- •Phonetics as a subject (general notes).
- •Phonetics as a subject, its branches.
- •Connection of phonetics with other sciences.
- •The phoneme theory (the definition of a phoneme, its functions).
- •Phonological schools. Methods of Phonological analysis.
- •Methods of the phonemic analysis
- •The English Vowel system.
- •1. Stability of articulation
- •2. Position of the tongue
- •3. Position of the lips
- •Classification of the English vowels.
- •1. Stability of articulation
- •2. Position of the tongue
- •3. Position of the lips
- •The English Consonant system.
- •9. Classification of the English consonants.
- •Assimilation. Types of assimilation.
- •Word-stress or accent in English (its nature, functions, position in words).
- •Word stress in a language performs three functions.
- •Place of word stress in English.
- •Syllable formation and syllable division.
- •Word-stress and sentence-stress, their difference.
- •Theories of syllable formation and syllable division.
- •English Intonation (general notes).
- •Intonation in unemphatic speech.
- •17. Intonation in emphatic speech.
- •The ascending scale; the sliding scale; the level scale; the scandent scale.
- •18. Functions of intonation.
- •D. Crystal distinguishes the following functions of intonation.
- •19. The English Tunes.
- •20. Received pronunciation and general American pronunciation.
1. Stability of articulation
1.1. monophthongs vs. diphthongs
bit - bait, kit - kite, John - join, debt — doubt
1.2. diphthongs vs. diphthongoids
bile - bee, boat — boot, raid - rude
2. Position of the tongue
2.1. horizontal movement of the tongue
a) front vs. central
cab — curb, bed — bird
b) back vs. central
pull – pearl, cart - curl, call - curl
2.2. vertical movement of the tongue
close (high) vs. mid-open (mid) bid — bird, week - work
open (low) vs. mid-open (mid) lark - lurk, call — curl, bard-bird
3. Position of the lips
rounded vs. unrounded don — darn, pot - part
The English Consonant system.
The phonological analysis of English consonant sounds helps to distinguish 24 phonemes. Principles of classification suggested by Russian phoneticians provide the basis for establishing of the following distinctive oppositions in the system of English consonants:
1. Degree of noise - bake - make, veal - wheel
2. Place of articulation
a. labial vs. lingual
pain — cane
b. lingual vs. glottal
foam — home, care — hair, Tim - him
3. Manner of articulation
3.1 occlusive vs. constrictive pine -fine, bat - that, bee - thee
3.2 constrictive vs. affricates fare — chair, fail -jail
3.3 constrictive unicentral vs. constrictive bicentral – same – shame
4. Work of the vocal cords and the force of articulation
4.1 voiceless fortis vs. voiced lenis
pen — Ben, ten - den, coat - goal
5. Position of the soft palate
5.1 oral vs. nasal
pit — pin, seek — seen
There are consonant phonemes in the English language which can be classified according to the articulating (main) organ into the following types:
1. Labial consonants which are subdivided into: a) bi-labial, i.e. articulated by means of both lips; b) labio-dental - articulated by means of the lower lip with the upper teeth as the passive organ.
2. Lingual consonants which are subdivided into: a) fore-lingual; b) fron-lingual (or mid-lingual); c) back-lingual.
In this group we distinguish: apical, dorsal and cacuminal [kæ'kju:mɪn(ə)l].
Apical consonants are articulated by the tip of the tongue which is brought into contact with the teeth or the teeth ridge.
Dorsal consonants are articulated by lowering the tip of the tongue (so that it comes into contact with the front lower teeth) while the closure or narrowing of the air passage occurs between the blade of the tongue and the upper teeth.
In the articulation of the cacuminal consonants the tip of the tongue is curled back and is usually brought into contact with the teeth ridge and the fore part of the hard palate.
3. Velar consonants are formed by means of a closure or a narrowing between the velum (soft palate) and the back of the tongue, in cases when the velum is active.
4. Uvular consonants are formed by the activity of the uvula.
The English consonants form oppositions based on the following principles:
1) The manner of articulation (stops and constrictives).
2) The articulating organ (labial, lingual).
3) The passive speech organ (dental, alveolar, palatal, velar).
4) The shape of narrowing (a narrow slit or round aperture).
5) The presence or absence of voice (voiced and voiceless).
6) The prevalence of noise or musical tone (voiced noises and sonorants).
7) The kind of resonance (oral or nasal).
8) The noise-producing obstacles (single point and double-point).
9) The manner of releasing closure (plosives and affricates).