Choose between the variants: A or B
1. The correlation of degrees of prominence of the syllables in a word forms:
A.the stress pattern of words
B.utterance stress
2. A constituent feature of the phonetic structure of a word taken in isolation:
A.utterance stress
B.word stress
3. A constituent feature of the phonetic structure of a spoken sentence:
A.utterance stress
B.word stress
4. Factors that condition the position of word stress are:
A.objective
B.subjective
5. The placement of utterance stress is conditioned by:
A.the orthoepic norm
B.the situational and linguistic context
6. The effect of prominence is achieved by changes in pitch level in … languages.
A.dynamic
B.tonic
7. English word stress is:
A.fixed
B.free
8. English word stress is of … nature.
A.complex
B.dynamic
9. The accentuation tendency to stress he third syllable from the end is …
A.rhythmic
B.recessive
10. What degree of word stress is not linguistically relevant and is not included into the British classification?
A.secondary
B.tertiary
Fill in the gaps in the table: types of word-stress
| The criterion | Type of word-stress | Basic characteristics |
| According to the nature of word-stress | dynamic (force) | The effect of prominence is achieved by …… |
| …………… | The effect of prominence is achieved by uttering a stressed syllable on a different pitch level or with a different pitch direction than the other syllable or syllables of the word, e.g. Oriental languages(Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese), African languages | |
| qualitative | The effect of prominence is achieved by …………. | |
| quantitative | The effect of prominence is achieved by ………………. | |
| According to the stability of position | Free: (1) ………accent is one which remains on the same morpheme in different grammatical forms of a word or in different derivatives from one and the same root,e.g. wonder, wonderful, wonderfully(2) …..accent is one which falls on different morphemes in different grammatical forms of a word or in different derivatives from one and the same root, e. g. active – activity; сад – садовод –садовый. | ………………………. |
| ………………. | the main accent invariably falls on a syllable which occupies in all the words of the language one and the same position in relation to the beginning or end of a word, e.g. French, Check. |
Fill in the gaps in the table: accentuation tendencies in English
| Accentuation tendency | The essence of the tendency |
| ………………tendency | stress falls on the first syllable which is generally the root syllable (mother, ready) or on the second syllable if a word has a prefix of no special meaning (become, indeed, forgive, behind) |
| the rhythmic tendency | ………………………………….. |
| ………………….tendency | The stress of the parent word is often preserved in derivatives (`personal – `perso`nality) |
| There is a tendency to stress the most important elements in words such as ………………………………………………………………………………….. |
Seminar 6 Utterance Prosody. Prosodic units. Prosodic Subsystems. Functional Aspect of Prosody.
Topics for discussion
- What is your idea of intonation? Do you see any difference between the terms
“intonation” & “prosody”? Speak about the meanings & functions of prosody.
- Give account of the prosodic units of a language.
- Describe the prosodic subsystems: pitch & utterance stress.
- Speak about the prosodic subsystems: rhythm, tempo & pauses.
- What is bilingualism? Discuss the problem of phonetic interference, mention the features of Russian – English phonemic and prosodic interference.
Literature
- Боисова, Л.В., Метлюк, А.А. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: учеб.пособие для ин-тов и фак. иностр.яз./ Л.В. Борисова, А.А. Метлюк. – Минск: «Вышэйшая школа», 1980. – С.69 - 109
- Васильев, В.А. Фонетика английского языка. Нормативный курс: учебник для ин-тов и фак. иностр.яз./ В. А. Васильев [и др.] – 2-е изд.перераб. - М.: Высшая школа, 1980. - С. 286 -322
- Соколова, М.А. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Практикум: учеб.пособие / М.А. Соколова, И.А.Афонская, Л.Б.Ковалева [и др.] – М.: «Профобразование»,2001. – С.98 - 142
Key terms: intonation, prosody, a rhythmic group, an intonation group, an utterance, a supraphrasal unit, pith level, pitch range, rhythm, tempo, bilingualism, phonetic interference.
Tasks and exercises