- •Содержание
- •1. The subject matter of phonetics. The contribution of Russian and foreign linguists into the development of phonetics as a linguistic science.
- •2. The connection of phonetics with other branches of linguistics.
- •Grammar and phonetics.
- •3. General and special phonetics and their interconnection. Historical, descriptive and comparative phonetics as branches of special phonetics.
- •4. Four aspects of speech sounds. Branches of phonetics based on these aspects and their connection with non-linguistic sciences.
- •5. Methods and instruments of phonetic investigation.
- •6. Main trends in the phoneme theory
- •7. The Kazan school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •8. The Leningrad school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory
- •9. The Moscow school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •10. The Prague school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •11. The London school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •12. The American school of linguistics and its contribution to the development of the phoneme theory.
- •13. The definition and characteristics of the phoneme as a unity of three aspects.
- •14. Phonemic variants and their classification Modification of English vowels in connected speech.
- •15. Phonemic variants and their classification Modification of English consonants in connected speech.
- •16. Relevant and irrelevant features of phonemic variants. The invariant. Allophones and phones.
- •17. Distribution of phonemes. Phonemic oppositions.
- •18. Classificatory principles of English consonants as the basis for the phonological oppositions in the system of English consonant phonemes.
- •Work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation.
- •Active organ of speech and the place of obstruction
- •Manner of the noise production and the type of obstruction.
- •19. Classificatory principles of English vowels as the basis for the phonological oppositions in the system of English vowel phonemes.
- •Position of the lips.
- •Position of the tongue.
- •Length.
- •Degree of tenseness
- •The character of the end.
- •20. Differences in articulation basis of English and Russian vowel and consonant phonemes.
- •21. The definition general characteristics and structure of syllables.
- •22. The definition of the syllable. General principles of classification of syllables. Types of syllables.
- •23. The definition of the syllable. Functional characteristics of syllables.
- •24. The definition of the syllable. The expiratory theory of syllable formation.
- •25. The definition of the syllable. The relative sonority theory of syllable formation.
- •26. The definition of the syllable. The muscular tension theory of syllable formation.
- •27. The definition of the syllable. The three types of consonant theory of syllable division.
- •28. The definition of the syllable. The loudness theory of syllable formation.
- •29. The definition and general characteristics of word-stress. Terms synonymous to stress.
- •30. The definition of word-stress. The classification of word-stress according to its relevant features.
- •31. The definition of word-stress. The classification of word-stress according to its position.
- •32. The definition of word-stress. The degrees of word-stress.
- •33. The definition of word-stress. Accentuation tendencies of English.
- •34. The definition of word-stress. Functional characteristics of word-stress.
- •35. The definition if intonation. Voice tambre and temporal characteristics of intonation.
- •36. The definition of intonation. Speech melody as a component of English intonation.
- •37. The definition of intonation. Sentence stress as a component of English intonation.
- •38. The definition of intonation. Rhythm as a component of English intonation.
- •39. The definition of intonation. Functional characteristics of intonation.
- •40. The definition of intonation. Unemphatic and emphatic intonation.
- •41. The definition of a syntagm and its general characteristics.
- •42. The definition of a syntagm. The head, pre-head, tail as elements of a syntagm.
- •43. The nucleus of a syntagm. The principle nuclear tones in English.
- •44. Standard pronunciation of English and its regional variants. Received Pronunciation and non-rp dialects.
- •45. National variants of English pronunciation. The main types of American pronunciation.
- •46. The main differences between Received Pronunciation and General American pronunciation.
5. Methods and instruments of phonetic investigation.
The methods of investigation used in phonetics fall into three groups:
1) The methods of direct observation comprise three modes of phonetic analyses: by ear (auditory), by sight (visual) and by muscular sensation. These methods consist in observing the movements and positions of one’s own or other people’s organs of speech in pronouncing various speech sounds, as well as in analyzing one’s own kinesthetic (muscular) sensations during the articulation of speech sounds and in comparing them with the resulting auditory impressions. It is oldest, simplest and most available method of investigation.
2) The experimental (instrumental) methods are based upon the use of special instruments and devices which include artificial palate, X-ray, laryngoscope, oscillograph, spectrograph, kymograph, intonograph. Due to these devices, the articulatory and acoustic properties of speech sounds are investigated. So, corresponding branches of phonetics are connected with technical sciences because they apply various technical achievements for the research work. The instrumental methods of investigation are:
palatography which helps to determine the interaction of tongue and palate in production of speech sounds;
X-ray photography and cinematography which help to trace the position and movement of speech organs;
laryngoscopy which helps to observe the work of vocal cords;
oscillography which helps to determine length, pitch and intensity of speech sounds;
spectography which helps to obtain the general characteristics of a speech sound, it is very useful in investigation of complex sounds;
kymography which helps to record qualitative variations of sounds;
intonography which helps to measure the fundamental tone of the vocal cords, the average sound pressure, the duration of speech (pausation).
The usage of such device as the tape-recorder doesn’t imply in itself any instrumental analysis of the recorded speech, but serves the purpose of facilitating the speech analysis.
Methods of direct observation are rather subjective, whereas instrumental methods are objective. But these methods are complementary and not opposed to one another.
3) The aim of the linguistic methods of investigation is to determine in what way the phonetic phenomena, such as sound, syllable, stress, intonation are used in a language to convey a certain meaning.
Distributional analysis is the method of linguistic investigation which aim is to establish the distribution of speech sounds i.e. all the positions and combinations in which each speech sound of a given language occurs (or does not occur) in the words of that language. One of the steps of this analysis is substitution – the replacing of one speech sound by another in the same position to see whether a certain combination of sounds is possible or not.
The statistical method of linguistic investigation in phonetics is connected with the method of distributional analysis. Its aim is to establish the frequency, probably and predictability of occurrence of speech sounds in different positions in words.
The semantic method is used in phonetics to determine the phonological status of sounds. It consists in replacement of one sound for another in order to find out in which cases where the phonetic context remains the same such substitution leads to a change of meaning.