Phonetics

3. Loss of plosion. Nasal plosion. Lateral plosion.

1. Loss of plosion. When two plosives [t,d,p,b,k,g] are in contact there's a complete loss of plosion of the first sound, and a plosion is heard only after the second consonant (tt, tb, tg, db, dp, dt, gk, gp, gt, kt, kk, kb, kd, kg, pt, pb, pd, etc.), e.g.: Blackboard, midday. 2. Nasal plosion. At the junction of the plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the nasal sonorants [m, n] the articulation of the sonorant starts when the articulation of the plosive consonant is not yet finished. As a result of this the air stream passes through the nasal cavity producing the effect of nasal plosion. e.g.: shouldn't, wouldn't, garden. 3. Lateral plosion. At the junction of plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the lateral sonorant [l] the plosion is heard during the pronunciation of the sonorant as the air stream passes along the sides of the tongue.e.g.: kettle, club.

7. Intonation of Parentheses

A common pattern for an introductory parenthetical phrase is the Low Rising nuclear tone preceded by a normal (or high) prehead and high head (if there is any): As 'far as I ‚know, | you 'passed your e'xams with 'excellent 'marks. Parentheses pronounced with the Falling nuclear tone sound weighty and make the whole utterance more important: 'Anyway, | it's 'all 'your problem. Additional emphasis or contrast is conveyed by the Falling-Rising nuclear tone: 'As for ˇme, | I 'can't 'speak Spanish, | but I under'stand ˙nearly 'everything. Initial parentheses which are linked very closely with the main remark do not, as a rule, form a separate intonation-group. This is common for parenthetical clauses such as I suppose ..., I believe ..., I presume ..., I'm afraid ..., I think ... etc. They may be unstressed or partially stressed forming the prehead of the tune, or they may have a full stress on the important word which becomes part of the head: I 'think that's my 'niece at the door. I 'hope ˙things will ˙soon im'prove. Short parentheses such as well, now, but, oh, surely, probably, certainly, of course frequently follow this pattern. They are unstressed or stressed according to the degree of importance attached to them: Of 'course it's a 'splendid idea. Well, 'let's ˙ask the 'others.

12. Intonation of conversational formulas

According to their function in speech they can be regarded as formulas of politeness. According to the degree of politeness expressed it is possible to divide conversational formulas into 3 groups: normal (neutral), friendly (very polite, warm, lively), casual (perfunctory) and these three groups would be distinguished in oral speech by intonation. The common feature of all friendly formulas that they are pronounced with a Falling-Rising tone (divided or undivided). All casual formulas take the Low-Rising intonation. Such phrases are used between people on familiar terms who meet regularly. Normal Greetings, Expressions of Gratitude and Apologies are characterized by Falling nuclear tone. Normal Farewells are pronounced with Low Rise.

14. intonation of statements

Although simple independent statements can take any tone, they most often have a fall. All the uses of the falling tone have some degree of meaning in common. In general we can say that by using a fall we indicate that what we say is potentially complete and that we express it with confidence, definitely and unreservedly. That fall thus also tends to signal finality. We call this tone meaning the definitive fall. ex. This is a pen. Sometimes statements are said with a tone other than a fall - namely, with a rise or fall-rise. One very typical meaning of a non-fall is non-finality. It shows that the speaker has not reached the end of what he or she wants to say: What did you do next?

4. The intonation of non-final parts of utterances.

An utterance — the minimal independent unit of communication — is realized in oral speech either as one intonation-group, or as a sequence of groups. In the first case the utterance has a simple tune, in the second it has a combined tune. According to their position in a combined tune intonation-groups can be final (at the end of a tune) and non-final (at the beginning or in the middle of a tune). Non-final intonation-groups are normally formed by initial clauses of compound and complex sentences, adverbial and subject groups in a simple sentence; parenthetical words, direct address and reporting phrases in sentences of all syntactic types. Non-final intonation-groups can be pronounced with various nuclear tones, yet there are more and less typical intonation patterns for each kind of syntactic structure. On the whole, the choice of the nuclear tone in a non-final group depends on the semantic weight of this part of the utterance. When a Low Rise is used it indicates that the utterance is not finished and there is a continuation without which the information is incomplete.

5. Alveolar consonants before interdental sounds. Combinations of consonants with [w].

At the juncture of the alveolar consonants [t, d, n, 1, s, z] and the interdental consonants [θ, ð] regressive assimilation affecting the place of articulation is observed: the alveolar consonants are represented by their dental variants (allophones). Eg.: ninth, sixteenth Consonants preceding [w], especially in a stressed syllable, are lip-rounded (labialized), i.e. regressive assimilation affecting the position of lips takes place. Eg.: twist, quarter, switch, dweller. When the sonorant [w] is preceded by a voiceless consonant there is also some devoicing of the sonorant (progressive assimilation effecting the work of the vocal cords). The devoicing is especially strong after [t, k] in a stressed syllable and is weaker in unstressed syllables and at a syllable or word boundary. Thus in the clusters [tw, kw, sw] double (reciprocal) assimilation takes place. Eg.: twenty, quiet, sweet

10. intonation of direct address

Direct address at the beginning of the sentence is stressed. It is pronounced with the low-falling nuclear tone in formal serious speech and with the falling-rising tone to attract the listener's attention or in a friendly conversation. e. g. \Children,| \listen to me.

13. Elision in consonant clusters. Elision of [t, d, h]

Elision means the dropping of a sound or sounds, either within a word or at a junction of words. Elision is a feature of rapid colloquial speech, while formal speech tends to retain the full form of words under the influence of spelling.

8. Intonation of reporting phrases and reported speech

In Reported speech the Reporting phrases generally form the first (non-final) intonation-group of an utterance while the main remark (grammatically transformed Quoted speech) forms the following group. Like all non-final groups, Reporting phrases may take various nuclear tones: low rising, falling-rising, falling: I 'want to ‚ask you | if you are 'ready. They 'want to ˇknow | why he is 'here. Mr. 'Brown 'answered | that he 'didn't 'know that 'man. A Reporting phrase may not form an intonation-group and then the first word of it, important enough to take a full stress, becomes the head of the whole utterance, or otherwise it is pronounced as its prehead (unstressed or partially stressed): I 'wonder if they 'know about our ar'rival. He says he 'never ˙does it a'lone.

9. Combinations of voiceless consonants with [r]. Combinations of alveolar and interdental consonants with [r].

In the clusters of voiceless consonants with the sonorant [r] complete of partial devoicing of the sonorant takes place - progressive assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords. The sound [r] is completely or almost completely devoiced when it is preceded by a voiceless plosive consonant [p, t, k] in a stressed syllable: train, pride, cry. In an unstressed position, at a word boundary or when [p, t, k] are preceded by [s] or some other fricative consonant the devoicing of [r] is partial: waitress, temperature, spread, quite right. A similar (of partial devoicing) both in stressed and unstressed syllables is produced when [r] is immediately preceded by a fricative consonant: friend, Geoffrey, shrewd, three, fruit, that's right. In some of these clusters assimilation affecting the place and the manner of articulation can be observed. Thus under the influence of the post-alveolar [r] the alveolar consonants [t, d] in the clusters [tr, dr] become post-alveolar. The clusters [tr, dr] are actually characterized by double (reciprocal) assimilation because the the sonorant [r] is modified as well: under the influence of the noise consonants [t, d] it becomes fricative, and after [t], as was mentioned above, it is also devoiced. In the clusters [0r, 8r] the post-alveolar frictionless sound [r] is often replaced by an alveolar tap, or a flapped variety of [r]: a single brief tap is made by the tip of the tongue on the teethridge. In the cluster [0r], besides, there is partial devoicing of the sonorant [r].

1. The english sound system. Principles of classification of consonants.

Phonetics is a discipline of linguistics that focuses on the study of the sounds used in speech Consonant is a sound when the air stream has obstruction on its during of articulation. Consonants are classified according to: 1. Type of obstruction and kind of noise: occlusive (plosive [b] [p] and nasal [m] [n] [l]), constrictive (fricative [f] [v] and sonant [j] [w]), affricates [tS] [d3]. 2. The work of organ of speech and place of obstruction: fore lingual (apical-alveolar [t] [d], apical-dental [θ], curcuminal [r]), medio lingual (palatal), back lingual (velar [ŋ], glottal [h]). 3. Labio-dental [t] [v] and bilabial [b] [p]. 4. The work of vocal cords and the forse of articulation (lenis [b] [d] and fortis [p] [f].

2. The english sound system. Principles of classification of vowels.

Stability of Articulation. All English vowels are divided into three groups: pure vowels or monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids. Tongue Positions. The changes in the position of the tongue determine largerly the shape of the mouth and pharyngal cavities. The tongue may move forward and backward, up and down, thus changing the quality of vowel sounds. Lip Position. The shape of the mouth cavity is also largely dependent on the position of the lips. When the lips are neutral or spread the vowels are termed unrounded. Character of Vowel End. The quality of all English monophthongs in the stressed position is strongly affected by the following consonant of the same syllable. If a stressed vowel is followed by a strong voiceless consonant it is cut off by it. In this case the end of the vowel is strong and the vowel is called checked. Such vowels are heard in stressed closed syllables ending in a strong voiceless consonant, eg better, cart.

11. Absence of assimilation in some consonant clusters.

The foreign learner should be aware of the English assimilatory tendencies governing words in context, so as to avoid un-English assimilations. Clusters of alveolar and labio-dental fricatives with interdental sounds and labio-dental fricatives with the bilabial sonorant [v - w, f - w] at syllable and word junctures present special difficulty for learners of English because they are only slightly different in articulation and perception and also because such contrasts as [v - w] etc. are not to be found in Russian. In pronouncing these clusters care should be taken to avoid assimilation according to the place* or manner of articulation, i.e. the quality of the adjacent sounds should be kept distinct. In English there is no regressive assimilation according to the work of the vocal cords. It means that either within words or at word boundaries 1) voiceless consonants followed by voiced ones are not voiced; 2) voiced consonants followed by voiceless ones are not devoiced.

6. Combinations of plosive and fricative consonants. Linking [r]

When a word ending in [ə] (including [Iə], [еə], etc.), [ɑ:], [ɔ:] or [з:] is immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the sound [r] is very often inserted at the end of the first word joining it to the next one. When the spelling of the word ends in the letter "r" (or "-re"), the inserted г-sound is called the linking [r]. When there is no "r" in spelling, the inserted r-sound is called the intrusive [r] (e.g., the idea [r] of it). Learners of English are generally not recommended to use the intrusive [r], while the linking [r] is recognized as a typical feature of the English Standard pronunciation. Notice, however, the absence of linking [r] in such "inconvenient" word sequences as 'a roar of laughter', 'an error of judgment'.