13.06.2010
Lecture 5
Stylistic sound variations tend to increase sound modifications together with the quickening of
the tempo of speech and weakening of the carefulness of speech, e.g.
[gʌvənmənt]-> [gʌvəmənt]-> [gʌvəmnt]-> [gʌmnt]-> [gʌbmnt]
The most important thing is stylistic modifications is kind of relationship between the speaker
and the listener and the agree of formality in their conversation.
Vowel sounds
In formal speech vowels usually keep their quality. In informal speech we usually change their
quality:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
both, front and back, vowels change into neutralized sounds
it’s not
[ɪts ˈnɔt]
[əts ˈnɔt]
because
[bɪˈkɔz]
[bɪkəz]
according to
[əˈkɔ:dɪŋ tə]
[əkədɪŋ tə]
I think he was
[aɪ ˈƟɪŋk hi: wəz]
[ʌˈƟɪŋk ɪ xz]
the historically long vowel [i:] loses its diphthongization and finally becomes short
I don’t believe it
[aɪ ˈdɜunt bɪli:v ɪt]
[ʌ dɜun(t) bəˈlɪv ɪt]
it seems to be
[ɪt ˈsi:mz tə bi:]
[ɪt ˈsɪmz tə bɪ]
long vowel [u:] has the same tendency
a few more words
[ə ˈfju: ˈmɔ: ˈwɜ:dz]
[ə ˈfju ˈmɔ ˈwɜ:dz]
a new aspect to be
[ə ˈnju: ˈæspekt]
[ə ˈnju ˈæspekt]
as for labialization of vowels the amount of it greatly depends on a person. [ɔ:] remains
labialized . The vowels [ɔ] and [ɔɪ] have very little lip rounding. [u:] and [u] lose their
rounding.
diphthongs are very often monophthongized
where
[wɛə]
[wɛ]
here and there
[ˈhɪər ənd ˈðɛə]
[ˈhɪ(ə)r ən ˈðɛ]
really strange
[ˈrɪəlɪ ˈstreɪnʤ]
[ˈrɜlɪ ˈ streɪnʤ]
serious
[ˈsɪərɪəs]
[ˈsɜrɪ(ə)s]
now they
[nau ˈðeɪ]
[na ˈðe(ɪ)]
South of Italy
[ˈsauƟ əv ˈɪtəlɪ]
[ˈsaƟ əv ˈɪtəlɪ]
going ahead
[ˈgɜuɪŋ əˈhed]
[ˈgɜŋ əˈhed]
vowel elision is very frequent
collective
[kəˈlektɪv]
[ˈklektɪv]
different
[ˈdɪfərənt]
[ˈdɪfrənt]
political
[pəˈlɪtɪkl]
[ˈplɪtɪkl]
to see them
[tə ˈsi: ðəm]
[ˈtsi: ðəm]
in phrases beginning with “its” the [ɪ] is lost
it’s necessary
[ɪts ˈnesəsərɪ]
in words beginning with “ex” [ə] is lost
[ts ˈnesəsərɪ]
extremely
[ɪksˈtri:məlɪ]
[ˈkstri:mlɪ]
Consonant sounds
Different kinds of assimilation in informal speech are not so simple:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
final consonants [t] [d] [n] followed by labial consonant are adapted
great burden
[ˈgreɪp ˈbɜ:dn]
that man
[ˈðæp ˈmæn]
American government
[əˈmerɪkəŋ ˈgʌv(ə)mənt]
instead of closure [t] a glottal stop appears before plosive consonants
Great Britain
[ˈgreɪpbrɪbn]
didn’t go
[ˈdɪdŋkgɜu]
when [s] [z] are followed by [j] they become palato-alveolar instead of alveolar
this year
[ˈðɪʃ ˈjɪə]
as you
[əʒ ju:]
when [t] [d] are followed by [j] most often they become affricates
would you
[wuʤu]
about you
[əˈbauʧu]
the elision of consonants is as frequent as the elision of vowels
next point
[ˈneks ˈpoɪnt]
second term
[ˈsekən ˈtɜ:m]
we’ve been studying
[wɪ bɪn ˈstʌdɪŋ]
of cause
[əˈkɔs]
and the way he did it
[ən(d) ə ˈweɪ (h)ɪ ˈdɪd ɪt]
Syllabic structure of English words
Speech can be divided into the minimal pronounceable units – syllables There exist two points
of view about the syllable:
1) some linguists think that a syllable doesn’t have any functional value;
2) some linguists think that a syllable has a certain linguistic function.
The definition of the syllable includes the following points:
1) a syllable is a chain of phonemes
2) a syllable consists of opposites: (vowel-consonants)
3) the nuclear of the syllable is a vowel, the presents of consonants is optional
4) the position of phonemes in the syllable follows specific rules.
Syllables in English consist of oppositions: v-c. Vowels are usually syllabic while consonants
are not except l,m,n. They become syllabic if they are in an unstressed position, in the end of the word,
after a noise consonant, e.g. little, blossom, garden
The structure of the syllable can be different because of the number and position of consonants.
In English there are 4 types of syllables:
1. open
с+v
no
2. closed
v+с
it
3. covered
c+v+c
note
4. uncovered
v
oh
In Russian the basic type of syllable is open. In English it is closed, the varieties of syllables are
23 and the number of syllables in one English word can be from 1 to 8:
come
[kʌm]
city
[sɪtɪ]
family
[fæməlɪ]
simplicity
[sɪmplɪsətɪ]
incomparability
[ɪnkɔmpərəbɪlətɪ]
intelligibility
[ɪntəlɪʤɪbɪlɪtɪ]
A syllable has 2 main function:
1. constitutive – from syllable words and so on are made
2. distinctive – syllables differentiate words.
Accentual structure of words
Accent is a combination of force, pitch, quantity and quality. Vowels are never reduced in
stressed syllables and, on the contrary, in unstressed syllables they almost always change. In Russian it
is different. In Russian quality is more important. In English quality is more important. Languages can
be differentiated according to the position of word stress. The traditional classification divides all
languages into two groups: with fixed stress and free stress, for example, in French the stress is always
on the last syllable, in Finnish and Czech it is always on the first syllable and in Polish on the last but
one:
French
Париж, кашне, партер
Finnish
Хельсинки, сауна
Czech
Злата Прага, Карловы Вары
Polish
Варшава, Познань
English
kitten, important, balloon
Russian
озеро, погода, молоко
The difficulty in Russian and English is that in different grammar form stress can change its
place:
contrast
contrast
music
musician
дом
дома
козы
козы
In a word there are as many degrees of stress as there are syllables.
3 2 41 5
examination
Traditionally English linguists state 3 degrees of stress: primary, secondary, all other syllables
have weak stress.
Accentual structure of English words is very unstable. In Germanic languages the stress falls on
the initial syllable or the second. The tendency is called recessive.
mother – father – daughter – brother – become – begin
The rhythm of stress and unstressed syllables gave birth to rhythmical tendency
(ˏrevoˈlutionary, ˏorganiˈzation, aˏssimiˈlation). The third tendency counted with instability of English
– retentive tendency:
similar – assimilate
recommend – recommendation
Intonation
Intonation is a combination of pitch, loudness and tempo.
1. Structure and function
Many linguists say that intonation is only pitch but on the acoustic level pitch represents the
work of vocal cords, loudness represents the amplitude of vibrations, tempo represents a time during
which speech lasts. Each syllable has a special pitch coloring; it is more or less loud and together with
a tempo of speech it creates an intonation pattern. Each intonation pattern has a nuclear and other
stress and unstressed syllables.
I think he is coming soon.
It’s may be 1 or 2 intonation groups in this sentence.
Last summer we went to stay with my sister in the Crimea.
Among the pitch parameters we shall concentrate on:
1) direction of pitch:
2) pitch level
3) pitch range