This statement will be realized with the mid-level head

GA: I Èdon’t Èwant to Ègo to the °theatre.

 

 

The fall-rise tone is different in RP and in GA.

RP: really

 

 

GA: really

 

The main differences in intonation concern the direction of the voice pitch and the realization of the terminal tones. In GA the voice doesn’t fall to the bottom mostly. This explains the fact, that English speech for Americans sounds affected, pretentious or even sophisticated. And for the English Americans sound dull, monotonous, indifferent, unemotional and even dry.

Basically British intonation has wider melodic curves (кривые) and more rapid changes than American intonation.

The distribution of terminal tones in sentence types is also different in both variants of English.

• GA “yes/no” questions most commonly have a falling terminal tone whereas RP tone is a rising one.

RP: ÈShall we Èstay ™here?

 

GA: ÈShall we Èstay °here?

 

 

• Requests in RP are normally pronounced with rise, while in GA they may take a fall rise.

RP: ÈOpen the ™books.

 

GA: °Open the ™books.

 

• Leave-taking (слова, сказанные на прощание) are often pronounced with a high-pitched

Fall-rise in RP.

Лекция 5

Connected speech – связная речь

Flow of speech – поток речи

Fluent, rapid speech – беглая речь

Partially – частично

Assimilation – ассимиляция

Accommodation – аккомодация

Elision – элизия

Alteration – изменение

Interaction – интерактивность, взаимодействие

Cluster – пучок, группа

To preserve – сохранять

To merge – сливаться

Mutual – обоюдный

Reciprocal – обоюдный

Preceding – предшествующий

Modifications of sounds in connected speech

Assimilation

Elision

Vowel reduction

Accommodation

 

As it is known the complete articulation of a speech sound when said in isolation consists of three stages:

1) On-glide, during which the articulating organs move to the position necessary for the articulation of a sound.

2) Holed stage, during which the articulating organs are kept in the position for a certain period of time.

3) Off-glide, during which the articulating organs return to the position of rest.

 

Actually, speech sounds are seldom said by themselves, they are used in combination with other sounds in connected speech. Speech sounds influence each other in the flow speech (поток речи), normally in the process of speech the articulatory organs are moving continuously and the sounds merge into one another. Often these 3 stages of articulation are not preserved (не сохраняются). The off-glide of the preceding sounds serves as the on-glide of the following sound.

Locked – [lokt]

The 3^d stage of the consonant [k] merges into the 1^st stage of [t] sound. So the consonant [k] has the 1^st and the 2^nd stages, while the consonant [t] has only the 2^st and the 3^nd stages.

So, in connected speech the sounds are subjected (подвергаются) to 2 main types of influence line – the reciprocal influence of neighbouring sounds and the influence by larger speech units and their elements.

Thus the 1^st group of processes is called the combinative changes, the 2^nd group – the positional changes. As a result of mutual interaction in connected speech there are a number of phonetic processes such as: assimilation, elision, vowel reduction and accommodation.

 

Assimilationis a process of alteration of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sounds becomes fully or partially similar to the adjoining sounds. By the way assimilation exists in every language. There are several types of assimilation. They can be distinguished according to:

1) Direction

The influence of the neighbouring sounds in English can act in a regressive and reciprocal direction. When some articulatory features of the following sound are changed under the influence of the preceding sound, which remains unchanged. Assimilation is called progressive.

a) The pronunciation of the plural suffix “s” depends on the quality of the preceding consonant [z], [s], [iz]

Dog – dogs

b) Within the words “sandwich”, “grandmother” under the influence of [n] sound the consonant [d] changes into [n] and then disappears

Sandwich – [sQnwitS]

Grandmother – [grQnmÃD«]

But when the following sound influences the articulation of the preceding one assimilation is called regressive.

At them – [«t Dem]

The alveolar [n] and [t] become dental before the interdental [T], [D]. [t] undergoes regressive assimilation to [n] which follows it.

On the table

This type of assimilation is common in Russian, too.

Абсолютно

В кино

Субпродукт

Reciprocal assimilation means complex mutual influence of the adjoining sound.

Tree

The sonorant [r] is partially devoiced under the influence of the voiceless [t]. And the alveolar [t] becomes past-alveolar before [r].

Try

Tram

Trace

2) Degree of completeness

According to its degree assimilation can be complete and incomplete (partial). Assimilation is called complete if two adjoining sounds become alike or merge into one. It always takes place when two sounds differ only in one articulatory feature. We find cases of complete assimilation within words and at the word junction but in fluent speech.

Cupboard – [kÃb«d]

Horseshoe – [h:sSu:]

Less shy

By the way complete assimilation is also found in Russian.

Отделать

Отдать

Сжать

Без сил

Брат друга

Assimilation is called incomplete when the likeness of the adjoining sounds is partial as the assimilated sound remains its major articulatory features.

[w,v,l] are partly devoiced when precedes by the voiceless [p,t,k,s,f,T]

Sweet – [swi:t]

Place – [pleis]

Try – [trαi]

3) Degree of stability

Many assimilatory phenomena of older stages in the development of language have become obligatory. Such changes which have taken place over a period of times within words are called historical.

Orchard (фруктовый сад) – [:tS«d]

Originally it was pronounced [:dj«d]

Besides there are a lot of widely spread non-obligatory uses of assimilation, which can be traced mainly at word boundaries.

Ten minutes – [tem minits]

Light coat – [lαik kÎUt]

Has she – [heS Si]

Didn’t you

Could you

Non-obligatory assimilation are characteristic of fluent spontaneous informal or careless speech and surely should be avoided by teachers.

 

Elision – loss of a sound. Reduction of some consonant clusters was established long ago.

1) The initial (начальная) [w,k,g] may be dropped

Write

Know

Gnat

Knit

2) The medial sounds are dropped [t,d] in a cluster of three consonants

Listen – [lisn]

Often – [fn]

Wednesday

3) The final [b] is dropped in the cluster [mb]

Lamb – [lQm]

Dump – [dÃm]

In the present day English the reduction of clusters continuous to take place.

Last time – [lα:stαim]

Mashed potatoes – [mQSpoteit«s]

Next day – [neksdei]

Old man – [ÎUl mQn]

The alveolar sound of the negative form “-nt” is often reduced before a consonant.

You mustn’t do – [mÃsn du:]

The reduction of consonant clusters is also typical in the Russian language.

Сердце

Солнце

Поздно

Чувствовать

Vowel reductionis a historical process of weakening, shortening, disappearance of vowel sounds in unstressed position. In English vowels in unstressed syllables are normally reduced.

The phonetic phenomenon as well as assimilation closely connected with the general development of the language system. Reduction reflects the process of lexical and grammatical changes.

Modifications of vowels in a flow speech are determined by a number of factors such as: the position of the vowel, accentual structure, tempo of speech, rhythm, etc.

 

The neutral sound represents the reduces form of almost any vowel in the unstressed position.

Combine – [kQmÈbαin] –noun

To combine – [k«mÈ bαin] –verb

 

We see the vowel sounds of the two related words are in contrast because of different stress positions, so reduction is realized:

• In unstressed syllables within the words
• In unstressed form words (служебные), auxiliary (вспомогательные) modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns within intonation groups and phrases.

I can [kən] do it.

Can [kQn] you do it?

There are 3 types of reduction:

1) Quantitative reduction – shortening of a vowel sound in an unstressed position. It affects mainly long vowels.

He [hi: - hi -hı] (I know that he will do it)

See [si: - si – sı]

$He [hi:] did it!

He [hi] will do it.

2) Qualitative reduction – one vowel in unstressed position turns into another one.

[Q – ə]

Vowels in unstressed position (form words and notional words) undergo both quantitative and qualitative.

To [tu: - tu – tə] (I want to tell you)

3) Elision of vowels – in an unstressed position.

I am ready [ai əm redi] – [aim redi]

Remarkable phenomenon, while elision is a very common process in connected speech, we also find sound being inserted (intrusive – навязчивая [r]), which is sometimes pronounced between the vowels.

Asia_and Africa

The idea_of it

In compound words there is no reduction.

 

Accommodation –is anadaptation of vowels to different adjacent sounds; the modification in the articulation of a vowel under the influence of an adjacent consonant or vice-versa. The accommodated sound doesn’t change its main phonetic features and is pronounced as a variant (allophone) of the same phoneme, but slightly modified under the influence of the neighbouring sound.

 

3 types of accommodation:

1) When an unrounded variant of the consonant is replaced by its rounded one under the influence of the following vowel “u”.

Too [tu:], [t] is a bit labialized

m [mu:n]

So here we can speak of the labialization of the preceding vowels

[], [u:] – in Russian – больно, поздно, лучше, конь, думать

2) A fully-back variant of a back vowel is replaced by slightly advanced variant under the influence of the preceding [j] sound.

Booty [bu:ti] – beauty [bju”ti]

Moon [mu:n] – music [mju:zik]

3) When a vowel becomes more open under the influence of the dark [€] sound.

Pen [pen], net [net]

BUT

Bell [bE€], tell [tE€], sell [sE€]

As a result of the mutual interaction of speech sounds in connected speech there are a number of phonetic processes such as assimilation, elision, vowel reduction and accommodation. And in our speech we should mind today certainly.

Syllable