- •Phonetics. It’s nature and use
- •2. Phonetics and other branches of linguistics
- •3. The theory of the phoneme in its historical development
- •4. The theory of the phoneme in foreign phonological schools
- •5. The dialectical-materialistic conception of the phoneme
- •6. Phonetics and phonology
- •7. Speech sounds and Phonemes
- •8. The phoneme alternations
- •9. Methods of phonological analysis
- •10. The distinctive and constitutive functions of segmental phonemes
- •11. Classification of Eng. Vowels
- •12. Phonological analysis of English vowels
- •13. The articulatory aspect of Eng. Vowels
- •14. Classification of Eng. Cons-s
- •15. Phonological analysis of English consonants.
- •16. The articulatory aspect of Eng. Cons-s
- •17. Assimilation
- •18. Reduction in English.
- •19. A syllable as a phonetic unit.
- •20. The principle theories of syllable formation
- •21. The syllable construction in English
- •22. Word stress in English
- •23. Place of word stress, degrees and types of word stress
- •24. Sentence-stress in English.
- •25. Three principal functions of sentence stress in English
- •26. Sentence stress and a sense group
- •27. Logic and emphatic stress in English
- •28. Intonation in English
- •29. Widened and narrowed ranges of int. Level tone
- •30. Speech melody
- •31. Two basic functions of speech melody
- •32. Tempo and timbre of speech in English
- •33. Rhythm of speech
- •34. Means of emphasis in English
- •35. Stylistic use of intonation
- •36. The main ways of notation (запись, усл. Знаки) of intonation patterns
- •37. British Received Pronunciation
- •38. American pronunciation standard
- •39. Regional variants of received pronunciation in England
- •40. Local dialects of English in g. B.
21. The syllable construction in English
A syllable is a speech unit consisting of a sound or a sound sequence one of which is heard to be more prominent than the others. The most prominent sound being the peak or the nucleus of a syllable is called syllabic. Syllabic sounds are generally vowels and sonorants. The sonorants (ex, l, n, m) become syllabic when joined to a preceding consonant. Ex, apple, trouble, puzzle. (The sonorants [w, j, r] are not syllabic)
A word consisting of only one vowel sound represents a separate syllable, eg, [ai], are [a:], or [э:].
Many words in English such as parcel, level, special, person and the like could be pronounced with the neutral vowel before the sonorant thus making it non-syllabic.
In all these words the second prominent sound or the peak is formed by [э]. Some words in English not having any vowel-letter before the final sonorant may also be pronounced in both ways – пазл-пазэл.
On the other hand many words having a vowel-letter before the final sonorant are pronounced without the neutral vowel, that’s why the sonorant is syllabic, eg garden; lesson; pupil.
The words with the sonorant [m] blossom, are more often pronounced with the neutral vowel.
SO IF A SONORANT IS PRECEDED BY A VOWEL SOUND IT LOSES ITS SYLLABIC CHARACTER AND THE SYLLABLE IS FORMED BY THE VOWEL.
So we must be sure to make the final sonorants l, n, m, with a preceding consonant syllabic, ex, giggle, dozen.
22. Word stress in English
The sequence of syllables in the word is not pronounced identically. The syllables which are uttered with more prominence than the other syllables of the word are said to be stressed or accented. Stress in the isolated word is termed word stress; stress in connected speech is termed sentence stress.
Stress is defined differently by dif. authors.
- Bogoroditsky defined stress as an increase of energy, accompanied by an increase of expiratory and articulatory activity.
- Jones defined stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force of exhalation and gives an impression of loudness.
- Sweet also stated that stress is connected with the force of breath.
- According to Gimson, the effect of prominence is achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowel colour.
If we compare stressed and unstressed syl-s in the words ‘contract, to con’tract, we may note that in the stressed syllable:
(a) the force is greater, which is connected with more energetic articulation;
(b) the pitch of voice is higher, which is connected with stronger tenseness of the vocal cords and the walls of the resonance chamber;
(c) the quantity of the vowel [96] in [kən'trækt] is greater, the vowel becomes longer;
(d) the quality of the vowel [96] in the stressed syllable is different from the quality of this vowel in the unstressed position, in which it is more narrow than ['96].
Word stress can be defined as the singling out of one or more syllables in a word, which is accompanied by the change of the force of utterance, pitch of the voice, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the sound, which is usually a vowel.
English word stress is traditionally defined as dynamic, but in fact, the special prominence of the stressed syllables is manifested in the English language not only through the increase of intensity, but also through the changes in the vowel quantity, consonant and vowel quality and pitch of the voice.
Russian word stress is not only dynamic but mostly quantitative and qualitative. The length of Russian vowels always depends on the position in a word.
Stress difficulties peculiar to the accentual structure of the English language are connected with the vowel special and inherent prominence. In identical positions the intensity of English vowels is different. The highest in intensity is /a:/, then go /о:, з:, i:, u:, æ, σ, e, υ, i/.
All English vowels may occur in accented syllables, the only exception is /ə/, which is never stressed. English vowels /i, и, ə υ/ tend to occur in unstressed syllables. Syllables with the syllabic /1, m, n/ are never stressed. Unstressed diphthongs may partially lose their glide quality. In stressed syllables English stops have complete closure, fricatives have full friction, and features of fortis/lenis distinction are clearly defined.