1.Aspects of speech sound treatment. The methods and instruments of investigation.
Theoretical Phonetics has the following branches:
articulatory
acoustic
auditory
functional /phonological
Each branch of Theoretical Phonetics investigates the appropriate aspect of speech sounds.
Articulatory Phonetics investigates the functioning of one’s speech apparatus and mechanism. It is based on profound knowledge of physiology and the structure of one’s speech apparatus. While investigating the articulatory aspect of speech sounds both subjective and objective methods are employed: the method of direct observation (concerning the lips & the tongue movements) – subjective method and X-ray photography and X-ray cinematography (objective methods).
Acoustic Phonetics studies the acoustic properties of sounds (quantity, timber/voice quality, intensity, the pitch of the voice and temporal factor) in terms of the frequency of vibration and the amplitude of vibration in relation to time. The analysis begins with a microphone, which converts the air movement into corresponding electrical activity. While investigating the acoustic aspect of speech sounds special laboratory equipment is employed: spectrograph, intonograph, sound analyzing & sound synthesizing machines.
Auditory Phonetics is aimed at investigating the hearing process which is the brain activity. Auditory Phonetics and Acoustic Phonetics are very closely connected.
Functional Phonetics presupposes investigating the discriminatory (distinctive) function of speech sounds.
While investigating the functional aspect of speech sounds the following methods are employed:
the distributional method
Distributionis a total sum of occurrences of a linguistic unit ( a phoneme, a morpheme, a word, a word combination). Distribution presupposes contexts in which a segment can be used.
For example, in accordance with the distribution of the phoneme /N/ it can’t be used word initially. But we may use it word medially and word finally.
Distribution
contrastive
It is such a distribution in which allophones of different phonemes occur in identical phonetic context (cake – bake, bike – bite).
non-contrastive
complementary
It is such a distribution in which different allophones of the same phoneme occur in mutually exclusive positions ( /t/:try, at the,twice, kettle, kitten)
free variation
It is such a distribution in which different allophones of the same phoneme occur in the same phonetic context but are realized differently (let me /’lemmi/ & /’let mi/). It is determined by social and territorial stratification of language.
Thus the distributional method is based on the following two laws of phonetic and allophonic distribution:
If more or less phonetically similar sounds occur in mutually exclusive positions they are called allophones of one and the same phoneme.
If more or less phonetically different sounds occur in the same phonetic contexts they are called allophones of different phonemes.
the method of distinctive oppositions
It consists in finding as many pairs of words as possible which differ in one phoneme only (pen – then, box – fox). The substitution of one sound by another is called commutation test (when the meaning changes together with the change of sounds we deal with different phonemes (pen – then). If the meaning is not changed we deal with different variants of the same phoneme (believe - dark /l/ & light /l/ - different positional variants of the phoneme /l/).
2.Components of phonetic system
The “Speech Apparatus” of all people have common anatomical features.
Organs of speech are: nasal cavity, lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, larynx, palate (soft and hard), uvula, tongue (tip, blade, front, back), epiglottis, pharynx, vocal cords, and trachea.
The air stream released by the lungs goes through the windpipe and comes to the larynx, which contains the vocal cords. The vocal cords are two elastic folds which may be kept apart or brought together. The opening between them is called the glottis. If the tense vocal cords are brought together, the air stream forcing an opening makes the m vibrate and we hear some voice.
On coming out of the larynx the air stream passes through the pharynx.
The pharyngal cavity extends from the top of the larynx to the soft palate, which directs the air stream either to the mouth or nasal cavities, which function as the principal resonators.
The soft palate is the furthest part of the palate from the teeth. Most of the palate is hard. This hard and fixed part of the palate is divided into two sections: the hard palate (the highest part of the palate) and the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge.
The most important organ of speech is the tongue. Phoneticians divide the tongue into four sections, the part which lies opposite the soft palate is called the back of the tongue; the part facing the hard palate is called the front; the one lying under the teeth ridge is known as the blade and its extremity the tip .
The lips can take up various positions as well. They can be brought firmly together or kept apart neutral, rounded, or protruded forward.
Active organs of speech are movable and taking an active part in a sound formation:
a)Vocal cords which produce voice
b)The tongue which is the most flexible movable organ
c)The lips affective very considerably the shape of the mouth cavity
d)The soft palate with the uvula directing the stream of air either to the mouth or to the nasal cavity
e)The back wall of the faring contracted for some sounds
f)The lower jaw which movement controls the gap between the teeth and also the disposition of the lips
g)The lungs air for sounds
Passive organs of speech:
a)the teeth
b)the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge
c)the hard palate
d)the walls of the resonators]
That’s why the phonetic system of different languages has common general characteristics. But at the same time different human communities lived in the historical isolation in the remote past. It is because of this every modern language has its own national features of pronunciation. The phonetic system of language includes the following components:
the system of phonemes;
the syllable structure;
the accentual structure of words;
the intonation.
The 4 components of the phonetic structure of English constitute its pronunciation. So, the term “English Pronunciation” should include:
the correct articulation of the English phonemes in words;
the correct syllable division;
the correct stressing of syllables in words and sentences;
the correct English intonation in connected speech.
3.Connection between Phonetics and other branches of Linguistics
Phonetics is an essential part of the language because it gives language a definite form – the vocabulary and grammar of a language can function only when lexical and grammatical phenomena are expressed phonetically. So phonetics is closely connected with other branches of linguistics such as grammar, lexicology and stylistics.
a) Grammar and phonetics.
Phonetics is connected with grammar through sound alternation and intonation.
Sound alternation may be defined as a regularly occurring replacement of one sound inside a morpheme by another sound, by a group of sounds, by “zero” sound. The sounds which can replace one another in certain definite cases form an alternation series. Sound alternations are of two different kinds: phonetic alternations and historical alternations. Phonetic alternations are the result of the phonetic laws which function in the modern stage of a particular language. They are caused by assimilation, accommodation and reduction in speech. Historical alternations are not affected by the phonetic position or context, they are the result of phonetic laws that functioned at another period in the development of the language.
Phonetic alternations, as a rule, have no definite grammatical functions, they accompany some grammatical phenomena. In the English language, for example, they help to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense forms and past participle forms of regular verbs, definite and indefinite articles.
Ex. [s] is pronounced after voiceless consonants (books);
[z] is pronounced after voiced consonants and vowel (bags, boys);
[iz] is pronounced after sibilants, (which helps to differentiate singular and plural forms in some words of Latin origin – crisis [is] – crises [iz]).
Ex. [d] is pronounced after voiced consonants and vowels (played);
[t] is pronounced after voiceless consonants (looked);
[id] after [t], [d] (wanted).
Ex. [ði] before vowels (the apple)
[ðə] before consonants (the pen)
[æ], [æn], [ə], [ən] a pan, an apple
Historical alternations, on the contrary, always have definite grammatical functions. In the English language, for example, historical alternations are connected with the conjugation of irregular verbs and help to distinguish singular and plural of some nouns:
Ex. sing – sang – sung; send – sent - sent
man [mæn] – men [men], foot [fu:t] – feet [fi:t].
The role of intonation in grammar is also great. Sometimes intonation alone can serve to single out the communicative centre of the utterance.
Ex. 'This is Mr. 'Brown’s study. 'Did John 'phone you yesterday?
'This is Mr. Brown’s study. 'Did John phone you yesterday?
'This is Mr. Brown’s study. Did John phone you yesterday?
This is Mr. Brown’s study.
This is Mr. Brown’s study.
The rising nuclear tone may serve as the only indicator of an interrogation in the general questions with direct word order.
Ex. Tom saw it. (a statement) Tom saw it? (a question)
The grammatical structure and consequently the meaning of a sentence, pronounced with different intonation patterns may be different.
Ex. He brought his friend |a 'doctor and a gentleman.
He brought his friend a doctor |and a gentleman.
He brought his friend |a doctor |and a gentleman.
b) Lexicology and phonetics.
Phonetics is connected with lexicology through pronunciation, sound alternation, word-stress and onomatopoeia.
One word may differ from another in one sound only.
Ex. big [i], bag [æ], bog [o], beg [e], bug [Λ].
Homographs can be differentiated only due to pronunciation, because they are identical in spelling.
Ex. bow [bəu] bow [bau];
row [rəu] row [rau];
wind [wind] wind [waind].
Historical alternation can help to differentiate parts of speech, such as:
nouns and verbs (ex. life – live [f] – [v] + [ai] – [i], advice – advise [s] – [z]);
adjectives and nouns (ex. hot – heat [o] – [i:]);
verbs and adjectives (ex. moderate – moderate [ei] – [i].
It also helps to distinguish causative verbs from other verbs (ex. rise – raise [ai] – [ei]) as well as etymologically related words (ex. shade – shadow [ei] – [æ]).
Due to the position of stress one can distinguish certain nouns from verbs.
Ex. 'object ob'ject;
'export exp'ort;
'present pre'sent.
Due to the position of word accent one can distinguish between homonymous words and word groups.
Ex. 'blackbird 'black 'bird;
'dancing-girl 'dancing 'girl.
Onomatopoeia or a combination of sounds which imitate sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder etc.), by things (machines, tools etc.), by people (sighing, laughter, patter of feet, etc.) and by animals is a means of word formation.
Ex. crash, clang, bang, slap, clap, dab, ping-pong, buzz, cuckoo, roar, rustle, crow, splash.
c) Stylistics and phonetics.
Phonetics is connected with stylistics through intonation and its components: speech melody, word stress, rhythm, pausation and voice tambre, which serve to express emotions, to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the author and speaker. Very often the writer helps the reader to interpret his ideas through special words and remarks such as: a pause, a short pause, angrily, gently, hopefully, with irritation, in a fury, miserable, reprovingly, surprised, at once, with curiosity etc.
Ex. “You are what?” shouted Nigel in a fury, turning pale with emotion.
“Where am I to sit?” repeated John with irritation.
“Can you finish them?” we inquired hopefully.
To make a word or a sentence specially prominent or logically accented, the author uses graphical expressive means such as italic.
Ex. “I am also in the process of tearing down the wallpaper in the kitchen. It came with the house. Doris never liked it.”
“The question is whether you like it. You’re the one who lives there now.”
“First I’ll tell you what we didn’t find.”
“Then tell us what you did find.”
Phonetics is also connected with stylistics through repetition of sounds, words, and phrases which serves the basis of rhythm, rhyme and alliteration.
Rhythm, or regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed elements, may be used as a special device not only in poetry, but in prose as well.
Ex. I was brought up by two old aunts. I’ve never been anywhere. I’ve never done anything. I’ve been married for six years. I have no children (W.S. Maugham, The Happy Man).
Alliteration, or repetition of identical or similar sounds, helps to convey a melodic effect to the utterance and to express certain emotions.
Ex. There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.
In the given above lines of the ballade the repetition of the sonorant [m] helps to produce the effect of merriment. The repetition of the words year, say, May produces the effect of rhyme.
Ex. Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.
Here in the lines quoted from Poe’s poem “The Raven” the repetition of the sound [d] prompts the feeling of anxiety, fear, horror, anguish or all these feelings simultaneously.
Onomatopoeia is not only the word-building means but also a stylistic device which can be proved by the lines taken from Shakespeare’s verse “Winter”
Ex. Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-who
To-whit, to-who – a merry note…
Thus, phonetics is an independent branch of linguistics but not a separated one.
4.Vowels
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, with two competing definitions. In the more common phonetic definition, a vowel is a sound pronounced with an open vocal tract, so that the tongue does not touch the lips, teeth, or roof of the mouth, such as the English "ah" /ɑː/ or "oh" /oʊ/. There is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as the English "sh" [ʃː], which have a constriction or closure at some point along the vocal tract. In the other, phonological definition, a vowel is defined as syllabic, the sound that forms the peak of a syllable. A phonetically equivalent but non-syllabic sound is a semivowel.
In oral languages, phonetic vowels normally form the peak (nucleus) of many to all syllables, whereas consonants form the onset and (in languages that have them) coda. Some languages allow other sounds to form the nucleus of a syllable, such as the syllabic l in the English word table [ˈtʰeɪb.l̩] (when not considered to have a weak vowel sound: [ˈtʰeɪb.əl]) or the syllabic r in Serbo-Croatian word vrt [vr̩t] "garden".
The following 20 vowel phonemes are distinguished in BBC English (RP): [i:, a:, o:, u:, з:, i, e, æ, σ,υ,л(типакрышкадомика), ə; ei, ai, oi, аυ, eυ,υə, iə].
Principles of classification provide the basis for the establishment of the following distinctive oppositions:
1. Stability of articulation
1.1. monophthongs vs. diphthongs
bit -bait, kit -kite, John - join, debt — doubt
1.2. diphthongs vs. diphthongoids
bile - bee, boat — boot, raid - rude
2. Position of the tongue
2.1. horizontal movement of the tongue
a) front vs. central
cab — curb, bed —bird
b) back vs. central
pull – pearl, cart - curl, call - curl
2.2. vertical movement of the tongue
close (high) vs. mid-open (mid)
bid —bird, week -work
open (low) vs. mid-open (mid)
lark - lurk, call — curl, bard-bird
3. Position of the lips rounded vs. unrounded don — darn, pot - part
The English diphthongs are, like the affricates, the object of a sharp phonological controversy, whose essence is the same as in the case of affricates are the English diphthongs biphonemic sound complexes or composite monophonemic entities?
Diphthongs are defined differently by different authors. One definition is based on the ability of a vowel to form a syllable. Since in a diphthong only one element serves as a syllabic nucleus, a diphthong is a single sound. Another definition of a diphthong as a single sound is based on the instability of the second element. The 3d group of scientists defines a diphthong from the accentual point of view: since only one element is accented and the other is unaccented, a diphthong is a single sound.
D. Jones defines diphthongs as unisyllabic gliding sounds in the articulation of which the organs of speech start from one position and then glide to another position.
N.S. Trubetzkoy states that a diphthong should be (a) unisyllabic, that is the parts of a diphthong cannot belong to two syllables; (b) monophonemic with gliding articulation; (c) its length should not exceed the length of a single phoneme.
In accordance with the principle of structural simplicity and economy American descriptivists liquidated the diphthongs in English as unit phonemes.
The same phonological criteria may be used for justifying the monophonemic treatment of the English diphthongs as those applicable to the English affricates. They are the criteria of articulatory, morphophonological (and, in the case of diphthongs, also syllabic) indivisibility, commutability and duration. Applied to the English diphthongs, all these criteria support the view of their monophonemic status.
Problem of length. There are long vowel phonemes in English and short. However, the length of the vowels is not the only distinctive feature of minimal pairs like Pete -pit, beet -bit, etc. In other words the difference between i: i. u: - υ is not only quantitative but also qualitative, which is conditioned by different positions of the bulk of the tongue. For example, in wordsbead- bid not only the length of the vowels is different but in the [i:] articulation the bulk of the tongue occupies more front and high position then in the articulation of [i].
Qualitative difference is the main relevant feature that serves to differentiate long and short vowel phonemes because quantitative characteristics of long vowels depend on the position they occupy in a word:
(a) they are the longest in the terminal position: bee, bar, her;
(b) they are shorter before voiced consonants: bead, hard, cord;
(c) they are the shortest before voiceless consonants: beet, cart.
5.Modifications of Vowels in Connected Speech.
Reduction. The modifications of vowels in a speech chain are traced in the following directions: they are either quantitative or qualitative or both. These changes of vowels in a speech continuum are determined by a number of factors such as the position of the vowel in the word, accentual structure, tempo of speech, rhythm, etc.
The decrease of the vowel quantity or in other words the shortening of the vowel length is known as a quantitative modification of vowels, which may be illustrated as follows:
1. The shortening of the vowel length occurs in unstressed positions, e.g. blackboard [Ɔ:], sorrow [зu] (reduction). In these cases reduction affects both the length of theunstressed vowels and their quality.
Form words often demonstrate quantitative reduction in unstressed positions, e.g.
Is →he or ̖she to blame? – [hi:]
But: At →last he has ̖come. – [hi]
2. The length of a vowel depends on its position in a word. It varies in different phonetic environments. English vowels are said to have positional length, e.g. knee – need – neat (accommodation). The vowel [i:] is the longest in the final position, it is obviously shorter before the lenis voiced consonant [d], and it is the shortest before the fortis voiceless consonant [t].
Qualitative modification of most vowels occurs in unstressed positions. Unstressed vowels lose their 'colour', their quality, which is illustrated by the examples below:
1. In unstressed syllables vowels of full value are usually subjected to qualitative changes, e.g. man [mæn] – sportsman ['spɔ:tsmən], conduct ['kɒndəkt] – conduct [kən'd٨kt]. In such cases the quality of the vowel is reduced to the neutral sound [ə].
These examples illustrate the neutralized (reduced) allophones of the same phonemes as the same morphemes are opposed.
Nearly one sound in five is either [ə] or the unstressed [i]. This high frequency of [ə] is the result of the rhythmic pattern: if unstressed syllables are given only a short duration, the vowel in them which might be otherwise full is reduced.
It is common knowledge that English rhythm prefers a pattern in which stressed syllables alternate with unstressed ones. The effect of this can be seen even in single words, where a shift of stress is often accompanied by a change of vowel quality; a full vowel becomes [ə], and [ə] becomes a full vowel. Compare: analyse ['ænəlaiz] – analysis [ə'nælisis].
2. Slight degree of nasalization marks vowels preceded or followed by the nasal consonants [n], [m], e.g. never, no, then, men (accommodation).
The realization of reduction as well as assimilation and accommodation is connected with the style of speech. In rapid colloquial speech reduction may result in vowel elision, the complete omission of the unstressed vowel, which is also known as zero reduction.
Zero reduction is likely to occur in a sequence of unstressed syllables, e.g. history, factory, literature, territory. It often occurs in initial unstressed syllables preceding thestressed one, e.g. correct, believe, suppose, perhaps.
