Theoretical phonetics

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The subject of theoretical phonetics

The term “phonetics” is derived from the Greek language. Phonetics is often defined as a branch of linguistics dealing with the phonetic structure of a language. It means that phonetics studies:

the sounds, their classification and distribution;

the syllabic structure of words, i.e. syllable formation and syllable division;

the accentual structure of words, its nature, place and degree;

the intonational structure of sentences.

Phonetics is concerned with the study of all the above mentioned components from different points of view, the most important of them being the functional one.

As a branch of linguistics phonetics occupies a peculiar position. Though it is an independent science and develops according to its own laws, it is connected with a number of other linguistic and non-linguistic sciences.

The linguistic sciences study the language from different viewpoints. Lexicology treats of the vocabulary of a language, of its origin, meaning and word-building. Grammar studies the structure of a language and the rules governing the combination of words into sentences. Stylistics means the study of style. The history of the language traces its historical development. Phonetics is connected with them because lexical, grammatical and other phenomena are expressed phonetically. They cannot exist outside phonetics.

Phonetics is connected with grammar as it helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past indefinite and the past participle forms of verbs and other endings, as in: pens, books, classes, asks - asked, lives - lived, Nick's, teacher's, etc.

It is connected with grammar also through sound interchange, as in: wife - wives, path - paths, house - houses, man - men, mouse - mice, tooth - teeth, etc.

One and the same sentence may have different meanings when pronounced with different terminal tones.

e.g. Isn't it wonderful? (general question)

Isn't it wonderful! (exclamation)

Mary is right. (statement)

Mary is right? (general question)

Phonetics is connected with lexicology through the accentual structure of English words in which verbs are formed from nouns by conversion.

e. g. subject - to subject

import - to import

record - to record

Phonetics is connected with stylistics through intonation which serves to express different emotions and to distinguish between different attitudes on the part of the speaker or reader.

Phonetics is connected with physics because speech like any other sounds in nature are acoustic phenomena and may be studied from the point of view of their physical properties.

The articulation of sounds and their perception are connected with anatomy and psychology.

Historical phonetics is connected with general history and the history of the people whose language is studied.

The study of intonation is impossible without a good knowledge of logic.

Phonology is connected with communication theory and statistics.

Language is often defined as the most important means of human intercourse. Language can perform this function only as a language of science because spoken words in all languages consist of speech sounds, and speech without words is impossible. Letters only represent spoken words in writing.

The materialistic conception of language is based on the thesis that language can exist only in the material form of speech sounds.

Human speech sounds are of a complex nature and they may be viewed from 4 points: articulatory, auditory, acoustic and functional. These are the aspects of speech sounds. They all function simultaneously and cannot be separated from one another. But each of them can be singled out only for purposes of linguistic analysis. Thus, phonetics as a science has developed a number of its own branches: physiological phonetics, which treats of the articulation and perception of sounds, acoustic phonetics, which studies the physical nature of speech sounds, and phonology, which is concerned with the study of functions of different phonetic phenomena. Each of these branches of phonetics has its own methods of investigation and its own terminology.

From the point of view of its articulation every speech sound is a complex unity of definite movements and positions of speech organs. It is physiological phonetics which deals with the study, description and classification of speech sounds. It is the oldest and the most developed branch of phonetics. Its oldest and simplest method of investigation is the method of direct observation, which may be visual and auditory. It consists in observing the movements and positions of people's speech organs while pronouncing various sounds, and in comparing them with the auditory impressions. It is considered to be a subjective method of investigation. Besides, objective methods are also used in physiological phonetics. Objective methods make wide use of gramophones, cassette-recorders, photography, cinematography, laryngoscopy, X-ray photography, X-ray cinematography and others.

Physiological phonetics also studies the auditory aspect of speech sounds. There is an especially close connection between the articulatory and auditory aspects, because when man pronounces speech sounds they are perceived not only by the listener but the speaker himself too.

Different articulations produce different auditory impressions; hence, they produce different acoustic effects. Thus, speech sounds have a physical, or acoustic aspect. Like any other sound in nature, a speech sound is a physical phenomenon, a form of moving matter and energy.

Speech sounds are the basic units of any language because they make up the material forms of all the morphemes and words. That is why speech sounds may be considered the basic component of the sound matter of language.

The branch of phonetics, which is concerned with the study of the acoustic aspect of speech sounds, is called acoustic phonetics. It is one of the youngest sciences and deals with the physical properties of a sound. The principal methods used in acoustic phonetics are experimental ones. The physical properties of a sound are: 1) fundamental frequency, 2) intensity, and 3) time.

There is a close connection between acoustic and auditory aspects of speech sounds. Care should be taken not to confuse the terminology which is used in them.

Terminology used in auditory and acoustic aspects

Auditory aspect	Acoustic aspect
Pitch or musical tone Loudness of a sound Duration or length	Fundamental frequency Intensity Time

The fundamental frequency of a sound, as an acoustic property, is perceived by us as its pitch or tone. The intensity of a sound corresponds to its loudness. The time or temporal component is perceived as the duration or length of a speech sound.

The acoustic properties are investigated by means of the following instrumental techniques; the intonograph, the sound spectograph, the cassette-recorder and others.

The functional aspect of speech sounds (and of all the other phonetic phenomena) is studied by phonology, which is a comparatively new branch of phonetics. The first linguist who founded this branch of phonetics was prof. I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay (1845 - 1929), a prominent Polish-Russian linguist.

Speech sounds are functional units of a language. The role of speech sounds lies in the fact that they can be used to differentiate words, like /bæk/ - /bæg/; /rait/ - /mait/, etc.

Speech sounds taken in isolation do not mean anything, though some of them may constitute morphemes or even words, as in the case of /s/, /z/ and /t/, /d/ which are variants of certain English morphemes (e.g. /buks/, /a:skt/), and /a:/, /?/ which are the grammatical forms of the verb “to be”. But such cases are rare. More commonly morphemes and words consist of a number of speech sounds.

Speech sounds and all the other phonetic phenomena fulfill 3 main functions: constitutive, distinctive and recognitive.

The constitutive function of speech sounds is proved by the fact that speech sounds constitute all morphemes, syllables, words, phrases, sentences and as well as complete utterances.

Distinctive function lies in the fact that one word (or morpheme) is differentiated from another word (or morpheme) by a difference in their number of speech sounds. One or more speech sounds in one word are opposed to one or more speech sounds in another word.

Recognitive function consists in the use of the right allophones in words. It means that in the word “twice” /t/ should be rounded and not plosionless or unaspirated. Whereas in the word “state” /t/ must be unaspirated and not rounded. The use of the right allophones makes it easy to recognize words and to understand speech properly.

The speech mechanisms

Speech sounds are the resuts of various movements and positions of human speech organs. They are products of the complicated work of the speech mechanisms.

According to their main sound-producing function the speech organs can be divided into the following 4 groups: the power mechanism, the vibrator mechanism, the resonator mechanism, and the obstructor mechanism.

These 4 mechanisma are closely interconnected, because in the process of production of a sound several speech mechanisms function simultaneously. Besides, one and the same speech organ may belong to different mechanisms.

The main speech organs of speech belonging to the power mechanism are as follows: the lungs, the windpipe, the glottis, the pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.

In order to speak we need breath. Hence, the function of the power mechanism is to supply the organs of speech with energy in the form of air pressure, and to regulate it during speech.

Breathing consists of 2 phases - inhalation and exhalation. Breathing may be of two kinds: 1) ordinary biological breathing which takes place when we are silent, and 2) soun-producing breathing.

In ordinary breathing both phases are nearly of the same duration. In soun-producing breathing the phases are of different duration: inhalation is quick and deep, whereas exhalation is longer and drawn out. During speech the air goes out in spurts corresponding to syllables, words and sense-groups. All the speech sounds in English, Russian, Kazakh and many other languages are made during exhalation.

In ordinary breathing the stream of air flows out freely: the vocal cords are apart and the glottis is widely open, the soft palate is lowered letting the air through the nasal cavity.

In sound-producing breathing the outflowing air undergoes some modifications in the glottis, in the pharynx and in the mouth cavity.

The vocal cords and the glottis constitute the vibrator mechanism. The vocal cords are situated in the upper part of the windpipe, called larynx. The vocal cords resemble 2 muscular folds which run in horizontal direction from back to front. The opening between the folds is called the glottis.

The vocal cords may take up different positions:

1) When they are kept apart, the glottis is wide open and the breath can pass them by being checked. Sounds formed with the glottis thus open are known as voiceless sounds. In ordinary breathing the vocal cords are also drawn apart.

2) When the vocal cords are pulled close tpgether and the glottis reduced to a mere slit, they become an obstacle to the outflowing breath. The air pressure below the vocal cords becomes very strong. As it passes through the narrow slit into the outer air, it makes the vocal cords vibrate. Such vibrations are heard as voice. All English vowels and many English consonants are voiced.

3) The vocal cords may be drawn together tightly, so that the air cannot pass between them. In this case the voc. Cords fulfil the function of an obstructor mechanism.

To the resonator mechanism belong: the pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity. All the 3 resonance cavities (or resonators) have boundaries or walls. By changing the position of the movable boundaries we may modify the shape and size of the resonators.

The nasal cavity is fixed, while the pharynx and the oral cavity are modifiable.

The direction in which the air flows depends on the position of the soft palate. When the soft palate is lowered the air passes through the nasal resonator. When it is held in its raised position the air stream is directed towards the oral cavity. The majority of speech sounds in English, Russian and Kazakh are articulated in the oral cavity.

It is due to the different movements and positions of the tongue and the lips that the oral resonator may take up various shapes and sizes. The oral resonator is responsible for the articulation of vowels. Movements of the tongue in different directions provide a basis for classification of vowels according to two important principles:

according to the horizontal movement of the tongue,

according to the vertical movement of the tongue.

The particular quality of a vowel sound depends not only on the position of the tongue but also on that of the lips. The lips perform a double function. The natural resonance is determined not only by the shape and size of the resonator but also by the shape and size of the opening of the resonator.

When the lips are spread the front boundary of the oral resonator is formed by the teeth; when the lips are rounded the front boundary is formed by the lips themselves. In this case the oral resonator is lengthened. This is one of the functions of the lips. (i. E. to form the front boundary of the oral resonator). Another function of the lips consists in forming the front opening of the oral resonator. Consequently, the position of the lips is included into the vowel classification.

Some vowels in English are pronounced with a fixed resonator (the tongue and the lips do not change their position), others are articulated with a modified resonator (the tongue and the lips move from one position to another). The former resonator corresponds to monophthongs, the latter corresponds to diphthongs. This principle is included into the classification of vowels in accordance with the stability of articulation.

In the articulation of vowel sounds no obstruction is made. The obstructor mechanism is responsible only for the production of consonants. To the obstructor mechanism belong the following active and passive speech organs: the tongue, the lips, the teeth, the alveoli, the palate, the back boundary of the pharynx and the vocal cords.

When articulating sounds the organs of speech may occupy one or the other position. There are several types of articulatory obstruction: complete, incomplete and intermittent.

The obstruction is complete when the articulating organs are in close contact. The air passage is completely blocked. Consonants articulated with this type of obstruction are called occlusive.

The obstruction is incomplete when the organs of speech are not blocked but only constricted, or narrowed leaving a passage for the air to go through. Consonants produced with this type of obstruction are called constrictive.

The obstruction is intermittent when the 2 articulating organs form a series of rapid intermittent taps. Consonants articulated in this way are known as rolled, like the Russian /p/ or the Scottish /r/ of the American English /t/.

There also may a complicated type of obstruction, beginning and ending with an incomplete one. Consonants produced with this type of obstruction are called occlusive-constrictive or affricates.

The type of obstruction is one of the main principles in the classification of consonants. Different organs of speech participate in production of different consonants. An articulatory obstruction may be formed either by two active speech organs, or by an active organ in conjunction with a passive one. In consonant classification this principle is called “according to the active organ of speech and the place of obstruction”.

The lips, the tongue and the back boundary of the pharynx (and also the vocal c-s) are the active speech organs. Hence, depending on the active speech organs consonants may be: labial, lingual and pharyngal.

According to the place of obstruction (or the passive speech organs) consonants may be: dental, alveolar, palatal and velar.

As has been said already the vocal c-s may also function as part of the obstructor mechanism to produce consonantal noises. The vocal c-s form a complete obstruction to the outflowing stream of air. By quickly separating the vocal c-s a speech sound is produced which is called the glottal stop. It is designated by the phonetic symbol /?/. Consonants may come up against one or two articulatory obstructions. Those with one obstruction are called unicentral. Consonants with two centers of obstruction are known as bicentral. Most consonants in English are unicentral.

The second articulatory obstruction may be formed either by raising the middle part of the tongue towards the hard palate, or by raising the back part of the tongue towards the soft palate. They are distinguished as the front secondary obstruction, and the back secondary obstruction. Palatalization makes the consonants “softer” as in the English /l, ?, ?, ?, d?/, while velarization makes the consonants “harder”, as in the English /³, w/. In Russian almost all the consonants may be either palatalized or velarized.

English literary pronunciation in the British Isles

The English language is widely distributed over the globe. After Chinese it has the world's largest speaking population - some 300 million, or, to put it in another way, one person out of every ten in the world. It is the official language of countries covering one fifth of the earth's surface.

It is the language of trade and business. Three fourths of the world's mail is written in English. English is at present the most widely studied language in countries where it is not native. It is the favoured foreign language in the higher educational curriculum in such countries as Japan, Turkey and other countries. Five million people of the European countries speak English in addition to their native tongues.

English is not concentrated in one land mass. It is spread from the British Isles to the far corners of the earth. Besides Great, English is the mother tongue of the USA, Australia, New Zealand. It is also used by the greater part of the population of Canada and the republic of South Africa.

Spoken English is not uniform geographically. It may vary from country to country, from district to district, or even from city to city. Though the variants of English spoken in different countries have many features in common, they differ from Standard English in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. This is due to the different conditions in which they developed after separation from British English.

The official literary languages of most countries are based upon a local dialect of the capital. Such is the case of Great Britain, France, and other countries. It is the London dialect that served the basis for the literary language of Great Britain, because as early as the 14th century London became the center of economy, policy, commerce and learning. At present there exist literary English of Scotland, Oreland, England and Wales. Each of these has their local dialects. There are nine principal dialects in Scotland, three in Ireland, thirty in England and Wales.

Phoneticians distinguish 3 main types of pronunciation in GB:

1) Southern English Pronunciation, or RP

2) Northern English Pronunciation

3) Standard Scottish Pronunciation

Southern English Pronunciation is also known as Received Pronunciation (RP for short), or Standard English Pronunciation, or Public School Pronunciation, or BBC English, or King's English.

Received Standard English is based upon the speech of the leading boarding schools and the older universities. But in Britain very many of the population begin their linguistic careers with one of the regional dialects as their sole speech. Because of the barriers to communication created by the diversity of the dialects, Englishmen, even Britons in general, readily accept the notion of a standard English Pronunciation and they are willing to learn it through intensive effort, at school and elsewhere. Thus, although probably less than 10 % of the British population are original speakers of Received Standard English, it is universally accepted as desirable by educational authorities and by the mass of the population.

It is widely spread and is generally used by the more educated classes of Britain, it is spoken by BBC announcers and broadcasters. This type of pronunciation has been thoroughly described in books on the phonetics of British English. It is taught to foreigners as a second language. In our country this type of pronunciation is accepted as the teaching norm.

There is no necessity to describe it as it is being taught to our students.

Northern English Pronunciation is used by the people born and raised in Northern England, approximately between Birmingham and the border with Scotland. This type has peculiarities in the phonemic and intonational components. The most marked of them are as follows:

	RP	NE
Dance	/d?:ns/	/dans/ or /dæns/
Once	/w?ns/	/wuns/
Sat	/sæt/	/sat/
Make	/meik/	/mek/ or /må:k/
Speak	/spi:k/	/spe:k/
Live	/liv/	/³iv/
Looking	/´luki?/	/´³ukin/
Born	/bo:n/	/bo:rn/
Which	/wi?/	/hwi?/
Fondl	/fondl/	/fon³/

NE is characterized by the so-called Northern drawl which is due ti its slow tempo. Form-words are pronounced distinctly. The level scale is most characterized of NE that is why it sounds rather monotonous.

NE was the standard speech in the 16th, 17th and at the beginning of the 18th centuries. This type of pronunciation was carried to America. That is why there are many features in common between American English and Northern English.

Standard Scottish pronunciation is widespread in Scotland. Its peculiar features in pronunciation are as follows:

	RP	Sc. E
Sat	/sæt/	/sat/
Love	/l?v/	/luv/
Time	/taim/	/ti:m/
Take	/teik/	/tå:m/
House	/haus/	/hu:s/
don't	/dount/	/do:nt/
Clear	/kli?/	/kli:r/
Loch	/lok/	/loõ/
Light	/lait/	/liçt/
Ready	/redi/	/redi/ /r/ is rolled like Russian /p/
Hard	/h?:d/	/ h?:rd/
Why	/wai/	/hwai/
Evening	/i:vni?/	/i:vnin/

Fall-rise and Rise-fall are often used in general questions. The sliding scale is common.

English Literary pronunciation in the USA

The English language is native on at least 4 continentes of the world. Out of its 300 million speaking population 190 million live in the United States of America.

The English language was brought to America in the 17th century by the first emigrants from Great Britain. In 1620 they settled on the Atlantic coast which was lately called New England. These emigrants brought with them 17th century educated English.

This type of English developed in the new world under different conditions. Thus, gradually, three main varieties of American English came to be recognized:

Eastern American English,

Southern American English, and

General American English (or Midwestern).

They command approximately 30, 40 and 120 million speakers, respectively.

However, more careful investigation reveals the presence of at least 24 well defined regional dialects, most of which are located of the Mississippi.

In addition to regional dialects, the speech of the US is characterized by special localism typical of a single city or even borough, and by immigrant dialects.

Though English in the USA is not homogeneous the regional speech differences offer no great barrier to the free exchange of opinions and ideas. Besides the mobility of modern life and communication devices such as radio and television are affecting regional dialects, and they seem on the way of merging with each other.

Geographically the Eastern American English type includes New York City and its environs, the New England east of the Connecticut River.

The pronunciation of Eastern American is closer to British RP because of constant intercourse between Great Britain and America. Eastern American English developed under the strong influence of educated British English, as many rich families sent their sons to their mother country to be educated there. This helped to preserve the British standards of pronunciation in New England.

There are, however, some slight differences between RP and Eastern American English. They are as follows:

Eastern American English
	RP	EA
pass	p?:s	pa•s
arter	´?:ft?	´a•ft?
tube	tju:b	tu:b
new	nju:	nu:

Vowels are often nasalized in Eastern American English.

Geographically Southern American English is spoken in the south and south east of the USA. Cultured Southern American pronunciation has a number of peculiarities in the pronunciation of vowels. The most striking of them is the so-called Southern drawl which consists in diphthongization and triphthongization of some monophthongs. On the contrary, some diphthongs are replaced by lengthened monophthongs. The chief characteristics are the following:

The vowels /i, e, æ, ?, o/ are broken into diphthongs when stressed:

		RP	SA
	Bid	/bÐd/	/bi?d/
	Bed	/bed/	/be?d/
	Bad	bæd	ba?d
	Bud	b?d	b??d

Instead of /ai?/ and /au?/ either a long /?:/ or /??/ are pronounced:

fire	fai?	/f ?:/ or /f??/
tired	tai?d	/t?:d/ or /t??d/
hour	au?	/?:/ or /??/

3) The front vowel /i/ is usually lowered and diphthongized to /ei/ before /?/:

thing	/èi?/	/èei?/
ink	/i?k/	/ei?k/
think	/èi?k/	/èei?k/

The vowels of “dish”, “fish” and the final vowel of `city', `charity', etc. occurs as /i:/ in many parts of the aria:

dish	dÐ?	di:?
fish	fÐ?	fi:?
city	sÐtÐ	sÐti:

The diphthongs /ai/ and /au/ are adapted to consonants: they are open and tense before voiced consonants and are obscured (ñëàáûé, ðåäóöèðîâàííûé) before voiceless consonants:

	Ride	raid	/raid/ or /r?Ðd/
	Time	taim	/ taim/ or /t?Ðm/
but:	Night	nait	n?it
	Life	laif	l?if
	Laud	/laud/	/laud/
but:	House	/haus/	/h?us/

Geographically General American is the least regional. Actually it is being spoken in all parts of the country, from Ohio through the Middle West and to the Pacific Coast.

General American English constitutes the literary language of the USA. Consequently, GA pronunciation makes its pronunciation standard. This type is used by radio and television announcers and broadcasters. It is also accepted in motion pictures and in theatre, it is used in scientific and business intercourse.

As GA presents the standard pronunciation of the USA it will be viewed in detail from different points:

a) the system of vowel phonemes,

b) the system of consonant phonemes,

c) accentual structure of words,

d) reading rules system,

e) intonational structure of sentences.

We will consider the most marked differences between RP and GA pronunciation.

The following details in the system of vowel phonemes in GA are significant:

1) The vowel phonemes are not differentiated by their length. According to D. Jones, all American vowels are ling.

2) The distinction between monophthongs and diphthongs is not very consistent. Some diphthongs have monophthongs as their variants, and vice versa.

3) /e/ of RP corresponds to GA /å/ which is a lower front vowel almost coinciding with /æ/:

red	red	råd

4) The RP vowel /?:/ is substituted for /æ/ of GA:

pass	p?:s	pæs

5) RP /o/ corresponds to an unrounded short variety of /?/ in GA:

lock	lok	l?k

Exceptions: long, log, strong.

6) In GA vowels are generally nasalized when preceded or followed by a nasal consonant:

small	smo:l	smoÞl
stand	stænd	st˜ænd

7) The vowels in classes of words represented by `Mary, `mary' and `merry' have generally the same sound usually /e/.

According to C.H. Prator there 25 consonant phonemes in GA: 24 of RP consonants plus /hw/. The peculiar features in pronunciation of consonants are the following:

1) The RP cacuminal /r/ is replaced in GA by a retroflex rounded sonorant /r/ (but not after /t, d, ?, è/. It occurs in any position:

red	red	råd
bird	b?:d	b?rd
sister	´sist?	sist?r

2) Only the dark variant of /l/ is used GA:

let	let	³åt
look	luk	³uk

3) There is a short voiced /t/ allophone of the /t/ phoneme in GA which is intermediate in character between /d/ and one-tap /r/. It is used in intervocalic position (or between a vowel and a sonorant), as in:

butter	b?t?	b?t?r

4) In the words spelt with the initial `wh-` /hw/ is articulated. Compare the following pairs of words:

which	/wi?/	/hwi?/

5) The glottal stop is used in GA instead of /t/ before sonorants: (the glottal stop is marked /?/)

certainly	/´s?:tnli/	/´s?r?tn³i/

6) In GA /j/ is omitted between a consonanr and /u:/:

tube	tju:b	tub

The accentual structure of words in GA differs greatly from that in RP.

Polysyllabic words ending in -ary (-ory, -ery), -ony (-oly), etc have two stresses in GA: the primary stress falls on the fourth syllable from the end and the tertiary stress falls on the penultimate:

fragmentary	/´frægm?nt?ri/	/´frægm?n‚tåri/
monastery	/´mon?st?ri/	/´mon?s‚tåri/

The reading rules system

The pronunciation of words in GA is in closer accordance with the general rules of reading:

tomato	/t?´m?:tou/	/t?´meitou/
ate	/et/	/eit/
vase	/v?:z/	/veiz/
either	/´aið?/	/´ið?r/
schedule	/´?edju:l/	/´skådu³/

The intonational structure of sentences in GA.

Most of works devoted to the intonation of GA have been based on the data of auditory analyses. However, the experimental investigations of recent years have thrown some light on the problem.

The most marked differences between RP and GA intonation are the following:

1) The general impression of American intonation is rather monotonous - it seems to be unemotional and even dry. This is due to the fact that an American begins his sentence on a mid pitch level and remains fairly even until the terminal tone is reached. In contrast an English begins his sentence on a high pitch level and gradually descends.

The syllabic structure of English words

The English phonetic structure is systemic in character. It is made of the following components:

The system of English phonemes,

The syllabic structure of English words,

The accentual structure of words,

The intonational structure of English sentences.

The phonemic component includes not only the system of English phonemes but also the combination of their allophones, which occur in words. The character of this component means that phonemes and their allophones may occur only in definite positions in words. For example, the phonemes / / never occur at the end of English words, whereas the phonemes / / never occur at the beginning of English words.

Phonemes are seldom pronounced in isolation, they usually occur in sequences. Any speech flow consists of series of peaks and valleys of prominence with the more sonorous phonemes at the peaks and the less sonorous phonemes in the valleys. Thus, sound sequences are acoustically broken up into smaller units known as syllables, which are the minimal units of sounding speech.

A syllable may consist of one or a number of phonemes, i.e. it may be formed by any vowel or by a word-final sonorant (l, m, n, ?) preceded by a consonant, as in I, are, we, garden etc.

A speech sound which is capable of forming a syllable is called syllabic. It is the most sonorous sound in the syllable and makes up the peak of prominence.

Speech sounds which are not capable of forming a syllable are called non-syllabic. They are the less sonorous sounds of the syllable and make up the valleys of prominence. Prof. Vassiliev defines the syllable as “one or more speech sounds forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance, which may be a whole word, e.g. man or a commonly recognized and separable subdivision of a word e.g. En-glish, la-ter.

The syllabic structure of words may be graphically represented by the letter V standing for a vowel sound, and the letter C standing for a consonant sound. The syllabic sonorant is represented by ª.

Every syllable has a definite structure. It belongs to one of the following 4 main types of syllables: V, VC, CV. CVC. They are classified as covered, uncovered, open and closed. A syllable which begins in a vowel is called uncovered, a syllable which begins in a consonant is called covered. A syllable which ends in a vowel is called open, a syllable which ends in a consonant is called closed.

So, the main types of syllables may be defined in the following way:

V - uncovered, open: e.g. /o:/ (or)

VC - uncovered, closed: e.g. /it/ (it)

CV - covered, open: e.g. /si:/ (see)

CVC - covered, closed: e.g. /kæt?/ (catch).

There are a great number of variants in the syllabic structure which are formed by increasing the number of consonants in the initial and final position, as in:

VCC e.g. and, act, oaks etc.

VCCC e.g. ends, acts

CCV e.g. blue, clay etc.

The similar syllabic structures exist in Russian too.

Though the same structures are used in both languages their frequency of occurrence is different. Some of them are extremely rare in Russian, while in English they are in common use.

The most common syllables that sonorants form are of ª, Cª and CªC type. For instance,

Þ type: /'æp-l/ (apple);

Cª type: /'tei-bl/ (table);

CªC type: /'nei-?nz/ (nations).

In Russian and Kazakh sonorants are non-syllabic.

There are several theories which try to explain the mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division.

The oldest of them is the so-called expiratory theory (also breath-puff, pressure. or. chest-pulse theory). According to this theory each syllable corresponds to one expiration. A word consists of as many syllables as there are such expirations made when the word is uttered. Each syllable begins with a fresh expiration. For instance, the word "forty" has two syllables. According to the expiratory theory there must be two expirations. The point where a new expiration starts indicates the syllabic boundary of the word.

The expiratory theory is strongly criticized here and abroad (by B.I.Zh1nkin,.G.P.Torsuyev, A.C.Gimson and others). According to the last experimental data more than ten syllables can easily be pronounced during one expiration.

Next appeared the so-called sonority theory of the syllable. It was propounded (ïðåäëàãàòü íà îáñóæäåíèå) by Otto Jesperson. This theory is nowadays widespread among foreign linguists. The term "sonority" in taken by O.Jesperson as "the degree of perceptibility".

All speech sounds have different inherent sonority. The most sonorous are open back vowels, the least sonorous are the voiceless stops. O.Jesperson classified all speech sounds according to 7 levels of sonority:

(1) vowels;
(2) semi-vowels / j, w/
(3) sonorants /1, m, n, ?. r /
(4) voiced fricatives /v, ð, z, 3/
(5) voiced stops /b, d. g/
(6) voiceless fricatives /f, è, s, ?, h/
(7) voiceless stops / p, t, k /.

Each syllable contains one peak of sonority. For instance let us analyse the words "popular"' and "articulation".

		vowels
		semi-vowels
		sonorants
		voiced fricatives
		voiced stops
		voiceless fricatives
		voiceless stops

The word "popular" consists of three peaks that is why it has three syllables.

The sonority theory is also criticized because it cannot explain the mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division. Besides this theory is helpless in determining the number of syllables in such words as "going", "highest". "speak", "ski", etc.

According to Pro.L.V.Shcherba all consonants may be of three types:

1) initially strong (and finally weak), as in: it, on, us;

2) finally strong (and 1nitially weak). as in: may, tea;

3) double consonants which are strong at both ends and have a weakening in the middle as in: good day.

The most energetic part of a consonant is attached to a vowel. For instance in the word “ten" there are two consonants: /t/ and /n/. The consonant /t/ is finally strong (and initially weak), because the vowel is attached to the end of the consonant. The consonant /n/ is initially strong (and finally weak) because the vowel is attached to the beginning of /n/. It may be represented graphically in the following way.

At the beginning the /t/ is weak, at the end it gets stronger. The muscular tension increases still until it reaches its climax produced by the vowel /e/. Then the muscular tension begins to diminish. The /n/ is still strong at the beginning but gets quite weak at the end.

The syllabic boundary lies at a point where the consonant is the weakest. Initially weak consonants constitute the beginning of a syllable. Finally weak consonants constitute the end of a syllable. Double-peaked consonants may only occur at the juncture of two syllables, as in /'gud-'dei/ (good day), /mis-spel/ (misspell), etc.

Prof.L.V.Shcherba's theory was further developed by his followers and now it is known among Soviet linguists as "muscular tension theory".

Prof.N.I.Zhinkin's investigation of the mechanism of syllable formation and syllable division in the pronunciation of the Russian language may serve as a basis for a general theory of syllables. By using different complicated techniques Prof. B.I.Zhinkin found out which speech organ causes a syllable to be formed. This organ is the pharyngeal cavity. When the walls of

the pharynx are contracted the passage through the pharyngeal cavity gets narrower. This process increases the actual loudness of the sound and the latter produces an "arc of loudness". Prof.N.I.Zhinkin's theory is often referred to as "loudness theory”

Prof.N.I.Zhinkin has proved that the "arc of loudness" is due to the complex work of the speech mechanism as a whole (including the work of the power, vibrator, resonator and obstructor mechanisms).

That is why Prof.V.A.Vassilyev suggests that it would be more precise to call a syllable an “arc of articulatory effort" but not an "arc of loudness".

A syllable begins at a point where a new articulatory effort starts and ends at a point where the articulatory effort ends.

Each language has its own peculiarities in its syllabic structure. One of the peculiarities of syllable division in Russian and Kazakh. for instance, is that the sequence of CVCV makes for two open syllables: ca-äû. ìî-pe, ?à-ðà, æ?-íå. They are strong-end consonants in Russian and Kazakh.

There are a number of_ factors determining the rules for syllable division in English, as well. Syllable division in English is closely connected with the checked or free character of the vowel in a stressed position. The sequence of CVCV may have different types of syllable depending on the character of the vowel sound. In this case the syllable division is governed by the following rules:

(1) The sequence of /'CVCV/ may include two open syllables if the stressed vowel is a long monophthong or a diphthong, e.g.,

/si:-li?/ (ceiling),

/tai-tl/ (title), etc.

The syllable division of Russian and Kazakh fully coincides with this pattern in English. In the three languages the consonants are strong-end consonants.

(2) The sequence of /'CVCV/ has a closed syllable and an open one /'CVC-V/ if the stressed vowel is a short monophthong,

/'pit-i/ (pity),

/'mer-i/ (merry) etc.

Syllables of this type present a great difficulty to Russian and Kazakh students because in similar Russian and Kazakh words there are two open syllables. In English the intervocalic consonants of this type are initially strong while in Russian and Kazakh they are finally strong,

(3) Short and long monophthongs' and diphthongs make for an open type syllable it they are unstressed and are separated from the adjacent vowels by only one consonant, e.g.

/ri:' ækt/ (react),

/bi'gin/ (begin)

Phonetic and orthographic syllables should not be confused. They sometimes coincide and sometimes do not. For instance, phonetically disy1labic words like "apple". "higher",

"eaten". "flower", "battle". "fire", "drizzle", etc. are treated in writing as monosyllabic words. Whereas orthographically disyllabic words like "type", "come", "wrote", "theme", "change". have only one phonetic syllable.

Here are some examples:

/a:-tis-tik/ art-ist-ic - the syllabic boundary does not coincide.

/?:-li/ ear-ly - the syllabic boundary coincides.

The phonetic syllable division is governed by the three rules which have been stated above. The orthographic syllable division is governed by the morphemic principle, as in: star-less, writ-er etc.

The syllabic structure of English performs three main functions: constitutive, distinctive and recognitive.

The syllabic structure fulfills constitutive function because syllables constitute the material forms of all the words, phrases and sentences. Te latter can not exist without syllables.

The distinctive function of the syllabic structure includes differences in both syllable formation and syllable division. Presence or absence of a syllable in one and the same position, as well as different syllabic boundaries may differentiate one word (or phrase, or sentence) from another word (or phrase, or sentence).

Here are some phonological oppositions of presence vs. absence of a syllable in the same position in a minimal pair:

/bet/ - /bet?/ bet - better

/beit - / ?'bate/ bate - abate

There are a number of combinations of words distinguished from each other by different syllabic boundaries:

a name - an aim

I scream - ice-cream etc.

The recognitive function of the syllabic structure manifests itself in the fact that the right syllabic boundary makes it easier to recognize words, phrase, and sentence.

The violation of the recognitive function of the syllabic structure results in the following:

wrong syllable division produces a strong foreign accent;

it produces a comic impression upon an Englishman;

it hampers the process of communication.

The accentual structure of English words

Different syllable in one and the same word are usually pronounced with a different degree of prominence. Such special prominence given to one or more syllables in the same word is called word accent (or word stress). Different linguists define word accent differently.

There exist different ways of making a syllable more prominent. That is why we may speak of different types of word accent:

(1) The pronunciation of a syllable may be made more prominent if the syllable is said with greater force. Prof.D.Jones said in this respect "stress may be described as the degree of force with which a sound or a syllable is uttered. A strong force of utterance means energetic action of all the articulating organs. This generally gives the objective impression of loudness ". Word accent of this type is known as force accent (or dynamic accent).

(2) A syllable may become more prominent if it is pronounced at different pitch levels or in different pitch directions. Word accent of this type is called musical accent (or pitch accent).

(3) A syllable may become more prominent if its vowel is pronounced longer than the same vowel in an unstressed position. For instance, the /i:/ vowels of the word /'èi:s:z/ (theses) are of different lengths. It is longer in a stressed position and shorter in an unstressed one. This type of word accent is known as quantitative accent.

(4) A syllable may become more prominent if the vowel is pronounced distinctly and its quality is not obscured. For instance, the /i?/ vowels in /'si?ri?s/ (serious) are a bit different in quality: the stressed /i?/ is distinct and clear, while the unstressed /i?/ is somewhat obscured. According to Prof.G.P.Torsuyev this type of word accent is qualitative accent.

All existing languages have either the force or the musical type of word accent as leading principle, while the quantitative and the qualitative types play a subsidiary role.

English, Russian, Kazakh, German, French and other European languages belong to the force type of word accent, the only difference being in the degree of the force with which the stressed syllables are pronounced.

To the musical type of word accent belong Swedish, Norwegian, and oriental languages,,such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and others. For example, if the syllable /ma/ of Chinese is said with the falling tone, it means "scold", but if it is said with the rising tone, then it means "hemp" (êîíîïëÿ). Another example, from Swedishs if the word "Anden" is pronounced with

It is a standard and genu1ne joke in linguistic circles that in one Burmese dialect the word /ma/ pronounced in five different tones corresponds to the sentence: "Help the horse; a mad dog comes!"

British and Soviet phoneticians distinguish three degrees of word accent in English: primary, secondary and weak. The strongest accent is primary, the second strongest is secondary. The syllables with primary and secondary accents are called stressed, while syllables with weak accents are called unstressed.

The primary accent is indicated by Prof.D.Jones by placing a raised stress mark /'/ before the accented syllable, the secondary accent is indicated by a lowered stress mark /, /; the weak accent is not marked in any way.

The American scientists are not unanimous in treating of the degrees of word accent in English. B.Bloch and C.Trager, for instance, distinguish four degrees of word accent and call them: loud, reduced loud; medial and weak.

H.A.Cleason and most American descriptivists also distinguish four degrees of word accent and call them: primary stress /?/, secondary stress /ˆ/, tertiary stress / ?/, and weak stress / v/.

The difference between secondary and tertiary stresses is not clear enough, and there are no indicators for differentiating between them. This results in different treatments of the same example by American linguists. For instance, according to B.Bloch and G.Trager a free word combination like "black bird" has secondary-primary stresses /^ ?/; according to H.A.Gleason it has primary-secondary stresses/? ^/. One more example: such words as "examination" have tertiary-primary stresses according to American descriptivists; but they have secondary-primary stresses according to British phoneticians.

These examples really prove that it is difficult to say which is a secondary stress and which is a tertiary one.

Prof.V.A.Vassilyev offers two ways of solving this problem. The easiest one is to do away with the tertiary stress altogether and treat it either as a secondary stress or a weak stress and thus follow the accentuation system of the British phoneticians.

The second way of solving this problem consists in finding some objective criteria for determining the position of both secondary and tertiary stresses.

According to Prof.V.A.Vassilyev a tertiary stress is post-tonic. It occurs in words after the primary stress. There are several groups of words of primary-tertiary type having the following pitch pattern. They are:

a large group of compound nouns of the "blackbird"type: black-ball, blackbook, blackcap, black-cock, blackguard, black-head, black Jack, blackleg, black-list, blackmail, black sheep, blacksmith, class-room, class-book, class-fellow, book-case, hair-pin, door-mat, playhouse, greenhouse, green-room, dancing-girl, missing-list, street-cleaner, etc.

polysyllabic verbs ending in -ate, -ise(-ize), -fy(-py), etc., as in: occupy, demonstrate, situate, emphasize, satisfy, memorize, articulate, colonize, negotiate, etc.

polysyllabic words in General American English ending in -ary(-ory, -ery), -ony(-oly), etc., as in: secretary, testimony, etc.

According to Prof.V.A.Vassilyev a secondary stress is pre-tonic. It occurs in words before the primary stress. There are several groups of secondary-primary type which have the following pitch pattern. They are:

a large group of polysyllabic nouns ending In the suffix -tion(-sion, -cian), as in: assimilation, realization, modification, participation, consideration, investigation, simplification, testification, colonization, representation, qualificat...