The organs of speech and their work. The active and passive organs of speech

The organs of speech and their work. The active and passive organs of speech.

Organs of speech are: nasal cavity (полость носа), lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, ‘larynx(гортань), palate (soft and hard), uvula(язычок), tongue (tip, blade(передняя часть), front, back), epiglottis(надгортанник), pharynx(глотка), vocal cords, and tra’chea(трахея).

The air stream released by the lungs goes through the windpipe (дыхательное горло) and comes to the larynx, which contains the vocal cords. The vocal cords are two elastic folds (изгибы) which may be kept apart or brought together (сведены вместе). The opening between them is called the glottis (голосовая щель). If the tense(напряженный) vocal cords are brought together, the air stream forcing an opening makes them vibrate and we hear some voice.

On coming out of the larynx the air stream passes through the pharynx.

The pharyngeal(глоточный) cavity extends(простирается) from the top of the larynx to the soft palate, which directs the air stream either to the mouth or nasal cavities, which function as the principal resonators.

The soft palate is the furthest part of the palate from the teeth. Most of the palate is hard. This hard and fixed part of the palate is divided into two sections: the hard palate (the highest part of the palate) and the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge.

The most important organ of speech is the tongue. Phoneticians divide the tongue into four sections, the part which lies opposite the soft palate is called the back of the tongue; the part facing the hard palate is called the front; the one lying under the teeth ridge is known as the blade and its extremity the t i p .

The lips can take up various positions as well. They can be brought firmly together or kept apart neutral, rounded, or protruded (высунуты) forward.

Active organs of speech are movable and taking an active part in a sound formation:

1. Vocal cords which produce voice
2. The tongue which is the most flexible(гибкий) movable organ
3. The lips affective very considerably(значительно) the shape of the mouth cavity
4. The soft palate with the uvula directing the stream of air either to the mouth or to the nasal cavity
5. The back wall of the faring contracted for some sounds
6. The lower jaw (нижняя челюсть) which movement controls the gap(промежуток) between the teeth and also the disposition of the lips
7. The lungs air for sounds

Passive organs of speech:

1. the teeth
2. the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge
3. the hard palate
4. the walls of the resonators
5. Monophthongs are vowels the articulation of which is almost unchanging. The quality of such vowels is relatively pure. Most Russian vowels are monophthongs. The English monophthongs are: [i, e, ae, a, o, o:, u, , a].
6. In the pronunciation of diphthongs the organs of speech glide from one vowel position to another within one syllable. The starting point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct. The glide which shows the direction of the quality change is very weak. In fact diphthongs consist of two clearly perceptible vowel elements. There are no diphthongs in Russian. The English diphthongs are: [ei, ai, oi, au,, ie].
7. Classification of vowels according to the tongue position
8. \Tongue positions are considered in 2 aspects: according to the position of the bulk of the tongue & according to the height of the raised part of the tongue.
9. 1. Introducing vowels, the front of the tongue is usually lowed and tip may touch the lower teeth. According to the position of the bulk of the tongue in the mouth cavity vowel sounds are divided into 5 classes: front, retracted, central, back-advanced, and back. for example: front (<i:>)  the vowels are called back (<u:>, < o:>).and  – back-advanced (<u>, <∆>)..  , a central vowel (<ə>).
10. 2. According to the height of the raised part of the tongue, we can distinguish 3 basic heights: high, middle and low. Each of them may have 2 varieties: narrow & wide.FOR EXAMPLE: . High-narrow vowels are <i:>, <u:>; high-wide – <ı>, <u>.
11. Mid-narrow vowels: <e>, <ə:>; mid-wide – <ə>.
12. In the articulation of low-vowels the position is lowest, with the middle or the back part slightly higher that the rest. The jaw is lowered. Low-narrow vowels: <A>, <o:>; low-wide vowels – <æ>, <α:>, <ס> or <o>.

Fortis and lenis are linguistic terms. In a broad sense, they refer to the opposition of consonants such as "p", "t" vs. "b", "d". In a narrow sense, fortis refer to consonants such as "p", "t" pronounced with tenseness (more muscular tension) and lenis to consonants such as "b", "d" pronounced without.

Aspiration. Give examples Aspiration. (p, t, k] in initial position in a stressed syllable are accompanied by aspiration, i. e. a strong puff of breath in a voiceless interval after the explosion of (p, t, kJ before a vowel. The Russian [n, T, k] are produced with less energy, therefore no aspiration accompanies their pronunciation. Aspiration is very strong before, a long vowel Or a diphthong as in port, talk, cart, poke, take, Kate; it is weaker before a short vowel as in pit. top. cut. It is less noticeable before an unstressed vowel, as in proper, porter, poker or in final positions (i. e. preceding silence) as in lip, put, cook. If stops are preceded by [s] there is hardly any aspiration at all as in speech. stop, school.

Plosive consonants are oral sounds, i.e. the soft palate is raised so that air from the lungs cannot pass upwards into the nasal cavity. The air can only, therefore, escape through the oral cavity. All plosives are produced by a complete obstruction of the airflow at some position in the mouth, for example by the lips coming together. Air from the lungs is then compressed behind the temporary obstruction and the air pressure builds up in the mouth. The obstruction is then removed (in this case, by the lips parting) and the air rushes out of the mouth with a slight ‘explosion’, hence the name ‘plosive’

Nasal sounds are similar to plosives in that there is a complete obstruction of the airflow in the mouth but, in contrast, the air pressure is not allowed to build up behind the obstruction.

There are only three English nasal consonants and they are all voiced. They are made in exactly the same position in the mouth as the plosives , they are named :

bilabial nasal ‘m’ as in" mop" and "ham"

alveolar nasal ‘n’ as in "not" and" loan"

velar nasal ‘ng’ as in "wing" and "ring"

Glottal stop.A glottal stop could be defined as a catch in the back of the throat using the glottis.  I represent the glottal stop as ('). I was told by some linguist that the word "apple" actually begins with a consonant which is the glottal stop. Maybe so. In the "Cockney" variety of British English the word "bottle" is pronounced " bo'l ". The "t" is glottalized

Е; glottal stop in words like "button", "mitten", "smitten"

The secondary stress is manifested in polysyllabic:; words with

the primary stress on the third or on the fourth syllable from the beginning, eg ,popu'larity, re,sponsi'bility. In words with the primary stress on the third syllable the secondary stress usually falls on the first syllable, eg ,deco'ration. If the primary stress falls on the fourth or fifth syllable the secondary stress is very commonly on the second syllable, eg

ur,ticu'lation, ex,perimen'tation. Consequently the position of the secondary stress is omn that of the primary stress in the original word. i.e. in the word from which the derivative word is formed, cf 'possible - ,possi'bility, ap'preciate - ap,preci'ation. In some cases the position of the secondary stress is connect- I'd with the type of the suffix which can influence the accentual

pattern. But there is still no good ground for establishing regular rules in this case.

Content Words: Nouns, Adjectives, Full verbs, Adverbs Numerals, Interjections, Yes/No answers.Function Words: Prepositions, Pronouns, Determiners, Conjunctions, Modal verbs, Auxilliary verbs, Particles.

Assimilation. The notion and main characteristics.

.Assimilation is the influence of one sound on the neighboring one so that they appear to have similar features. Both consonants and vowels undergo changes in connected speech, but consonants are more effected by assimilation. Assimilation can be complete (articulation of one sound changes entirely under the influence of the other so that the articulation of both becomes the same: <horse-shoe>) and incomplete (if the articulation of one sound is influenced by the other sound only in one respect. The effected phoneme retains its typical feature (tenth: <θ>; interdental sound <θ> influences the alveola sound <n>, so it also becomes interdental).

. When some articulatory features of the following sound are changed under the influence of the preceding sound, which remains unchanged, assimilation is called progresive. For example. The pronunciation of the plural suffix -s of nouns depends on the quality of the preceding consonant: it is pronounced as [z) after voiced consonants, eg pens [penz), calls [k::>:lz) and as [5) after voiceless consonants, eg desks [desks) I books [buks). Within the words sandwich, grandmother. etc 'under the influence of [n] the consonant [d] changed into [n] and then disap-peared, eg sandwich [Isrennwlct»'srenwlct>]. When the following sound inOuences the articulation of the preceding one assimilation is called regressive. For example, within the word width and in the word combination in them. the alveolar [d] and [n) become dental, before the interdental [e) and [3]. ReciprocaI assimilation means complex mutual influence of the adjacent sounds. For example. within the word tree [tri:] the sonorant [r] is partly devoiced under the influ-ence of the voiceless [t] and the alveolar [t] become; post-alveo-lar before the post-alveolar [r]. (стр 68 69)

Elision is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce. An example is him (h?m).

In phonetics, vowel reduction is any of various changes in the acoustic quality of vowels, which are related to changes in stress, sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word (e.g. for Creek language^[1]), and which are perceived as "weakening". It most often makes the vowels shorter as well.

Such a vowel may be called reduced or weak. An unreduced vowel may be contrasted as full or strong.

Types of  reduction :

1. Quantitative (shortening of a long  vowel  sound).

2. Qualitative (both long and short vowels are shortened till [ə, i, u].

3. Elision (the omission of  vowel ).

Фонетика 

Evening: Ponte Al Mare, Pisa 

Percy Bysshe Shelley  
The sun is set; the swallows are asleep; 
The bats are flitting fast in the gray air; 
The slow soft toads out of damp corners creep, 
And evening's breath, wandering here and there 
Over the quivering surface of the stream,  
Wakes not one ripple from its summer dream.

2. 
There is no dew on the dry grass to-night, 
Nor damp within the shadow of the trees; 
The wind is intermitting, dry, and light; 
And in the inconstant motion of the breeze  
The dust and straws are driven up and down, 
And whirled about the pavement of the town.

3. 
Within the surface of the fleeting river 
The wrinkled image of the city lay, 
Immovably unquiet, and forever  
It trembles, but it never fades away; 
Go to the... 
You, being changed, will find it then as now.

4. 
The chasm in which the sun has sunk is shut 
By darkest barriers of cinereous cloud,  
Like mountain over mountain huddled--but 
Growing and moving upwards in a crowd, 
And over it a space of watery blue, 
Which the keen evening star is shining through..

Linking R and intrusive R are sandhi or linking phenomena involving the appearance of the rhotic consonant (which normally corresponds to the letter ⟨r⟩) between two consecutive morphemes where it would not normally be pronounced.

Linking R

In many non-rhotic accents, words historically ending in /r/ (as evidenced by an ⟨r⟩ in the spelling) may be pronounced with [r] when they are closely followed by another morpheme beginning with a vowel sound. So tuner amp may be pronounced [ˈt(j)uːnər æmp].^[9]This is the case despite the fact that tuner would not otherwise be pronounced with an [r]. Here, "closely" means the following word must be in the same prosodic unit (that is, not separated by a pausa). This phenomenon is known as linking R. Not all non-rhotic varieties feature linking R. A notable non-rhotic accent that does not have linking R is Southern American English.

Intrusive R

The phenomenon of intrusive R is an overgeneralizing reinterpretation^[11][12] of linking R into an r-insertion rule that affects any word that ends in the non-high vowels /ə/, /ɪə/, /ɑː/, or /ɔː/; when such a word is closely followed by another word beginning in a vowel sound, an [r] is inserted between them, even when no final /r/ was historically present. For example, the phrase tuna oil would be pronounced [ˈt(j)uːnər ɔɪl]. The epenthetic [r] can be inserted to prevent hiatus, two consecutive vowel sounds.^[15]

Other recognizable examples are the Beatles singing: "I saw-r-a film today, oh boy" in the song "A Day in the Life", from their 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, at the Sanctus in the Catholic Mass: "Hosanna-r-in the highest" and in the phrases, "Law-r-and order" band "Victoria-r-and Albert Museum". This is now common enough in parts of England that, by 1997, the linguist John C. Wells considered it objectively part of Received Pronunciation, though he noted that it was still stigmatized as an incorrect pronunciation, as it is or was in some other standardized non-rhotic accents. Wells writes that at least in RP, "linking /r/ and intrusive /r/ are distinct only historically and orthographically".

Just like linking R, intrusive R may also occur between a root morpheme and certain suffixes, such as draw(r)ing, withdraw(r)al orKafka(r)esque.

Rhotic dialects do not feature intrusive R. A rhotic speaker may use alternative strategies such as a hiatus between the two consecutive vowel sounds, or the insertion of a glottal stop to clarify the boundary between the two words. Varieties that feature linking R but not intrusive R (that is, tuna oil is pronounced [ˈt(j)uːnə (ʔ)ɔɪl]), show a clear phonemic distinction between words with and without /r/ in the syllable coda.

 

 

 intrusion - an extra sound is introduced to lubricate the flow of one vowel to another. The utterance 'we are leaving' needs the /j/ sound between the 'we & the 'are'. Other common intrusive sounds are the /r/ & /w/ 
 

The /w/ sound is needed between 'go' & 'off'.

Rhythm is generally measured in regular flow of speech in which stressed and unstressed syllables occur at definite intervals.

There are two kinds of speech rhythm: syllable-timed rhythm and stress-timed rhythm.

Rhythm in English is based primarily on the alteration of strongly and weakly stressed syllables.

In English words of more than one syllable have one or more stressed syllables. Every English word has a definite place for the stress and it cannot be changed. The correct stressing of polysyllabic words helps to secure the recurrence of stress which with the other factors, results in correct speech rhythm.

In English the rhythmic structure is different — all the notional words are stressed, the form-words are fitted in between the stressed ones.

The pronunciation of intonation groups is based upon rhythmic groups which are formed by one or more words closely connected by sense and grammar, but containing only one strongly stressed syllable.

A rhythmic group may consist of a single word, eg: yesterday; or it may contain several words, eg: I've read it, or Thank you.

The influence of rhythm is very important. The time given to each rhythmic group tends to be unchanged though the number of unstressed syllables may be many or few. Each rhythmic group within an intonation group is given the same amount of time. If there are many unstressed syllables in a rhythmic group, they must be pronounced more quickly

The words with double stress may lose the first stress when preceded by another strongly stressed syllable, or they may lose the second stress when followed by another strongly stressed syllable, eg: seventeen, number seventeen, seventeen pencils.

Compounds having a double stress are influenced by rhythm in the following way:

When used finally, preceded by unstressed syllables or when used between unstressed syllables, the compounds have double stress.

When preceded by a stressed syllable the compounds are stressed on the second element.

When used as attributes before nouns stressed on the first syllable, the stress falls on the first element of the compound.

All nouns are notional words and are usually stressed. However, when two nouns occur together, the first being used attributively, the second is not stressed, eg: 'film star, 'mother car, 'telephone book, etc.

Nasal plosion – In English a plosive (/p, t, k, b, d, ɡ/) has nasal plosion when it is followed by a nasal, inside a word or across word boundary.

"Assimilation is the influence of a sound on a neighboring sound so that the two become similar or the same. For example, the Latin prefix in- 'not, non-, un-' appears in English as il-, im-. and ir- in the words illegal, immoral, impossible (both m and p are bilabial consonants), and irresponsible as well as the unassimilated original form in- in indecent and incompetent. Although the assimilation of the n of in- to the following consonant in the preceding examples was inherited from Latin, English examples that would be considered native are also plentiful. In rapid speech native speakers of English tend to pronounce ten bucks as though it were written tembucks, and in anticipation of the voiceless s in son the final consonant of his in his son is not as fully voiced as the s in his daughter, where it clearly is [z]."

ASSIMILATIONS OF THE /j/

Assimilation is when two sounds come together and change or melt into a new sound. Assimilations may happen inside a word, or between two words, when the final sound of a word touches the first sound of the next word (because when we speak we join all the words together). When speaking, people make many assimilations, most of them can only be noticed by the trained ear of an academic speaker and are not important for us. But there are 4 assimilations that are very important, because the sound changes a lot and the student of English can notice the difference and feel confused about it.

The sound /j/ is usually found in the letter Y, the letter I and the letter U (when it is or was pronounced /ju:/ or /jʊ/)

 

1- /t/ + /j/ = /tʃ/  (T+Y=CH)

Nice to meet you   meet + you /mi:t  ju:/ = /mi:tʃu:/ 
picture  1 /pɪktjʊə/ → 2 /pɪktʃʊə/ → 3 /pɪktʃə/  (1= old fashioned pronunciation, 2= transitional pronunciation, 3= present pronunciation, the vowel /ʊ/ weakened and disappears)

 

2- /d/ + /j/ = /dʒ/ (D+Y=J)

would you like some tea?   would + you /wʊd ju:/ = /wʊdʒu:/ 
soldier   /səʊldjə*/ = /səʊldʒə*/

 

 

3- /s/ + /j/ = /ʃ/ (S+Y=SH)

special   /spesjəl/ = /speʃəl/  
it's just you = it's jus' you   /dʒʌs  ju:/ = /dʒʌʃu:/ (in conversational English "just" often loses its final T and it sounds "jus", so S + Y = SH)

 

4- /z/ + /j/ = /ʒ/

treasure   1 /trezjʊə/ → 2 /treʒʊə/ → 3 /treʒə/ (1, 2, 3= see comments to the word "picture" above)  
learning centres such as universities   as + universities /əz  ju:nɪvɜ:sɪtɪz/ = /əʒu:nɪvɜ:sɪtɪz/

TEMPO OF SPEECH

By s pee c h  t e m p 0  we mean the relative speed (of slowness) of utterance which is measured by the rate of syllable

succession and the number and duration of pauses in a sentence. The average rate of delivery may contain from about two to four syllables per second for slow speech (lento) , from about three to six syllables for normal speech, and from about five to nine syllables for fast speech (allegro). -

   Every speaker has a norm which characterises his usual individual style of utterance. Some people speak more quickly, some more slowly; some people use more variations of tempo than others. Tempo is a feature. which like loudness can be varied from time to time by the individual speaker. The rat e of speaking varies constantly. When two strong- ly stressed syllables occur close together. it is slower; when they are separated by unstressed syllables the speed is faster. The speed of utterance becomes slower or faster according to the number of unstressed syllables between the stressed ones. Differences of rate are used to help the listener to differentiate he more important (slow rate) and the less important (fast rate) parts of the utterances, eg: I want you to understand that it is very important. We slow the last part of the sentence down and lengthen out the syllables to get a stronger impression than if we say it at normal speed. An increase in the speed of the utterance may show it is less important, eg: His own plan. he now saw, would fall through. Rate also performs emotional and attitudinal functions. It varies according to the emotional state of the speaker and the attiude conveyed. Fast rate. for instance, may be associated with anger, scolding, etc., eg: Where's the hammer? What did you do with the hammer?

-+ Great 'heaven! I 'Seven of you, -+ gaping \round there, I and you 'don't know what I -+did with the 'hammer. II

(Jerome K. Jerome. "Three Men in a Boat")

Slower than normal rate may be associated with anger, doubt. blame, accusation, etc., eg:

Mrs. Warren (passionately): 'What's the use of my going to bed? Do you think I could sleep?'

Voice: 'Why not? I shall.'

Mrs. Warren: "Youl II -+You've no 'heart.

(B. Shaw. "Mrs. Warren's Profession")

Variations of rate of speech and pausation are closely con-

nected with different phonetic style. shades of meaning and the

'Structure of the intonation group.

 

Rate is varied by the speaker in accordance with the situation in which he is involved. The speaker should always choose the proper rate suitable for the occasion, if he wants to be clearly understood. A teacher will speak to a group of beginners learning English at a slower rate than when he speaks to a native speaker. Rate should be adapted to the content of the ideas ex- pressed and the phonetic style. It should always be slow enough to attract the attention of the listeners and at the same time be rapid enough to sustain interest. By p a use we generally mean an act of stopping in the flow of speech. In speaking or reading aloud, we make pauses from time to time. These pauses break our speech or texts into paragraphs, sentences, intonation groups. In English there are three main degrees of pauses: unit panse (one-unit), d.ouble (two- unit) and treble (three-unit) pause. The length of pauJ'es is relative and is correlated with the rate of speech and rhythmicality norms of an individual. The unit pause is the interval of an individual's rhythm cycle from one syllable to the next, within a constant rate. It is used to separate intonation groups, eg: I'd rather stay at home to-Qight, I unless I feel better. II The double pause is approximately twice as long as the unit pause, it is used to separate sentences, eg: Good afternoon, Mrs. White. II How are you? II Very well indeed. thank you. II The treble pause, which is about three times longer than the unit pause, is used to separate paragraphs. In cases when the presence of a short pause is almost impossible to determine a wavy vertical line is used. There may be in fact no stop of phonation. The effect of pausation is due to the interval in pitch at the intonation group junction, eg: So they sat by the firelight. in the silence, lone on each side of the hearth. II . (J. Galsworthy. "The Man of Property")