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the language in the process of its use as a means of intercommunication by all the
members of the language community.
The first and basic component of the phonetic structure of English is the system of
its segmental phonemesexisting in the material form of their allophones constituted
by the spectral, fundamental frequency, force and temporal components of the
sound matter of language in various combinations.
The systemic character of the phonemic component of the phonetic structure of any
language is reflected in various classifications of its phonemes in which the latter
are invariably divided first into two fundamental sound types vowels and
consonants with further subdivisions of each sound type according to the
principles of vowel and consonant classifications.
The phonemic structure of any language, as it is reflected in these classifications, is
more or less symmetric, i.e. its phonemes are grouped in them in series which turn
out to be more or less symmetrically arranged.
The phonemic component of the phonetic structure of the English language
manifests itself not only in the system of its phonemes as discrete isolated units,
but also in combinations of their allophones occurring in words and the junction of
words in phrases and sentences. The combinations of allophones in words are also
systemic in character, in the sense that the allophones of a phoneme occur only in
definite positions and, therefore, in combination with definite allophones of other
phonemes, and not just in any position and in combination with any other sound.
For instance, the English sounds [V] and [N] never occur at the beginning of a word,
whereas the sounds [] and [h] never occur at the end of English words. There is
not a single Russian word which begins with the vowel [] (when pronounced in
isolation, as an item of vocabulary, or a citation form), and no voiced noiseconsonant is pronounced in Russian immediately before a voiceless consonant or at
the end of a word before silence (pause).
Thus the phonemic component of the phonetic system of English has three aspects,
or manifestations: (1) the system of its phonemes as discrete isolated units which
may occur in speech as isolated sounds constituting monophonemic words and,
sometimes, even sentences; (2) the distribution of the allophones of the phonemes;
and (3) the methods of joining speech sounds together in words and at their
junction, or the methods of effecting VC, CV, CC, and VV transitions.
The second component of the phonetic system of English is the syllabic structure of
its wordsboth in citation forms and in phrases and sentences. The syllabic structure
of words has two aspects which are inseparable from each other: syllable formation,
and syllable division, or syllable separation. Both aspects are sometimes designated
by the cover term syllabification.
Languages may differ from one another both in syllable formation and syllable
division.
Phonetics
Phonology
explaining how
these sounds are
interpreted by the
native speaker.
Models of phonology
Different models of phonology contribute to our knowledge of phonological
representations and processes:
autosegmental phonology
metrical phonology
lexical phonology
The smallest sound unit that can be used in many different words but sounds the
same in all words such as the smallest sound of /p/ in words like pot, spot, spit,
phase etc. Though the sound made in all these words is not identical, the sound of
phoneme p is perceived as same and believed to be making use of the same
phoneme /p/.
What is an Allophone?
For a single phoneme, there can be a number of different sounds that can be made.
These sounds become clear when we place a piece of paper in front of our mouths
and see the reaction when making different sounds with the same phoneme. Thus,
different sounds made using the same phoneme are called its allophones.
Phonemes are basic sound units. They are significant and non-predictable.
The main distinction between a phoneme and an allophone lies in what is there in
your mind and what comes out through your mouth
The various speech sounds that we actually pronounce are called phonetic
variants or allophones.
I/ Allophones are classified into: typical or principal andsubsidiary. The typical
variant of the phoneme is free from the influence of the neighbouring sounds and
it is the most representative of all allophones.
For example, the English consonant [k] as pronounced in the word "kite" [kait]
has all the characteristic features included in the phonetic definition and
description of the phoneme [k], namely: it is backlingual, plosive, aspirated and
voiceless. Therefore it is the principal variant of the English [k] phoneme. In the
word "fact" [fkt] the sound [k] lacks two of the characteristic features of the
principal variant of the English [k] phoneme. It is not plosive and aspirated.
Therefore it is a non-plosive, non-aspirated subsidiary variant of the English [k]
phoneme.
II/ Allophones can be positional and combinatory. Positional allophones are used in
certain positions traditionally. For example, the English [1] phoneme is always
"clear" in the initial position and "dark" in the terminal position. Combinatory
allophones appear as the result of assimilation, adaptation, accommodation - that is
when one phoneme influences another.
Task 2.
a) to illustrate articulatory and functional distinctions
between English and Russian speech sounds;