The Articulatory Description of Vowels
Мета: to find out about the articulatory description of vowels.
Короткі теоретичні відомості
MONOPHTHONGS
Definition, [i] is front-retracted, close (broad variant), unrounded, short.
Articulation. The tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted. The front part of the tongue nearer to centre than to front is raised to a half closed position. The side rims of the tongue make a light contact with the upper teeth. The tongue is lax. The lips are loosely spread.
Definition [e] is front, mid (narrow variant), unrounded, short.
Articulation. The tongue is in the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is raised to the hard palate but not so high as for [i]. The side rims of the tongue make a light contact with the upper teeth. The tongue may be tenser than in case of [i]. The lips are loosely spread.
Definition [a:] is back, open (broad variant), unrounded, long.
Articulation. The mouth is open. The tongue is in the back part of the mouth. The back of the tongue is only slightly raised. No contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper teeth. The lips are neutral.
Definition [æ] is front, open (broad variant), unrounded
Articulation. The mouth is more open than for [e]. The tongue is in the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is rather low in the mouth. The side rims of the tongue make a very slight contact with the back upper teeth. The tongue is more tense than in case of [e]. This vowel occurs only in closed syllables.
Definition, [P] is back, open (broad variant), rounded, short.
Articulation. This vowel is articulated with the mouth wide open and slight open lip-rounding. The body of the tongue is even more retracted than in case of vowel sound [a;]. The back of the tongue is only slightly raised. No contact is made between the rims of the tongue and upper teeth. It may occur only in closed syllables.
Definition. [L] is back, open (narrow variant), rounded, long.
Articulation. The tongue is in the back part of the mouth. The back of the tongue is raised to a half-open position. No contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper teeth. The mouth is less open and the lips are more rounded than for a vowel [P]. This vowel may occur in any position in a word.
Definition, [u] is back-advanced, close (broad variant), rounded, short.
Articulation. The whole body of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth. The back part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to the back is raised just above the half-close position. There is no firm contact between the side rims of the tongue and the upper teeth. The tongue is rather lax. The lips are rounded about the same amount as for [L] but the mouth is not so open. The vowel is short. This vowel may occur in closed stressed syllables. It never occurs in word initial positions.
Definition. [λ] is central, mid (broad variant), unrounded, short
Articulation. The tongue is in the central part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is raised to the back of the hard palate just above the fully open position. No contact is made between the tongue and upper teeth. The tongue is lax. The jaws are considerably separated. The lips are neutrally open. The vowel is short. The vowel does not occur in open syllables.
Definition. [з:] is central, mid (narrow variant), unrounded, long.
Articulation. The tongue is almost flat. The central part of the tongue is slightly higher than the front and the back of the tongue which are raised between the half-close and half-open positions. No firm contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper teeth, the lips are neutrally spread, they do not cover the teeth. The passage between the teeth is rather narrow. The vowel is long. This vowel may occur in all positions in the word.
Definition, [ə] is central, mid (broad variant), unrounded, very short.
Articulation. The quality of [ə] is that of a central vowel which veries from a half-open to a half-close position. The lips are unrounded. The opening between the jaws is narrow. The vowel occurs in all unstressed positions in the word.
Завдання до теми
Read the tongue-twisters:
1. Wally Winkle wriggles his white, wrinkled wig.
2. Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses.
3. We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
4. We will learn why her lowly lone, worn yarn loom will rarely earn immoral money.
5. We won, we won, we won, we won
6. We’re real rear wheels.
7. Wetter weather never weathered wetter weather better.
8. What a shame such a shapely sash should such shabby stitches show.
9. What a terrible tongue twister, what a terrible tongue twister, what a terrible tongue twister…
10. What to do to die today at a minute or two to two. A terribly difficult thing to say and a harder thing to do. A dragon will come and beat his drum Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-too at a minute or two to two today. At a minute or two to two.
Контрольні питання
1. What is the quality of a vowel determined by?
2. What criteria are used for the classification of vowels?
3. What are English vowels subdivided into?
4. Define diphthongs.
5. From what aspects is the position of the tongue in the mouth cavity
characterized?
6. What groups of vowels are distinguished in English?
7. What are the traditional lip positions in English pronunciation?
8. What does the checkness of English vowel sounds depend on?
9. What is duration of a vowel modified by and what does it depend on?
10. Define tenseness.
Література: [4, c. 24-44; 2, с. 105-120].
Практичне заняття № 17
Тема. Дифтонгоїди. Дифтонги
Diphthongoids. Diphthongs
Мета: to find out about the articulatory description ofdiphthongoids and diphthongs
Короткі теоретичні відомості
Definition, [i:] is front, close (narrow variant), unrounded, long.
Articulation. The tongue is in the front part of he mouth. The front of the tongue is rather high in the mouth. The vowel is noticeably diphthongized, especially in open syllables. The tongue glides from a position nearer to the English vowel [i] to a more advanced and high position. The tongue is tense, the side rims of it make a firm contact with the upper teeth. The lips are spread. This vowel may occur in all kinds of syllables.
Definition, [u:] is back, close (narrow variant), rounded, long.
Articulation. The tongue is in the back part of the mouth. The back of the tongue is rather high in the mouth. The vowel is noticeably diphthongized. The tongue glides from a position nearer to [u] to a more retracted and high position. No firm contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper teeth. The tongue is tense. The lips are very closely rounded. The mouth is open only very little. The vowel is long. This vowel occurs in all kinds of syllables.
Diphthongs
[ei] – the nucleus of the diphthong is front, mid (narrow variant), unrounded.
Articulation. The nucleus is the vowel [e]. for the glide in the direction of [i] and the mouth gets closer. The lips are spread. The diphthong may occur in all positions in the word, eg aim, plate, say.
[ai] –the nucleus of the diphthong is central, open (broad variant), unrounded.
Articulation. The sounds starts from advanced vowel [A] with the mouth wide open and the lips are neutral. Far the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction of [i] with the mouth very narrowly open and the lips spread and not rounded. The diphthong may occur in all positions in the word, eg ice, time, fly.
[Oi] – the nucleus of the diphthong is back, open (narrow variant), slightly rounded.
Articulation. The nucleus lies between the sounds [L] and [P]. It starts with the position between back half-open and open. For the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction of [i], though the tongue rarely reaches there. The lips are slightly rounded for the nucleus changing to neutral for the glide. The diphthong may occur in all positions in the word, eg oyster, voice, toy.
[зu] – the nucleus of the diphthong is central, mid (narrow variant), unrounded.
Articulation. The starting point of the tongue position is similar to that of [з:]; it starts with a central position, between half-close and half-open. For the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction of [u] there being a slight closing movement of the lower jaw. The lips are neutral for the first element and get slightly rounded for the second. The sound [зu] occurs in all positions of the word, eg open, road, no.
[au] – the nucleus of the diphthong is central, open (broad variant), unrounded.
Articulation. The starting point of the diphthong is between the back and front open positions. The sound starts with the position slightly more retracted than for the nucleus of the diphthong [ai] and more advanced for the vowel [a:]. For the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction of [u] the mouth gets closer. The lips are neutral for the first element and get slightly rounded for the second. The sound [au] occurs in all positions of the word, eg out, town, now.
Завдання до теми
Read the tongue-twisters:
1. Hassock hassock, black spotted hassock. Black spot on a black back of a black spotted hassock.
2. He threw three free throws.
3. Her whole right hand really hurts.
4. Hiccup teacup!
5. Higgledy-Piggedly!
6. Hi-Tech Traveling Tractor Trailor Truck Tracker
7. How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
8. How many berries could a bare berry carry, if a bare berry could carry berries? Well they can’t carry berries (which could make you very wary) but a bare berry carried is more scary!
9. How many boards Could the Mongols hoard If the Mongol hoards got bored?
10. How many cans can a canner can if a canner can can cans? A canner can can as many cans as a canner can if a canner can can cans.
Контрольні питання
1. How would your fellow-student probably pronounce the English diphthong [ei] ?
2. Suppose that a fellow-student pronounces the Russian sound combination [aj] instead of the English diphthong [ei]. Is it a phonological mistake? Keeping in mind what you know about the articulation of [ei] tell him what to do in order to make the diphthong correct.
3. Is the diphthong longer in laid or in late?
4. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian sound combination [aj] instead of the English diphthong [ai]. What would you tell him to do in order to correct the sound?
5. Give examples to illustrate that [ai] is not equally long in different phonetic contexts.
6. What articulation exercises would you recommend for the diphthong [ai]?
7. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian sound combination [oj] instead of the English diphthong [ɔi]. Is the mistake phonetic or phonological? What would you recommend to correct the mistake?
8.Give examples where [di]is the longest.
9. If the diphthong [di] is too long and too close in the word voice the mistake is called phonetic. Can you explain why?
10. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian sound combination [oy] instead of the English [зи]. Is it a phonetic or phonological mistake? What would you tell him to do in order to change [oy] to [зи] ?
11. What articulation exercises would you recommend for the diphthong [зи]?
12. What articulation features of the vowel sounds differentiate the meaning of the words: bet — bought — boat; got — goat.
13. What advice would you give your fellow-student who makes the glide of the diphthong [au] too strong and close in the words about, shout?
14. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian vowel [и] instead of the nucleus of the English diphthong [is]. Keeping in mind what you know about the articulation of the English diphthong [ia] tell him what to do to change [из] to [is].
15. What articulatory features of the vowel sounds differentiate the meaning of the words pierce — peace?
16. How would you help your fellow-student if he says beer instead of bear? Is this mistake phonetic or phonological?
17. What articulatory features of the vowel sounds differentiate the meaning of the words here and hair?
18. Is the diphthong [еэ] longer in pear or in pears?
19. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the Russian [y] instead of the nucleus of the English diphthong [иэ]. What would you tell him to do in order to change [уэ] to [иэ]?
20. What articulatory features of the vowel sounds differentiate the meaning of the words shoe — sure?
21. Give examples to illustrate that the diphthongs [ia, еэ, иэ], are not equally long in different phonetic contexts.
22. What articulation exercises would you recommend for the English centring diphthongs [1э,еэ,иэ]?
Література: [2, с. 119 - 125].
Практичне заняття № 18
Тема. Зміна голосних звуків у процесі мовлення