Теоретична фонетика англійської мови
The phonic substance of language and ways of its analysis and description.
Language is shaped into a spoken message by means of its sound matter which is a combination of four components: 1) segmental/ phonemic component, 2) syllabic structure, 3) lexical / word stress, 4) supra-segmental / prosodic component.
Segmental/ phonemic component is the first and basic component of the phonic substance of language. First of all, a spoken message/an utterance can be thought as a succession of the smallest, further indivisible segments which are easily singled out in the flow of speech as separate discrete elements. They are called sounds of a language or sounds. Sounds function as phonemes, i.e. linguistically distinctive, relevant units capable of differentiating the meanings of morphemes, words, sentences. Phonemes are abstract representations of those speech sounds which can differentiate the meaning - i.e. ‘sounds in the mind’ (the term suggested by Peter Roach). Realizations of a definite phoneme in definite positions in words are called allophones / variants, i.e. “sounds in the mouth”(the term suggested by Peter Roach). The segmental component can be studied and described as: a) a system of phonemes 20 vowels and 24 consonants; b) certain patterns of allophones and their distribution; c) a set of methods of joining speech sounds/allophones together in words and at their junctions- coarticulatory/adjustment phenomena.
The problem of the syllabic structure of words has two aspects:
1) syllable formation, 2) syllable division/separation.
Articulatorily, the syllable is the minimal articulatory unit of the utterance. Auditorily, the syllable is the smallest unit of perception: the listener identifies the whole of the syllable and after that the sounds which it contains. Phonologicallyit is a structural unit which consists of a sequence of one or some phonemes of a language in numbers and arrangements permitted by the given language.
Different languages have different kinds of syllable structure. In English the syllable is formed:
1) by any vowel alone or in combination with one or more consonants - not more than 3 preceding and not more than 4 following it, e.g. are /a:/ , we /wi:/, it /It/, sixths /siksTs/.
2) by a word final sonorants /n/, /l/, /m/ immediately preceded by a consonant: e.g. rhythm /"rID.m/, garden /"gA:d@n/ .
Structurally, the commonest types of syllable in English are VC; CVC.
CV is considered to be the universal structure. CV syllabic types constitute more than half of all structural types in Russian and Ukrainian.
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Supra-segmental / prosodic component/ intonation consists of pitch, force and temporal components. The pitch component is made up by the speech melody, e.i. variations in the pitch of the voice in connected speech. Different levels of pitch (tones) are used in particular sequences to express a wide range of meanings.The force component is represented by sentence stress (the greater prominence of one or more words among other words in an utterance).The temporal component is represented by variations in tempo. Rhythm as regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables is a combination of force and temporal components. English has stress-timed rhythm.
Phonetics is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making and provides methods for its description, classification and transcription. There are 4 branches of phonetics: 1) articulatory, 2) auditory, 3) acoustic and 4) functional (phonology). There are two more branches of phonetics: 1) experimental phonetics – which uses controlled experiments, 2) instrumental phonetics – which uses measuring devices and instrumental techniques.
6. Phonological and phonetic features of RP \ General American (at the student’s choice).
6.1. General American \ Network English as the American English Pronunciation Standard
First of all, one should dwell on contemporary sociolinguistic situation in the USA
The development of American English on the American continent has a comparatively short history. Its starting point was the English language of the 17th century when first English settlers came to America. However, in the course of time American English has drifted considerably from British English. The treatment of American English is as the national variant of English in the USA.
As regards pronunciation, American English is not homogeneous. Traditionally three main groups of regional American English educated accents are distinguished: 1) the Eastern type; 2) the Southern type; 3) the Western type or General American (the rest of the USA).
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General American (GenAm) is treated as the pronunciation standard of AE, and represents the literary norm, while Southern American and Eastern American represent regional types of AE literary pronunciation.
General American possesses the following segmental features at the phonological level.
a) systemic (differences in phonemic inventory)
With the exception of a possible /W/ (/hw/) there are no deviations in GenAm from RP consonantal systems (e.g. which [hwItS]).
There are two areas of systemic difference between GenAm and RP within the vocalic systems:
1) in the area of low back vowels. GenAm has no low back RP vowel /Q/, and those words which have /Q/ in RP are pronounced with unrounded /A: (A)/ in GenAm, e.g. cod, spot, pocket. Also in words such as law, taught, walk, awe where British speakers pronounce /O:/, GenAm speakers have /A/.
2) GenAm does not have centering diphthongs /I@/, /e@/, /P@/. Sound sequences /Ir/, /er/, /Pr/ are pronounced instead.
b) structural specification
GenAm is a rhotic accent where /r/ can occur, unlike RP, before consonants and before pauses.
c) selectional differences
1) Words which in RP have /A:/, in GenAm have /{/, such words have /n/, /s/, /f/, /T/ after a vowel, e.g. ask, answer, can’t, dance, pass, grass, cast.
2) some words and names spelled er are pronounced /A:/ in RP, but /3r/ in GenAm, e.g. clerk, derby, Kerr.
3) words ending in -ile tend to be pronounced /aIl/ in RP but /@l/ or /l/ in GenAm, e.g. hostile, missile, fertile, fragile, futile.
Segmental differences at the phonetic level (realizational differences)
The most salient differences of realization among the GenAm consonants lie in the allophones of /r/, /t/, /l/, /j/, /S/, nasal consonants.
1) the retroflex pronunciation of /r/ is one of the most characteristic features of GenAm.. Its main features are: a) having the tongue in the central position, as for /@/, b) the tongue tip is curled high toward the back of the mouth, but not touching anywhere, c) having the back of the tongue low and the sides of the tongue slide along the back part of the tooth ridge as along two rails, d) the movement of the tongue always begins by a motion toward the back of the mouth.
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2) the pronunciation of /t/ is highly variable in GenAm. (A) GenAm speakers tend to pronounce a voiced alveolar tap/flap intervocalically before a weakly stressed vowel. In the dictionaries it is shown by the symbol [º]. It sounds like a quick English /d/, e.g. city, better, latest, forty, party. (B) After /n/ GenAm [º] can optionally be elided. Accordingly, GenAm winter ["wInº@r] can sound identical to winner ["wIn@r].
3) the pronunciation of /l/. GenAm speakers tend to produce a darker, more velarized allophone [ 5 ] in all positions, whereas RP speakers produced a very distinct clear or light allophone in prevocalic position and [5] in postvocalic position.
4) the pronunciation of /j/:
Yod Dropping: /j/ is not pronounced in the combination of /j/+/u:/ after t, s, d, e.g. tube, suit, student, news.
Yod Coalescence (coalescent assimilation): /t/+/j/, /d/+/j/ before a weak vowel are assimilated into /tS/, /dZ/, e.g. educate ["edZukeZIt], factual ["f{ktSu@l].
5) / S / vocalization: in GenAm /S/ is vocalized in final weak syllables ending with -ion, -ia, e.g. Asia ["eIZ@], version ["v3rZn].
6) nasal twang: nasality is found in vowels adjacent to m, n, N, thus the preceding vowel sounds nasal, e.g. manner ["m{~n@r], candy ["k{~ndI]. Nasal twang is treated by some American phoneticians as a defect of American speech.
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