Практическая фонетика английского языка


                М.Д. Авербух





                ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА





Учебное пособие





6-е издание, стереотипное










Москва Издательство «ФЛИНТА» 2018

УДК 811.111'342(075.8)
ББК 81.432.1-1я73

    А19


Рецензенты:
д-р филол. наук, проф. Ю.А. Дубовский;
канд. филол. наук, доцент В.В. Якубович





    Авербух М.Д.
А19 Практическая фонетика английского языка : учеб. пособие [Электронный ресурс] / М.Д. Авербух. — 6-е изд., стер. — М. : ФЛИНТА, 2018. — 362 с.

       ISBN 978-5-9765-3455-1

       Цель пособия — помочь изучающим английский язык выработать правильное произношение. В пособии использованы новейшие материалы английских специалистов в области фонетики. Все упражнения пособия записаны английскими фонетистами.
       Для преподавателей и студентов лингвистических университетов и факультетов иностранных языков, а также для учителей английского языка средних школ, гимназий и лицеев. Пособие может также использоваться в преподавании теоретической фонетики.

                                             УДК 811.111'342(075.8)
                                             ББК 81.432.1-1я73





ISBN 978-5-9765-3455-1

           © Авербух М.Д., 2018
© Издательство «ФЛИНТА», 2018

                        To my son

Посвящается сыну

Acknowledgements

I should like to thank:
- David Brazil and Barbara Bradford, whose books prompted me to write this manual.

I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to J.D. O’Connor: but for his authentic material this book would never have been written.

My special thanks are due to Y. Dubovsky, who spared no time and effort to help me write this manual.

My special thanks are also due to V. Yakubovich for useful suggestions he made in the process of my work on the book.


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The aims of this course are as follows:
   1. To make you more sensitive to intonation so that you have a better understanding of the English you hear.
   2. To help you express yourself more fluently and confidently.
   3.  To help you pronounce English better than you do now.

           Careful listening and careful matching of your performance with listening will bring you nearer to the ideal of good English pronunciation.
           All the exercises are recorded on tape. You will find them useful and interesting. If you work hard and regularly along the lines suggested in this book you will perform better. The recorded material (recorded by English phoneticians) is available in this book. Anyone who is interested in English Phonetics may find this manual helpful because it is based on the latest work in this field.

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Contents


Page № of
Recordings in the
University Tape Library
Acknowledgements ........................................... 5
Prefatory note ............................................. 7
Chapter I.    The Organs of speech ......................... 12
              The positions of the tip of the tongue ...... 13
Chapter II.   English Consonants ........................... 14
              Classification of English Consonants ......... 14
              Palatalization / Velarization ................ 16
              Voiceless vs Voiced .......................... 16
              Cf. English and Russian Voiced Consonants ... 19
              Cf. English and Russian Voiceless Consonants . 20
              Plosive Clusters ............................. 20   4974a
              Stops: /p/, /b/                                     3045
                     /t/, /d/                                     3046
                     /k/, /g/ .............................. 21   3047
              Aspiration ................................... 22   4974
              Affricate Consonants: /tf/, /dj/.............. 24   3048
              Friction Consonants: /f/, /v/                       3040
                                 /0/, /6/                         3041
                                 /s/, /z/                         3042
                                 /f/, /3/                         3043
                                 /h/ ....................... 24   3044
              NLA group or NLA sonants .................... 25
                 Nasal sonants /m/, /n/                           3049
ZgZ.......................... 26   3050
                 Lateral Consonants [1/], [1’].............. 27          3051, 4978a
                 Medial Approximants
                                    /j/                           3052
                                    /w/                           3052a
                                    /r/ .................... 28   3053
              Consonant Sequences:
                 Initial Sequences ......................... 30   3054
                 Syllable-Final Sequences ................. 34
                           (stop + stop) ................... 34   3055
                           (Nasal release) ................. 36  3055a
                 Lateral release ........................... 37   3056
                 Consonant + /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/ ............ 38  3056a
                 Consonant + /0/............................ 40  3056b


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                /f, /1/, /m/, /n/, /g/ + Consonant............ 40 3057
                Longer Consonant Sequences ................... 41 3057a
             Consonant Sequences (exercises) ................. 42 556, 556a,
                                                               4980
Chapter III.  English Vowels ................................. 47
             Transcription ................................... 48
             Classification of English vowels ................ 48
             The schwa vowel /э/.............................. 50 3058a
             Clipping ........................................ 52
             Diphthongs ...................................... 53 3059
             Vowel sequences ................................. 55 3060
             Phonetic Dictations from tape ................... 56 37
Chapter IV.   English Syllable ............................... 58
             Syllable Formation .............................. 58 558
             Syllable Structure .............................. 59
             Phonetic Syllable Division ...................... 61
             Strong and Weak Syllables
             Protected vs Unprotected Vowels ................. 63 3061, 558a
             Pronunciation of unprotected vowels ............. 67 3061b
Chapter V.   Word Stress ..................................... 70
             Disyllables ..................................... 71 4981,558b
             Polysyllables ................................... 73 4981a,4982
             Words with Suffixes.............................. 78 4982a
                  suffixes carrying the primary stresses themselves ................... 78
                  suffixes that do not affect stress
                  placement .................................. 78
                  suffixes that influence stress in the stem . 79
                  Hiatus ..................................... 81 4983
             Prefixes and Stress ............................. 85
             Pronunciation demons ............................ 87
             Word-class pairs ................................ 89 4981b
             Compound words .................................. 91 4984
             Variable Stress ................................. 98 1236b
Chapter VI.   Weak and Strong Forms .......................... 103 3073
             Strong forms .................................... 103 4986
             Weak forms ...................................... 105 4987, 3061a,
                                                               559
             Special cases (some, there) ..................... 113 4988a
Chapter VII.   Aspects of Connected Speech ................... 122
             Rhythm .......................................... 123 4985, 1444a,
                                                               3062, 559a

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              Modification of English Consonants in the flow of speech:                                       3063a, 560
                    Assimilation ......................... 132 3063b, 560,
                    Elision .............................. 140   4988, 560
                    Double Consonant Sounds .............. 145   557, 560
              Modification of English Vowels ............. 148   4974
                    Compression ......................... 149
              Relevant and Irrelevant features of English Speech Sounds .............................. 152   4970, 4968
              Linking .................................... 153   3063,  560
              Common features of connected speech ....... 156
Chapter VIII.  Intonation ............................... 160
              Identifying the tone unit ................. 163
              Structure of the tone unit ................ 168
              Heads ..................................... 169
              Tone unit boundaries and speech tempo ..... 170
              Prominence ................................. 173   393,  561a
                    The Tonic Syllable and the Tonic Word . 175  561b
                    The Tonic Accent ..................... 177   393
                    Non-Tonic Prominence ................ 184
              Tones ..................................... 190
              Falling Tones .............................. 192   1228, 1231
              Rising Tones ............................... 196   394,  395,
              Fall-Rise .................................. 196   1231
              Low-Rise ................................... 212   396
              High-Rise .................................. 221   1232, 397,
1233
              Level Tones................................. 226   3638, 3634
              Reading and Dictating ...................... 227   3636, 3637
              Tones (Revision Exercises) ................. 231   1232
              High vs Low Key ...........................,  237 1236, 1232
                    Low Key .............................. 238   1236, 398
                    High Key ............................. 243   399, 1235
              Revision and Practice ...................... 251   1236
Chapter IX.   Sequences of Tone Units ................... 259
Chapter X.   The Choice of Tonicity (Placing the Tonic Accent) ................................................. 278
              Intensifiers............................... 279

              “Pushed Out of Focus” lexical items ........ 284
              The Booster / The Sliding Head ............ 287

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Chapter XI.   Revision Exercises ........................ 293  4988b, 4999,
                                                              20, 30, 2649
Appendix I.  Selected Tapescripts ...................... 307
Recordings: 393 Highlighting ........................... 307
             396 Telling and Referring ................. 308
             397 Roles and Status of Speakers .......... 309
             1228 Step by Step ......................... 310
             398 Low Key ............................... 310
             20 Watching Television .................... 311
             2649 Mum's the Word ....................... 312
             3072 The Job I had to Tackle .............. 166
             3072 The Key to the text .................. 167
             1231 At a Bookshop ........................ 314
             1233 When to Take Control ................. 315
             1232 Who is in charge ..................... 316
             559a Stress Shift ......................... 317
             1236 Reading Aloud ........................ 317
             1237 Listening to Meaning ................. 318
             30 Pieces of Prose Dialogue ............... 319
             401 A Talk between Tony and Lisa .......... 320
Appendix II.  Reading and Pronunciation................. 321
Appendix III. Poetry ................................... 330
Appendix IV.   Cartoons ................................ 345
Appendix V.   Glossary ................................. 351
References ............................................. 358
Key to the Tone Marks .................................. 360
Tables:
  Table 1    English consonants ........................... 15
  Table 2    English vowels ............................... 47
  Table 3    The vowel sounds in weak syllables ........... 65
  Table 4    Assimilation .............................. 135
  Table 5    Consonant Elision ......................... 141
  Table 6    Modification of vowels in the flow of speech . 148
  Table 7    Vowel elision.............................. 160
  Table 8    Tone unit boundaries and speech tempo ..... 171
  Table 9    The types of the Tonic Accent ............. 179
  Table 10   Non-tonic Prominence ...................... 185
  Table 11   Tones ..................................... 256
  Table 12   Low / High Key Information ................ 258

                Chapter I. The Organs of Speech





   the hard palate 6
   the alveolar ridge 5
   the teeth 4
   the upper lip 3


11 the pharynx

12 the epiglottis

2 the larynx with the vocal folds
13 the food-passage
1 the wind-pipe

the soft palate with 7 the uvula

   the lover lip 3
   the teeth 4
   the blade of the 8
   tongue with the tip
   the front of the tongue 9

   the back of the tongue 10


       The air (breath) passes from the lungs into the wind-pipe then through the larynx into the pharynx (The pharynx is the continuation of the mouth cavity). When the uvula is raised the air passes into the mouth cavity. When the uvula is lowered the air passes into the nasal cavity.
       In the larynx there are two vocal folds. They can be brought together (without entirely closing the air-passage) and when the air stream is forced between them, they vibrate and produce voice. When the vocal folds are wide apart, the airstream passes between them freely, they do not vibrate and no voice is produced. The space between the vocal folds is called the glottis.

       The roof of the mouth is divided into the following parts: a) the alveolar ridge; b) the hard palate; c) the soft palate with the uvula.


       The tongue has no distinct division like the palate. However, its surface is conventionally divided into three parts corresponding to the parts of the roof of the mouth. They are: a) the blade with the tip, b) the front and c) the back of the tongue. When the tongue is at rest, the blade with the tip lies opposite the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue lies opposite the hard palate and the back of the tongue lies opposite the soft palate.


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       The organs of speech are divided into movable (active) and fixed (passive). The movable speech organs take an active part in the articulation of speech sounds. They are: the lips, the tongue, the soft palate with the uvula, the vocal folds, the pharynx. The fixed organs of speech with which the active organs form an obstruction serve as points of articulation. They are: the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate.

        1.  The Position of the Tip of the Tongue

       These terms refer to the position of the tip of the tongue with respect to the upper teeth, the alveolar ridge and the back part of the alveolar ridge, rather than to the parts of the tongue.
  Apical consonants are articulated by the tip (apex) of the tongue against either the upper teeth or the alveolar ridge. The English consonants /t, d, s, z, n, l/ are apical.

  Dorsal consonants are those consonants in the articulation of which the blade (dorsum) of the tongue touches or approaches the upper teeth and the gums, while the tip of the tongue is lowered and passive. The Russian consonants are dorsal /т, д, с, з, н/.

  Cacuminal consonants are articulated by the tip of the tongue raised against the back part of the alveolar ridge. The front of the tongue is lowered forming a spoon-shaped depression - the English /r/.

  Retroflex(ed) are consonants in the articulation of which the tip of the tongue is raised and curled back behind the back slope of the alveolar ridge. This results in a special colouring that we hear in the American /r/.


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                Chapter II.      English Consonants




       There are two good reasons for beginning with consonants rather than vowels. First, consonants contribute more to making English understood than vowels do. Second, consonants are generally made by a definite interference of the air stream in the vocal tract, and so are easier to describe and understand. The consonants form the bones, the skeleton of English words and give them their basic shape.
       Native speakers of English from different parts of the world have different accents, but the differences of accent are mainly the result of differences in the sound of the vowels; the consonants are pronounced in very much the same way wherever English is spoken. So if the vowels you use are imperfect it will not prevent you from being understood, but if the consonants are imperfect there will be a great risk of misunderstanding.
       In dealing with the consonants you must learn how each one is mainly distinguished from the others, the features which it must have so that it will not be mistaken for any other consonant. Then later you will learn about any special sounds of that phoneme which need small changes in their formation in different circumstances, changes which are not essential if you simply want to be understood, but which will make your English sound better.
       While reading or speaking, keep in mind one important general rule which applies to all the pairs of consonants: strong (voiceless) consonants at the end of the words shorten the preceding vowels, weak (voiced) consonants leave them longer.
       While listening to the consonants try to fix the sounds in your mind.
       1.  Classification of consonants
       Consonants are speech sounds in the production of which:
   a) there is an articulatory obstruction (complete or incomplete);
   b) muscular tension is concentrated at the place of obstruction;
   c) the air-stream is strong.
       There are 24 consonants in English and they are classified according to the following principles:
   a. according to the manner of articulation;
   b. according to the active organ of speech and the place of articulation;
   c. according to the force of articulation: lenis/fortis; lenis=weak, fortis=strong;
   d. according to the work of the vocal folds: voiced/voiceless;
   e. according to the position of the soft palate: oral/nasal.

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