Differences in the articulation bases of english and ukrainian vowels

Articulation bases of English and Ukrainian vowels are different.

1. The lips. In the production of Ukrainian vowels the lips are considerably protruded and rounded /o,y/. In the articulation of the similar English /כ, כ:/, /υ, u:/ such protrusion does not take place. In the neutral position, that is, when a person does not speak, the lips of the Ukrainian people are more lax and their corners lowered. Englishmen have the so called "flat-type" position of the lips, their lips are tenser than the lips of the Ukrainians, and the corners of the lips are raised, which resembles a smile.

2. The bulk of the tongue in the production of the Ukrainian vowels occupies mostly the front part of the mouth cavity, in the articulation of the English vowel sounds the bulk of the tongue is more often in the back part of the mouth cavity. Besides, in the articulation of the English vowels the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in the Ukrainian vowel production. E.g., when the bulk of the tongue moves in the horizontal direction, in English there is a front-retracted and back-advanced position of the bulk of the tongue for the /I/ and /υ/ production. Horizontal movements of the tongue condition the articulation of the /∂, ∂:/ vowels, which are of mixed type. There are no vowels of such articulatory position in the Ukrainian vowel system.

Each of the three vertical positions of the tongue (high, mid, low) in English is subdivided into narrow and broad variety. Thus, six groups of English vowel sounds are formed in the system of English vowels.

Such broad variety of the bulk of the tongue positions is not observed in the production of the Ukrainian vowel sounds. These articulatory peculiarities in the pronunciation of English vowels constitute the basis for the formation of diphthongs when the position of the tongue changes within the articulation of one and the same vowel. It also helps to articulate a great number of vowel sounds of different height.

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 phonemically to short vowels in the Ukrainian language. Length in the Ukrainian vowel system is an irrelevant feature.

5. The stability of articulation. There are monophthongs and diphthongoids in the Ukrainian vowel system, but there are no diphthongs, which exist in the English vowel system and are characterized by phonetic instability and phonemic unity.

Peculiarities of english vowels

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

1. long and short vowels /i: – I/, / :כ– כ/, /u: – υ/, /∂: –∂/, /: – Λ/;

2. slightly rounded, but not protruded vowels /u:, כ:/;

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

4. very low vowels, such as /æ, כ/;

5. front-retracted and back-advanced /I, υ, :/;

6. mixed /∂, ∂:/;

7. diphthongoidal pronunciation of /i:, u:/ and stable articulation in the /כ:/ pronunciation;

8. diphthongs /ei, ai, כi, i∂, ε∂, υ∂, аυ, оυ/.

In connection with these peculiarities Ukrainian students make the following mistakes:

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

2. they do not observe the qualitative difference in the articulation of such vowels as /i: – I/, /u: – υ/, /כ: – כ/;

3. they substitute English vowels by similar Ukrainian vowels;

4. they pronounce /i:, I, e, ei/ without the "flat position" of the lips;

5. they raise the middle part of the tongue to adapt the vowel to the preceding consonant and soften consonants which precede front vowels as a result of which the latter become more narrow /i:, I, e, æ, ei/ (this phenomenon is known as adaptation) and the former are palatalized;

6. they articulate /כ, כ:, υ, u:, oυ/ with the lips too much rounded and protruded;

7. they make the sounds /æ, כ/ narrow because they do not open the mouth properly;

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

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

10. they pronounce initial vowels with a glottal stop.