Фонетика
1. Principles of classification of English consonants and vowels
Consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.
There are few ways of classifying English consonants. According to V.A.Vassilyev primary importance should be given to the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise. On this ground he distinguishes two large classes of consonants:
1) occlusive, in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed;
2) constrictive, in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed.
Occlusive consonants are pronounced with a complete obstruction to the air stream.
Constrictive consonants are pronounced with an incomplete obstruction to the air stream, when the air passage is constricted.
[ti:] — [si:] tea — sea (occlusive — constrictive)
[si:d] — [si:z] seed — seas (occlusive — constrictive)
Each of the two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants. The division is based on the factor of prevailing either noise or tone component in the auditory characteristic of a sound.
In their turn noise consonants are divided into plosive consonants (or stops) [p, b, t, d, k, g] and affricates - there are only two affricates in English: [tʃ, dʒ]. They are affricates because they are articulated by stopping the flow and then releasing it with a relatively slow friction.
tʃ - strong (fortis) voiceless aspirated
dʒ - weak (lenis) voiced (in word final position partly devoiced) non-aspirated
Sonorants are sounds pronounced with tone prevailing over noise; the air passage is rather wide when they are pronounced. When producing sonorants there is only a partial closure or an unimpeded oral or nasal escape of air; such articulations, typically voiced, and frequently frictionless, without noise component, thus they share many phonetic characteristics with vowels.
So, occlusive nasal consonants – [m, n, ŋ]
What about constrictive consonants, they are also called fricatives because the air passes through the narrowing with audible friction - [f, v, θ, ð, s, ʃ, ʒ, z, h].
Constrictive oral sonotants - [w, j, l – medial; r - lateral]
The next point - voiced -voiceless characteristic which depends on the work of the vocal cords. It has long been believed that from the articulatory point of view the distinction between such pairs of consonants as [p, b], [t, d], [k, g], [s, z], [f, v], [ʃ], [ʧ, ʤ] is based on the absence or presence of vibrations of the vocal cords, or on the absence or presence of voice or tone component. However, there is also energy difference. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless consonants are strong (fortis).
According to the position of the soft palate consonants can be oral and nasal. There are relatively few consonantal types in English which require the lowered position of the soft palate. They are the nasal occlusive sonorants [m], [n] and [ŋ]. They differ from oral plosives in that the soft palate is lowered allowing the escape of air into the nasal cavity.
Another principle is the place of articulation. The place of articulation is determined by the active organ of speech against the point of articulation. Consonants are classed into 1) labial, 2) lingual, 3) glottal. The first class is subdivided into a) bilabial [p, b, m, w]; b) labio- dental [f, v]; the second class is subdivided into: a) forelingual or apical, articulated with the tip of the tongue [θ, ð, t, d, n, s, z, l, r, ʃ, ʒ], b) mediolingual [j], c)back lingual [k, g, ŋ], d) pharingal or glottal [h].
So we can point out 4 criteria according to the classification of the English consonants:
1. According to the manner of noise production and the type of obstruction
2. According to the position of the active organ of speech
3. According to the position of the soft palate
4. According to the work of the vocal cords and the force of exhalation
The classification of English vowels
Vowels are voiced sounds in forming which the airstream passes freely without any obstruction through the larynx the mouth cavity make the vocal cords vibrate.
Vowels are classified:
1. According to the position of the tongue in the mouth vowels are classified:
a) in horizontal axis:
Front - uttered with the front part of the tongue highest [i:, I, e, æ]
Central - if it the central part of the tongue that is highest [ʌ, ɜ:, ə,]
Back - the rear part of the tongue is involved in articulation [u, ɑ:, ɔ, o:, u:]
b) in vertical axis:
Close (high) [i, i:, u, u:]
Open (low) [ɔ, a*, æ, ə:, o:]
Mid-open (open) [e, ə, ʌ, ɛ:]
2. According to the position of lips:
Unrounded vowels [i:, i, e, æ, ɑ:, ʌ, ɜ, ə ] – the lips are neutral or spread.
Rounded vowels [ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:] - lips are protruded.
3. According to the degree of muscular tension:
Tense [i:, a:, o:, u:] , long vowels are always tense
Lax [i, e, u], short vowels are always weak
4. According to the length:
Historically long
Historically short
5. According to the vowel quantity and length, plus stability of articulation:
monophthongs
diphthongs
A monophthong is a pure (unchanging) vowel sound.
A diphthong combines two different vocalic elements joined together in a unique articulatory effect and consequently is a part of a syllable. It's usually the first element that is stronger and it's called nucleus, the weak element is called glide.
Diphthongs are classified according to the type of the glide:
Rising to -i: [ei], [ɔi], [ai]
Narrowing to -u: [əu], [au]
Centring to -ə: [iə], [eə], [uə]
Some scholars distinguish such phenomena as diphthongoids and triphthongs
Triphthongs
A triphthong is a complex vowel sound that consists of three components. A triphthong is indivisible and forms only one syllable. A triphthong is always stressed on its first main component. Two triphthongs are usually listed in British English: [aiə] hire, fire, require; [auə] our, hour, flour.
Diphthongoids
They’re midway between monophthongs and diphthongs. Like diphthongs, diphthongoids feature sliding articulation though with much weaker slide. They don’t radically change vowel sound quality, so traditionally belonging to the monophthong group. [i:] and [u:] are diphthongoids.
2. Geographical variation of the English pronunciation
English is a language which consists of many varieties, each distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar and vocabulary. Those varieties arose due to 3 factors: the differences in geographical, social, and situational spheres. In other words: “who speaks the language, where, to whom and to what extend”.
It is sociophonetics that deals with the way the language and its varieties function in speech community, in social environment; it studies regional, social and situational variation.
In geographical sphere one should differentiate 2 basic concepts:
Dialect – distinguished for its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Accent – a type of pronunciation or feature (like vowels, consonants, stress, rhythm, voice quality and intonation) found in the speech of every individual or the whole speech community and by that we mean only the sounds.
Accents of English worldwide are grouped into:
(1) accents in countries where English is the mother tongue of the majority of the population (the inner circle): the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the white population of the republic of South Africa; these ones are called Accents of National Varieties of the English language.
Historical-geographical division of native English accents may be based on the division into British-oriented (the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and North-America oriented (the USA, Canada).
Most of the countries possess their national pronunciation norm (standards), regional standards and local accents. Pronunciation norm is an ideal abstraction accentual pattern, which is considered to be, a prestige accent taught at schools and a social marker.
National Standards
RP (Received Pronunciation), or BBC English, in the UK.
GA (General American), or American Network English, in the USA.
GenCan (General Canadian) in Canada.
GenAus (General Australian) in Australia.
This type of an accent is associated with radio and television newsreaders, some professional groups and public figures. It is accepted in the “best society" and spread among cultured people.
Each of these Varieties has further accentual differentiation based on territorial and social criteria.
Regional Standard Accents are the accents of educated people in a certain area.
- Southern, Northern, Scottish and Northern Irish Varieties on the British Isles
- Northern, Northern Midland, Southern Midland, Southern Western in the USA.
This type of accent shows a certain degree of regional deviation from the standard, often referred to as regionally modified RP or Mainstream dialect.
Local Accents are spoken by less educated people. They are traditionally subdivided onto Urban, eg Cockney (London), Geordie (New Castle), Brummie (Birmingham) and Rural Northumberland, Yorkshire, etc.
(2) accents in the new developing states, former British colonies where English is one of the official languages (the outer circle): India and Singapore, etc.
(3) accents in the countries where English is the most widely used foreign language taught at schools (the expanding circle), like Russia and China.
Phonetically each particularly social or regional accent category may be characterized by a cluster of identifying features which serve as social markers. Accent variation in English is historically conditioned.
3. The problem of pronunciation norm, regional standards
English is a language which consists of many varieties, each distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar and vocabulary. Those varieties arose due to 3 factors: the differences in geographical, social, and situational spheres. In other words: “who speaks the language, where, to whom and to what extend”.
English norm and standards closely deal with the geographical variation of the English pronunciation.
In geographical sphere one should differentiate 2 basic concepts:
Dialect – distinguished for its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Accent – a type of pronunciation or feature (like vowels, consonants, stress, rhythm, voice quality and intonation) found in the speech of every individual or the whole speech community and by that we mean only the sounds.
Accents of English worldwide are grouped into:
(1) accents in countries where English is the mother tongue of the majority of the population (the inner circle): the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the white population of the republic of South Africa; these ones are called Accents of National Varieties of the English language.
Historical-geographical division of native English accents may be based on the division into British-oriented (the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and North-America oriented (the USA, Canada).
Most of the countries possess their national pronunciation norm (standards), regional standards and local accents. Pronunciation norm is an ideal abstraction accentual pattern, which is considered to be, a prestige accent taught at schools and a social marker.
National Standards
RP (Received Pronunciation), or BBC English, in the UK.
GA (General American), or American Network English, in the USA.
GenCan (General Canadian) in Canada.
GenAus (General Australian) in Australia.
This type of an accent is associated with radio and television newsreaders, some professional groups and public figures. It is accepted in the “best society" and spread among cultured people.
Each of these Varieties has further accentual differentiation based on territorial and social criteria.
Regional Standard Accents are the accents of educated people in a certain area.
- Southern, Northern, Scottish and Northern Irish Varieties on the British Isles
- Northern, Northern Midland, Southern Midland, Southern Western in the USA.
This type of accent shows a certain degree of regional deviation from the standard, often referred to as regionally modified RP or Mainstream dialect.
Local Accents are spoken by less educated people. They are traditionally subdivided onto Urban, eg Cockney (London), Geordie (New Castle), Brummie (Birmingham) and Rural Northumberland, Yorkshire, etc.
(2) accents in the new developing states, former British colonies where English is one of the official languages (the outer circle): India and Singapore, etc.
(3) accents in the countries where English is the most widely used foreign language taught at schools (the expanding circle), like Russia and China.
Phonetically each particularly social or regional accent category may be characterized by a cluster of identifying features which serve as social markers. Accent variation in English is historically conditioned.
4. Sociophonetics: gender, age, phonological differences
English is a language which consists of many varieties, each distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar and vocabulary. Those varieties arose due to 3 factors: the differences in geographical, social, and situational spheres. In other words: “who speaks the language, where, to whom and to what extend”.
So, social differences in accents arise mainly due to such factors as:
age – the peculiarities of babies/adult/elderly speech
gender – male/female differences
social class (low/upper class speakers) or social group (usually occupational differences in accent)
age
a) babies – muttering, speech is not distinct, elliptical sentences, words, sift or rearrangement of syllables, repetition of syllables.
b) elderly people – tend to repetition, which results in not finishing the sentences, elisions, muttering, elliptic sentences.
+ physiological universal factor of coming back to their mother tongue type of an accent (if it was dialect -> dialect, Ukrainian -> Ukrainian)
gender
female speech is more emotional, thus results in more emphatic accentual patterns of intonation, they tend for a support, we observe less Low Fall patterns of intonation in statements, as they are very categorical, on the contrary High Rise is more common, as they seek for encouragement, more hesitation is observed, thus repetitions, elliptic constructions, etc.
male speech is reserved, logical, assured, as a result Low Fall patters of intonation, no hesitation, repetitions.
+ females are usually the ones, who are the models for children. It is considered that their speech is closer to the norm, accentless, while men, especially those of working class, tend to not only to use vulgarisms and swear, but to assume dialect model of speech, thus, from the point of view of pronunciation, it is not accent neutral.
social class
As you have understood there is a direct connection between the accent the person uses and social class he belongs to: the lower it is, the less accent neutral the person’s accent is. Those who are at the bottom of social scale tend to use broad accent which is rooted in dialect. In the middle are those who use mainstream dialect – a kind of modification in which the most incomprehensible features have died out. Those who are on the top of the social scale use RP.
There are other criteria for social ac cent differentiation: ethnical, like Black English, occupational or belonging to a group, lake rappers and others. Each of them has some peculiarities in terms of pronunciation.
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Situational sphere.
Situation is generally used to refer to the extra linguistic setting in which an utterance takes place – referring to such notions as number of participants, level of formality, nature of the ongoing activities.
The usage of a special set of verbal mode depends on 2 relevant social factors –
the situation itself – the sphere of communication (academic, business, home, transport, service, entertainment), setting (locality and size of the audience), media (face-to-face interaction, telephone, TV or radio interview),
the interlocutors (participants of the communication) – their social role (doctor and patient, parent and child, boss and employee, customer and seller), topic (cultural or political news, academic, sports, gossip), aim of the speaker (to inform, to impress, to stimulate, to entertain, or just to engage someone in a chat).
Let’s analyze some of them.
in formal situation of the office people demonstrate the ability to vary their speaking styles at least 4 times a day:
to their seniors
to their colleagues
to customers
to members of the family of friends over the phone
at home the conversations might be very intimate and special, like talking to pets and babies
in certain situations we follow some social roles, which depends on who we are talking to: authority, non-authority or someone of equal status. The basic types of speech will be formal or informal, and the two strategies people employ in demonstrating their relations with someone they talk to are politeness or solitary, which means either using more precise forms or more advanced, sometimes stigmatic forms.