fonetica si fonologie_tuchel d..pdf

8/14/2019 Fonetica si fonologie_Tuchel D..pdf

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Universitatea Dunrea de Josdin Galai

Facultatea de Litere

Specializarea:

Limba i literatura romn Limba i literatura englez

Limba englez.Fonetic i fonologie

Conf. dr. Daniela-Maria uchel

Anul I, semestrul I

D.I.D.F.R.


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Dunarea de Jos University of Galati

Faculty of Letters

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

Course tutor:

Associate Professor Daniela-Maria uchel, PhD

Galai2012


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Contents

Phonetics. English Phonology 3

CONTENTS

Foreword and bibliography 5

Chapter I - Survey of the Realm of Sound 7

1.1 Theoretical issues 71.1.1 Pronunciation and spelling 71.1.2 Twenty vowel phonemes and glides 91.1.3 Twenty-four consonant phonemes and semivowels 121.1.4 Connected speech 13

1.2 Applications 15

1.3 Testing oneself 17

1.4 Questions for examinations 18

Chapter II Features of Rhythm and Intonation 20

2.1 Theoretical issues 202.1.1 English suprasegmental features 202.1.2 The phonetic syllable vs the phonological one 212.1.3 The basics about accent and rhythm 222.1.4 Intonation: functions and fundamental tones 24

2.2 Applications 25

2.3 Testing oneself 27

2.4 Questions for examinations 29

Concluding remarks 31

Answers to self-testing 32


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Foreword and bibliography

Phonetics. English phonology 5

MOTTO: In acts of speech, people use their voice as a complex instrument(H. G. Widdowson)


The present material is a necessary step in the formation of studentsgraduating philological studies: the acquisition of a few basic facts aboutproducing meaning at the level of spoken utterances. This kind of teachingabout sound (in general) and the sounds of English (in particular) occurs asarranged by academic tradition in the first semester of the first year in highereducation. We purport to cover the path towards the following objectives:a) to create student awareness relating to the sound structure of the foreignlanguage they study;b) to refine student communication in spoken discourse via possibilitiesadvanced by stress and intonational cues;c) to prepare phonetically-trained students who perceive differences betweenvarieties of English as against Received Pronunciation peculiarities;

d) to make students understand interdisciplinarity in language studies(connections with morpho-syntax, lexicology, semantics, pragmatics) andoutside the phoneme domain (connections with physics, anatomy,physiology).

The organization of meaning in the scientific approach to any naturallanguage has to start from a phonetic and phonological layer constituting thelevel of expression; upon it, the level of content is provided for by grammarrules, the lexis, and semantics.

The chapters of the present coursebook are poured onto a four-subchaptermatrix each: (1) theoretical issues relating to a brief scholarly description ofphonetics and phonology; (2) applications of the previous teaching so as tocreate skills towards full success with the next subchapters; (3) tests that canbe worked out independently by our students, who are expected to pick theiranswers and check them against the final page of the course, entitledanswers to self-tests; (4) tasks and questions for any form of examinations inphonetics and phonology. A full basic course is not feasible due to the lengthof time allotted in the curriculum.

Aiming to urge our students to read more than what is put between thesecovers, we produce a bibliographic list that should support the intentions offurther studies while displaying the information that lies at the basis of the

present course. A careful reader of the list below easily notices two groups ofbooks, one of specialist content, and the other of general orientation inmatters of linguistics. The latter group is made up of books always includingone chapter at least on phonetics, phonology and phonemic analysis.

Bidu-Vrnceanu, A. et al. (2005) Dicionar de tiine ale limbii. Bucureti:Nemira.

Brazil, D., M. Coulthard and C. Johns (1981) Discourse Intonation andLanguage Teaching. Longman Group Ltd.

Brown, K. (1984) Linguistics Today. London:Fontana Paperbacks.


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Phonetics. English phonology6

Chioran, D. (1970) Limba englez contemporan. Fonetic i fonologie.Bucureti: Editura Didactic i Pedagogic.

Chioran, D. and L. Petri (1977) Workbook in English Phonetics andPhonology. Bucureti: Editura Didactic i Pedagogic.

Crystal, D. (1985) Linguistics. London: Penguin Books.Dima, G. (1999) Outlines of English Phonetics and Phonology. Galai :

Tipografia universitii.Halliday, M. A.K. (2004)An Introduction to Functional Grammar. New York :

O.U.P. Inc.Hulban, H., T. Lctuu and G. Goglniceanu (1983) Competen i

performan. Exerciii i teste de limba englez. Bucureti: Edituratiinific i Enciclopedic.

Ionescu-Ruxndoiu, L. (2003) Limbaj i comunicare, Bucureti: Editura ALLEDUCATIONAL.

Jones, D. (1917/1972) Everymans English Pronouncing Dictionary. Ed. A. C.Gimson. Thirteenth Edition. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.

Makarenko, T. (1998) Contemporary English Phonetics.Cluj: Ed. Echinox.Mannell, R., F. Cox and J. Harrington (2009) An Introduction to Phonetics

and Phonology. Macquarie University. Online resource.

Mittins, W. H. (1967)A Grammar of Modern English. London: Methuen & CoLtd.Neagu, M. (1997) English Phonetics and Phonology. A Coursebook. Brila:

Editura Evrika.Oprea, I. (2007) Elemente de filozofia limbii, Iai: Institutul European.Pilch, H. (1976/1998) Lingvistic empiric. Iai: Ed. Rzeu.Petri, L. (1986) Intonation and Meaning in Present-Day English. Bucureti:

Tipografia Universitii Bucureti.Widdowson, H. G. (2003) Linguistics. Oxford, New York: O.U.P.Woods, G. (2010) English Grammar for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley

Publishing, Inc.


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Chapter I Survey of the Realm of Sound


Chapter One Survey of the Realm of Sound

1.1 Theoretical Issues

1.1.1 Pronunciation and spellingUsers of a language make language manifest through pronunciation andspelling, in other words, through spoken and written utterances. Linguistsmay start their enquiry of language at different levels of analysis:phoneticians start with sounds, lexicographers with words, grammarians withclauses and sentences. This plainly shows a focus on form. At the level ofsound, hearers identify vowels and consonants, whereas readers distinguishvowel letters from consonant letters.

To begin with an example, we may take two words, their difference lying onlyin the final consonants while they match in other respects: safe /seif/ vs save

/seiv/. The phonetic difference can be explained as follows: /v/ is pronouncedwith a vibration of the vocal cords, it is voiced. The other consonant, /f/, isunvoiced. The shared characteristic is that both consonants are produced byair friction between the teeth and the lower lip and are consequently calledfricative sounds. They share also the same structural environment, made upof /s/, /e/, /i/, yet they end up as words of different meaning. In the writtenpattern they follow, they are phonemically distinct. In this example, we havedealt with the representation of sounds in the phonetic transcription betweenthe slashes or oblique brackets and also with the spelling of the resultingwords. The sound - spelling identification in English may or may not exist,depending on the words that are being analysed. For instance, onegraphological element, letteri, has different phonological values in if/if/ and

in time /taim/.

What we need to remember so far is that communicating humans produceperceptible behaviour in speech sounds and written letters. From thetheoretical point of view, we have come to the necessity of defining thephoneme, on the one hand, and the morpheme, on the other hand. Thephoneme is a class of phonetically similar sounds. The concrete realizationsof a phoneme (the allophones of the phoneme) constitute an infinity ofvariants. A phonetically trained ear will distinguish between the way /p/sounds in pat (aspiration occurs in native speech) versus /p/ in spat(aspiration is lost). We have just exemplified the occurrence of allophones forone phoneme /p/. The allophonic differences are not important for

communication. If the phoneme is the minimal unit in the sound system ofany language, the morpheme is the minimal meaningful unit in the grammarof any language and its variants are called allomorphs. Minimal means thatit cannot be subdivided into smaller elements. The word can. For example,subdivision puts forth one lexical morpheme (the root part) and twoderivational morphemes. We add to the word the marker for the pluralnumber, and subdivisions has changed its meaning for pointing to amultitude of such countable entities as indicated. You may notice from theexamples and definitions mentioned above that a phoneme is not meaningfulin itself, but it can bring about a change of meaning.


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Capitolul I - Precizri eseniale


The procedure by means of which one sound gets substituted for by anotherin order to check whether a change of meaning is obtained is known underthe name of substitution (or commutation) test. One needs, therefore, twowords that should differ in only one sound. These two constitute a minimalpairand stand for the idea of opposition: their mutual substitution results ina new linguistic form. Here is one example. Language displaying two levels,

expression and content, one hears /teil/and /seil/ in spoken expression,corresponding to tail and sale in written expression, and to the rear asdifferent from the transfer of property for money at the level of content.Looking back at the phonetic context, the opposed phonemes are /t/ and /s/and they have suffered an operation of commutation or the substitution test.Generally speaking, to find minimal pairs for every sound whose phonemicstatus must be tested is a very lengthy endeavour. Phonologists will choosea suitable context for more than just two sounds to undergo the test. Forinstance, bail /beil/, fail /feil/, hail /heil/, pale /peil/, sale /seil/, wail /weil/ haveestablished six consonantic phonemes /b/, /f/, /h/, /p/, /s/, and /w/ (they arethe initial sounds of the chosen words and the list can fairly well becomelonger by following the same procedure).

The procedure is to be remembered for understanding how the so-calledsegmental phonemes of English have been put together to compile theinventory of phonemes, which counts in English 20 vowels and 24consonants; to them, one should add up suprasegmental phonemes to betreated in the second chapter of the present material. Ahead of time (that is,of the second chapter), we mention 4 stress phonemes, 1 juncture phoneme,4 pitch level phonemes and 3 terminal contour phonemes. The computationgives a total of 56 phonemes. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that in no givenlanguage have linguists managed to unanimously agree upon the number ofexisting phonemes. After all, one might find different inventories for British

English and American English and this is no surprise.

A phoneme is seen as a bundle of distinctive features which have a moreor less universal character (obtained from the acoustic properties of sounds).These characteristics are usually arranged two by two, like two poles for oneand the same dimension or criterion. To exemplify, we mention here voiced-voiceless, continuant-interrupted, nasal-oral, and of course the basicdistinctions that we shall use for a presentation of English segmentalphonemes, namely vocalic-nonvocalic and consonantal-nonconsonantal. Inbooks of phonology, the description of vocalic sounds refers first to the freepassage of the air stream through the open mouth cavity, next to the vocalcord periodic vibrations. Nonvocalic sounds meet some obstruction in the air

passage and display vocal cord vibrations that are not periodic. Phoneticsproposes the term vocoid sound for the sound in the production of whichthe air stream is pushed out of the lungs and does not meet any considerableobstacle or, if it does, there is some possibility of by-passing it. Similarly, thelabel of consonantal is correct when the air stream is either blockedcompletely or allowed to escape through a narrow passage being thusaccompanied by friction. The term contoid carries the same meaning for aphonetician: in articulatory terms, movements and contact between variousorgans of speech are being observed and the type of obstruction as well.


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Every linguist admitting that the sound system and the writing system are taken together two modes of expression in a language, there are difficultiesfor a human being growing into adulthood to understand theircomplementarity. Why so ? Merely because, if one masters a writing systemand puts it into practice, it takes a life of its own. One no longer reacheswords via sounds, but rather reaches words directly. Still keeping for themoment to the notion that there is much usefulness in looking at the

inventory of English phonemes by comparing and contrasting them toRomanian phonemes, we roughly add some distribution and spelling for eachitem on the list.

1.1.2 Twenty vowel phonemes and glides

A number of characteristics are taken into account in the descriptions givenbelow.

The position of the soft palate (velum), always raised in the production of anEnglish vowel, shows that we have to do with oralvowels; they are never

nasal, since there is no oral-nasal opposition in their pronunciation. Vowelscan be partially nasalized in the neighbourhood of nasal consonants, butthese are allophones. Think of the manner you utter the words gym,many, sing.

The position of the lips will determine a degree ofroundness. The vowel indoor is completely rounded, whereas the vowel in lost is slightly rounded.The lips are spread and not rounded in check.

The part of the tongue which is raised against the palate will divide vowelsinto front, centraland back. We exemplify accordingly with the words he,her, who.

The degree of opening between the raised part of the tongue and thepalate results in close vowels (such as in too, which is uttered with anarrow space), mid-open vowels (in tell there is a medium space) andopen vowels (spa leaves a wide space for the air-stream to escape).English phoneticians are sometimes in favour of four degrees of opening,labelled as close, half-close, half-open, open. For example, long i /i:/ isnearer the close degree, while short i /i/ is nearer the half-close degree.

The length of vowels also varies and distinguishes them, subdividing theminto short(when followed by a voiceless consonant sound) and long (whenfollowed by a voiced consonant), even fully long when in final position (such

as in car.

The degree of tenseness in the muscles of the tongue prescribes tenseversus laxvowels, fact which corresponds precisely to the existence of longversus short ones.

Stability in articulation is one particular criterion for distinguishing betweenmonophthongs (in other words, simple vowels) and diphthongs. Stabilitymeans that the speech organs do not change their position to a considerableextent during articulation. In this respect, a further difference can still be


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worked out: short vowels are purer in quality, whereas long ones include asort of glide, especially when they constitute the final part of the word. Bycontrast with them, diphthongs do score a significant change in quality fromone vowel to the other. A diphthong is said to consist of a relatively long purevowel (called nucleus) and a glide. All English diphthongs are fallingdiphthongs, namely three glides to /i/, two glides to/u/ and three glides to //.

The English front vowels are /i:/, /i/, /e/ and //.

The description in articulatory terms of /i:/ is front, close, tense, unrounded,long. The lips are spread, the opening between the jaws is narrow. Some ofits spellings are : ee (green), e (scene), ea (eat), ie (chief), ei (receive), i(police).

The description of /i/ is front, close, short, lax, unrounded. It is a retractedfront vowel because the part of the tongue which is raised is nearer to itscentre than to its front. In spelling, it is i(minute), y (symbol), e (request), a(village).

The vowel sound /e/ is front, mid-open, short, lax, unrounded. Its spellingappearances are e (insect), ea (weapon), eo (leopard), a (many).

The description front, open, short, la, unrounded is for //, with the tonguelow, almost flat in the mouth. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. Itmay become a long vowel when followed by a voiced consonant, like in bador man. There is no similar sound in Romanian. It corresponds to a inspelling: camel, family, travel.

The English central vowels are /:/, // and //.

/:/ is central, mid-open, long, tense, unrounded, a phoneme occurring onlyin stressed syllables. In spelling, it can be e (verse), i (bird), y (myrtle), u+r(fur), ea (learn), eu(amateur), o (worse), ou (journal).

// is central, mid-open, short, lax, unrounded; the position of the tongue isthe same as for the previous vowel, only very slightly lower. It may be omittedin rapid speech, without affecting intelligibility of the message. Omission isnot allowed, however, when it is preceded and followed by a nasal (lemon,woman). The phoneme // is spelt with all vowel letters of the Englishalphabet, for example a (aloud), e (audience), i (intention), o (tailor), u(pleasure), y (martyr). The majority of suffixes include an // sound,irrespective of their spelling.

// is a central, open, short, lax, unrounded vowel. It is very short and thejaws are kept wide apart. It occurs only in initial and medial positions inwords, never at all in final position. Its spelling can be exemplified with u(study), o (tongue), ou (trouble).Double o is exceptional, for instance in bloodand flood.

The English back vowels are /u/, /u:/, /o:/, /o/ and /a:/.


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The sound /u/ can be described as a back (advanced), close, short, lax,rounded vowel. One might notice the tendency of natives to use less lip-rounding and a lower position of the tongue nowadays. The frequentwordspronounced in this rather changed manner are good, could, would, should.The spelling possibilities are ou(as above), u(sugar), oo (look).

/u:/is back, close, long, tense, rounded. Though considerably longer than its

Romanian counterpart, the English sound is similar, on condition it is longenough and protrusion of the rounded lips is avoided in English. It is usuallyspelt as u(rule), o (do), ou (soup), oo (fool), ui(fruit), eu (rheumatism), ew(few), eau (beauty).

/o:/ is back, half-open, long, tense, rounded, actually located somewherebetween half-open and half-close positions. Romanian speakers protrudetheir lips while English speakers do not; in other respects English /o:/ andRomanian /o/ are not very different. We mention the spellings or (sort), aw(law), au (audience), ou (thought), ore (more), oar (soar), our (court), all(ball), al+cons. (halt).

The back, open, short, lax, slightly rounded /o/ (as a rule, phoneticallytranscribed with an incomplete lefthand-opened oval) presupposes nocontact between the tongue and the upper teeth. There is no similar sound inRomanian. Check the pronunciation of the minimal pair pot port(English,not Romanian lexemes) to see that length alone is not enough to distinguishthem in sound and meaning. We mention the current spellings o in closedsyllables (not), o in open syllables (sorry), a preceded by w (watch), uapreceded by q (quality). Phoneticians consider that the American-Englishvowel system does not include this phoneme because it gets replaced by /a:/.

Back, open, long, tense and unrounded is the description that matches /a:/. It

is produced with the jaws wider apart than for any other English vowel.Although long, its length may be reduced before a voiceless consonant (e.g.heart vs hard). The length difference between last /la:st/ and lust /lst/ willpoint quite clearly to the difference of meanings. Here are some of itsspellings: ar (card), ear (hearth), er(sergeant), a+mute l(calm), a+ff(staff),a+f+consonant (after), a+ss (class), a+s+cons. (mask), a+n+cons.(demand), a+th (bath).

There are three glides to /i/, namely/ei/(pain, like leiin Romanian),/ai/(light,likepaiin Romanian), and/oi/(noise, almost like oiin Romanian). There arealso two glides to /u/, illustrated as follows:/u/(road, like su in Romanian)and/au/(house, like sau in Romanian). There are three centring glides to //:

/i/ (beer, with no similar sequence of sounds in Romanian), /e/ (stairs,nothing similar in Romanian), /u/ (poor, like continu in Romanian). TheEnglish diphthongs are also described as wide diphthongs (/ai/, /oi/, /au/)implying a significant movement of the articulating organs from the positionfor the nucleus to the position necessary for the glide, and narrowdiphthongs (/ei/, /u/, /i/, /e/, /u/) implying a lesser movement of thearticulating organs.


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1.1.3 Twenty-four consonant phonemes and semi-vowels

These twenty-four phonemes have also been identified by applying thecommutation test, like the vowel phonemes. They have been classedaccording to two criteria: manner of articulation and place of articulation.

a) Theplosives or stops are:/p/and/b/(both bilabial, the former voiceless& fortis and the latter voiced and lenis, and this distinction will be kept upfor all pairs of plosives); /t/and /d/ (alveolar plosives); /k/and /g/ (velarplosives) and the glottal stop // with no functional significance (using itor omitting it does not change the meaning).

They are occlusive sounds: the complete obstruction of the air passage isfollowed by a sudden release of that closure.

b) The affricates are /t/ (like in E. chairand R. mici) and /d/ (like in E.genderand R. fragi). They are intermediate sounds between (a) plosivesand (c) fricatives.

When the release stage of a plosive is performed very slowly and allows

friction, the utterer gets an affricate. There is obstruction of the air-passage,and there is friction because the articulating organs are separated slowly.The tip and blade of the toungue are raised behind the alveolar ridge. Thevocal cords do not vibrate for /t/, but they are in a state of vibration for /d/.

c) The fricatives /f/and/v/,//and//,/s/and/z/,//and// draw togetherin a continuous sound two organs of speech that let the air escapethrough a very narrow passage. A narrowing of the glottis producesglottal /h/, which has no voiced counterpart. This last consonant isdifferent from Romanian /h/ (it actually is the difference between a glottaland a velar sound); it sometimes is omitted (like in he, her, his, has, etc.),whereas the letter h is silent in honour, hour, heir, etc.

In more detail, the first pair above (like in few& view) is called labio-dental,since the lower lip goes against the upper teeth. The second pair above (e.g.months & clothes) is labelled apico-interdental, with the tip of the tonguebetween the upper and lower teeth. The third pair (e.g. sun & zebra) knownas apico-alveolarneeds the tip and blade of the tongue against the alveolarridge. The fourth pair (e.g. sharp & treasure) arepalato-alveolar, the voicedconsonant never occurring in initial position (pronounce, for instance,exposure, seizure, massage,pleasure).

d) The nasalconsonants are three in number, /m/, /n/ and //. They arecalled continuant sounds because they can be produced for as long asthe breath effort allows. There is no audible friction and the air escapes

freely through the nose, conferring a vowel-like nature upon them. Thefirst is bilabial, the second is alveolarand the third one is velar.

These three nasal sounds are all lenis and voiced, with no voicelesscounterparts. Their degree of voicing is reduced, however, when preceded byvoiceless consonants, for example in smile, snow, or when followed by k, forexample uncle/kl/.

e) The lateral /l/ is a frictionless continuant. Being also always voiced, itresembles some other vowel-like consonant sounds.


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It may occur in initial (low), medial (collar) or final (call) positions. Yet, mostimportantly, it appears in clusters (splash,pulse, measles).

f) About /r/, the complication is that there are several types, thereforedifferent ways of description given by phoneticians. It is produced as avoiced, post alveolar, fricative consonant, when the narrow passagebetween the tip of the tongue and the backpart of the dental ridge causes

friction to be heard.On functional grounds, when /r/ appears as a frictionless continuant, it is avowel-like sound occurring before a vowel, like in agree, shrew,proud, whereit occupies a non-central position in the syllable and it is classed as aconsonant. The number of allophones is high enough. The so-called flapped/r/ is intervocalic, like in arrow. The rolled/r/ (or lingual roll) is very similar toRomanian /r/ and consists in a rapid succession of movements by the tip ofthe tongue against the alveolar ridge, and it is characteristic of Scottish andNorthern English. These variants too register the pronunciation of a finalpostvocalic/r/ (for,pour, more) and apreconsonantic/r/ (sort, burn, bird).RP English preserves an intrusive /r/ or linking/r/ only at word boundaries:far away, more and more, near it, etc. It is fairly called intrusive when it is notits rightful place because thefollowing word does not begin with a vowel. Withno spelling motivation, the syntagm the idea of itis pronounced /iaidirvit/.American English displays a retroflex /r/ sound. The description of itsarticulation goes as follows: the tip of the tongue is curled back towards thehard palate and there is no friction because that distance is wide enough tolet the air escape freely.

g) Two sounds in English, /w/and /j/, are included among consonants, yetthey carry the denomination of semi-vowels. They are vowel-like soundsfrom the articulatory point of view : there is no major obstruction of thespeech tract in producing them. On functional grounds, they are

consonantal in nature: they hold a marginal position in the syllable andthey lack the syllabic function of vowel sounds. They are followed by avowel sound and their contour is that of a rising diphthong.

The phoneme /j/ is unrounded and palatal. The phoneme /w/ is rounded andlabiovelar. Practise with yard, statue, opinion, hideous; wool, twin, quick,week. Notice that one more proof in favour of their consonantal nature is thatthe definite and indefinite articles (the and a in English) take thepronunciation // and // when followed by them: the year, the union, a war.

1.1.4 Connected speech

Listen to an English utterance and you will find that it is a continuous streamof speech. You cannot distinguish segments easily or clearly. Acousticphonetics itself experimentally proved that there is no break between soundsand that they are intimately linked. In other words, when in sequences,phonemes form patterns that recur, influence one another, cause theadjustment of articulating organs to ensure more convenient transitions inall, a continuous activity displaying a reasonable amount of economy ofspeaker effort.


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When dealing with connected speech, phoneticians specify first the stagesthat can be seen in the production of a sound in isolation. The onset or theon-glide of a sound is the initial stage when the speech organs adopt theposition which is appropriate for pronunciation. The medial stage is alsocalled in two alternative ways, retention or hold. For a given period of time,the speech organs are kept in the position necessary for the production of thesound. In the final stage, the release stage, the speech organs move away to

a neutral position.

One may identify English triphthongs (known as a combination of threevocalic sounds pronounced so as to form a syllable): /ai/ (fire) and /au/(hour). If such words are dictated or uttered as part of slow speech, thepronunciation will result in practical terms into a diphthong (one syllable) anda vowel/monophthong (another syllable). In RP, the inventory of standardphonemes does not include triphthongs. If they are heard in quick speech,they will be characterized by instability.

Two adjacent sounds are witnesses to a rapid transition from one to theother. Juncture is the suprasegmental phoneme that is another name fortransition and that can be furher subdivided into close juncture and openjuncture. The former is the unmarked form because it is the normal manner inwhich phonemes are joined within a word; the latter is marked because itimplies a slight pause at the boundary of two words.

One mutual influence of sounds is called assimilation. It is the effortofsome phonemes to achieve similarity. Progressive assimilation is based onanticipation (e.g. in fly, /l/ is partially devoiced under the influence of /f/).Regressive assimilation is the reverse phenomenon: for instance, this shopputs it forth with final /s/ assimilated to // when followed by another //.Double or reciprocal assimilation can be illstrated by train, where /r/ is

partially devoiced due to voiceless /t/ and /t/ becomes postalveolar instead ofalveolar owing to postalveolar /r/.

Another modification is elision, involving both vowels and consonants, whenthey are difficult to pronounce in clusters or in unaccented syllables. Theintelligibility of words should not be destroyed. For example, difficultmay lose/i/ (we hear /difklt/), or reference loses // (we hear /refrns/). Comb doesnot sound its final consonant, and the digraph gh becomes silent in sought,caught, etc. //, //, /f/ are lost in embarrassing clusters (fifths, sixth, clothes).Elision characteristic of colloquial speech can also be seen in contrastingstrong and weak forms of certain English words.


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1.2 Applications

In functional grammar, when a grammarian mentions the constituency oflanguage, he makes reference to its compositional aspect that can beexplained as follows:

a) in the domain of sound (from bottom of the hierarchy upwards):

phoneme syllable foot /rhythm group tone group;b) in the domain of writing (from top of the hierarchy downwards):sentence word letter;

c) in the domain of grammar (again from top to bottom): sentence clause phrase word morpheme.

In Chapter One and further on, in Chapter Two, our attention is turned tostring (a) and partially string (b) above. The remarks that follow will point outpractical difficulties for Romanian learners of spoken English who are willingto expand on the basics of our first chapter.

By and large, any listener interprets speech sounds which do not belong tothe sound system of their own language. A Romanian will certainly find it

hard to perform certain distinctions when studying English, in line withwhatever is distinctively different from what he has been used to. It isimperative for all of us, therefore, to have a degree of awareness asspeakers, awareness about ones movements in speech production andauditory sensations in a word, this is practically called monitoring speech.It happens through two channels: a kinesthetic feedback (motions andpositions of the articulatory organs) and an auditory feedback (a speakerhearing his own speech).

In books of phonetics, for example, it is possible to find several descriptionsof the sound /t/ as perceived by a phonetically trained ear:

- /t/ in take is accompanied by aspiration ( a sort of /h/ sound, a slight

puff of breath in an accented syllable between a plosive which isvoiceless and a vowel, especially a long one)

- /t/ in stake loses aspiration because of the presence of a preceding /s/- /t/ in button is partially released through the nose due to a following /n/- /t/ in twice is rounded owing to /w/ following it- /t/ in tube is palatalized because of the following /j/ sound- /t/ in eighth is dental //- /t/ inprettyis partially voiced for occurring between two vowels- /t/ in cattle is released laterally together with /l/

We should note that by using laboratory equipment distinctions areamazingly increased in number. Yet the differences in the /t/ sound willultimately carry no significance for communication and they may be totallyignored by the average native of English.

Phonology classes features of sounds into distinctive and nondistinctive,(significant or nonsignificant). The chief clue for eventually separatingrelevant from irrelevant information relating to speech is meaning. Thus, weare going to explain below a number of allophonic findings (such as we haveexemplified the phoneme/t/ with its allophones in the previous paragraph).Curiosity may stir you into reading further down.


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Along the lines that clearly differentiate between English and Romanianpronunciation, we will start with the phenomenon called palatalization. Itmeans that, while still producing a consonant, the front part of the tonguegets prepared for the next /i/ sound by being raised against the hard palate;the consonant is softened. In English the two sounds are kept apart:palatalization is absent. Contrast E. Peter R.pit or E. kill R. kilogram.

The vowel // is difficult to acquire, while there is no similar sound inRomanian. If Romanians replace it by /e/, they will destroy the opposition bet:bat. The right quality of English // is produced by keeping the mouth quiteopen as when uttering /a/ while aiming in fact at /e/.

From the phonetic point of view, the acquisition of the//sound presents noproblem as long as Romanian speakers have // in unstressed position; theproblem is when to pronounce it and not be misled by the variety in itsspelling. For instance, one should pay attention to the unaccented syllable incorridor, breakfast, Oxford, welcome, forget, etc.

A few words about the glottal stop // are probably helpful since there is noletter to represent it in ordinary spelling. It is also puzzling because it may notbe considered an independent phoneme as long as there are no minimalpairs based on it. The details about its production are the following: completeclosure of the vocal cords, air-stream interrupted at the level of the glottis,then vocal cords suddenly drawn apart and air-stream escaping through themouth cavity. The three stages we have just described are (1) closing; (2)compressive; (3) explosive. An exaggerated form of the sound is heard in apersons coughing or clearing the throat / hh/. Stylistics prescribes itor at least identifies it in the following situations: (a) in emphatic speechreinforcing initial vowels in stressed positions, e.g. its awful/itso:ful/; (b) asa bridge between two vowels belonging to different syllables, that is an

internal hiatus, e.g. reach /ri:t/ or belt /belt/; (c) at the boundary of twowords, in external hiatus, e.g. drama and music/dra:mndmju:zik/ or theidea of it/iaidivit/.

Glottal fricative /h/forces the unvocalized breath through the nearly closedglottis. There is no voiced pair of /h/ but in a special context, in intervocalicposition this phoneme is achieved by a partially voiced allophone, forinstance alcohol /lkhol/, behave /biheiv/, boyhood /boihud/. Advice forRomanians is to pronounce English /h/ with the back of the tongue very lowin the mouth. Here are a few cases (by the side of French loans, honest, houretc.) of silent letter h: in the digraphs wh (whip, whether, what), rh (rhetoric,rhyme), gh (ghost, ghastly); in medial position (John, vehemence, vehicle,

annihilate); the ending ham (=home) for names of counties (Durham/drm/, Oldham /uldm/, Tottenham /totnm/, Fulham /fulm/). Droppingthe h (ones hs /wuanzeitiz/) in initial position is a phenomenon in Cockneydialect the speech of uneducated Londoners.

The velar, voiced, nasal phoneme //never loses the plosive sound k /k/, afact interpreted by phonologists to be proof of its recent acquisition with anindependent phonemic status. It occurs only in medial position (angle,anchor) and final position (hang, among). In the examples bacon, taken,


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blacken, etc., the phoneme // has a syllabic function. There is free variationbetween /n/ and // in examples such as congress, conquer, increase, etc.

The lateral phoneme /l/ voiced and alveolar is of two kinds: dark /l/ andclear /l/ in complementary distribution. The first /l/ is clear and the seconddark in little. Their primary articulation is the same. Dark variants (as in film,oil, royal) are characterized by final and preconsonantal positions and

achieve a second, yet simultaneous, articulation by raising the back of thetongue against the soft palate, giving a velar resonance to the sound. Clear/l/ is not difficult for Romanians, but dark /l/ is difficult for the reason of notexisting as a similar sound in Romanian. A method of learning to produce it isto place the tongue in the position for /l/ while trying to pronounce the vowel/u/ without lip rounding.

1.3 Test yourself!

Identify the right answer(s).

1. The dimensions of language that are basic to its scientific study areA. phonetics (expression); B. lexicogrammar (content); C.phonology (expression); D. semantics (content)

2. Where should one find the following hierarchical composition: syllable foot line stanza ?

A. in sound; B. in spoken verse; C. in writing; D. in grammar

3. In the articulation of diphthongs, there is a significant change inA. the position of the organs of speech; B. the duration of vowel

production; C. the purity of the relatively long vowel sound; D.the glide that is followed by another vowel sound

4. Check for what is to be corrected in the following statement:All English vowels are produced with an egressive air-stream.

A. some instead of all; B. heard instead of produced; C. soundinstead of air-stream; D. nothing has to be corrected

5. What are the following minimal pairs for?mint meant; fill fell; did - dead

A. distinction between the infinitive and the past tense forms; B.distinction between rhyming verbs; C. distinction between two vowelphonemes; D. distinction between two nasal consonants

6. This task is to find words uttered according to the vowel sound symbol //.Is there any wrong choice below?

A. neat; B. bat; C. lack; D. tan

7. What words contain inside their phonetic transcription the sound symbol/o:/?

A. pour; B. author; C. halt; D. cauliflower

8. What vowel sound appears in the pronunciation of all these borrowedwords: pyjamas; banana; reservoir; moustache?


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A. //; B. /a:/; C. /o:/; D. /o/

9. What words are not read with the fricative /z/?A. flimsy, grades, busy; B. zipper, clothes, present; C. claims, precise,

daisy; D. purse, ascend, rafts

10. From the following indications, which is a fake for describing stages in the

production of a sound?A. retrieval; B. retention; C. release; D. on-glide

11. Any speech act is a correspondence betweenA. articulatory and auditory aspects in correlationB. articulatory, acoustic and auditory correlates, in principle three stages

of one phenomenonC. articulatory, acoustic and auditory aspects, taken separatelyD. articulatory and acoustic abilities of a speaker, without reference to the

auditory stage

12. What is elision of sound?A. rapid nasalization of certainphonemesB. the special phonological realization of utterancesC. accent and rhythm affecting understanding in bad acousticsD. the emphatic delivery of certain sentenceswith omission or addition of

new sounds

13. A semi-vowelA. is also called a semi-consonantB. is an unrounded glottal stopC. is only used in prevocalic position, being always initial in a syllableD. is started by articulation of a front vowel

14. What phenomenon is noticeable below?We say goose /gu:s/ but gooseberry/gu:zbri/.

A. devoiced consonant; B. close juncture; C. elision; D. assimilation

15. What is correct to say about // and //?A. They are represented by the same digraph th.B. th=// in adverbs and pronouns: there, then, this, that, they, etc.C. th=// in all final-position occurrences: health, myth, bath, etc.D. Word finalthe is pronounced // : to bathe, to breathe, to clothe, etc.

1.4 Questions for examinations

In what ways isphonetics different fromphonology?

Argue about the following idea: English is fundamentally dependant onits phonetics.

What is understood by connected speech?

What is aphonetically trained earable to do?


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What are minimal pairs useful for? Can you exemplify?

Describe the paradoxical existence of semi-vowels in the English soundsystem.

What hierarchies can you indicate as showing language in its functionalityin spoken and written forms?

What is meant by the formula continuum of soundand what are somerelevant phonological consequences?

Explain why linguists consider that phonemes are basic units ofexpression and morphemes are basic units ofcontent.

How is the inventoryof phonemes worked out ? Specify its entries.

Define a few modifications that affect English sounds in connectedspeech.

Supply examples of free variation in the occurrence of some Englishallophones. Recall please the theoretical idea that this is a principle ofcomplementary distribution of members of the same phoneme related to theposition in words or utterances. Remember also that it is not possible for thesame speaker to repeat the pronunciation of a sound without altering itsquality each time when performing it.


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Capitolul II - Momentul actual al retoricii

Phonetics. English Phonology20

CHAPTER II Features of Rhythm and Intonation

2.1 Theoretical issues

2.1.1 English suprasegmental features

With the following remarks, let us revise some of the teaching in Chapter I.Vowels and consonants form the segmental phonemes of a language.These segments (sounds) are arranged in linear succession and their mainlinguistic function is to keep utterances apart. In addition to them, there aresuprasegmental phonemes. We already performed an analysis of juncture.Another issue is the prominence characteristic of syllables in the chain ofspeech, and it is called accent. Yet another issue is related to various parts ofutterances acquiring a melodic pattern, an intonation. In sum, thesuprasegmental phonemes have a different extension to be pointed out asfollows:juncture extends over two neighbouring phonemes; accent extends

over a syllable; intonation extends over (parts of) utterances.

Juncture or transition has a phonemic function, such as in a notion versusan ocean. When the segmental phonemes are the same and arranged inidentical sequences, a revealed difference is carried by a degree of loudnesscalled stress. The most widely recognized classification is into (a) primary orstrong stress, (b) secondary stress and (c) weak or no stress. Try to handlestress in the following minimal pair: a plane accident (the strong stress onthe modifier) and a plain accident (the strong stress on the headnoun).

Utterances may also differ as to thepitch levelon which they are issued.Four such levels have been diagnosed for English: highest pitch; next to

highest; next to lowest; lowest. Try to identify the changes of meaning indifferent levels for the answer Tom coming to the question What personwould you recommend ? One possible way of answering is to suggest aconsiderable amount of certainty and enthusiasm about the man called Tom.A variant of more restraint while still stating that Tom is the very good choicelowers the level a bit. The answer sounding less committed to therecommendation and perhaps less safe comes out next to lowest. The lowestwill be total lack of interest, maybe boredom or dissatisfaction that the betterperson has not come up yet.

New nuances to the piece of ommunication exemplifying pitch can beobtained if we change the terminal contours, which are of three kinds: a fall(the idea is not to be rejected), a rise (the speaker is in doubt), a continuationupon the same level (generally not adding new meanings).

The discussion about intonation seems to prioritize the distinction betweenwhat is emphatic and what is non-emphatic. A minimum of melodic patternshows neutrality at its best. However, when the communicator is reallyinvolved and has to underline individual attitudes without any mistake,emphasis will be needed. Whatever is heavily loaded with emotions can besignalled with many devices, and intonation is among the first to be exploited.But the relationship between the intonational patterns for the two types of


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Chapter II Features of Rhythm and Intonation


speech emphatic and nonemphatic is quite similar to the relationshipbetween the allophones of the same phoneme (situated in complementarydistribution).

2.1.2 The phonetic syllable vs the phonological one

The lungs need refilling and this results in pauses in speech. Accordingly, thespeech chain is divided into sound sequences called breath groups. Thesyllable as a phonetic unit is indeed closely related to the activity of the lungsand of the intercostal muscles.

The syllable may be defined as a stretch of speech between two valleys ofsonority or as a stretch with a peak of sonority. Since the definitionmentioned here is based on the concept of sonority, we need to stop upon itin the next paragraph.

Sonority is an inherent quality in individual sounds, resulting from thevibration of vocal cords (or voicing), the amount of air expelled from the lungs

and resonance as a sound quality created in the passage along the speechtract. It is important to refer sonority to a hierarchy of English sounds in thisrespect:

1. Vowels are the most sonorous, the open ones more sonorous than theclose ones. Why? Because they are voiced and imply no obstructionof the air-stream passage.

2. Liquids (/l/ and /r/) are voiced, with a lateral pronunciation for theformer and a front-mouth articulation for the latter, both sounds freelyexpelled, with a high sonority in this scale we are describing.

3. Nasals are also voiced and also witnesses to the air stream expelledquite freely like above, only this time through the nasal cavity.

4. From among the other consonants, the plosives, affricates and

fricatives, there are voiced representatives according to what hasalready been shown in this course. The least sonorous are theirvoiceless counterparts.

The peak of sonority in a syllable is usually a vowel, and is usually called itsnucleus or centre. A syllable also has an onset(preceding the nucleus) anda coda (following the nucleus). The peak is a vowel, and if not /l/, /r/ inAmerican English, /m/, /n/, // when preceded by a consonant and followedby a consonant or a pause. It has been suggested that there are separatechest pulses (growing tension of the muscles, then decreasing tension) withina breath group. Each chest-pulse is the carrier of a peak of sonority. Chest-pulses ultimately correspond to the number of syllables in an utterance. In

Romanian, it is worth noting that it is easier to determine where the syllable-cut is to be made. A main difficulty in English is that the intervocalicconsonant belongs to two syllables, it begins during the first syllable and it isreleased with the second syllable. Syllable division being so difficult, it isadvisable to apply syllabication in written form as little as possible, the moreso when the morphological structure of the word does not offer anyindication. Think also of the fact that the Romanian syllable is in most casesan open or free one (it ends in a vowel), whereas in English the syllable isoften checkedor close (ending in a consonant).


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In phonological terms now: the syllable is the lowest phonologicalconstruction into which phonemes are combined. It consists again of threesegments, but only the central one (peak) is compulsory, the initial segment(onset) and the final one (coda) are optional. For example,pride has all threesegments,pryhas the onset and peak, eyedhas the peak and coda, eye hasonly the peak.

The selection and, afterwards, the combination of phonemes into thephonological syllable presuppose restrictions, the most important of thembeing concerned with the clusters of consonants in onsets and codas. Hereis an example of restrictive regularity: in an initial C1C2 cluster, C1 is a plosiveor a fricative, never a liquid or a semivowel, but C2 is usually a liquid or asemivowel (e.g. slight). An example like streetis a three-member consonantcluster in which C1 is called pre-initial, C2 is initial and C3 is a post-initialconsonant. In a final C2C1 cluster, /r,w,j,h/ are used neither as C2 nor C1. Weadd a few examples for three consonant final clusters: elapsed, stunts, bulbs,triumphs, filmed. We notice that such examples end in a phonologicalrealization of the [-ed] and [-s] morphemes.

It is worth our time to comment upon an intervocalic segment, such as inaction, invite, Henry (check for the VCCV sequence). The rule goes to theeffect that the consonants occurring between two syllable nuclei areinterpreted as belonging either to the coda of the first syllable or to the onsetof the next syllable. This is in phonological interpretation; yet, in phoneticterms, it seems more reasonable to speak of a andallot the first consonant to the first syllable and the second consonant to thesecond syllable, the more so as they do not form an initial or final cluster.

As a matter of curiosity, we conclude with the presentation of a fiveconsonant medial cluster VCCCCCV to be best segmented into VCC-CCCV

spreading over the boundaries of two morphemes: landstrip, golf-strike,bubble-spray.

2.1.3 The basics about accent and rhythm

Accent is felt by the listener to speech as prominence resulting from pitchvariation. But accent is felt by by the speaker differently, as an increasedeffort and muscular energy necessary to pronounce some words. Accent isinterpreted by a phonologist to be either equivalent with the notion of stressor to be a result of four factors, stress, pitch, quality and quantity of soundsrendering one syllable more prominent than others. Read below thetraditional definitions that have been proposed for each of those basics for

phonology.

Stress is the greater breath effort and increased muscular energy in theproduction of a syllable. Pitch consists of pronouncing asyllableon a higherlevel than the others. Sound qualityis the inherent sonority of some sounds,that is, due to it, vowels are more prominent than consonants, the openervowels are more prominent than the closer ones, and the vowel-likeconsonants (namely /l/, /m/, /n/, //, /r/) are more prominent than the rest ofthe English consonants. Sound quantity is the degree of prominence


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resulting from the length of sounds. The longer the sounds, the moreprominent they are, even when they occur in an unstressed syllable.

The most important difficulty encountered by Romanians learning English isacquisition of the accentual structure of the foreign language. Nonetheless,English has the advantage of a high number of monosyllabic words (whichwill carry the accent on their single syllable). Polysyllabic words (especially

those borrowed from Romance languages) pose problems: one can findwords with the same number of ysllables but different accentual patterns, e.g.melancholy, unfortunate, circulation. Both English and Romanian arecharacterized as free accent languages. Their speakers are prepared toaccept a change of accent from one word to another as being quite natural. Ifone compares the accentuation of R. fotograf vs. E. photograph or R.apetitvs. E.appetite, it will be seen that English words possess a secondary accentor an echo accent not present in Romanian. Another thing is visible inEnglish in the accentuation of import (noun) vs. import(verb) or insult (noun)vs. insult(verb). So, the morphological function of accent has been found inchanging from one part of speech to another. In certain combinations ofwords, the lexical function of words is also present, e.g. a designingwoman(a cunning female) vs. a designing woman (a female who is a professionaldesigner).

Frequent cases of instabilityof accent have been assigned to rhythm andanalogy. Rhythm is the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables.English is described as a stress-timed language: stressed syllables recur atregular intervals of time. At the same time, unstressed syllables, between thestressed ones, are never in the same number in normal speech, and thisleads to variations in the rapidity with which the pronunciation of unstressedelements happens. The fewer unstressed syllables between the stressedones, the more slowly they are pronounced; the greater the number of

unstressed syllables between the stressed ones, the more rapidly they arepronounced.

The rhythmic structure of the English sentence can be found out bystipulating its rhythmic groups. For that, one identifies a centre or hub whichis the stressed syllable around which the unstressed syllables must begrouped, so as to constitute a single accentual unit. For example, take thesentence He was visiting some friends one day. According to the stressedparts in bold, one cuts out four rhythmic groups in this beginning of anarrative. He was visiting some [1] friends [2] one [3] day [4]. This operationhas been performed according to the following procedures: the initialunstressed syllables are attached to the first stressed syllable and form its

proclitics; all the other unstressed syllables are attached to the precedingstressed syllable forming its enclitics. This has been a closely-knit rhythmicgroup 1. Each of the remaining rhythmic groups begins with a stressedsyllable. Consequently, groups 2, 3, and 4 are delivered with reduced speed,lengthening the sonorous sounds. The rapidity of pronunciation is alwaysobtained at the expense of the vowel quality. Owing to rhythmic factors,sense groups in a sentence (obtained via grammatical and meaningfulanalysis of the message) sometimes coincide and sometimes do not do so,with rhythmic groups. The sense groups in Its my duty to warn you about itare three in number, and so are the rhythmic groups but not in overlap.


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Compare and contrast: Its my duty to [1]warn you a[2]boutit [3](analysis ofrhythm). Its my duty[1]// to warn you [2]// about it[3] (analysis of sense).

2.1.4 Intonation: functions and fundamental tones

It is currently admitted that English is in a privileged position with morestudies on intonation than almost any other language. Yet, it is also admittedthat the description of intonational patterns is far from exhausted. Basically,intonation means fluctuations in pitch, but not only: in a wider sense, weinclude voice timbre (the special colouring of each individual voice), tempoof speech, idiosyncrasies (a peculiarity of mind, temper or disposition in aspeaking person). What happens in real fact is a change in the frequency ofvibration of the vocal cords when sounds are being pronounced.

The so-called (like Chinese) have the pitch variationcarried by the syllable as a phonetic unit. In English, intonation is distributedover longer stretches of speech: phrases, clauses, whole sentences. If the

substitution of phonemes is unpredictable (for instance, I cannot predict thatcode will become mode with the corresponding change of meaning in themessage), the substitution of patterns is predictable because the meaningof a rise or fall in intonation remains constant in the stretch of speech overwhich it extends. Moreover, the patterns are not invented on the spot to suit acommunicative situation they are part of an organized stock. A childlearning to speak will first try to imitate intonational patterns which serve aparticular purpose best.

The functions of intonation have been grouped under three headings:accentual, attitudinal and syntactic. Let us put down a word of specificity foreach main heading.

The accentualfunction is displayed in the selection of certain elements in anutterance rendered worthy of the interlocutors attention by means ofprominence. We see the distinctions when studying emphatic versus non-emphatic performance, which combines accentual with attitudinalimplications.

The attitudinal function puts together those aspects that relate to emotions(e.g. surprise, irony, joy, anger, indignation, etc.) and are best conveyed byvoice timbre. In specialist studies, no less than three hundred attitudinalmeanings have already been successfully pointed out.

The syntactic information is worth considering as well, particularly in theterminal part of intonation. It primarily allows a distinction among statements,questions, exclamations. It also indicates the speakers intentions concerningwhat is to follow: a fall indicates termination, a gradual rise shows the uttererhas not finished yet, a sharp rise tells the listener that he is expected to reply.

In oversimplification of the richness of English intonational patterns, forteaching and learning purposes, the most helpful description of the issue is tolook first at the components called head, nucleus and tail. When matchedtogether, they make a tune appear. In phonological research, tunes are


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further classed into tone groups, six in all for their relevance to Englishintonation. The punctuation of any text indicates its graphologicalcomposition primarily in terms of sentences, next in whatever issubsentential, down to words. Writers punctuate their text according togrammar, obviously. But they also tell the analyst about the phonologicalstructure, which is the division into tone groups.

Tone group 1 is based on a low-fall nucleus, the accentuation is notemphatic, an emotional attitude is not exactly discernable. The utterance iswanted by the utterer to be separate, definite, and complete (like sayingCertainly with a calm and detached, matter-of-fact voice).

Tone group 2 is based on a high-fall nucleus, with a strong accentualfunction, with a contrast set up between the chosen word and the rest of theutterance. It is a lively performance widely used in colloquial speech, withinvolvement on behalf of the utterer, like in the committed greeting Goodmorning!

Tone group 3 is based on a rise-fall nucleus, additionally relevant (whencompared to tone group 2) for an attitude of challenge, indignation, sarcasm,suspicion, and so on. We can illustrate with the emphatic delivery of None ofthem did.

Tone group 4 is based on a low-rise nucleus, indicative of the fact that theutterance is not finished (for example, the intonation extending overdependent clauses in a complex sentence). Unenthusiastic promise, to giveanother case, is coupled with this intonation in uttering a reply like Probably Ishal;l or a disinterested, perhaps bored, comment such as Where else isthere to go?

Tone group 5is based on a high-rise in the nucleus, with a main function inline with syntax. In elliptical questions, this is clearly so because intonation isa substitute for the missing grammatical markers of the interrogative: Two? =Did you say ? Or Leaving, Mary? = Are you leaving?

Tone group 6is based on a fall-rise nucleus, especially high fall (to expresscontradiction) and low rise (to express an emotion such as reluctance orreproach), like in Try and do it in good time. It sounds, all in all, like a friendlyrequest, a kind warning, a polite, cautious suggestion.

2.2 Applications

Further down, we shall develop an interest in the easiest methods ofanalysing intonation for the beginner in its specialized study. What is neededis an explanation of notation generally adopted to signal pitch leveland pitchmovement.

In this notation, we draw two parallel lines which represent the upper and thelower range of pitch (of the human voice) like drawing the musical staff (pl.staves). We compare range in speech with the interval between two musicalnotes. The range between two pitch levels is relative, while the interval inmusic is fixed. Pitch in intonation varies with age, sex, voice quality, data in


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the external situation of communication. It is, therefore, unrelated to a givennorm, it is a matter of pesonal interpretation. Next, the notation of intonationwill need dots and curves, a dot constitutes the nucleus and a curve thepitch movement. We can write down the utterance in ordinary spelling andinsert symbols (short lines) in front of the syllables carrying primary andsecondary accents, oriented so as to inform readers on what is going up,down or keeping up the level in actual performance. Some systems of

notation use one kind of dot only, leaving the unaccented parts unmarked,others differentiate between larger dots (accent) and smaller dots (lack ofaccent). The tutor will show you on the board in the lecture room how tographically solve the rendition of pronunciation and intonation details.

Now let us proceed to defining the intonational components. The nucleus ofthe tune is the syllable, implicitly the word, which is the most important andthe loudest in the utterance. The pre-nuclear part may include an optionalhead and/or a pre-head. The post-nuclear part represents the optional tail.The head is that part of a tune starting from and including the first accentedsyllable and extending to the nucleus of the tune. All the unaccentedsyllables before the head constitute the pre-head. All the accented andunaccented syllables following the nucleus belong to the tail.

We shall underline the information already given: it is not necessary for anutterance to display all the component parts of a tune the only obligatoryelement is the nucleus.

Let us analyse a couple of examples. Theres nothing Ican do aboutrain.We detect here the possibility to shift the nucleus, because several words inan utterance may become, in turn, significant enough to carry the nucleus.For the first word in bold, we have the pattern prehead + nucleus + tail. Forthe second word, the analysis puts forth prehead + head + nucleus + tail. For

the third word we have the first pattern. For the last word, the patterndiscloses pre-head + head + nucleus. The implication of the message foreach patterning manner sounds different: Dont count on me versus Otherpeople are better than myself versus I am inefficient in acts for stopping therain, but I can describe it etc. versus It is only rain that is my unsolvedproblem, I dont have any other problems.

Here are some rules for making easier the description of a tail:(a) After falling nuclei, the syllables in the tail are said on a

low pitch level.(b) After rising nuclei, the syllables in the tail continue the

rise initiated by the nucleus, each syllable being

pronounced on a higher pitch level.(c) After a rise-fall, the first syllable in the tail is said on a

high pitch level and all remaining syllables on a lowpitch level.

(d) After a fall-rise, the shape of the tail is similar to a lowrising tune.


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2.3 Test yourself!

Identificai rspunsurile corecte.

16. What statement is scientifically correct?

A. Close vowels are more sonorous than open vowels.B. Nasals are more sonorous than affricates.C. The plosives are voiced consonants, more sonorous than voiceless

consonants.D. Fricatives, implying an obstruction of the air-stream passage, are not

more sonorous than the liquid /l/.

17.What is erroneously stated about the italicized parts in these twoutterances?(a) Thats fearupsetting him most of the time;(b) That sphere was taken

to be an unidentified flying object.

A. They are identical in the number of segmental phonemes; B. They areidentical in the suprasegmental phoneme of stress; C. They do notconvey different meanings to the hearer; D. They do not use adifferent grammatical structure.

18. What suprasegmental feature distinguishes these two noun-phrases?(a) a nice house; (b) an ice house

A. [- transition]; B. [+ juncture]; C. {+ prejunctural sound]; D. [- break inthe word flow]

19. Which one below is not an acoustic correlate of accent?

A. amplitude (relating to dynamic stress)B. variation in frequency (relating to vocal cord vibration for pitch)C. harmonics of sounds (relating to sound quality)D. duration (for quantity and relating to sound length)

20. What can mark accent?

A. a diacritical sign placed above the vowel of an unaccented syllableB. if it is primary accent, a system of dots; if it is secondary accent, a

smaller rather than large dotC. an accentual pattern resulting from the number of syllables in an

utterance

D. a stress pattern for compounds with the full quality of the vowelphonemes

21. Which of the following enumerations can display two accentual patterns?

A. abandon, grease, instant, sentenceB. alternate, contrast, permit, pervertC. object, produce, segment, prefixD. convey, corrupt, effect, upset


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22. Is the place of accent in English fixed or not fixed? What kind of languageis English from this point of view?

A. an orderly segmented languageB. an accentually patterned languageC. a phonologically constructed languageD. a free accent language

23. What can be stated about rhythmic groups?

A. They have the accented syllable as their peak.B. They are obtained from neglecting the grammatical structure.C. They are found out from the roughly equal distribution of accented

syllables.D. They show that it is hardly possible to attribute with regularity a[+ stress] or [-stress] value to utterance components.

24. What statement points to the nature of intonation?

A. No language is spoken on a flat monotone.B. Speakers easily step from one pitch level to another.C. Variations in pitch do not change the frequency of vibration of the vocal

cords.D. The meanings of intonation do not differ from the lexical and

grammatical meanings of morphemes.

25. What is the most difficult task in deciding on an intonational pattern for anutterance?

A. the occurrence of an intonation mark

B. the unmarked presentation of unaccented syllablesC. the choice of the nucleusD. the selection of the last prominent word not carrying a heavy load of

information

26. Among the intentions of the speaker as studied by the pragmatics ofintonation, what is correct to include?

A. to mark a turn in the conversationB. to continue to speakC. to indicate the clear intention to address someone (the interlocutor)D. to close an utterance

27. When intonation refers to the attitude of the speaker, this attitude isexpressed towards what?

A. what the speaker already said?B. what the speaker is saying?C. what the speaker has been told?D. what the speaker expects to be told?

28. How is the tail of a tune defined?


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A. syllables in the immediate environment of the nucleusB. any unaccented or accented syllables following a nucleusC. any unaccented syllables preceding the nucleusD. syllables that are silent or indistinctly pronounced after the nucleus

29. Let us consider the intonation patterns of the following utterance:

I met John on my way home.How many divisions into the component parts (prehead, head, nucleus, tail)can you find?

A. four divisions; B. five divisions; C. three divisions; D. two divisions

30. What theoretical statement about intonation is wrong?

A. Differences of intonation (especially differences in speech) are due toindividual characteristics of speakers.B. Intonation has to do with the tunes that accompany any utterance, with thesignificant use of pause, with voice timbre or quality, with loudness andtempo of speech, as well as some other features of a natural language.C. A tune consists of an obligatory element carried by the accented syllableof the most important word in the utterance.D. Not all speakers pronounce their utterances in the manner (with theintonation) which they consider appropriate.

2.4 Questions for examinations

Specify the segmental units over which the suprasegmental features ofjuncture, stress and intonation are extended.

Describe the sounds of English as arranged on a decreasing scale ofsonority, thus influencing the constitution of syllables.

Why is syllabication (or syllabification) difficult in the English language?

Explain and illustrate intonation functions in a variety of proper contexts.

Explain and illustrate the functions ofaccentin English contexts.. What rules do you know about the pronunciation of stressed andunstressedsyllables in English?

Select a paragraph written in English and explain sense groups andrhythmic groups on it.

What phonetic units carry intonation as an English suprasegmentalfeature of the sound system?

Describe the tone groups identifiable after simplification in Englishintonation as having clear-cut intentions of communication.


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Do not mix up the notional chain determiner-premodifier-head-postmodifier useful in analysing the noun phrase with the notional chainprehead-head-nucleus-tail useful in describing an intonation pattern. Findrelevant illustrations for these terminological chains.

Find out the components for the tunes suggested by you asaccompanying the following utterances: (1) I cant let you have any of those.

(2) Tell me something about your work. (3) Tims buying a new car. (4) Oh, ishe? (5) It looks very easy to me.

Show the shift in nucleus location for the following spoken line: Our planmust work.

Analyse the nucleus followed by tailin these contrasted replies :(e) Wonderful ! Toms the man to do it.(f) Wonderful ? Toms the man to do it ?


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Concluding Remarks


Concluding Remarks

Din punct de vedere fizic o limb vorbit oarecare dispune de uninventar de sunete teoretic nelimitat.

(Em. Vasiliu, Fonologia limbii romne)

A river can be directed into channels to provide the greatest good forall people, or it can be allowed to run at will. So it is with

communication. Ideas can be channeled for ease in reception, or theycan be allowed to ramble aimlessly, unmanaged and wasted.

(H. Barrett, Practical Methods in Speech)

General phonetics is based on the data of special phonetics for differentlanguages. It has an affiliation with non-linguistic sciences such as acoustics,physiology, speech pathology. There facts and basic methods of research ofuniversal validity, such as the criteria of analysis for vowels and consonants,the functions of intonation, the principles of orthography, etc.

The branch called phonology (also referrred to as functional phonetics)studies the social function of different sound phenomena, in other words thedifferentiating meaning carried by stress, intonation, juncture, tempo andsome others.

The sound structure of a language can only be properly investigated bymeans of electronic devices and this is the task of experimental phoneticsin the laboratory.

Every research must take into account the various types of the phenomenoncalled variation in speech. Mainly the discussion goes round the following:variation from one performance of an utterance to another; variation ofpronunciation from one speaker to another; variation in the quality andquantity of sounds due to their position in the chain of speech; the study ofthe relation to silence in initial and final positions.

We hope we have put forth the essentials about all those directions ofinvestigation in the study of the English language and we conclude byunderlying the principle which can make us work with some efficiency inreading and applying materials on phonetics and phonology: every native

speaker knows intuitively which sounds and which tunes are the same byreference to an invariant derived from the types of variation alreadymentioned. We do our best trying to imitate and faithfully reproduce what wehear. Besides, we cannot overlook the fact that what is behind the spokenmessage as intentions of communication should always become intelligible.


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Rspunsuri la teste pentru evaluare

Answers to self-testing

Test I (Chapter I):1. A, B, C i D; 2. B; 3. A, B i C; 4. D; 5. C; 6. A; 7. A, B, C i D; 8. B; 9. D;10. A; 11. B; 12. niciun rspuns; 13.A i C; 14. D. 15. A, B, C i D.

Test II (Chapter II):16. B i D; 17. A i C; 18. B; 19. niciun rspuns; 20. niciun rspuns; 21. B i

C; 22. D; 23.A, C i D; 24.A i B; 25. C. 26. A, B, C i D; 27. A, B, C i D;;28. B; 29. A, C i D; 30. D.

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