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

A short interval of silence, an intermission arising from doubt Of uncertainty, a hesitation caused by different emotions, forgetfulness, one's wish to think over what to say next is called a h e sit a t ion pause. It is a mere stop of phonation, or it may be filled with so-calleq temporizers (hesitation fillers) such as: you see, you know, I mean; 1 mean to say; so to speak, Well. etc. Very common hesitation fillers are also; um-ah-eh-erm-er,

eg:

You can find him. I think, in the library. What a shame-poor darling; look here. I'll-er-see if I can

buy another pair for you.

 

There are only two affricates in English: [1[, <6]. In Russian we

have ['I', ]. They are occlusive-constrictives because a complete

obstruction to the stream of air is formed and it is released slow-

ly, with friction. [1[, <6] are bicentral. They have two narrowings,

both flat, the second focus being between the front part of the

tongue and the hard palate (front secondary focus).

 

Place of Articulation. [if. <tl are palato-alveolar, forelingual

apical.

Force of Articulation. [tf} is strong (fortis), l<tl is weak (lenis).

Voicing. [<t) is fully voiced in word initial position before a

vowel or in intervocalic position, eg Jack, pigeon. In word final

position it is partly devoiced l<t], eg George. 111] is voiceless in

all positions.

Length of Preceding Vowels. Vowels before [tf} are shorter

than before (<tl, eg pitch - ridge.

Palatalization. Since (if, <tl are palato-alveolar. they are

slightly palatalized, because the front part of the tongue is raised

towards the hard palate. but before front and mixed, close or

midopen vowels they are clearer than before back ones. cf

chance - cheese; just - gist.

lif, <tl occur in word initial, medial, final positions,

IUl - spelt "ch, teh. ture, tion", eg chair, question. nature, watch

[<t)- spelt "j, g, dg, gg, dj, de, di, ch", eg jam, gem, margin.

adjacent. soldier, edge, age, Norwich

Definition. Itf, ct>] ar occlusive-constrictive, forelingual, api-

I ,II, palato-alveolar. bicentral; [tf] is strong and voiceless, [ct» is

wpak and voiced. In word final position it is partially devoiced.

Articulation. 1. The tip of the tongue touches the back part

uf the teeth ridge.

2. The front part of the tongue is raised

'Constrictive fricative consonants comprise four pairs [f, v, θ]

They are constrictive because the air passage is constricted

and an incomplete obstruction is formed; they are fricative, be-

cause the air passes through the narrowing with audible friction.

All the fricatives except Lf, 31 are unicentral. Lf, 31 are bicentral,

because they have two places of articulation or two foci, the sec-

ond being produced, by the front part of the tongue raised to-

wards the hard palate thus forming a front secondary focus.

In the production of fricative consonants the narrowing at the

place of articulation is flat. Only when [5, zl are produced it is

round. 

Place of Articulation. If, v) are labio-dental, produced with

the lower lip against the edge of the upper teeth; [e. ()) are fore-

lingual, apical, interdental, articulated with the tip of the tongue

projected between the upper and the lower teeth; [s, z; f. 3) are

forelingual, apical alveolar, produced with the tip of the tongue

against the teeth ridge; [h) is glottal, made in the glottis. '

Force of Articulation. [f, e. s, f, h) are strong (fortis); (v,.

z.3) are weak. (lenis).

Voicing. [v, 0, Z,3) are fully voiced in word initial position

before a vowel as in veal. these, zone, giraffe, or in an inteIVocalic

position as in cover, father, bosom.

In word final position they are partly devoiced as in love

[Lw), with [WIO), rose [).

If, e, s, J. h} are voiceless, the vocal cords are apart and do

not vibrate.

Positiot1 of the Soft Palate. Fricative consonants are oral,

the soft palate is raised and the air escapes through the mouth.

Length of Preceding Vowels. Vowels before voiced

fricatives are longer than before voiceless ones, eg leave -

leaf; his - hiss.

PalataJization. English fricatives (except [J,3)) are nonpalatal-

ized, only before front close and mid-open vowels they are a bit

clearer than before back ones. cf father - feet, heart - heat,

thunder - theme.

If Russian learners of English palatalize the fricatives hey

must raise the front part of the tongue only when they pro-

nounce the vowels (front high or mid-open) but not during the

production