Sports Report from Channel 4

Announcer: This morning the Roarers football team arrived back from York. Paul

Short is our sports reporter, and he was at the airport.

Paul Short: Good morning. This is Paul Short. All the footballers are walking

towards me. Here’s George Ball, the goalkeeper. Good morning,

George.

George Ball: Good morning. Are you a reporter?

Paul Short: Yes. I’m from Channel 4. Please tell our audience about the football

match with York.

George Ball: Well, it was awful. We lost. And the score was four, forty–four. But

it wasn’t my fault.

Paul Short: Whose fault was it?

George Ball: The forwards’.

Paul Short: The forwards’?.

George Ball: Yes, the forwards’. They were always falling down or losing the

ball!

Review questions and tasks.

1. What is the vowel quantity and quality?

2. According to what main principles are English vowels classified?

3. Name three groups of vowels that may be revealed according to the stability of articulation.

4. Characterize the groups of vowels according to the position of the tongue both in vertical and horizontal directions.

5. State the major difference between rounded and unrounded vowels. Name them.

6. How do different phonetic contexts modify vowel length in English?

Unit 9

Section 1

Make a careful study of the text below and pick out the terms related to phonetics.

Intonation

Intonation functions in various languages in a different way. The English intonation is very specific and for most foreign learners it is difficult to reproduce it. Some British phoneticians even say that for a foreign learner of English it is more important to acquire good intonation habits than to articulate the sounds perfectly.

Intonation is considered to be one of the components of pronunciation. The others are: speech sounds, the syllabic structure of words and word stress.

Intonation may be defined as a unity of (1) speech melody, (2) sentence-stress (accent), (3) speech tempo, and (4) voice quality (timbre).

The pitch of the voice does not stay on the same level while the sentence is pronounced. It rises and falls on the vowels and voice consonants. These falls and rises form definite patterns, typical of English, and are called speech melody.

Speech melody is made of falls and rises of the voice pitch. The word that is most important for the meaning of the sentence is made prominent by stress and a special moving tone. This special tone is the result of a change in the pitch, which either falls or rises, or changes its movement first in one direction, then in another. Other words essential for the meaning are also stressed, but the pitch of these words remains unchanged. Articles, prepositions, auxiliary, modal and link verbs are usually unstressed.

The rate of speech (speech tempo) is not constant. It is the speed with which sentences are pronounced. Closely connected with the tempo of speech is its rhythm (= a sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables). The English rhythm is not easy for a foreign learner to acquire. The timbre of the voice changes in accordance with the emotions experienced by the speaker.

All these above-mentioned phonetic features of a sentence form a complex unity, called intonation / prosody.

Every speaking voice has the normal range (i.e. an interval between its lower and upper limits). We may distinguish 3 pitch levels: high, medium, low.

voice _ _ high pitch level_ _ _

range _ _ medium _ pitch level _ _ pitch range

_ _ low _ _ pitch level _ _ _

The interval between two pitch levels is called the pitch range. Speech melody together with sentence stress is indicated with the help of dashes, curves and dots. A dot ( · ) denotes an unstressed syllable. A dash (— ) represents a stressed syllable pronounced with level pitch. A downward curve ( ) represents a stressed syllable pronounced with a fall in pitch within that syllable. An upward curve ( ) represents a stressed syllable pronounced with a rise in pitch within that syllable. Pitch ranges may be normal, wide and narrow.

In the text intonation is indicated by means of tonetic stress marks (vertical or slanting).

e.g. He was 'glad to 'meet her in the `street.

On the staves we may picture the speech melody of this sentence as follows:

________________________

________________________

Intonation patterns may consist of one or more syllables of various pitch levels. Pitch-and-stress sections of an intonation pattern are as follows: the pre-head, the head, the nucleus and the tail. The most important of these elements is the nucleus (the final stressed syllable). The nucleus can be followed by one or more unstressed or partially stressed syllables called the tail. The head consists of the syllables beginning with the first stressed syllables up to the last one. The pre-head includes unstressed and half-stressed syllables preceding the head. The nucleus and the tail form the terminal tone.

Section 2

[ u ]

( back-advanced, close (broad variant), rounded, short )

I. Observe the position of the lips and the tongue for the sound [u ]. Read the

words in the columns. Pay attention to the positional length of [ u ].

good look [ɔ - u] pot - put

could cook cock - cook

full foot god - good

should shook lock - look

room rook rock - rook

hood hook box - books

pull puss cod - could

II. Read the sentences. Follow the tonetic marks.

1. It looks good. Перспективы хорошие.

2. Here’s your cook-book. Вот ваша кулинарная книга.

3. Put your foot down. Положите этому конец.

4. Keep a good look out. Будь внимателен.

5. Fuller took good aim. Фуллер тщательно прицелился.

6. Would you help the woman, if you could? Помогите, пожалуйста, этой

женщине.

III. Observe the correct pronunciation of the rhythmic groups and the vowel [u].

'Have a 'look at the `book. | 'Have a 'look at this `book | which I 'found 'near a `brook. | 'Have a 'look at this `book | which I 'found at a 'brook and 'gave to her `cook.||

IV. Match the following English idioms, proverbs and sayings with their Russian

equivalents. Make up situations to illustrate their usage.

1. by hook or by crook a. оказать дружескую услугу

2. to beat about the bush b. Все проверяется на практике.

3. The proof of the pudding is in the eating c. ходить вокруг да около

4. put one’s foot in it d. любой ценой

5. to be put to the push e. на хорошем счету у кого-то

6. in smb’s good books f. отложить в долгий ящик

7. do smb. a good turn g. попасть впросак

Section 3

I. Tick the words you recognize in the sentences you hear:

Test A. Test B.

1. a) cock; b) cook 1. a) look; b) Luke

2. a) lock; b) look 2. a) full; b) fool

3. a) god; b) good 3. a) pull; b) pool

4. a) cod; b) could 4. a) fullish; b) foolish

5. a) Poss; b) Puss

6. a) Brockhurst; b) Brookhurst

II. Listen to the dialogue and learn it by heart.

A Lost Book

Mr. Cook: Woman! Could you tell me where you’ve put my book?

Mrs. Cook: Isn’t it on the bookshelf?

Mr. Cook: No. The bookshelf is full of your cookery books.

Mrs. Cook: Then you should look in the bedroom, shouldn’t you?

Mr. Cook: I’ve looked. You took that book and put it somewhere, didn’t you?

Mrs. Cook: The living-room?

Mr. Cook: No. I’ve looked. I’m going to put all my books in a box and lock it!

Mrs. Cook: Look, Mr. Cook! It’s on the floor next to your foot.

Mr. Cook: Ah! Good!