise in the pronunciation of [r]. The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate.

In the articulation of the Russian phoneme [p] the tip of the tongue is raised towards the teeth-ridge leaving a spoon-shaped depression in the middle part of the tongue. For this reason the Russian [p], like the English [r], is called cacuminal. But it differs from the English [r] in the manner of the production of noise.

In pronouncing the Russian [p] the tip of the tongue vibrates interrupting the stream of air repeatedly and forming momentary obstructions against the teeth-ridge. The tip of the tongue taps against the teeth-ridge two or three times.

Ex. 2. Read the following words practising the English sound [r]:

The English Back Vowels

Vowel [ :]

In pronouncing the English phoneme [ :] the bulk of the tongue is retracted and held in the

lowest position possible in the mouth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised. The lips are neutral. The opening between the jaws is wide.

The vowel [ :] is long. It may be defined as back, open (a broad variation of the low position of the tongue), unrounded, long and tense.

The vowel [ :] is more retracted than the Russian [a] (e.g. “палка”).

Russian learners are apt to replace the English [ :] by the more front Russian vowel [a]. To

prevent this mistake the tongue must be held very low in the mouth while the back part of the tongue must be considerably retracted as compared with its position when the principal variant of the Russian [a] -phoneme is pronounced.

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Ex. 3. Practise saying the sound [ :]:

Practise reading the following tongue-twisters paying attention to articulatory basis № 2 and memorize it:

The Poor Giraffe

It’s a hard task |

To 'stand and bask|

In the 'long grass |

While 'people pass. | “They 'laugh and laugh,”

Said the 'tall gir affe. | “If I could bark, |

I’d 'rid the park | Of 'all who laugh |

At the 'poor gi raffe.” ||

Listen to dialogue № 51.4 of the linguaphone course “Sound Right”, write it down, transcribe, intone and act it out.

Listen to the dialogue “At a Party” of the linguaphone course “Ship or Sheep” by A. Baker, write it down, transcribe, intone and act it out.

Grammar

The Plural of Nouns A Set of Questions with

1)a Countable Noun in the Singular

2)a Countable Noun in the Plural

3)an Uncountable Noun

(See Grammar Supplement № 1, 2, 3)

Ex. 4. Read the words and pay attention to the way that the “s” at the end of the nouns is pronounced:

Ex. 1. Transcribe the following words:

Task, past, nasty, calmly, thick, jar, meant, gargle, crisp, wild, bath

Ex. 2. Distribute the words into 3 columns depending on the positional length of a vowel.

[ :, : , : , : , , , , ]

Ex. 3. Transcribe the following words preceded by the indefinite and the definite articles. Mind the pronunciation of the articles:

The apple, an apple, the garden, the arm, a car

Ex. 4. Read the following sentences substituting the given nouns for the nouns in brackets. Write the tonogrammes of the first two sentences of each section:

1.[ i: ] ([ , , ])

2.[ ] ([ , , ])

3.[ ] ([ , , , i:, i: , , ])

4.[ i: ] ([ , , , ])

Ex. 5. Pronounce the plural form of the following nouns. Distribute them into three columns depending on the pronunciation of the plural ending:

[ , , , , i: , , , , , : , , , , ,, i:]

Ex. 6. Write the plural of the following nouns:

Bench, car, class, table, tie, name, river, hand, pass

Ex. 7. Read the following word combinations fluently:

Ex. 8. Change the following sentences according to the pattern. Read them fluently:

Pattern: 'This is a match. – 'These are matches.

1. This is a bag. 2. This is a letter. 3. This is a tent. 4. This is a teacher.

Ex. 9. Put general question to the following sentences. Pay attention to phrasal stress and intonation:

1. The river is wide. 2. This is a red apple. 3. The texts are in the bag. 4. The task is easy. 5. That is a large flat. 6. Dick is in the park.

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UNIT 6

Refer back to the sounds [r], [ :] from Unit 5

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Vowel [ ]

In pronouncing the phoneme [ ] the bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth cavity, but somewhat advanced. The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate. The lips are spread. The opening between the jaws is not so wide as for [ :]. The vowel [ ] is short. When stressed, it is always checked.

The English vowel [ ] is not so open as the Russian stressed [a] (for example, in “дан”). It sounds very much like the Russian [ ] in a pretonic syllable (for example, in “какой” [к кой]).

Russian learners are apt to replace the English [ ] by the Russian [a] or the English [ :]. In order not to replace the English [ ] by the Russian [a] the tongue must be held more back and a little higher as compared with its position in pronouncing the Russian stressed [a].

Ex. 1. Practise saying these words making sure that the sounds [ ] and [ :] are correct:

Listen to dialogue N° 10.1 (I’ve cut my thumb) of the linguaphone course “Sound Right”, write it down, transcribe, intone and act it out.

The phoneme [j]

In the articulation of [j] the soft palate is raised, the middle of the tongue is held against the hard palate at approximately the same height as in pronouncing the vowel [ ]. The sides of the

tongue are raised, leaving the air-passage open along the central part of the tongue. The tip of the tongue is lowered.

The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate.

The air-passage is rather wide, the air passes without any audible friction through the narrowing formed by the middle part of the tongue against the hard palate.

That is why tone prevails over noise in the articulation of [j]. The sound is very short and weak. The tongue immediately glides from the position for [j] to that of the following vowel.

In the articulation of the Russian [й] before a vowel the middle of the tongue is raised still higher in the direction of the hard palate. As a result of this the Russian [й] is pronounced with more noise than the English [j].

Ex. 2