Seminar 2. Modifications of consonants and vowels in connected speech

TOPICS FOR REPORTS:

1) Fundamental allophones (principal-subsidiary/ strong-weak forms).

2) Definitions of assimilation. What features of the articulation of a consonant may be affected by assimilation?

3) Types of assimilation (according to the degree of stability, degree of completeness and direction).

4) Non-obligatory assimilations of fluent colloquial speech.

5) The reduction phenomenon. Explain the 3 degrees of the reduction of strong vowel forms. Segments of speech the reduction is realized in.

6) What form-words are used their strong- forms in certain positions, even when they are unstressed?

7) Accommodation, types of accommodation.

8) The notion of elision.

9) Specific ways of joining.

HOME PRACTICE.

Exercise 1. Give the transcription of the correct forms of the italicized words. Read the sentences:

1. Tell him he’s wanted. 2. He’s wanted. 3. Give her an answer. 4. Her answer is wrong. 5. He’s the student who’s late. 6. Who was it?

Exercise 2. Read the following dialogues using the correct strong or weak forms:

A) Verbs

Do [dq, d, 'du:] Does [dqz, 'dAz]

— Where do you live? — Where does John live?

— Do you live in London? — Does he live in London?

—. Yes, I do — Yes, he does

Am [m, qm,. 'xm] Is [z, s, 'Iz]

— I’m going home — The sun’s very hot.

— So am I — It’s hotter than yesterday…

— Am I very late? — It is, isn’t it?

Are [qr, q, 'a:] Was [wqz, 'wPz]

— The boys are at school — I was thirty-five yesterday

— So are the girls — It was my birthday

— Yes, they are — Was it?

Were [wq, 'wE] Have [qv, v, 'hxv]

— Who were you talking to? — Where have you been?

— They were friends of mine — I’ve been on holiday

— Were they English? - I haven’t seen you for weeks

Has [hqs, 'hxz] Had [qd, 'hxd]

— Has anyone seen my pencil? — Where had you met him?

— It’s fallen on the floor — I’d met him in London

- Oh, has it? Thanks - I hadn’t seen him before

Shall [Sql, Sl, 'Sxl] Should [Sqd, 'SVd]

— When shall I see you again? — What should I do with my money?

— I shall be here on Monday — I should take it with you

— Shall we talk about it then? — I shouldn’t like to lose it

Will [l, 'wIl] Would [qd, 'wVd]

— I’ll see you at lunch time — My father would like to meet you

— Yes, we’ll have a chat then — I’d like to meet him, too

— Will you keep me a place? - I hoped you would.

Can [kqn, 'kxn] Could [kqd, 'kVd]

— How can I help you? — I think I could do it

— You can carry this — At least you could try

— I will if I can — Yes, I could, couldn’t I?

Must [mqst, 'mAst]

— We must try to get there early

— We must leave in good time

— Yes, we must

B) Pronouns

We [wI, 'wi:] She [SI, 'Si:]

— I’m afraid we shall be late — Did she go to the station?

— Shall we? — She told me that John went...

— We can’t help it — But did she go?

Me [mI, 'mi:] He [I, hI, 'hi:]

— Will you give me some tea, please? — John said he was coming

— Yes, pass me the milk — Is he bringing Mary?

— No milk for me, thank you — He only said he was coming

Him [Im, 'hIm] Her [qr, E:, 'hE:]

— I hope Mary comes with him — I’d like to see her again

— I asked him to bring her — I met her brother yesterday

— Yes, but you know him — Did he mention her?

His [Iz, ' hIz] Himself [Im'self, hIm'self]

— He said his sister was in London — John must be coming by himself then

— Have you got his address? — Yes, if he doesn’t lose himself

- No, I’ve got hers but not his — He can take care of himself

Herself [E:'self, hE:'self] Them [Dqm, 'Dem]

— Mary can take care of herself — I like them both

- She prides herself on it — Yes, I like them too

— She told me that herself — I’d rather see them than anyone

Us [qs, s, 'As] You [jV, ' ju:]

— They want us to go and see them — You can ask them tonight

— Let’s ask them to come here — What day would you like?

— That would be easier for us — I’ll leave it to you

C) Articles

The [Dq, Di:] A [q, qn]

— The apples are on the table — I have a brother and a sister

— The oranges are in the kitchen — I have an uncle and an aunt

D) Miscellaneous

Some [sm, sqm, 'sAm] Who [u:, 'hu:]

— Will you have some more bread? — That’s the man who helped me

— No, but I’d like some more tea, please — It’s the man who lives next door

— I think there’s still some in the teapot — Who’s that with him, I wonder?

That [Dqt, 'Dxt] There [Dq, Dqr, 'DFq]

— Here’s the cup that John broke — There’s a fly in my tea

— He said that Mary did it — There are two in mine

— I don’t believe that — There goes another

Not [nt, 'nPt] Till [t, 'tIll]

— I’m sorry you can’t stay — I shall be here till Friday

— I’m afraid I haven’t time — Can’t you stay till Saturday?

— It’s not very late — Till I get a letter, I don’t know

And [qn, 'xnd] But [bqt, 'bAt]

— You and I are the same age — I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand

— So are John and Mary — But I spoke quite dearly

— And Tom, too — Ah, but you spoke too quickly

As [qz, 'xz] Than [Dqn]

— Mary’s as tall as I am - Mary’s taller than me

— She’s not as fat though - She is thinner than you, too

— As to that, I don’t know

Exercise 3. Analyze the words breadth, quaint, give me pronounced as ['gımmı], picture, all this, that’s, five pence and raspberry, from the point of view of the consonant assimilations in them, and state:

(a) whether the assimilation in them affects the work of the vocal cords, the active organ, the place of obstruction, the manner of the production of noise or the lip position;

(b) the degree of assimilation

(с) the direction of assimilation;

(d) whether the assimilation in these words is historical or contextual.

Exercise 4. In rapid colloquial speech at word boundaries careless speakers have the following assimilations. State their type, degree and direction:

that pen [ðæp pen]; ten boys [tem boız], this year [ðı∫ jз:], those young men [ðoυZ jAŋ men]; would you [wυG u]; good morning [gυm mLnıŋ], you can have mine [jυ kŋ hæm maın].

Exercise. 5. Analyze the words given below and state the type of accommodation in them:

cool, bell, music, thought, belt, cue, lunar, who.

Exercise 6. What vowels or consonants are elided in rapid speech within the following words or at word boundaries:

factory ['fæktrı], national ['næ∫nl], perhaps [præps], already [L'redı], lastly ['la:slı], you mustn’t lose it [ju 'mAsn "lu:z ıt], wouldn’t he come ['wυdnı "kAm], I’ve got to go [aıv 'gP tə "goυ], we could try [wı kə "traı], let me come in ['lemı kAm in].

QUESTIONS FOR SELF STUDY:

1) What examples can you give to illustrate the conditions due to which a phoneme has different subsidiary allophones?

2) Why is it important to know and be able to pronounce the subsidiary allophones of the phoneme?

3) What features of the articulation of a consonant may be affected by assimilation?

4) Name the sounds that are commonly found in unstressed syllables.

5) Within what segments of speech is the reduction realized?

6) Try to remember in what positions the auxiliary and modal verbs are generally stressed in a sentence. How does it agree with their strong and weak forms?

NB! Juncture

It is often necessary in describing pronunciation to specify how closely attached one sound is to its neighbors: for example, [k] and [t] are more closely linked in the word 'acting' than in 'black tie', and [t] and [r] are more closely linked in 'nitrate' than in 'night rate'. Sometimes there are clearly observable phonetic differences in such examples: in comparing 'cart rack' with 'car track' we notice that the vowel in 'cart' is short (being shortened by the [t] that follows it) while the same phoneme in 'car' is longer, and the [r] in 'track' is devoiced (because it closely follows [t]) while [r] in 'rack' is voiced. It seems natural to explain these relationships in terms of the placement of word boundaries, and in modern phonetics and phonology this is what is done; studies have also been made of the effects of sentence and clause boundaries. However, it used to be widely believed that phonological descriptions should not be based on a prior grammatical analysis, and the notion of juncture was established to overcome this restriction: where one found in continuous speech phonetic effects that would usually be found preceding or following a pause, the phonological element of juncture would be postulated. Using the symbol +to indicate this juncture, the transcription of 'car track' and 'cart rack' would be [ka:+træk] and [ka:t+ræk]. There was at one time discussion of whether spaces between words should be abolished in the phonetic transcription of connected speech except where there was an observable silence; juncture symbols could have replaced spaces where there was phonetic evidence for them. Since the position of juncture (or word boundary) can cause a perceptual difference, and therefore potential misunderstanding, it is usually recommended that learners of English should practise making and recognizing such differences, using pairs like 'pea stalks/peace talks' and 'great ape/grey tape'.