Syllabic and Accentual Structure of English Words. Intonation.

Практическое занятие № 1

The System of English Consonants

 

1. Classification of consonants according to:

– the place of articulation

– the work of the vocal cords

– the position of the soft palate

2. The problem of affricates. Major theories concerning the problem.

3. Modification of consonants in connected speech. Assimilation, elision.

 

The System of English Vowels

1. The classification of English vowels according to:

— stability of articulation;

— tongue position;

— lip position;

— character of the vowel end;

— length;

— tenseness.

2. Phonetic status of the neutral sound.

3. Modification of vowels in connected speech: reduction, elision, accommodation.

Практические задания

1) Transcribe the following text, find and explain all the cases of assimilation and reduction:

So Tom unwound the thread from one of his needles, and each boy pricked the ball of his thumb and squeezed out a drop of blood. In time, after many squeezes, Tom managed to sign his initials, using the ball of his little finger for a pen. Then he showed Huckleberry how to make an H and an F, and the oath was complete. They buried the shingle close to the wall, with some dismal ceremonies and incantations, and the fetters that bound their tongues were considered to be locked and the key thrown away (M. Twain Adventures of Tom Sawyer).

ASSIMILATION

Assimilation is a process of alteration of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sounds becomes fully or partially similar to the adjoining sound.

Types of assimilation:

According to the direction:

· progressive: dry

· regressive: and three

· double: try

According to the quality of adjacent sounds:

· consonant + vowel, vowel + consonant

· vowel + vowel

· consonant + consonant:

1) Assimilation according to the place of obstruction:

[t, d, n, l] + [Ө, ð] → alveolar sounds become dental ones: at the, and thick, in the, all the

[t, d, n, l, s, z] + [r] → alveolar sounds become post-alveolar ones: try, dry, can rise, all round, lets write, cars ride

[m, p] + [f, v] → bilabial sounds become labio-dental ones: comfort

2) Assimilation according to the lip position:

[t, d, k, g, s] + [w] → sounds become rounded: twin, dwell, queen, cogwheel, swan

3) Assimilation according to the work of the vocal cords:

Voiceless sound + [n, m, l, r, j, w] → sonorants are partially devoiced: snake, smile, play, try, fjord, twenty

Word-stem + suffix –ed → the suffix is pronounced [t] or [d]: lived, picked

Word-stem + -s or ’s or s’ → s is pronounced [s] or [z]: Bob’s, girl’s, bags’

4) Assimilation according to the position of the soft palate: [t, d] + [n, m]:Good morning [gumo:niŋ]

5) Assimilation according to the manner of the release of plosive consonants:

Nasal plosion: [p, b, t, d, k, g] + [n, m]: clap my hands, Bob makes, bottom, paid money, thick nose, gnaw

Lateral plosion: [p, b, t, d, k, g] + [l]: plan, black, kettle, candle, clap, glance

Fricative plosion: [p, b, t, d, k, g] + [s, z]: stops, Bob’s book, cats, bad zone, cooks, bags

Loss of plosion: [p, b, t, d, k, g] + [p, b, t, d, k, g] или [t∫, dј]: stop talking, Bob takes, let pupil, sad beauty, October, pig tried, picture

6) Loss of aspiration: [s] + [p, t, k] → p, t, k lose their aspiration: spider, stool, school

Рекомендуемая литература

Соколова М.А., Гинтовт К.П., Тихонова А.С., Тихонова Р.М. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учеб. для студ. ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. - М.: Гуманит. изд. центр ВЛАДОС, 1996.

Трубецкой Н.С. Основы фонологии / Пер. с нем. А.А. Холодовича; Под ред. С.Д. Кацнельсона. - 2-е изд. - М.: Аспект Пресс, 2000.

Vassilyev V.A. English Phonetics. A theoretical course: Учеб. для студ. ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. - Moscow: Higher School Publishing House, 1970.

Практическое занятие № 2

Syllabic and Accentual Structure of English Words. Intonation.

1. Syllable formation in English.

2. The problem of syllable division in English.

3. The nature of word stress.

4. The typology of accentual structure of English words.

5. The functional aspect of word stress.

6. .Different approaches to the definition of intonation.

7. The prosodic constituents of intonation: pitch, loudness, tempo, rhythm.

8. .Intonation pattern as a basic unit of intonation. The nucleus, head, pre-head/pre-nucleus, tail.

Практические задания

1) Transcribe the following text, divide it into syllables, mark all the stresses, and explain the nature of stress:

I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail (Ch. Dickens A Christmas Carol).

2) Find the parts of intonation patterns in the following sentences:

a) Tom, what are you doing here?

b) Stop crying, it annoys me!

c) What's gone with the boy, I wonder?

d) Give me a glass of water, please.

e) Good night, madam. Sleep well.

Рекомендуемая литература

Соколова М.А., Гинтовт К.П., Тихонова А.С., Тихонова Р.М. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учеб. для студ. ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. - М.: Гуманит. изд. центр ВЛАДОС, 1996.

Трубецкой Н.С. Основы фонологии / Пер. с нем. А.А. Холодовича; Под ред. С.Д. Кацнельсона. - 2-е изд. - М.: Аспект Пресс, 2000.

Vassilyev V.A. English Phonetics. A theoretical course: Учеб. для студ. ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. - Moscow: Higher School Publishing House, 1970.