Principal allophones

Two objective criteria may be suggested:

the principal or typical variant of a phoneme is free from the influence of neighboring speech
sounds and other purely phonetic factors, such as absence of stress.
It is most representative of the phoneme as a whole, in the sense that it has the greatest number
of articulatory features (both distinctively relevant and irrelevant) among all the variants of the
phoneme. For example – the phoneme [t]. The principal variant of the phoneme has three
distinctive features (forelingual, occlusive, voiceless, fortis) and two distinctively irrelevant
features (alveolar and aspirated).
Subsidiary allophones
The subsidiary variants of a phoneme are subdivided into two groups: combinatory and
positional. Positional allophones are used in certain positions traditionally, e.g. clear and dark [l].
Combinatory allophones appear in the process of speech and result from the influence of one
phoneme upon another. The alveolar phoneme [t] becomes labialized in “twice”, it becomes
dental in eighth and post-alveolar in try under the influence of the sounds that follow it. One of
the main causes of a language learner’s foreign accent is his/her failure to use subsidiary
phonemes.
Aspects of the phoneme
As it has already been mentioned, the phoneme is a dialectical unity of three aspects. It is 1)
functional, 2) material, real and objective, 3) abstract and generalized.
First of all the phoneme is a functional unit. It functions to make one word or its grammatical
form distinct from another. It constitutes words and helps to recognize them.
The phoneme is material, real and objective because it exists independently from our will. It
exists in the speech of all people of the same language community in the form of speech sounds.
The next aspect of the phoneme is its abstracted and generalized character. This is reflected in
the definition of a phoneme as a language unit (We don’t pronounce phonemes). Each language
unit the phoneme, the morpheme, the word (lexeme), the utterance is an abstraction from and a
generalization of actual utterances. Native speakers do not notice the difference between
allophones of the same phoneme because they this difference does not distinguish meanings, so
they abstract themselves from such differences.
The functional aspect
Each phoneme is opposed to the other phonemes of the same language in some physical and
articulatory features. If the opposed sounds differ in one articulatory feature and this difference
brings about some changes in meaning, the contrasting features are called relevant, e.g. port-
court (both sounds are occlusive and fortis, but [p] is labial and [k] is backlingual.). So labial and
backlingual features are relevant features in the system of English sounds. The functionally
relevant bundle of articulatory features is called the invariant of the phoneme. Neither of the
articulatory features that form the invariant of the phoneme can be changed without affecting the
meaning. If the opposed sounds differ in one articulatory feature and this feature doesn’t cause
ant changes in the meaning of the words, the contrasting features are called redundant
(irrelevant), e.g. aspirated and non-aspirated [p] in initial positions.
The types of mistakes
Here we should speak about two types of mistakes. Phonological (replacing an allophone of one
phoneme by an allophone of a different phoneme) and phonetic (replacing an allophone of a
phoneme by another allophone of the same phoneme).
The morphological approach
B. de Courtenay tried to analyze phonemes according to their functions in morphemes. He
centered his attention mainly on the phenomenon of phonetic and historical alternation. This
theory has many followers. Trubetskoy was influenced by it.
Psychological or mentalistic approach
The “mentalistic” or “psychological” approach regards the phoneme as an ideal mental image or
the target that the speaker aims. A speech sound is a fictitious unit. What does exist is a
perception of sound. It is a complex perception of the articulatory movements and acoustic
impressions, all of which react on the mind simultaneously. B. de Courtenay called this complex
perception the phoneme. A similar approach was adopted by E. Sapir.
The functional approach
It was developed by the linguistic society of Prague – N.Trubetskoy, R.Jacobson. They viewed
the phoneme as a minimal sound unit by which meaning can be differentiated without much
regard to actually pronounced speech sounds. So meaning differentiation is a defining
characteristic of phonemes. Thus, the absence of palatalization in dark [l] and palatalization of
clear [l] in English do not differentiate meanings. The same articulatory features in Russian [л]
[л’] do differentiate meaning (мол - моль), and so they should to assigned to different
phonemes. According to this conception the phoneme is not a family of sounds, as in every
sound only a number of articulatory features. It is the so-called distinctive features of the sound
that make up the phoneme corresponding to it. This approach extracts non-distinctive features
from the phonemes, thus divorcing the phoneme from actually pronounced speech sounds.
Abstract approach
A stronger form of the functional approach is advocated in so-called “abstract” view of the
phoneme. This view of the phoneme was originated by Ferdinand de Saussure and supported by
L. Hjelmslev and his associates in the Copenhagen Linguistic circle. This view regards the
phoneme as essentially independent from acoustic and physiological properties associated with
them, that is of speech sounds.
The physical view
It was introduced by D.Jones and shared by B.Bloch and G.Trager. This view regards the
phoneme as a family of related sounds. According to D.Jones “a phoneme is a family of sounds
in a given language, satisfying certain conditions: 1) The various members of a “family” must
show phonetic similarity to one another, in other words be related in character; 2) No member of
the “family” may occur in the same phonetic context as any other. Yet it is not easy to see how
sounds can be assigned to the same phoneme.
D.Jones emphasizes the fact that different members of the same family are mutually exclusive:
the [k] that is used in “keep” cannot be used in “call” where we have a labialized [k]. This
approach disregards functional and abstract aspects of the phoneme
The system of phonetic notations.
The system of phonetic notations is generally termed as “transcription”. It is a set of symbols
representing speech sounds. There are two types of transcription – broad and narrow. The first
type of transcription provides special symbols for all the phonemes of a language. It is mainly
used for practical purposes. The narrow transcription provides special symbols to denote not only
the phoneme, but also its allophonic variations. The allophonic transcription serves the purposes
of research work.
Methods of phonological analyses
 The aim of phonological analyses is the identification of phonemes and finding out the
patterns of relationship into which they fall.
There are two well-known methods:
1) the method of minimal pairs (the semantic method)2) the method of distinctive oppositions
The Method of Distinctive Oppositions (distributional method)
This methods was introduced by professor R.Jacobson in “Fundamentals of Language”. He
based his method mostly on family names like Chitter, Ditter, Hitter. Proper names create a
situation in which feature level predominates over the semantic level, for the context is of no use
in this case. The distributional method consists in grouping all the sounds in phonemes according
to the two laws of phonemic and allophonic distribution.
Allophones of different phonemes occur in the same phonetic context. And their distribution is
contrastive: [pit]-[bit].
Allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same phonetic context. In this case their
distribution is complementary: fully palatalized [l] in the word “let” may sound peculiar to native
speakers but the word is still recognized as let.
Exceptions
The distributional method states that: 1) allophones of different phonemes occur in the same
phonetic context, e.g.: том – дом, pit – bit, i.e. that they are in contrastive distribution; or 2)
allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same phonetic context, e.g. call – keep. They
are here in complementary distribution.
Yet there are cases when two sounds are in complimentary distribution but are not referred to the
same phoneme. Consider English sounds [h] & [ŋ] for example: [h] – occurs only initially or
before a vowel while [ŋ] occurs only medially or finally and never occurs initially. Here the
method of distribution is modified by addition of the criterion of phonetic
The semantic method
The semantic method of identifying the phonemes of a language attaches great significance to
meaning. This method is based on a phonemic rule that phonemes can distinguish words and
morphemes when opposed to one another. If two or more linguistic units of a level higher than
the phonemic one (i.e. words or morphemes) differ solely in one of their segments occurred in
the same position whereas the rest of phonetic environment is the same – the linguistic units are
called a minimal phonological pair and the segments in question are regarded as different
phonemes or, better say, representatives of different phonemes. Consider one more example of
the commutation test in English words: pen, den, ten, then, and etc.
Three kinds of oppositions
In phonology (using the method(s) of phonological analysis) we must also establish the system
of oppositions. There are three kinds of oppositions. If members of the opposition differ in one
feature the opposition is said to be single, e.g.: pen – ben. Common features: occlusive –
occlusive, labial – labial. Differentiating feature: fortis – lenis. A double opposition takes place if
two features are marked (i.e. different), e.g.: pen – den. Common features: occlusive – occlusive.
Differentiating features: labial – lingual, fortis – lenis. If 3 distinctive features are marked the
opposition is triple, e.g.: pen – then. Differentiating features: occlusive – constrictive, labial –
dental, fortis – lenis.
Classification of the English phonemes
There are two major classes of sounds traditionally distinguished in any language. They are
consonants and vowels. On the auditory level vowels consist of tone (voice) only, and
consonants have both noise and tone. On the articulatory level the air-stream meets an
obstruction when a consonant is articulated, but it the air escapes freely when a vowel is
pronounced.
consonants
Scholars distinguish 24 consonant phonemes in Received Pronunciation. There are some general
principles of consonant formation:
an obstruction (an obstacle) is created in one of supra-laryngal cavities (pharynx, mouth cavity,
nasal cavity).
The muscular tension is created in the place of obstruction;
A stronger air-stream is required than in articulating vowels.
Vassilyev’s classification
According to professor Vassilyev primary importance should be given to the manner of
articulation. On this ground he distinguishes two large classes of consonants: occlusive, in the
production of which a complete obstruction is formed, and constrictive, in the production of
which an incomplete obstruction is formed.
Each of these two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants on the basis of
prevailing either noise or tone component. Noise occlusive consonants are divided into plosive
consonants (stops) and affricates, and constrictive sonorants are subdivided into medial and
lateral phonemes.
M.A.Sokolova’s classification
She classifies consonants according to 5 principles:
o the degree of noise;
o the manner of articulation;
o the place of articulation and the active organ of speech;
o the force of articulation;
o the position of the soft palate.
Sokolova believes that the first and basic principle of classification should be the degree of noise.
Such consideration leads to dividing English consonants into two general kinds: noise
consonants and sonorants. Noise consonants are subdivided into occlusive, constrictive and
occlusive-constrictive (affricates). Sonorants are also subdivided into occlusive and constrictive,
which are in its turn subdivided into medial and lateral.
The place of articulation
The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of
articulation. According to this principle the English consonants are classes into labial, lingual
and glottal.
The class of labial consonants is subdivided into: a) bilabial; b) labio-dental; and among the class
of lingual consonants three subclasses are distinguished: a) forelingual; b) mediolingual; c)
backlingual
Classification according to the place of articulation
o Forelingual consonants
Special attention should be paid to two groups of forelingual consonants. They can be subdivided
on the one hand into apical and cacuminal (r) and on the other hand according to the work of the
active organ, into interdental, alveolar, post-alveolar and palatoalveolar.
Affricates
There exists a problem of affricates in English, that is their phonological status and number. Two
questions arise in this respect:
o Are the English [tʃ] [d3] monophonemic entities or biphonemic combinations? (do
they consist of one phoneme or two phonemes)
o How many phonemes of the same kind exist in the system of English consonants?
Russian phoneticians’ view of affricates
From the point of view of Russian phoneticians, a phoneme has three aspects: articulatory,
acoustic and functional, the latter being the most important. According to these three aspects they
distinguish two affricates [tʃ] and[d3]. As for British phoneticians, their primary concern is the
articulatory and acoustic unity of these complexes. Daniel Jones points out that there are six of
them:[tʃ],[d3],[ts],[dz],[tr],[dr].

Affricates

According to N.S.Trubetskoy a sound complex may be considered monomorphemic if:

its elements belong to the same syllable;
it is produced in one articulatory effort;
its duration should not exceed normal duration of either of its elements.

Rule 1. Syllabic indivisibility. Butch|er – light|ship. In the first case [tʃ]belongs to one syllable
and cannot be divided.
Rule 2. Articulatory indivisibility. Special instrumental analyses shows that all the sound
complexes in question are produced by one articulatory effort.
Rule 3. Duration. The available data of that kind is not reliable enough. Trubetskoy himself
admits that this condition is less important than the two previous ones. We could be certain that
the analyzed sounds are articulatory indivisible and can be considered monomorphemic.
The rules suggested by Trubetskoy are based on articulatory and phonological analyses. Scholars
also attach importance to morphological criterion. As tʃ, d3 are indispensable, they have a
monomorphemic status. Ts, dz – are not.
The changes that consonants undergo in connected speech
In the flow of speech consonants undergo certain changes: assimilation, dissimilation, elision,
epinthesis, metaphesis.
Assimilation
Assimilation results from the influence of one sound on another, when a sound becomes more
like another nearby sound. Obligatory and nonobligatory assimilation. Obligatory assimilation
occurs in the speech of all people in different styles, non-obligatory – in careless speech.
Regressive assimilation: the post alveolar [t] in try o labialized [t] in twice. Progressive
assimilation – happen, open – the sound [n] sounds like [m] under the influence of [p]. The
ending –ed is devoiced after voiceless consonants.
Dissimilation
The opposite to assimilation is dissimilation. It results in two sounds becoming less alike in
articulatory or acoustic terms. Many speakers pronounce “fifths” like [fifts] to break up the
sequence of three fricatives with a stop.
Elision
Elision in phonetics and phonology is the omission of a sound (a phoneme) in speech. Elision is
common in casual conversation.
More specifically, elision may refer to the omission of an unstressed vowel, consonant, or
syllable. E.g. parade [p’reid].
Epenthesis
Epenthesis (sound insertion) is a process that inserts a vowel or a consonant within an existing
string of sounds. A typical example of epenthesis is the “intrusive” [r], e.g. Africa(r) and Asia.
Metathesis
Metathesis is a process that reorders a sequence of sounds. It is typical for children’s speech. In
the adult speech “prescribe and perscribe” are the most-cited examples of methathesis.
The system of the English vowels
A vowel is a speech sound in which the air-stream from the lungs is not blocked in any way in
the mouth or throat, and which is usually pronounced with the vibration of the vocal cords. The
vowel quality is a bundle of definite articulatory characteristics which are interconnected and
interdependent. It is determined by the size, volume and shape of the mouth resonator, which are
modified by the movements of the active organs of speech – the tongue and the lips. There are 21
vowel phonemes in RP.
The criteria for the classification of vowels
stability of articulation (monophthongs, diphthongs, diphthongoids);
tongue position, which means the horizontal and vertical movement of the tongue. In the
horizontal plane we distinguish front, back and mixed, in the vertical plane we distinguish open,
mid and close vowels.
Lip position (we distinguish labialized or rounded and unlabialized or unrounded sounds).
Unrounded sounds may be spread and neutral.
Character of the vowel end (free and checked);
Length (we distinguish long and short vowels);
Tenseness (we distinguish lax and tense vowels).
Cardinal vowels
In order to classify vowels phoneticians developed a set of vowels arranged in a closeopen, front-
back diagram, which are not the vowels of any particular language. “These cardinal vowels are a
standard reference system. The stability of articulation
Closing and centering diphthongs
In closing diphthongs, the second element is more close than the first (e.g. [ai]); the centering
diphthongs glide towards the schwa vowel.
The horizontal movement of the tongue
1. When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth and the front part of the tongue is raised to
the hard palate a front vowel is pronounced.
They are – [i: e ǽ]
2. When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted and the part of the
tongue nearer to the centre than to front is raised, a front-retracted vowel is pronounced.
It is – [ɪ].
3. When the front of the tongue is raised towards the back part of the hard palate the vowel is
called central.
They are – [ʌ ə: ə].
4. When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth and the back of it is raised towards the soft
palate a back vowel is pronounced.
They are – [a: ɒ ɔ : u:].
5. When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth but is slightly advanced and the central part
of it is raised towards the front part of the soft palate a backadvanced vowel is pronounced.
It is – [ʊ ].
The vertical movement of the tongue
1. When the front or the back of the tongue is raised high towards the palate the vowel is called
close (high).
2. When the front or the back of the tongue is as low as possible in the mouth open (low) vowels
are pronounced.
3. When the highest part of the tongue occupies the position intermediate between the close and
the open one mid vowels are pronounced.
1) close a) narrow [i:], [u:]
b) broad [ɪ], [ʊ], [ɪə], [ʊə]
2) mid a) narrow [e], [ɜ:], [eɪ], [ɜʊ]
b) broad [ə], [ʌ]
3) open a) narrow [ɛə], [ɔ:], [ɔɪ]
b) broad [ǽ ], [aɪ], [aʊ], [ɒ], [a:].
Lip position
When the lips are neutral or spread the vowels are called unrounded.
They are – [i: i e ǽ a: ʌ ə: ə].
When the lips are drawn together so that the opening between them is more or less round the
vowel is called rounded.
They are – [ɒ ɔ: u u:].
Vowel length
All English vowels are divided into long and short vowels.
Long vowels are – [i: a: ɔ: u: ə:]
Short vowels are – [ɪ e ɒ ʊ ʌ ə]
The problem is whether variations in quantity are meaningful (relevant) or not. E.g. the pairs of
words: [bɪd - bi:d], [sɪt - si:t]. Are they distinguished from one another by the opposition of
different length (that's the approach of D. Jones, an outstanding British phonetician) or is the
difference in quality (or in other words the position of the active organ of speech) is decisive
here? Most Russian phoneticians are in favour of the second conception. They state that a feature
can be systemic if it does not depend on the context. As to the length of English vowels, it varies
and depends on a lot of factors, the first being phonetic context. The shortest are vowels followed
by voiceless consonants and the longest are in free position.
For example in "meat" [i:] is half as long as the [i:] in "me", but may approximately have the
same duration as the [ɪ] in "mid". But still these words "mid" and "meat" are perceived as
different words because the vowels are different in quality. So no matter what time is required
for the articulation of these vowels, the main distinctive feature is quality, not quantity.
Tenseness
As for tenseness, special instrumental analysis shows that historically long vowels are tense, and
historically short ones are lax.
Checkness
This quality depends on the character of the articulatory transition from a vowel to a consonant.
As a result all English short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness may
vary and depends on the following consonant. Before fortis voiceless consonant it is more
perceptible than before a lenis voiced consonant or sonorant. All long vowels are free.
Все английские КРАТКИЕ ГЛАСНЫЕ звуки являются под ударением УСЕЧЕННЫМИ
гласными звуками, тесно примыкающими к следующему за ними согласному звуку (но
без ослабления своей интенсивности к концу). Чтобы сделать краткий гласный
усеченным, необходимо как можно скорее переходить к артикуляции последующего
согласного. При сильном примыкании согласный появляется в тот момент, когда процесс
произнесения гласного еще не достиг кульминационного пункта. При слабом примыкании
артикуляция гласного завершается полностью еще до приступа согласного (sat-isfy ad-
equate).
Кроме того, длительность и самого краткого гласного звука зависит от того, является ли
последующий согласный звук звонким или глухим (если он находится на конце слова).
Перед звонкими согласными на конце слова краткий ударный гласный слегка удлиняется,
а перед глухими остается очень кратким.
Vowels in connected speech
The quantitative reduction is the shortening of the vowel length when it occurs in an unstressed
position (as in window, phoneme, etc) or before a voiceless consonant (as in heat, past, etc.).
Qualitative reduction of most vowels occurs in unstressed positions. In these cases the quality of
the vowel is reduced to the neutral sound as in statesman [‘steɪtsmən], economic [i:kə’nɒmɪk].
Unstressed syllables may contain vowels of full formation.
In rapid colloquial speech elision or complete omission of the unstressed vowel can take place as
in perhaps [p’h ǽps], today [t’deɪ], correct [k’rekt].
Vowel gradation
Apophony | ablaut | gradation | alternation |
the alternation of sounds within a word that indicates grammatical information. Vowel gradation
(apophony) is exemplified in English as the internal vowel alternations that produce such related
words as sing, sang, sung, song ; rise, raise ; bind, bound ; goose, geese
Definitions of the syllable
J.Kenyon: “the syllable is one or more speech sounds, forming a single uninterrupted unit of
utterance, which may be a word, or a commonly recognized subdivision of a word.”
V.A.Vassilyev :”…speech sounds are normally part of a larger and hierarchically higher
phonetic unit known as the syllable which is an integral constituent part of a still higher language
unit, the word”. According to professor Vassilyev, a word or a word form consisting of a single
vowel sound (e.g. I, are) is also at the same time a syllable. M.A.Sokolova defines syllables as
the smallest pronounceable units, which form larger language units – morphemes, words and
phrases. Each of these units has a certain syllabic structure.
Syllable is the minimal articulated unit of speech, consisting of one or several sounds that form a
compact phonetic entity and that occur during one chest pulse. Proponents of various theories
concerning the syllable believe that a syllable is produced by one muscular contraction, by
modulation (narrowing and widening) of the pharynx, or by the degree of sonority and the order
in which sounds are uttered.
Theories of syllable formation
The oldest theory is that there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. This theory
does not take into consideration consonants that can form syllable and doesn’t explain the
boundary of syllables.
Expiratory or chest pulse, or pressure theory
It was introduced by R.H.Stentson. This theory is based on the assumption that expiration in
speech is a pulsating process and each syllable should correspond to a single expiration so that
the number of syllables in an utterance is determined by the number of expirations made in the
production of the utterance. But simple calculations prove that more than ten syllables are easily
pronounced with a single expiration and moreover, we take a new breath at the end of a
syntagma, but not for each single syllable.
The relative sonority theory by O.Jespersen
By sonority we usually mean the prevalence in a speech sound of musical tone over noise.
According to this sound property a ranking of speech sounds could be established. This starts
with the open vowels as the most sonorous, then come the mid vowels, the close vowels, the
sonorants, the voiced fricatives, the voiced plosives, the voiceless fricatives and ends with the
voiceless plosives as the least sonorous. Sounds are grouped around the most sonorous ones that
form the peaks of sonority in a syllable. Two points of lower sonority constitute the beginning
and the end of one syllable (e.g. plant).
The theories of syllable division by L.V. Shcherba
In order to determine the principle of syllable division and to draw a line between two adjoining
syllables, L.V.Shcherba used two theories:
the muscular tension theory;
the three types of consonants theory.
The theory of muscular tension by L.V. Shcherba
In most languages there is a syllabic phoneme in the center of the syllable which is usually a
vowel phoneme, or in some languages a sonorant. The phonemes, preceding or following the
syllable peak are called marginal. The energy, that is the tension of articulation, increases within
the range of prevocalic consonants and then decreases within the range of postvocalic
consonants. Therefore the syllable can be defined as an arc of articulatory (muscular) tension.
In speaking, muscular tension impulses follow one another. Each impulse has its strongest point
– the peak of prominence. Valleys of prominence correspond to points of syllable division. The
end of one syllable and the beginning of the next syllable division. The end of one syllable and
the beginning of the next can be ascertained by determining the type of consonants.
The three types of consonants theory
Consonants may be of three types:
initially strong;
finally strong;
geminate (or double).
So, these consonants may be pronounced in three different ways:
the beginning of a consonant may be more energetic, while the end may be weaker (initially
strong consonant);
the beginning of a consonant may be weak, and its end – more energetic (finally strong
consonant)
a consonant may be pronounced in such a way that both the beginning and the end are energetic
with a weakening of muscular tension in the middle
(acoustically, they give the impression of two consonants and are referred to as geminate
consonants).
The more energetic part of a consonant is attached to a vowel, so that initially strong consonants
occur at the end of a close syllable, while finally strong consonants occur at the beginning of
syllable.
Three types of consonants
initially strong consonants – it, us, oath, add;
finally strong consonants – may, tea, new;
geminate (double) consonants – penknife, what time; midday meal.
Geminate double consonants are strong at both ends and weak in the middle and usually occur at
the juncture of words or morphemes, its first part the downward slope of the preceding syllable
and the second constituting the upward slope of the preceding one: [‘gud ‘dei].
Phonologically a double-peaked geminated consonant represents two successive allophones of
the same phoneme.
Initially strong consonants follow short vowels, while finally strong consonants follow long
vowels or diphthongs. Acoustically, finally strong consonants produce the impression of an
intimate blend between the consonant and the vowel that follows.
Not a tall one – not at all one
A name – an aim
Loudness theory by prof. N.I. Zhinkin
Professor N.I.Zhinkin proclaimed his loudness theory. Syllable are due to the rise and fall in
loudness. Every phoneme possesses a specific inherent loudness which manifests itself when
sounds are pronounced in sequences. Syllables are due to “curves of loudness” (arcs of
loudness), not to any other causes. The inherent loudness of phonemes is not to be confused with
their inherent sonority. Loudness depends on the degree of noise and musical sound in the
phoneme. According to N.I.Zhinkin, loudness is regulated in the lower part of the pharynx with
the help of epiglottis.
Syllable formation
• Syllable formation in English is based on the phonological opposition vowel – consonant.
Vowels are usually syllabic while consonants are not, with the exception of [l], [m], [n], which
become syllabic if they occur in an unstressed final position preceded by a noise consonant, for
example, little, garden.
The types of syllables
The structure of the syllable may vary because of the number and arrangement of consonants. In
English four types of syllables are distinguished.
1. open CV: no
2. closed VC: odd
3. covered CV(C): note
4. uncovered V(c): oh, oak
Syllables are closed when they end in a consonant and open when they end in a vowel. They are
uncovered when they begin with a vowel and covered when they begin with a consonant. The
most common syllable structure, found in all languages of the world, is consonant followed by
vowel.
The English language has developed the closed type of syllable as the fundamental one while in
Russian it is the open type that forms the basis of syllable formation.
Syllabic structure (according to Y. Torsuev)
1) fully open, consisting of one vowel: “or”
2) fully closed, consisting of a vowel between consonants: “bit”
3) initially covered, consisting of a consonant or sequence of consonants before a vowel: “spy”
4) finally covered, consisting of a vowel completed by one or more consonants:“act”
Phonotactics
• The syllabic structure of a language like its phonemic structure, is patterned, which means that
the sounds of language can be grouped into syllables according to certain rules. The part of
phonetics that deals with this aspect of language is called phonotactics. Phonotactic possibilities
of a language determine the rules of syllable division. Phonotactics is the part of phonology that
studies the characteristics of phoneme sequences or clusters. There are different restrictions on
the possible consonant clusters. Clusters [mh, sr, fs, hr, pt, ml] never occur initially, [tn, dn, stl]
never occur finally.
Pre-initial consonants
• Pre-initial [s] may be followed by [p], [t],[k], [f], [m], [n], e.g. spin, stick, skin, sphere, smell,
snow.
Post-initial
[l] may be preceded by [p], [k], [b], [g], [f], [s]: play, clay, black, glue, fly, slip
[r] may be preceded by [p], [t], [k], [b], [g], [t],
[θ]: prey, try, cry, bring, drip, grin, fry, throw, shred
[j] may be preceded by [p], [t], [k], [b], [d], [f], [s], [h], [v], [m], [n], [l]:
The problem of syllable division
In the English language the problem of syllable division exists only in the case of intervocalic
consonants and their clusters like in the words city, agree, extra. In the word “city” the first
syllable remains closed according to the phonotactic rules of the English language, because the
short vowel should remain checked. To be able to determine the syllabic boundary in VCCV
type, e.g. “agree” it is necessary to apply phonological criteria, the first of which might be the
distribution of segmental phonemes. In the above-mentioned example the word should be
divided a-gree, because gr- is a permissible initial cluster in English.
The peculiarities of the syllabic structure in the English language
syllabic boundary is inside intervocalic consonants preceded by vowels, for example: Betty,
racket, money, hotter;
syllable boundary is before an intervocalic consonant if it is not preceded by the above-
mentioned vowels, for example: later, speaker;
the sonorants [l], [m], [n] are syllabic if they are preceded by noise consonants, e.g. little,
blossom, sudden;
there cannot be more than one vowel (a diphthong or a monophthong) within one syllable;
the typical and most fundamental syllabic structure is of (c) VC type
word final consonants are normally of weak-end type.
The notion of stress (accent)
Stress (accent) is special prominence given to a syllable in a word. At least four factors
contribute to a greater prominence of a syllable:
loudness (a louder syllables is perceived as more prominent)
pitch (especially the change of pitch level)
the length of a syllable (a longer syllable is perceived as stressed)
the vowel quality
Definition of stress
• Stress is defined differently by different authors. B.A. Bogoroditsky, for instance, defined
stress as an increase of energy, accompanied by an increase of expiratory and articulatory
activity. D. Jones defined stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied by a strong force of
exhalation and gives an impression of loudness. H. Sweet also stated that stress, is connected
with the force of breath. According to A.C. Gimson, the effect of prominence is achieved by any
or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowel colour.
word stress from articulatory, acoustic and auditory point of view
In articulatory aspect stress is realized by the great force of respiration ( a stressed syllable has
both an increase in respiratory and laryngeal activity, duration of articulation (a stressed syllable
may be long and tense) high frequency of the vibration of vocal chords;
Acoustically, a stressed syllable has greater intensity, duration and pitch or tone of voce than an
unstressed syllable;
Perceptually, a stressed syllable is characterized by more loudness , duration and high tone of a
sound in comparison with an unstressed syllable.
Types of word stress
• According to the most important feature different types, of word stress are distinguished
in different languages.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable or syllables is achieved mainly through the intensity
of articulation, such type of stress is called dynamic, or force stress.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved mainly through the change of pitch, or
musical tone, such accent is called musical, or tonic. It is characteristic of the Japanese, Korean
and other oriental languages.
If special prominence in a stressed syllable is achieved through the changes in the quantity of the
vowels, which are longer in the stressed syllables than in the unstressed ones, such type of stress
is called quantitative.
Qualitative type of stress is achieved through the changes in the quality of the vowel under
stress.
Types of word stress
If we compare stressed and unstressed syllables in the words contract ['kσntrækt], to contract
[kən'trækt], we may note that in the stressed syllable:
(a) the force is greater, which is connected with more energetic articulation;
(b) the pitch of voice is higher, which is connected with stronger tenseness of the vocal cords
and the walls of the resonance chamber;
(c) the quantity of the vowel [æ] in [kən'trækt] is greater, the vowel becomes longer;
(d) the quality of the vowel [æ] in the stressed syllable is different from the quality of this vowel
in the unstressed position, in which it is more narrow than ['æ].
Quantitative component of stress
The nature of word stress in Russian seems to differ from that in English. The quantitative
component of stress plays a greater role in Russian word stress. In the Russian language we
never pronounce vowels of full formation and length in unstressed positions, they are always
reduced. In English nonreduced vowels occur sometimes in the unstressed syllables as in
museum [mju:’zi:əm], hotel [hɜʊ’tel].
The type of stress in European languages
Languages differ according to the type of stress. European languages such as English, German,
French, Russian, etc. are said to have the dynamic stress which implies greater force (greater
muscular energy) with which the syllable is pronounced. The musical (tonic) word stress is
observed in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.
English and Russian word stress
English word stress is traditionally defined as dynamic, but in faet, the special prominence of the
stressed syllables is manifested in the English language not only through the increase of
intensity, but also through the changes in the vowel quantity, consonant and vowel quality and
pitch of the voice.
Russian word stress is not only dynamic but mostly quantitative and qualitative. The length of
the Russian vowels always depends on the position in a word. The quality of unaccented vowels
in Russian may differ greatly from the quality of the same vowels under stress, e.g. /a/ in травы,
травь'1, травяной is realized as /a, 5, ъ/. /а, о, э/ undergo the greatest changes, /y/ and /и/ are
not so much reduced when unstressed.
The features of English stressed syllables
The quantity of long vowels and diphthongs can be preserved in (a) pretonic and (b) post-tonic
position.
a) idea /aɪ’dɪə/ b) placard /’plækɑ:(r)d/
Sarcastic /sɑ:(r)’kæstɪk/ railway /’reɪlweɪ/
archaic /ɑ:’keɪɪk/ compound /’kɒmpaʊnd/
All English vowels may occur in accented syllables, the only exception is /э/, which is never
stressed. English vowels /i, u, э/ tend to occur in unstressed syllables. Syllables with the
syllabic /1, m, n/ are never stressed.
Unstressed diphthongs may partially lose their glide quality.
In stressed syllables English stops have complete closure, fricatives have full friction, features of
fortis/lenis distinction are clearly defined.
Place of word stress in English
• Languages are differentiated according to the place of word stress. The traditional classification
of languages concerning place of stress in a word is into those with a fixed stress and those with
a free stress. In languages with a fixed stress the occurrence of the word stress is limited to a
particular syllable in a polysyllabic word. For instance, in French the stress falls on the last
syllable of the word (if pronounced in isolation), in Finnish and Czech it is fixed on the first
syllable, in Polish on the one but last syllable. In languages with a free stress its place is not
confined to a specific position in the word. In one word it may fall on the first syllable, in
another on the second syllable, in the third word — on the last syllable, etc. The free placement
of stress is exemplified in the English and Russian languages, e.g. English: 'appetite - be'ginning
- ba'lloon; Russian: озеро погода - молоко.
Shifted stress
• The word stress in English as well as in Russian is not only free but it may also be shifting,
performing the semantic function of differentiating lexical units, parts of speech and grammatical
forms. In English word stress is used as a means of word-building; in Russian it marks both word
formation and different grammatical categories, e.g. 'contrast — con'trast; 'habit — ha’bitual,
'music — mu'sician; дóма — домá; чýдная — чуднáя, вóды — вод´ы.
Different approaches to the degree of word stress
There is some controversy about degrees of the word-stress terminology and about placing the
stress marks. Most British phoneticians term the strongest stress primary, the second strongest
secondary and all the other degrees of stress weak. The stress marks placed before the stressed
syllables indicate simultaneously their places and the point of syllable division.
American descriptivists (B. Bloch, G. Träger) distinguish the following degrees of word-stress:
loud, reduced loud, medial and weak, which is not indicated. H. A. Gleason defines such degrees
of stress as primary, secondary, tertiary and weak .
V. A. Vassilyev, D. Jones, R. Kingdon consider that there are three degrees of word-stress in
English: primary—strong, secondary—partial and weak
in unstressed syllables.
Degrees of stress
• Phonetic prominence of a syllable in a word is relative, i.e. compared with the preceding one.
In fact there are as many degrees of prominence as there are syllables in the word.
Phonologically, there are only three degrees: primary - the strongest, secondary and weak (or
unstressed): e¸xami´nation. Some linguists also distinguish tertiary stress, which is as weak as
secondary but has a different distribution: it follows the primary stress, while the secondary
stress precedes it. Tertiary stress is usually found in American English: ´secre¸tary, ´dictio¸nary.
The placement of word stress
• Languages are also differentiated according to the placement of word stress. It can be fixed (or
limited to a particular syllable - the last in French, the last but one in Polish, the first in Czech) or
free (or variable).
Word stress in a language performs three functions
Word stress constitutes a word, it organizes the syllables of a word into a language unit having a
definite accentual structure, that is a pattern of relationship among the syllables; a word does not
exist without the word stress Thus the word stress performs the constitutive function. Sound
continuum becomes a phrase when it is divided into units organized by word stress into words.
Word stress enables a person to identify a succession of syllables as a definite accentual pattern
of a word. This function of word stress is known as identificatory (or recognitive). Correct
accentuation helps the listener to make the process of communication easier, whereas the
distorted accentual pattern of words, misplaced word stresses prevent normal understanding.
Word stress alone is capable of differentiating the meaning of words or their forms, thus
performing its distinctive function. The accentual patterns of words or the degrees of word stress
and their positions form oppositions, e.g. 'import — im'port, 'billow — below.
Tendencies in word stress: recessive tendency
• In Germanic languages the word stress originally fell on the initial syllable or the second
syllable, the root syllable in the English words with prefixes. This tendency was called recessive.
Most English words of Anglo-Saxon origin as well as the French borrowings (dated back to the
15th century) are subjected to this recessive tendency. Unrestricted recessive tendency is
observed in the native English words having no prefix, e.g. mother, daughter, brother, swallow,
,in assimilated French borrowings, e.g. reason, colour, restaurant. Restricted recessive tendency
marks English words with prefixes, e.g. foresee, begin, withdraw, apart. A great number of
words of Anglo-Saxon origin are monosyllabic or disyllabic, both notional words and form
words. They tend to alternate in the flow of speech, e.g. 'don't be'lieve he's 'right.
Rhythmical tendency
The rhythm of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables gave birth to the rhythmical tendency
in the present-day English which caused the appearance of the secondary stress in the
multisyllabic French borrowings, e.g. revolution, organi'sation, assimilation, etc. It also explains
the placement of primary stress on the third syllable from the end in threeand four-syllable
words, e.g. 'cinema, 'situate, ar'ticulate. The interrelation of both the recessive and the
rhythmical tendencies is traced in the process of accentual assimilation of the French-borrowed
word personal on the diachronic level, e.g. perso'nal — 'perso'nal — 'personal. The appearance
of the stress on the first syllable is the result of the recessive tendency and at the same time
adaptation to the rhythmical tendency. The recessive tendency being stronger, the trisyllabic
words like personal gained the only stress on the third syllable from the end, e.g. 'family,
'library, faculty, 'possible.
Recessive and rhythmical tendency
The accentual patterns of the words territory, dictionary, necessary in AmE with the primary
stress on the first syllable and the tertiary stress on the third the examples illustrating the
correlation of the recessive and rhythmical tendencies. Nowadays we witness a great number of
variations in the accentual structure of English multisyllabic words as a result of the interrelation
of the tendencies. The stress on the initial syllable is caused by the diachronical recessive
tendency or the stress on the second syllable under the influence of the strong rhythmical
tendency of the present day, e.g.
'hospitable — ho'spitable, 'distribute — dis'tribute, 'aristocrat — a'ristocrat, 'laryngoscope —
la'ryngoscope.
Retentive tendency
• The third tendency was traced in the accentual structure of English word stress, the retentive
tendency: a derivative often retains the stress of the original or parent word, e.g. 'similar —
as'simitate, recom'mend — recommen 'dation.
The accentual types
['___]. This accentual type marks both simple and compound words. The accentual structures of
this type may include two and more syllables, e.g. 'fafher, 'possibly, 'mother-in-law, 'gas-pipe.
[ '_ '_ ]. The accentual type is commonly realized in compound words, most of them are with
separable prefixes, e.g. 'radio-'active, 're'write, 'diso'bey.
[ '_' _ '_ ] and 4. ['_' _ '_ '_]. The accentual types are met in initial compound abbreviations like
'U'S'A, 'U'S'S'R.
['_ ,___]. The type is realized both in simple and compound words, very common among
compound words, e.g. 'hair-,dresser, 'sub,structure.
[, _'___]. The accentual type marks a great number of simple words and some compound words
as well. E.g., certification.
Presentation 7
Approaches to intonation (contour analysis)
There are two main approaches to the problem of intonation in Great Britain. One is known as a
contour analysis and the other may be called grammatical.
The first is represented by a large group of phoneticians: H. Sweet,
D. Jones, G. Palmer, L. Armstrong, I. Ward, R. Kingdon, J. O'Connor, A. Gimson and others. It
is traditional and widely used. According to this approach the smallest unit to which linguistic
meaning can be attached is a tone-group (sense-group). Their theory is based on the assumption
that intonation consists of basic functional "blocks". They pay much attention to these "blocks"
but not to the way they are connected. Intonation is treated by them as a layer that is
superimposed on the lexico-grammatical structure. In fact the aim of communication determines
the intonation structure, not vice versa.
Intonation units
• Successive contours of intonation singled out of the speech flow may be defined differently:
sense-groups (semantic approach), breath-groups (extra- linguistic approach), tone groups
(phonological definition), intonation patterns / groups, tone (tonetic) units, pitch and stress
patterns. Each tone unit has one peak of prominence in the form of a nuclear pitch movement and
a slight pause after the nucleus that end the tone unit and is usually shorter than the term "pause"
in pausation system.
Intonation units
The founder of the American school of intonation K. Pike in his book «The Intonation of
American English» considers «pitch phonemes» and «contours» to be the main units of
intonation. He describes different contours and their meanings, but the word «meaning» stands
apart from communicative function of intonation.
Approaches to intonation (grammatical approach)
The grammatical approach to the study of intonation was worked out by M. Halliday. The main
unit of intonation is a clause. Intonation is a complex of three systemic variables: tonality,
tonicity and tone, which are connected with grammatical categories. Tonality marks the
beginning and the end of a tone-group. Tonicity marks the focal point of each tone-group. Tone
is the third unit in Halliday's system. Tones can be primary and secondary. They convey the
attitude of the speaker. Hallyday's theory is based on the syntactical function of intonation.
The definition of the term “intonation”
• L.V.Shcherba defined intonation as the variation of pitch, intensity, duration of sounds and
voice timbre. V.A.Vassilyev gives the following definition of the term “intonation”: Intonation is
such a unity of speech melody, sentence stress (accent), voice quality (timbre), which enables the
speaker to adequately communicate in speech his thoughts, will, emotions and attitude towards
reality and the contents of the utterance.
Russian linguists’ approach to intonation
• There is wide agreement among Russian linguists that on perception level intonation is a
complex, a whole, formed by significant variations of pitch, loudness and tempo closely related.
Some Russian linguists regard speech timbre as the fourth component of intonation. Neither its
material form nor its linguistic function has been thoroughly described. Though speech timbre
definitely conveys certain shades of attitudinal or emotional meaning there is no good reason to
consider it alongside with the three prosodic components of intonation, i.e. pitch, loudness and
tempo.
“Intonation” and “prosody”
M. Sokolova writes that the term “prosody” embraces the three prosodic components and
substitutes the term intonation. It is widely used in linguistic literature, it causes no
misunderstanding and, consequently, it is more adequate.
Many foreign scholars (A. Gimson, R. Kingdon) restrict the formal definition of intonation to
pitch movement alone, though occasionally allowing in variations of loudness as well. According
to D. Crystal, the most important prosodic effects are those conveyed by the linguistic use of
pitch movement, or melody. It is clearly not possible to restrict the term intonation by the pitch
parameters only because generally all the three prosodic parameters (pitch, loudness and tempo)
function as a whole though in many cases the priority of the pitch parameter is quite evident.
The components of intonation
the intonation is a complex unity of nonsegmental or prosodic features of speech.
Melody (pitch of the voice)
sentence stress
temporal characteristics (tempo, pausation)
rhythm
timbre (voice quality)
All these features are equally important and mutually dependent.
Speech melody
• Voice pitch or speech melody is one of the most important components of intonation. We
distinguish pitch levels and pitch ranges. There are three pitch levels: high, medium and low. The
pitch range (diapason) is defined as the interval between the highest pitched and the lowest
pitched syllables. Pitch ranges may be normal, wide and narrow. Melody (or pitch movement),
loudness and tempo form an intonation contour (intonation pattern).
The elements of the intonation pattern
The tonetic units that constitute the total intonation pattern (contour) are the following: 1)
unstressed and half stressed syllables preceding the first stressed syllable constitute the pre-head
of the intonation group; 2) stressed and unstressed syllables up to the last stressed syllable
constitute the head, body or scale of the intonation group; 3) the last stressed syllable, within
which fall or rise in the intonation group is accomplished, is called the nucleus; the syllable
marked with the nuclear tone may take a level stress; 4) the syllables (or one syllable), that
follow the nucleus, constitute the tail. The most important part of the intonation group is the
nucleus, which carries nuclear stress (nuclear tone).
Types of nuclear tones distinguished by Western scholars
The inventory of tonal types given by different scholars is different. Sweet distinguishes 8 tones:
level, high rising, low rising, high falling, low falling, compound rising, compound falling,
risingfalling-rising. Palmer has four basic tones: falling, high rising, fallingrising, low rising. He
also mentions high-falling and "low level" and describes coordinating tonal sequences (identical
tone groups), and subordinating tonal sequences (dissimilar tone groups). Kingdon distinguishes
high and low, normal and emphatic tones and recognizes rising, falling, falling-rising (divided
and undivided), rising-falling, rising-falling-rising and level tone (the latter is not nuclear).
O'Connor and Arnold single out low and high falls and rises, rise-fall, fall-rise, and a compound
fall + rise (the latter is considered a combination of two simple tunes).
Nuclear tones singled out by Vassyliev
Vassyliev distinguished ten tones. He states that tones can be moving and level. Moving tones
can be: simple, complex and compound. They are: Low Fall; High Wide Fall; High Narrow Fall;
Low Rise; High Narrow Rise; High Wide Rise; Rise-Fall; Fall-Rise; Rise-Fall-Rise.
The most common compound tones are: High
Fall + High Fall; High Fall + Low Rise. Level Tones can be pitched at High, Mid and Low level.
Nuclear tones distinguished by M.A. Sokolova
According to M.A.Sokolova, the following nuclear tones can be distinguished in RP:
the high-falling tone
the low-falling tone
the high-rising tone
the low-rising tone
the rising-falling tone
the falling-rising tone
the rising-falling-rising tone
the level tones (high, mid and low)
The “meaning” of nuclear tones
• The falling tone of any level and range expresses certainty, completeness and independence. A
rising tone of any level and range expresses uncertainty, incompleteness or dependence. A
falling rising tone at the end of the phrase often conveys a feeling of reservation, i.e. it asserts
something and at the same time suggests that there is something else to be said. Do you ̕like
͵popmusic? – Sometimes.
The meaning of nuclear tone (fallrise)
• A falling-rising tone may combine the falling tone's meaning of assertion, certainty with the
rising tone's meaning of dependence, incompleteness. At the end of a phrase it often conveys a
feeling of reservation; that is, it asserts something and at the same time suggests that there is
something else to be said. At the beginning or in the middle of a phrase it is a more forceful
alternative to the rising tone, expressing the assertion of one point, together with the implication
that another point is to follow. The falling-rising tone, as its name suggests, consists of a fall in
pitch followed by a rise. If the nucleus is the last syllable of the intonation group the fall and rise
both take place on one syllable
The meaning of nuclear tone
• In English there is often clear evidence of an intonation-group boundary, but no audible nuclear
tone movement preceding. In such a circumstance two courses are open: either one may classify
the phenomenon as a further kind of head or one may consider it to be the level nuclear tone.
Low Level tone is very characteristic of reading poetry. Mid-Level tone is particularly common
in spontaneous speech functionally replacing the rising tone. There are two more nuclear tones in
English: RiseFall and Rise-Fall-Rise. But adding refinement to speech they are not absolutely
essential tones for the foreign learner to acquire. Rise-Fall can always be replaced by High Fall
and RiseFall-Rise by Fall-Rise without making nonsense of the utterance.
The nucleus and the head
• The most important part of the intonation group is the nucleus, which carries nuclear stress
(nuclear tone). According to the changes in the voice pitch pre-heads can be high and low: Scales
or heads can be: descending, ascending and level. According to the direction of pitch movement
within and between syllables, descending and ascending scales can be: stepping, sliding and
scandent. If one of the words in the descending scale is made specially prominent, a vertical
arrow ↑ is placed before the mark which indicates the stressed syllable or before the word made
specially prominent in the text —accidental rise, e.g. 'John is ↑very \busy. This type of scale is
called a broken descending scale.
The types of head patterns
The head or the pre-head may be considered as optional elements.
But, the meaning of the intonation group is the combination of the “meaning” of the terminal
tone and the pre-nuclear part combined with the meaning of pitch range and pitch level. There is
a variety of opinions about types of heads among different scholars. According to
M.A.Sokolova’s point of view, head patterns are classified into three major groups: descending,
ascending and level.
The descending heads are: the stepping head, the Falling head, the Scandent head, the Sliding
head.
The ascending heads are: the Rising head and the Climbing head.
The Level Heads are: The High Level Head, the Medium Level Head, The low Level head.
There are two types of pre-head (pre-nucleus): low and high.
Tempo, loudness and pausation
Sentence stress is a special prominence given to one or more words according to their relative
importance in a sentence. Syntactic, logical and emphatic stress. Ann spoke to him yesterday.
Ann spoke to him yesterday. Ann spoke to him yesterday.
By tempo of speech we mean the relative speed of utterance which is measured by the rate of
syllables (succession and the number) and duration of pauses in the sentence. Two – four
syllables per second – slow tempo, from three to six syllables – fast tempo.
By pause we mean cessation of phonation – a feature of natural speech in which gaps appear
during the production of utterances. Length:
one-unit, two-unit, three-unit. Function: syntactic, rhetorical and hesitation pauses. Type: silent,
filled.
Loudness is the product of the amplitude of vibration of vocal cords. We distinguish five degrees
of loudness: 1) average or normal, 2) louder than usual 3) speaking very loudly (at the top of
one’s voice), 4) speaking in a soft voice (_ _ _), 5) speaking very softly (…).
Pausation
Pauses are distinguished on the basis of relative length: one-unit, double and treble.
1. Short pauses which may be used to separate intonation groups within a phrase. Pauses made
between sense-groups are shorter than pauses made between sentences. They are marked /|/.
2. Longer pauses which normally manifest the end of the sentense. Pauses made between two
sentences are obligatory. They are longer than pauses between sense-groups and are marked by
two parallel bars /||/.
3. Very long pauses, which are approximately twice as long as the first type, are used to separate
phonetic wholes. They are marked by three parallel bars /|||/.
Functionally, there may be syntactic, emphatic and hesitation pauses.
Syntactic pauses separate phonopassages, phrases, and intonation groups. Emphatic pauses serve
to make especially prominent certain parts of the utterance. Hesitation pauses are mainly used in
spontaneous speech to gain some time to think over what to say next. They are divided into
filled and unfilled, corresponding to voiced and silent pauses.
Rhythm
The type of rhythm depends on the language: syllable timed (слогосчитающие) languages,
stressed-timed (тактосчитающие). One of the main principles of rhythmical organization in
English speech is the alternation of simple and complex rhythmic units.
Simple rhythmic group – a foot (monobeat, trochee, dactyl).
A complex rhythmic unit includes two or more simple rhythmic units, the borderline of complex
rhythmic unit being often indicated by this or that punctuation mark in written speech, and in
oral speech – by certain prosodic changes i.e. by the presence of kinetic tone before a pause, the
length of which depends on the syntactic relationship expressed. In other words, a complex
rhythmic unit (or a syntagm) corresponds to an intonation contour. M.A.Sokolova, for example,
believes, that intonation contours are actualized syntagms.
Syntagms
Intonation patterns serve to actualize syntagms in oral speech. The syntagm is a group of words
which is semantically and syntactically complete. In phonetics actualized syntagms are called
intonation groups (sense-groups, tone-groups). Each intonation group may consist of one or more
potential syntagms, e.g. the sentence / think he is coming soon has two potential syntagms: /
think and he is coming soon. In oral speech it is normally actualized as one intonation group.
The intonation group is a stretch of speech which may have the length of the whole phrase. But
the phrase often contains more than one intonation group. The number of intonation groups
depends on the length of the phrase and the degree of semantic importance or emphasis given to
various parts of it
Syntactic sentence stress
• In tone-groups stress may undergo alternations under the influence of rhythm, but there
are some rules concerning words that are usually stressed or unstressed in an utterance. Given
below is the list of words that are usually stressed: Nouns.
Adjectives. Numerals. Interjections. Demonstrative pronouns. Emphatic pronouns. Possessive
pronouns (absolute form). Interrogative pronouns. Indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone,
something, anybody, anyone, anything (used as subject). Indefinite negative pronouns: no, none,
no one, nobody, nothing. Indefinite pronouns some, any (expressing quality). Determinatives:
all, each, every, other, either, both. Quantifiers: much, many, a little, a few. Notional verbs.
Auxiliary verbs (negative contracted forms). Two- word prepositions. Two-word conjunctions.
Particles: only, also, too, even, just. The words that are usually unstressed:
Personal pronouns. Reflexive pronouns. Reciprocal pronouns. Relative pronouns. Possessive
pronouns. Indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone, anything
(used as object). Indefinite pronouns (some, any when expressing quantity). Auxiliary verbs
(affirmative form). One-word prepositions and conjunctions. Articles. Particles: there, to. Modal
verbs .
Logical sentence stress
• Sentence stress is a special prominence given to a word important from the point of view of
meaning. Ann spoke to him yesterday. Ann spoke to him yesterday. Ann spoke to him yesterday.
Timbre
• The timbre or the voice quality is a special colouring of the speaker's voice. It is used to express
various emotions and moods, such as joy, anger, sadness, indignation, etc. Timbre should not be
equated with the voice quality only, which is the permanently present person-identifying
background, it is a more general concept, applicable to the inherent resonances of any sound.
Timbre is studied along the lines of quality: whisper, breathy, creak, husky, falsetto, resonant,
and qualification: laugh, giggle, tremulousness, sob, cry.
Voice quality (timbre)
A special suprasegmental coloring of voice caused by certain variations in the generation of the
vocal cords pitch and by its distribution among resonators, e.g. breathiness, huskiness,
plaintiveness, nasality, whisper, falsetto, creak, tremolo (vibrato) etc.
The word Timbre also means a combination of all prosodic means. Timbre I refers to neutral
speech, Timbre II refers to rhetoric.
The functions of intonation distinguished by Russian scholars
• There is no general agreement about either the number or the headings of the functions of
intonation which can be illustrated by the difference in the approach to the subject by some
prominent Russian phoneticians. T.M. Nikolayeva names three functions of intonation:
delimitating, integrating and semantic. L.K. Tseplitis suggests the semantic, syntactic and
stylistic functions being the primary functions. N.V. Cheremisina singles out the following main
functions of intonation: communicative, distinctive (or phonological), delimitating, expressive,
appellative, aesthetic and integrating. Other Russian and foreign phoneticians also display some
difference in heading the linguistic functions of intonation.
The functions of intonation according to M.A. Sokolova:
communicative. The meaning of the utterance derives not only from its grammatical structure
and lexical composition, but also from prosodic parameters (The weather is fine, isn’t it? – the
meaning depends on the nuclear tone).
Intonation serves to structure the content as to show which information is old, and which one is
new (theme-rheme division). Her favourite pastime is |watching television. The main information
is shown by a falling tone with a greater degree of loudness and is seperated by a predicating
pause.
Intonation in English indicates the communicative type of a sentence (statement, question) and
modality (speaker’s attitude).
Intonation serves to structure a text (phonetic passages, phrases, intonation groups).
Stylistic function (characterizes a certain functional style).
The functions of intonation distinguished by David Crystal
D. Crystal distinguishes the following functions of intonation.
• Emotional function's most obvious role is to express attitudinal meaning -sarcasm, surprise,
reserve, impatience, delight, shock, anger, interest, and thousands of other semantic
nuances.
• Grammatical function helps to identify grammatical structure in speech, performing a role
similar to punctuation. Units such as clause and sentence often depend on intonation for their
spoken identity, and several specific contrasts, such as question/statement, make systematic use
of it.
• Informational function helps draw attention to what meaning is given and what is new in an
utterance. The word carrying the most prominent tone in a contour signals the part of an
utterance that the speaker is treating as new information.
• Textual function helps larger units of meaning than the sentence to contrast and cohere. In radio
news-reading, paragraphs of information can be shaped through the use of pitch. In sports
commentary, changes in prosody reflect the progress of the action.
• Psychological function helps us to organize speech into units that are easier to perceive and
memorize. Most people would find a sequence of numbers, for example, difficult to recall. The
task is made easier by using intonation to chunk the sequence into two units.
• Indexical function, along with other prosodic features, is an important marker of personal or
social identity. Lawyers, preachers, newscasters, sports commentators, army sergeants, and
several other occupations are readily identified through their distinctive prosody.
The pitch component
The tone unit is one of the most important units of intonation theory. It contains one nucleus,
which is often referred to as nuclear tone, or peak of prominence. The interval between the
highest and the lowest pitched syllable is called the range of a sensegroup. The range usually
depends on the pitch level: the higher the pitch, the wider the range. High, medium and low pitch
of the voice is shown on the staves. The change of pitch within the last stressed syllable of the
tone-group is called a nuclear tone. It may occur not only in the nucleus but extend to the tail —
terminal tone.
Intonation styles
Informational
Scientific or academic
Publicistic
Declamatory
Familiar or conversational
The prosodic features characteristic of information style
Low Fall/Rise with Descending Heads and High Level Head;
stable and normal loudness;
normal or relatively slow speed;
mostly syntactic pauses;
systematic and properly organised rhythm. Its main purpose is to convey information without
expressing any emotions or attitudes.
Academic style
It is used in lectures, scientific discussions, conferences, etc. Its purpose is to inform, to win the
attention and interest of the public, to establish a contact with the audience. It requires some
emotional colouring. It is achieved by varying prosodic features, by the alternation of pauses,
types of heads and terminal tones, by using tempo contrasts:
High/Low Falls and Fall-Rises with Stepping Head;
rather high loudness;
a large proportion of pauses that serve to bring out semantic centres;
normal or relatively slow speed
systematic and properly organized rhythm.
Publicistic style
Its aim is to persuade, to influence, to involve the audience into the talk and to make the listeners
take the speaker’s point of view. It is never spontaneous and is often even rehearsed. This style is
extremely emotional, mimics and gestures are widely applied.
The prosodic features are the following:
a lot of High Falls and Fall-Rises with Descending and Ascending Heads;
changes of loudness from fortissimo to whispering;
rather slow speed;
intonation groups are not short, separated with rather long mostly syntactical and emphatic
pauses;
intonation groups are rather short separated by pauses, mostly hesitations, which can be both
silent and filled;
irregular rhythm.
Declamatory style
It is used on stage, TV screen or in class in reading aloud prose or poetry. Its aim is to appeal
simultaneously to the mind and emotions of the listener, so this style is highly emotional and
expressive. On the prosodic level the following features are the most common:
falling, level nuclear tones with Low/High Level or Stepping Head;
varied loudness;
rather slow speed;
properly organized and stable rhythm.
Conversational style
This is the style of every-day communication between friends, relatives, well-acquainted people.
It is relaxed, characterized by the lack of planning, so it is unpredictable, there are a lot of errors,
slips, hesitations, elliptical constructions:
falling or rising tones with Level or Falling Heads;
normal loudness;
Varied speed;
intonation groups are rather short separated by pauses, mostly hesitations, which can be both
silent and filled;
irregular rhythm.