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Vocalic and consonantal distinctions of English Speech Sounds.
Vocalic and consonantal distinctions of English SpSs
Consonants are defined as the sounds articulated by temporary obstruction in the air stream which passes through the mouth. The obstruction made by the articulators may be `total', `intermittent', `partial', or may merely constitute a narrowing sufficient to cause friction. In the articulation of consonants almost all articualtors are involved.
But vowels are the sounds that are produced with an approximation without any obstruction in the air passage. Among all articulators, only tongue is prominent in their production. All vowel sounds are voiced and all of them are `oral' as during the production of them the soft palate is raised and hence the nasal cavity is completely blocked.
To produce consonants we use all the 4 producing mechanisms: power, vibrator, resonator & obstructive, and to produce vowels – first 3.
The English monophthongs and diphthongs.
Vowels are produced without obstructing the flow of air from the lungs, so that the breath stream passes freely through the mouth. 6 vowels: a, e, I, o, u, y
Vowels represent from 15 to 22 vowel sounds.
According to the principle of stability of articulation the English vowels are divided into:
a) monophthongs; b) diphthongs; c) diphthongoids.
A monophthong is a single, pure vowel sound. While pronouncing a monophthong, the positions of the mouth and tongue remain fixed. For instance: [ε, æ, I, e, ə] : skirt, man, reason. A diphthong is a vowel sound that changes from the beginning to the end, while still being pronounced in the space of a single syllable. The first part of the diphthong is its main strong component (the nucleus), the second – short & weak (the glide). For instance: ride, boy. While pronouncing a diphthong, the positions of the mouth and tongue change, or slide, from the beginning to the end of the vowel sound: [au, ai, ei, oυ].
According of the position of the tongue, vowels are: front, front-retrached, central/mixed, back-advanced & back according to horizontal position of the tongue; and high, mid & low according to vertical position of the tongue.
The English monophthongs are traditionally divided into two classes according to their length:
a) short vowels: [I], [e], [u], [a]; b) long vowels: [i, [a, [3, [u.
It is common knowledge that a vowel like any sound has physical duration time which is required for its production. When sounds are used is connected speech they are influenced by one another. Duration is one of the characteristics of a vowel which is modified by and depends on the following factors:
1) its own length; 2) the accent of the syllable; 3) phonetic context; 4) the position of the sound in a syllable; 5) the position in a rhythmic group; 6) the position in a tone group; 7) the position in a phrase; 8) the position in the utterance; 9) the tempo of the whole utterance; 10) the type of pronunciation; 11) the style of pronunciation.
There is one more articulatory characteristic - tenseness. It characterizes the state of the organs of speech at the moment of production of a vowel. Historically long vowels are tense while historically short vowels are lax.
Vowel distinctions based on the final phase of articulation in English.
Vowel is a sound pronounced with an open vocal tract.
All English short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness may vary and depends on the following consonants. Before fortis (voiceless) consonant it is more perceptible than before a lenis (voiced) consonant or sonorant. All long vowels are free.
Free (historically long) are those in the production of which there is some decrease in the force of articulation. They may stand in a stressed open syllable with no following consonant.
Checked (historically short) are those in the production of which there no decrease in the force of articulation. They usually must be followed by a consonant in a stressed syllable.
According to the final phase of articulation is free and checked.
Free are those in the production of which there is some decrease in the force of articulation.
Checked are those in the production of which there is no decrease in the force of articulation.
System of the English consonants.
Consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal cords.
Consonants are known to have voice and noise combined. In the production of consonants various obstructions are made. So consonants are characterized by the so-called close articulation, i. e. by a complete, partial or intermittent blockage of the air passage by a speech organ. As a result consonants are sounds which have noise as their indispensable and most
defining characteristic.
On the articulatory level each consonant may be identified by stating two general facts about it:
1) what sort of articulatory posture it is formed by;
2) whereabout in the vocal tract it is produced.
Basic principle of classification is the degree of noise. It leads to dividing English consonants into two big
groups:
A - noise consonants;
B - sonorants.