Theoretical Phonetics

Theoretical Phonetics

 

Lecture 1.

1. The phonetic system of a language.

2   Phonetics as a Branch of Linguistics.

3. Aspects of speech sounds.

4. Phonetics as a science.

5. Branches of phonetics and methods of investigation.

Phonetics studies the sound system of the language that is segmental phonemes word stress syllabic structure and intonation. It is primarily concerned with expression level. It is important in the study of language. It is the most fundamental branch of linguistics; it occupies the equal importance with grammar and lexicology. Phonetics has two main divisions: on the one hand, phonology, the study of the sound patterns of the languages, of how a spoken language functions as a ”code”, and on the other, the study of substance, that carries the code. Before analyzing the linguistic function of phonetic units we need to know how the vocal mechanism acts in producing oral speech and what methods are applied in investigating the material form of the languages that is substance.

Human speech is the result of a highly complicated series of events. The formation of the concepts takes place at a linguistic level that is in the brain of the speaker; this stage may be called psychological. The message formed within the brain is transmitted along the nervous system to the speech organs. The human brain controls the behaviour of the articulating organs which effects in a particular pattern of speech sounds. This second stage may be called physiological. The third stage may be called physical or acoustic. Any communication requires a listener, as well as a speaker. So, the last stages are the reception of the sound waves by the listener’s hearing apparatus, the transmission of the spoken message through the nervous system to the brain and the linguistic interpretation of the information conveyed.

Language is the immediate actuality of thought and the most important means of communication. It exists in two main speech forms: oral and written. In oral speech the substance is phonic, in written speech the substance is graphic. The sound substance forms units of the phonetic system of a language. The phonetic system of a language is a set of phonetic units arranged in an orderly way to replace each other in a given framework. It contains two systems – segmental and suprasegmental. Segmental units are: elem. Sounds, vowels, consonants. Suprasegmental units are: syllables, rhythmical units, intonation groups, utterances.

Aspects of speech sounds. The sound substance has its own independent properties as a physical phenomenon. Moreover, it is a product of human activity. Being created by the speaker, the sound substance indicates the speaker’s personality ( sex, age, individual features), reveals his physiological and emotional state, geographical origin, education, social status and so on. Sound phenomena have different aspects which are closely connected: the articulatory aspect, the acoustic aspect, the auditory aspect and the linguistic aspect. The articulatory aspect. Speech sounds are products of human organs of speech. Sound production is impossible without respiration, which consists of two phases- inspiration and expiration. Expiration, during which sp. sounds are produced, is called phonic expiration. The acoustic aspect. Like any other sound of nature sp. sounds exist in the form of sound waves and have such physical properties as frequency, intensity, duration and spectrum. The auditory aspect. Speech sounds may also be analysed from the point of view of perception. It involves the activity of our hearing mechanism, which can be considered in two ways. On the one hand, it is a physiological mechanism, which reacts to acoustic stimuli. On the other hand, it is also a psychological mechanism, which selects from the great amount of acoustic information only that which is linguistically important. The linguistic aspect. Segmental sounds and prosodic features are linguistic phenomena. Representing language units in actual speech, they perform certain linguistic functions. They constitute meaningful units- morphemes, words, word-forms, utterances.                                     

  Phonetics as a science. Phonetics as a branch of linguistics studies sounds in the broad sense, investigating vowels and consonants. It studies the acoustic properties of sounds, the physiological basis of sound production, it occupies itself with the study of the ways in which the sounds are organized into a system of different units. In the 18^th century it was considered as a part of grammar. Now phonetics is an independent science with its own theories, methods of investigation, it is closely connected with physiology, biology, physics and other sciences. It is also connected with grammar, lexicology, the history of the language.

Branches of phonetics. The branch of phonetics that studies the way in which the air is set in motion, the movements of the speech organs and the coordination of these movements in the production of single sounds and trains of sounds is called articulatory phonetics. Acoustic phonetics studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear. It presents special interest for research work and applied linguistics. The branch of phonetics investigating the hearing process is known as auditory phonetics. Its interests lie in the sensation of hearing, which is brain activity The means by which we discriminate sounds – quality ,sensations of pitch, loudness, length, are relevant here. Instrumental phonetics were introduced into phonetics in the second half of the last century in order to supplement and to rectify the impressions deriving from the human senses , since these are affected by the limitations of the perceptual mechanism, and in general are rather subjective.  Phoneticians cannot act only as describers and classifiers of the material form of phonetic units. They are also interested in the way in which sound phenomena function in a particular language, how they are utilized in that language and what part they play in manifesting the meaningful distinctions of the language The branch of phonetics that studies the linguistic function of consonant and vowel sounds, syllabic structure, word accent and prosodic features, such as pitch, stress and tempo is called phonology. The phonetic system of a language is a set of phonetic units arranged in an orderly way to replace each other in a given framework. It contains two systems, or levels – segmental and suprasegmental, or prosodic, each of which is a specially organized language system with a certain number of its units. Segmental units are elementary sounds, vowels and consonants, which form the vocalic and consonantal subsystems. Prosodic units are syllables, rhythmic units, and intonation groups, utterances, which form subsystems of pitch, stress, rhythm, tempo, and pauses. Segmental and prosodic units serve to form and differentiate units of other subsystems of language, the lexical and grammatical units. General and special phonetics. General phonetics is based on the extensive material that a great number of languages give. The method of studies is linguistic. Special phonetics studies the phonetic system of a particular language. It is subdivided into historical and special. The first studies the development of the phonetic system within the historical development of the language. (the approach is diachronic). The second studies the development of the phonetic system of the language in its static form, as it functions in its present stage (the approach is synchronic). Experimental phonetics is based on the use of  different apparators and instruments. The originator of this method is Rousellot, the French phonetician. Besides these branches we can mention comparative , theoretical, practical, socio-phonetics(the ways in which pronunciation interacts with society).

Methods of investigation.

1. The direct observation method has 3 modes of investigation: by ear, by sight, by muscular sensation. It is rather old and subjective, a person must be specially trained and have a “phonetic ear”.
2. The linguistic method is based on the extensive material which a number of special phonetics provide for investigation/
3. The experimental method is used to supply any other investigation by the experimental analysis to define the clearness and correct data of the analysed phonetic phenomena. It is based on the usage of instruments and apparatuses (oscillogragh, intonograph, taperecorder and others).

 

Lecture  2.

 

                                                        The Phoneme Theory in our country and abroad.

1.The approach of a phoneme in its historical aspect

1a. B. de Courtenay’s theory.

1b. Scerba’s Phoneme theory and other phoneticians’ approach

2. The Phoneme theory abroad

2a; The Prague Phonological School;

2b. The London Phonological School;

2c. The American Phonological School;

2d. The Copenhagen Phonological School.

 

The Phoneme Theory. The term” phoneme” appeared in the linguistic literature of the 19^th century in the works of the French linguist F. de Saussure. According to him a phoneme is defined as a total sum of acoustic impressions and articulatory movements. The linguistic aspect is lacking in this definition. He ignores the sense differentiating function of the phoneme / his phisiologysm / and draws a line between language and speech, considering it as a system of signs, expressing ideas /his psychologism /. His conceptions greatly influenced a great number of linguists and schools.

The phoneme theory came into being in Russia. Its originator was Prof. B. de Courtenay, the founder of the Kazan linguistic school. His work on the phoneme theory may be roughly subdivided into two periods. Firstly, he considered a phoneme to be a component of a morpheme. He stated that one and the same morpheme was always represented by the same combination of sounds.[as in Slavonic languages].He centered his attention mainly on the phenomenon of phonetic and historical alternations. Secondly, he abandoned this conception in the 90^th of the XIX century and began to search for a unit not bound by the limits of a morpheme. He defined a phoneme as an idea of a sound which appears in the mind of a speaker before the sound is uttered. A speech sound is an invention of the scientists. What really exists is the perception of a sound, the complex perception of the articulatory movements, muscular sensation and acoustic impressions. This complex perception is a phoneme.

This theory was developed by Prof.Scerba, Krushevsky and by other Soviet and foreign linguists. According to Scerba sounds must be studied not only from the acoustic points of view, but as sounds capable of distinguishing one word of a language from other words of the same language. They fulfill a communicative function in speech. According to Scerba, a phoneme is realized in speech in concrete sound combinations, which he calls allophones. The most typical, which may be pronounced in isolation, represent a speech element, opposed to other sounds. It is “tipichniy ottenok”. The number of phonemes in a given language is defined by the principal members. In English there are 44 phonemes, in Russian – 36.   Phonemic variants are very important, because they may develop into new phonemes: O.E.or they may stop functioning the theory of the phoneme was then further developed by Scerba’s disciples. [Zinder]. A phoneme is understood as a historical category. It functions in a language at a certain stage of its development. It may be characterized as a unit of different aspects: 1. its material and objective aspects. It really exists in a language. It is a concrete sound,   characterized by definite formation and definite acoustic qualities. It exists independently in the speech of all the members of the community; it does not depend on the will of an individual, it is obligatory for all, as it is a product of the historical development of a given collective body. Thus, it is a social phenomenon. 1. The functional value. The phoneme has two main functions:  a) to serve as a material integument of words and morphemes; b) to differentiate the meaning of words, their grammatical forms and morphemes.

2. The phoneme is the result of generalization. It is a dialectical unit of the general and the particular. It is realized in speech in concrete sound combinations as allophones, being at the same time something typical and general when opposed to other phonemes in speech.

The theory of the phoneme is being developed into two main directions in our country: the Moscow linguistic school, the St. Petersburg linguistic school. There are many different linguistic schools of the phoneme abroad: the Prague phonological school, the London phonological school, the American phonological school and the Copenhagen phonological school.

The Phoneme Theory abroad.

 

The Prague Phonological School.

The phoneme theory was further developed by the Linguistic Society of Prague. The head of the school is N.S. Trubetzkoy. He first became acquainted with the phoneme theory through the works of Baudouin de Courtenay and Scerba. He propounded his phonological views in a number of works, the principal of which is” Grundzuge der Phonologie.” The main points of his theory are: 1. the separation of phonology from phonetics; 2. The theory of phonological oppositions; 3. the theory of the arc-phoneme.

He developed de Saussure’s principle of the separation of speech from language by proclaiming a new science- phonology as distinct from phonetics. According to him, phonology is a linguistic science. It should concern itself with the distinctive features only which are connected with meaning, while phonetics is a biological science, it should concern itself with the sounds of a language, as they are pronounced and as they are heard, without paying any special attention to their function in the language. Trubetzkoy further develops his system of oppositions by giving special prominence to the most essential members: 1. the phoneme, which he defines as a unity of the phonologically relevant features of a sound; 2. the speech sound, which he defines as a unity of all the features, both relevant and irrelevant, of a sound representing the phoneme in connected speech. Some oppositions may be neutralized, the phoneme in the position of neutralization is the arc-phoneme, “a unity of relevant features common to two phonemes”.

The London Phonological School.

It is headed by Prof. D. Jones of London and is concerned with the physical conception of the phoneme. His views are expressed in a number of works. According to him a phoneme is defined as “ a family of sounds in a given language which are related in character and are used in such a way that no one member ever occurs in a word in the same phonetic context as any other member”. He breaks up the phoneme into atoms and considers different features of a phoneme as independent phenomena. He distinguishes tones and tonemes in tone languages, strones and stronemes as different degrees of stress, chrones and chronemes as different length of vowels.His aim is to give a phoneme a purely practical application.

The American Phonological School.

The American phonological school is headed by L.Bloomfield and E. Sapir. Their approach of the phoneme theory is synchronic. They treat the linguistic phenomena from the point of view of structuralism-“ pattern is habit, behavior is culture”. They compare linguistic processes with a fire in a wooden stove , they are invisible. One can judge about what is going on within by an individual’s behavior. The system of the language may be compared with any system of signs, for example, with Morse code.

 The Copenhagen Phonological School.

The Copenhagen Trend is known as structuralism. Their treatment of the phoneme is mathematical. They consider the phoneme in mathematical ratios and compare the language with a system of signs. Their approach is synchronical as well.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                  Lecture 3.

Classification of sounds.

1. Articulation Basis of the Language.

2.   Principles of classification of speech sounds.

3.   Classification of English consonants

4.   Classification of English vowels..

5.   The Diphthong Theory.

        

Articulation Basis of the Language. Every nation that speaks a certain language has definite and quite obligatory ways of the articulation of the sounds. Sometimes these ways coincide in different languages but more often they are different. The habitual way of the articulation of all the sounds of a definite language is called by the term the articulation basis of the language. The articulation basis of English differs from that of Russian: voiced consonants are less energetic, whereas voiceless ones are much more energetic; the lips do not protrude; the tongue is slightly drawn back. The phonation habits of the native speakers of different languages may differ depending on character of sounds. In all languages speech sounds are traditionally divided into two main types – vowels and consonants.

From the articulatory point of view the main principles of the division are as follows: 1. the presence or absence of obstruction; 2. the distribution of muscular tension; 3. the force of the stream of air coming from the lungs. Vowels are speech sounds based on voice which is modified in the supralaringeal cavities. There is no obstruction in their articulation. The muscular tension is spread evenly throughout the speech organs. The force of the stream of air is rather weak. Consonants are speech sounds in the articulation of which there is an obstruction, the removal of which causes noise, plosion or friction. The muscular tension is concentrated at the place of obstruction. The stream of air is strong. The articulatory boundary between vowels and consonants is not well- marked. There exist speech sounds that occupy an intermediate position between vowels and consonants.  These are sonorants [m,n,n,l,w,r,]. The wide passage for the stream of air in the articulation of sonorants means that the oral and nasal cavities are active.

  

The classification of English consonants.

In the English consonant system there are 24 consonants. The quality of the consonants depends on several aspects: 1. the work of the vocal cords; 2. what cavity is used as a resonator; 3. the force of the articulation and some other factors. There are some principles of consonant classification: 1. the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise. We distinguish 2 classes of consonants: a) occlusive c., in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed; b) constrictive c., in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed. Each of the two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants. Noise consonants are divided into plosives (or stops) and affricates and constrictive sounds. Sonorants are divided into occlusive and constrictive sounds. Constrictive sonorants may be medial and lateral. Another principle is the place of articulation. Consonants are classed into 1) labial, 2) lingual, 3) glottal. The first class is subdivided into a) bilabial; b) labio- dental; the second class is subdivided into: a) fore lingual, b) mediolingual, c)back lingual. The next principle is the presence or absence of voice which depends on the work of the vocal cords. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless c. are strong (fortis). The next principle is the position of the soft palate. According to this, E. consonants can be oral and nasal.(m,n,n). According to the stability consonants are monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids.

The classification of English vowels. In the E. vowel system there are 12 vowel monophthongs and 8 or 9 diphthongs. The quality of a vowel depends, first of all, on its stability, on the tongue position, lip position character of the vowel end, length, tenseness. 1. According to this principle E. vowels are subdivided into monophthongs, b) diphthongs, c) diphthongoids.[ I ], [ u ]. According to the position of the tongue vowels are classed from vertical and horizontal planes. From the horizontal plane vowels are divided into : 1. front; 2. front-retracted ; 3.central ; 4. back ; 5. back-advanced. From the vertical plane E. vowels are divided into: 1. close; 2. mid; 3. open. Each class has wide and narrow variations. According to the lip rounding vowels have 3 positions: spread, neutral, rounded. The next point is checkness. All E. short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness depends on the following consonant. All long vowels are free. According to the length E. vowels are traditionally divided into short and long vowels, it is a historical phenomenon. Besides, there exists the positional length of vowels, depending on the position of a vowel in a word. From the point of view of tenseness all historically long vowels are tense, while short vowels are lax.

    The diphthong theory. The phonemic status of English diphthongs is still a question of discussion. Diphthongs are complex units of the two elements which are closely blended together. They are syllabically indivisible,the length of diphthongs is the same  as that of English long vowels. In Russian there are no diphthongs, only  combinations of sounds where both elements are equally energetic and distinct. English diphthongs consist of two elements, the first of which is a nucleus, strong and distinct; the second is a glide, which is very weak and indistinct. There exist languages where the second element of a diphthong is a nucleus, being strong and distinct, while the first element is weak and indistinct.(Italian, Latvian- piano, ruoka). Such diphthongs  are considered to be false and rising, while English diphthongs are considered to be true and falling. There are 8 English diphthongs: close  |ie|, |ue|;  mid  |ou|, |ei|;  open  |ea|, |oi|, |ai|, |au|. They are characterized according to the tongue position and the position of the lips.

 

Lecture 4

                                        Pronunciation in English.

1.Pronunciation varieties of British English.

2. The orthoepic norm and the literary norm of pronunciation.

3. Dialects of Great Britain

3a. The Cockney Dialect;

3b. The Southern Dialect;

3c. The Northern Dialect;

3d. The Scottish Dialect. 

There exist numerous varieties of pronunciation in any language. The pronunciation of almost every locality in the British Isles has peculiar features that distinguish it from the pronunciation of other localities. Pronunciation is socially influenced. It reflects class distinctions, education and upbringing. The varieties that are spoken by a socially limited number of people and used only in certain localities are called dialects. Dialect speakers have some peculiarities in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammatical structure. Dialect speakers are the less educated part of the population. They enrich the language and make it more lively and fresh. In British E. three main regional types of pronunciation are distinguished in Britain now: Southern, Northern and Scottish. There are also some Irish dialects in Northern Ireland. English has been spoken in Scotland for a long time. Gaelic is still the native language of thousands of speakers from Scotland . Nowadays educated Scottish people speak a form of Scottish Standard English. The orthoepic norm. One of the types of pronunciation which is spoken by the educated people in the capital is recognized as the orthoepic norm. The orthoepic norm is the standard pronunciation adopted by native speakers as the right and proper way of speaking. It is used by the most educated part of the population. The orthoepic norm is based on the variants of pronunciation that are widely used in actual speech, that reflect the main phonetic tendencies and are considered to be acceptable by the educated. Thus, wide currency, conformity to the main phonetic tendencies and social acceptability are the three main conditions that are necessary to be accepted as a norm . The orth.norm must always include a set of stylistic variants of pronunciation. R.P. was accepted as the phonetic norm about a century ago. It is based on the Southern English regional type of pronunciation.