2. Classification of English vowels according to the position of the lips.

According to the position of the lips vowels may be: 1. rounded and 2. unrounded.

1. Rounded vowels are those in the production of which the lips are more or less rounded and protruded.

2. Unrounded vowels are those in the production of which the lips are spread and neutral.

3. Classification of English vowels according to length.

According to the position of the lips vowels may be: 1. long and 2. short.

4. Classification of English vowels according to the degree of tenseness.

According to the degree of tenseness vowels are divided i8nto two groups: 1. tense and 2. lax.

1. Tense vowels are those in the production of which the organs of speech are tense, that is to say, the muscles of the tongue, the walls of the mouth-resonator and of the pharynx are tense. All the English long vowels

are tense.

2. Lax vowels are those in the production of which the muscles of the organs of speech are less tense. All the English short vowels are lax.

The greater tenseness of long vowels is closely connected with their length. In pronouncing a long vowel the organs of speech are held in certain position for a rather long time. Retaining the quality of a long vowel unchanged requires greater muscular tension of the organs of speech than in the articulation of a short vowel.

In addition to the above principles, the English vowels are also classified according to the character of their end. From this point of view they may be: (a) checked and (b) free.

(a) checked vowels are those which are pronounced without any diminution in the force of utterance to wards their end. They have, therefore, a strong end. Therefore they can only occur in a closed syllable, i.e. a syllable which ends in a consonant sound. All the English short vowels under stress are checked.

(b) free vowels are those which are pronounced with a diminution in the force of utterance to wards the end. Therefore, they have a weak end. Free vowels need not be immediately followed by a consonant and may, therefore occur at the end of a syllable. All the English long monophthongs and all the diphthongs are free, no matter whether they are stressed or not. The English short vowels in an unstressed syllable are also free.

The English vowel phonemes are not differentiated according to the position of the soft palate. They are all oral, i.e. in the pronunciation of any English vowel the soft palate is always raised and the entire volume of air passes out through the mouth cavity.

3. Stability of articulation. English diphthongs.

The stability of articulation is the principle of vowel classification which is not singled out by British and American phoneticians. In fact, it is the principle of the stability of the shape, volume and the size of the mouth resonator. We can speak only of relative stability of the organs of speech, because pronunciation of a sound is a process, and its stability should be treated conventionally.

According to this principle vowels are subdivided into:

a) monophthongs, or single vowels;

b) diphthongoids;

c) diphthongs, or complex vowels.

English monophthongs are pronounced with the more or less stable lip, tongue and the mouth walls position.

A diphthongoid is a vowel which ends in a different element. «Гласный имеет в начале (или в конце) незначительный элемент другого, близкого ему по артикуляции гласного несколько неоднородный характер, не производящий, однако, впечатление дифтонга».

There are two diphthongoids in English [i:], [u:].

Diphthongs are defined differently to different authors. One definition is based on the ability of a vowel to form a syllable. Since in the diphthong only one element serves as a syllabic nucleus, a diphthong is a single sound.

Another definition of a diphthong as a single sound is based on the instability of the second element. The third group of scientists define a diphthong from the accentual point of view. Since only one element is accented and the other is unaccented, a diphthong is a single sound.

The first element of a diphthong is the nucleus, the second is the glide. A diphthong can be falling when the nucleus is stronger than the glide and rising when the glide is stronger than the nucleus. When both elements are equal such diphthongs are called level.

According to the movement of the tongue within the articulation of the diphthong from the nucleus to the glide, diphthongs are subdivided into closing and centring.

4. The system of English vowel phonemes as compared with the system of Ukrainian and Russian vowel phonemes.

The system of English and Ukrainian vowel phonemes differ in many points.

1. The number of phonemes is not the same in the two languages.

There are 20 vowel phonemes in the English language. 10 of them are monophthongs, 8 diphthongs and 2 diphthongoids.

There are only 6 vowel phonemes in the Ukrainian language: [I], [И], [Е], [А], [О], [У].

2. Besides the difference in quality, English vowel phonemes differ from Ukrainian vowel phonemes in length.

In the English language there are long and short vowel phonemes while in Ukrainian long vowel phonemes do not exist.

3. According to the stability of the articulation and quality, English vowel phonemes are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids. All the Ukrainian vowel phonemes are monophthongs, there are no diphthongs in Ukrainian.

4. The division of vowel phonemes into different groups according to the position of the tongue is not the same in the English and Ukrainian languages.

In the English language there are front, back and mixed vowel phonemes. In Ukrainian there are no mixed vowel phonemes. The English front and back vowel groups include a considerable greater number of phonemes t5han those of the Ukrainian language.

5. Phonematic system of the English and Ukrainian languages differ also in the articulation of vowel phonemes within the same group.

Thus, the English front vowel phonemes [i], [i:], [e]. are closer and more front than the corresponding Ukrainian [I], [И], [Е].

The English back vowel phonemes [o], [u] are more retracted than the Ukrainian back vowel phonemes [О], [У].

6. The position of the lips is not the same in forming English and Ukrainian labialized vowel phonemes. In forming English labialized sounds the lips are rounded but not protruded. In Ukrainian the rounding of the lips is accompanied by considerable protrusion.

The position of the lips is not the same in pronouncing English and Ukrainian non-labialized vowels either. In pronouncing English non-labialized vowels the lips are flat and not protruded. In making Ukrainian non-labialized vowels the lips move noticeably forward from the teeth.

5. Differences in the Articulatory Bases of English and Russian Vowels.

Articulatory bases of English and Russian vowels are different.

1. The lips. In the production of Russian vowels the lips are considerably protruded and rounded: [о], [у]. In the English [ɒ], [ɔ:], [ʋ], [u:] such protrusion does not take place. In the neutral position, that is, when a person does not speak, the lips of the Russian people are lax and their corners lowered. The Englishmen have the so-called "flat-type" position of the lips, their lips are rather tense and the corners of the lips are raised, which resembles a smile.

2. The bulk of the tongue in the production of the Russian vowels occupies mostly the front part of the mouth cavity, in the articulation of the English vowels the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in the Russian vowel production.

3. The principle of the degree of tenseness and the character of the end in vowel classification is inseparably connected with the next principle.

4. The length of the vowels. Long vowels in English are considered to be tense. There are no long vowels which can be opposed phonetically 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 diphthongs in the Russian vowel system, but there are no diphthongs, which exist in the English vowel system and are characterized by phonetic instability and phonetic unity.

Peculiarities of English Vowels

(Russian Learners Mistakes)

In the system of English vowels there are the following peculiarities, which do not exist in the system of the Russian vowels:

1. long and short vowels: [i:] - [i], [ɔ:] - [ɒ], [u:] - [ʋ], [ɑ:] - [ʌ], [ɜ:] - [ə]:

2. slightly rounded, but not protruded vowels: [u:], [ɔ:];

3. vowels articulated with the "flat" position of the lips in the [i:], [i], [e], [ei] production;

4. very low vowels, such as [æ], [ɒ];

5. front-retracted and back-advanced [i], [ʋ], [ɑ:];

6. mixed [ə], [ɜ:];

7. diphthongoidal pronunciation of [i:], [u:] and stable articulation in the [ɔ:] pronunciation;

1. diphthongs [ei], [ai], [ɔi], [iə], [ɛə], [ɔə], [ʋə], [аʋ], [əʋ].

In connection with these peculiarities Russian learners make the following mistakes:

1. they do not observe the quantitative character of the vowel (that is the length);

1. they do not observe the qualitative difference in the articulation of such vowels as[i]-[i:],[ʋ]-[u:],[ɒ]-[ɔ:];

2. they substitute English vowels for similar Russian vowels;

3. they pronounce [i:], [i], [e], [ei] without the "flat position" of the lips;

2. they soften consonants which precede front vowels as a result of which the latter become narrower [i:], [i], [e], [æ], [ei] (this phenomenon is known as adaptation) and the former are palatalized;

3. they articulate [ɒ], [ɔ:], [ʋ], [и:], [əʋ] with the lips too much rounded and protruded;

4. they make the sounds [æ], [ɒ] narrow because they don't open the mouth properly;

4. they do not observe the positional length of vowels;

5. they make both elements of the diphthongs equally distinct;

10) they pronounce initial vowels with a glottal stop [^s].

Questions for self-control:

1. What do we call cardinal vowels?

2. What are the main principles of classification of English vowels?

3. In what way does the stability of articulation influence the classification

of English vowels?

4. Do the systems of English and Russian vowels differ?

5. What are the differences in the articulation bases of English and

Russian?

Lecture 7

THE ARTICULATORY BASIS.

ARTICULATORY TRANSITIONS OF VOWEL

AND CONSONANT PHONEMES

Basic positions for the articulation basis of the English and Russian languages.

The notion of articulatory transition.

3. Peculiarities of the CC, CV, VC, VV articulatory transitions in English and in Russian.

4. Unstressed vocalism.

The number of articulatory positions and movements typical of a given language is called articulatory basis.

Sounds of different languages may be of the same type, but unlike articulatory; thus, English and Russian [t] is of the same type, and identical systematically, but different as to their articulatory basis.

The articulatory basis for English consonants includes a) apical-alveolar position of the tongue, b) interdental position, c) glottal position – all of these unlike Russian. Others, i.e. back-velar position of the tongue and bilabial lip position are partially similar to Russian. Thus, the sounds [k], [g] are similar, but not [ŋ]; also [p], [b] are similar to Russian but not [w]. In contrast to Russian the English articulatory basis is characterized by a greater energy of fortis consonants, by prolongation of nasal sounds.

The articulatory basis for English vowels consists of two basic positions of the tongue: front and back and the transition from one to another. The tenseness in the articulation of the long vowels also belongs here. Differences in the articulatory basis between languages together with systematic differences are the source of mistakes for foreign language learners (see the previous lecture).