The basis of articulation in English and Russian: A contrastive study

А. The Study of the Content Plane.

Answer the questions:

1. What is the ultimate purpose of learning and teaching phonetics?

2. What do the main requirements of achieving the accentless pronunciation include?

3. Which anthropophonic tendencies constitute ‘organic basis’?

4. Why should they be studied in detail?

5. What is the general character of English speech?

6. What should be known about the position of the tongue?

7. What does the position of the tongue result in?

8. Where are the majority of English sounds articulated?

9. What should the learner of English know about the position of lips?

10. What are the anthropophonic tendencies forming the organic basis of Russian?

11. What is one of the most difficult and controversial subsystem of English sounds?

12. Is the knowledge of differences between the two articulation bases enough to know the way these sounds are pronounced?

13. How are English resonants different from Russian ones?

14. What position of the sounds is the most difficult for their proper pronunciation?

15. What happens to [m], [l] and [n] in final clusters?

16. Where does the production of resonants verge on singing?

17. What happens to the sound in singing?

B. The Study of the Expression Plane.

1. Find the English equivalents in the text:

1. обратиться к

2. основные особенности

3. главный дифференциальный признак

4. не единственные требования

5. конечная цель обучения английскому

6. следует помнить

7. контролировать образование звуков

8. органы речи

9. составлять артикуляционную базу

10. то, что обычно называется

11. общий характер речи

12. едва касаться зубов

13. это приводит к

14. способствовать развитию

15. быть чрезвычайно важным

16. полностью отличаться

17. еще более усиливать тенденцию

18. общее описание/ сравнение

19. одна из наиболее трудных и противоречивых подсистем

20. чрезвычайно трудная проблема

21. оказаться в сильной синтаксической позиции

22. в последнем случае

23. не получить заслуженного внимания

24. отдаленно напоминать английский эквивалент

25. становиться почти непонятным/неразборчивым

26. особенно поразительный

27. наиболее очевидный случай

28. остаться незамеченным

2. Give the Russian equivalents:

1. voice production

2. basic peculiarities

3. Fortis- lenis opposition

4. ultimate purpose

5. accentless pronunciation

6. general anthropophagic tendencies

7. a condition sine qua non

8. an overall description

9. the general comparison

10. one of the most difficult and controversial subsystems

11. emotionally colored speech

12. the words in question

13. The fact has not yet received all the attention it deserves

14. Particularly striking is

15. The production of the sounds verges on singing

16. The point we are now trying to make

17. The structure of speech and singing is roughly the same

18. The difference consists in

19. It is one of the most obvious cases

20. to turn to the material

21. the digression of a more general character is called for

22. So much then for

23. It should also be borne in mind

24. This results in

25. It follows from what has just been said

26. to enhance the tendency

3. Fill in the gaps in the Table of Articulation Basis Peculiarities:

English organic basis :	Russian organic basis:
tongue _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and flattened and _ _ _ _ _ _ _	tongue is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and advanced
tongue scarcely_ _ _ _ _ _ _ the teeth	the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ part of the tongue _ _ _ _ _ _ _and raised
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ lowered, its _ _ _ _ _ _ _ part being grooved or _ _ _ _ _ _ _ out	dental and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sounds (the tip of the tongue being most of the time in with _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and as a result its greater _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ quality of the English sound	_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the lips
Retraction of the _ _ _ _ _ _ _	dental and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sounds
favors the formation of the _ _ _ _ _ _ sounds	_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of corners the mouth
No chinking or_ _ _ _ _ _ _ the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the lips	_ _ _ _ _ _ _ character of the sounds
Marked _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of [m], [l], [l]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the nasals (stressed)