4. Position of the soft palate

According to the position of the soft palate all consonants are subdivided into oral and nasal. When the soft palate is raised and the air from the lungs gets into the pharynx and then into the mouth cavity, oral consonants are produced. E.g.: /p, t, k, f, v/etc. When the soft palate is lowered and the air on its way out passes through the nasal cavity, the nasal consonants are produced: /m, n, η/.

Differences in the articulation bases of the English and Ukrainian consonants

The differences in the articulation bases between the two languages are "in the general tendencies their native speakers have in the way they move and hold their lips and the tongue both in speech and in silence, in the way they coordinate the work of the obstruction and vibration mechanisms (lenis and fortis articulation), in the way they effect CV, VC and CC transitions (close and loose transitions)."

The peculiarities of the articulation bases which give rise to the differences in the system of consonants in English and in Ukrainian are the following:

(1) In the articulation of the English consonants the tip of the tongue is near the teeth ridge (apical position), while in Ukrainian it tends to move to the upper front teeth (dorsal position). In the articulation of the English forelingual consonants the tip of the tongue may occupy apical, cacuminal and retroflexed positions.

When the tip of the tongue is against the teeth ridge, the forelingual, apical /t, d, n, s, z, ∫, 3, l, ł, t∫, d3/ are produced. When the tip of the tongue is curled behind the back slope of the teeth ridge, the forelingual, cacuminal post-alveolar /r/ is produced. When the tip of the tongue is curled still further behind the back slope of the teeth ridge, the American retroflexed /r/ is produced.

The tip of the tongue in the articulation of the Ukrainian forelingual consonants occupies dorsal, or dental position. Ukrainian /т, т', д, д', н, н', с, с', з, з', л, л', ц, ц'/ are dorsal or dental.

In the articulation of the English /θ, ð/ the tip of the tongue is placed between the upper and lower teeth, this position of the tip of the tongue characterizes only the English articulation basis.

The tip of the tongue in the articulation of the Ukrainian alveolar rolled consonant /p/ vibrates in the flow of air which passes out of the mouth cavity and interrupts it repeatedly making momentary obstruction against the teeth ridge.

Thus, the number of positions of the tip of the tongue in the production of the English forelingual consonants is more varied, but the work of the tip of the tongue in the articulation of the Ukrainian /p/ is more elaborate.

(2) The bulk of the tongue in the articulation of the English consonants has the tendency to occupy more retracted, more flat and low positions than in the articulation of the Ukrainian consonants which provides the basis for the production of the pharyngeal /h/ and the backlingual velar /η/.

In the production of /h/ the air passes through the larynx and glottis; the back wall of the pharynx contracts simultaneously with the slight movement of the root of the tongue in the direction of the pharyngeal cavity. Similar to this is the articulation of Ukrainian /г/, which, however, is voiced, thus misleading many learners, who tend to use /x/ in this case. In the articulation of the Ukrainian /x/ the back part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, so /h/ and /x/ cannot be equivalents.

In the production of the English /η/ the soft palate makes a complete obstruction with the back part of the tongue, and the flow of air goes out of the nasal cavity whereas the Ukrainian articulation basis does not provide the conditions for similar articulation. The Ukrainian learners often substitute the Ukrainian forelingual /н/ for the English backlingual /η/.

More flat and low position of the bulk of the tongue limits the system of the English "soft" consonants and provides the basis for "dark" articulation. The English "soft" consonants are pronounced with the front secondary focus. They are /∫, 3, d3, t∫/ and the "soft" /l/. Front secondary focus is formed by the middle part of the tongue which produces "secondary" articulation simultaneously with the primary focus, or primary articulation.

The Ukrainian /п', б', м', н', ф', в', т', д', с', з', л', ч', р', к'/ are also pronounced with the front secondary focus, but the middle of the tongue in their production is raised higher to the hard palate, than during the secondary articulation in the production of the English soft consonants. Compare a) Ukrainian “soft” dorsal "ль" (льон), b) English soft apical "l" (light).

Ukrainian students often use the hard /ш, ж/ phonemes instead of the soft English /∫, 3/.

The English phonemes /w/ and /ł/ are pronounced with the back secondary focus, formed by the back part of the tongue, which is raised to the soft palate simultaneously with the formation of the primary focus. In the articulation of /w/ the primary focus is formed by the lips, which are rounded but not protruded, as it happens when the Ukrainian /o, y/ are pronounced. The bilabial /w/ which is pronounced with the round narrowing, is very often mispronounced by the Ukrainian learners. They use the labio-dental /в/ or /v/ which are pronounced with the flat narrowing instead of the English /w/.

The primary focus in the articulation of "dark" /ł/ is formed by the tip of the tongue pressed against the teeth ridge (Ukrainian – to the upper teeth). Ukrainian hard /л/ and English dark /ł/ are both pronounced with the back secondary focus.

Taking into account al the above mentioned facts, the most common mistakes that may result from the differences in the articulation bases of the English and Ukrainian languages are following:

• dorsal articulation of the English forelingual apical /t, d/,

• the use of the Ukrainian rolled /p/ instead of the English post-alveolar constrictive /r/,

• mispronunciation of the English interdental /θ, ð/,

• the use of /s, f/ for /θ/ and /d, z/ for /ð/,

• the use of the forelingual /n/ instead of the back-lingual velar /η/,

• the use of the Ukrainian dark /ш, ж/ instead of the soft English /∫, 3/,

• the use of the labio-dental /v, в/ instead of the bilabial /w/.