- •1. Phonetics as a science. Its branches and methods.
- •2. Phonetics as a science. Its Aspects.
- •3. Phonetics as a science. Its components
- •4. Connection of Phonetics with other branches of Linguistics (Grammar, Lex-gy, Sty-cs).
- •5. Classification of the organs of speech according to their sound-producing functions
- •6. Vowel classification.
- •9. Differences in the articulation basis of English and Russian vowels. Typical mistakes
- •7. Modification of vowels in connected speech
- •8. Principles of Consonant classification.
- •10. Differences in the Articulation Bases of the English and Russian Consonants. Typical mistakes of Russian learners.
- •11. Modiffication of consonants in connected speech
- •12. The Main Types of Accomodation
- •13. Assimilation according to its direction and degree
- •14. Modification of Consonants according to the Place of Articulation
- •15. Modification of consonants according to the manner of articulation
- •16. Differences in the process of Assimilation concerning the English and Russian languages.
- •17. The phomene: the problem of its definition
- •18. The Main Aspects of the Phoneme.
- •20, The Main Trends in the Phoneme Theory. Different points of View.
- •II. Functional view - special focus is given to the ability of the phoneme to differentiate the meaning.
- •21. Methods of phonological analysis
- •22. The phoneme and its Allophones. Their interrelation
- •23. Phonological and phonetic mistakes
- •Allophones. Their Classification.
- •25. The problem of neutralization of the phonemic opposition. Two main trends: Moscow and St.Petersburg
- •26. Typology of Accentual Structure of English words (worked out by Torsuev)
- •28. Functions of Word Stress: recessive retentive rhythmical semantic.
- •27. Word Stress. Its Nature, Position and Degree.
- •29. Intonation. The problem of its definition. Different approaches
- •30. Intonation. Its Notation, Different approaches.
- •31. The main structural components of the intonation pattern
- •32.Functions of Intonation.
- •34. Stylistic use of intonation.
- •33. The notion of the English rhythm
- •35. Pronunciation standards of English
25. The problem of neutralization of the phonemic opposition. Two main trends: Moscow and St.Petersburg
It becomes even more difficult when the sounds are in the weak position which is called “the position of neutralization”, when the distinctive features are neutralized. For vowels this is an unstressed position, for consonants – word final position or the position before other consonants. The English “active” [æ-] – “activity” [ə-]. This problem is tackled by morphonology which studies the relations between phonemes and morphemes. It studies the way sounds alternate as different realizations of one and the same morpheme. Its primary concern is to establish the phonemic status of sounds in the position of neutralization. There are two schools that approach this question in different ways.
Moscow School. It is represented by Аванесов, Кузнецов and Реформацкий. The fundamental idea of this school is the following: the phoneme is theminimal component of the morpheme, which is a minimal meaningful language unit. They claim that the phonemic content of the morpheme is constant. In establishing the phonemic status of sounds they base their analysis on the theory of strong and weak positions. The strong position for a vowel is the stressed position. For a consonant – before the stressed vowel. So, if we find the strong position, we can establish the phonemic status of the sound. Thus, in the word “activity” the phoneme is [æ].
Advantages of the conception:
Phonetic changes are not separated from morphology. The unity between form and content is preserved. The phonetic aspect is not isolated from lexis and grammar.
It is quite convincing that the allophones of the same phoneme can show considerable difference.
Disadvantages:
Sometimes it is impossible to find a strong position for a sound (словарные слова в русском языке, например: «молоко»).
Sometimes the difference between the sounds treated as allophones of the same phoneme is too big (рус. «ухо» - «уши»).
Leningrad School
It is represented by Щерба and Зиндер. The main idea is: the phonemic content of the morpheme is not constant. It can be changed. According to this conception, the initial sounds in “active” and “activity” belong to different phonemes.
Advantages: its simplicity.
Disadvantages:
It views phonology in isolation from morphology. The unity between form and content is destroyed.
It is difficult to establish the limits within which the allophones of the same phoneme may vary, e.g.: «мел» - «мель», different phonemes, the meaning is changed; “little” – [литль], the meaning is not changed.
26. Typology of Accentual Structure of English words (worked out by Torsuev)
The numerous variations of English word-stress are systematized in the typology of accentual structure of English words worked out by G.P.Torsuev ("Вопросы акцентологии современного английского языка"). Не classified them according to the number of stressed syllables, their degree or- character. The data given by him suggest an idea of the great variability in the accentual structure of English words. The most widely spread among the enumerated nine accentual types are Type I [wind3V ] "window", Type II [‘ri’rait] "rewrite", Type V ['hɛədresə] "hairdresser", Type VI [mægə'zi:n] "magazine".
The typical feature of English accentual structure is its instability. There is a great number of words having variants of their accentual patterns. They may differ in:
the number of stresses: USSR [ ] or [ ]
the place of stress: hospitable [ ] or [ ]
the degree of stress: individualization [ ] or [ ]
The variability of the word accentual structure is multiplied in connected speech under the influence of rhythm.