The difference between rp and ga in the system of vowels and consonants (4)

Generally speaking, the main defining feature of British-oriented accents is the absence of post-vocalic r which makes all non-rhotic (r-less) compared to North-America-oriented accents which are predominantly rhotic (r-ful). However, within each country there are regionally marked accents: the Scottish, the Irish and some other provincial accents on the British Isles are rhotic; in the USA the Southern, the Eastern and Afro-American types of English accents are non-rhotic. These distinctive features become social markers.

Vowels

1. There are 20 vowels in the system of RP and 15-16 vowels in GA; because r was not vocalized, GA lacks centring diphthongs (ending in /e/; the retroflexed vowels /ә:r/ and /ә/, stressed and unstressed , are among those features that noticeably distinguish GA from RP. All vowels occurring before r within a syllable are likely to become “r-coloured” to some extent.

RP here [hiә], hair [heә], pure [pjuә]

GA here [hir], hair [her], pure [pjυr]

2. American English in most of its variants lacks the short rounded vowel /o/, it is replaced by a vowel /a:/ which is similar to RP vowel in father:

RP lock [lok], dog [dog], stop [stop]

GA lock [la:k], dog [da:g], stop [sta:p]

The RP vowel /o/ can also be replaced by a long vowel /o:/:

RP long [lon], forest [forist], orange [orindg], sorry [sori]

GA long [lo:n ], forest [fo:rist], orange [o:rindg], sorry [so:ri]

GA is not as strictly codified as RP. There is considerable variability in GA vowels in the open back area.

3. Most of the American linguists do not use transcription system which allows us to distinguish long and short vowels in GA. Vowel length in AmEng is generally considered to be conditioned by phonological environment , so the long/short distinction described for RP is not usually present. GA is commonly described as having lax (historically short) vowels, tense (historically long) vowels and wide diphthongs. Lax vowels are lower and made with less oral tension: they do not usually end syllables.

4. The Am vowel /ә/ vowel is somewhat closer than the RP /ә/ and seems to be evolving into an even closer vowel in many speakers, so that the phrase Merry Mary married sounds as if all the accented vowels are identical. Notable is the fact that /ә/ is used not only in the same words as RP /ә/ but also in many words in which RP has /a:/ when there is no letter r in spelling.

RP dance [da:ns], ask [a:sk], pass [pa:s]

GA dance [dæns], ask [æsk], pass [pæs]

5. The diphthong [eυ] is more rounded in GA:

RP go [geυ], home [heυm];

GA go [gou], home [houm].

Consonants

1. In GA [r] is retroflex (pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled back). At least 3 degrees of retroflexion which affect the preceding vowel:

RP hurry [hri], worry [wri]

GA hurry [hәri], worry [wәri]

2. The Am [t] in the intervocalic position is realized as a flap: the tip of the tongue beats against the teeth ridge just once. Acoustically it reminds [d] and [r].

RP better [betә]

GA better [bәtә]

3. When t follows n, it is nearly omitted. Nasalization of the vowel is another feature caused by coarticulation with n.

RP twenty [twenti],

GA twenty [twõni]

4. The sound [t] is also affected by the process of glotalization in both varieties of English, British and American, and American and the frequency of its occurrence is socially marked. One of the most favourable conditions for glottal stop to replace [t] before [m, n, l, r, j, w]:

That man [thә? mәn], that one [thә? wan]

5. The sound [j] in AmEn is generally omitted:

RP news [nju:z]

GA news [nu:z]

6. in GA the sound [l] is “dark” (non-palatalized) in all positions while in RP it is “clear” before a front vowel and “dark” at the end of a word and before a consonant:

RP little [litł]

GA little [łitł]

7. Apart from systemic differences, there are lexical items which are pronounced differently:

RP tomato [tәma:tәυ]

GA tomato [tәmeitou]

Билет 6

Speech rhythm: definition, functions.

R. (in general)- periodicity in time and space(day-night, seasons, breathing-running). Speech production is closely connected with breathing. Any type of S.Act-ty tends to be rhythmical because of its condition by breathing. Types: monologue, dialogue, reading, poetic speech. S.R. can be regarded as language universal since speech in any lang-ge is supposed to be rhythmical.

R. in phonetics- the occurance of units of speech at regular intervals of time.Acc.to the most general definition, there must be in speech some unit which is repeated at equal period of time. The unit which repeated regularly is not the same in dif.lang-ges. →2 types of lang-ges distinguished in this respect:

1. With syllable-timed rhythm(слого-считающий ритм); 2. With stress- timed rhythm (такто-считат).

1. any syllable(stressed/unstressed)counts at equal period of time;(French,Italian, Spanish,Hindy) 2. Only stressed syllables count at equal periods( English, Russian, Modern Greek, Arabic).

The theory that E. has stress-timed R. implies that stressed syl-s occure at equal periods of time and it doesn’t matter if they are separated by unstr. Syl-s or not.( ‘Walk ‘ down the ‘ path to the ‘end of the ca’nal.- 0-1-2-3(unstressed syl-s;the time period b/stressed -the same).

Scholars have attempted to find an explanation why lang-s like French, Japanese, Spanish are categorized differ-ly from lang-s like English, Russian and German. 1.There is considerable variation in syl-l length in E.,as well sa differ.kinds of syllables + open syl-s make up a minority of the total in E.,compared with the minority in Spanish. 2.E. uses a restricted set of vowels in unstressed syl-s, typically [∂] or [i].E.stressed syl-s are typically 1,5 times longer than unstressed ones, while in Spanish they are about 1,3 times longer.This makes E.stressed syl-s even more prominent than unstressed syl-s, giving a clearly discernable beat to which listeners are sensitive.

R. serves to unite elements in speech(smaller units into larger ones). On the other hand larger units fall into smaller ones(stanza-lines). So, R. unites text segments and at the same time it cuts the discourse into elements. R. performs the intergrative and delimitative function. Aesthetic function(from the phsycolinguist.p.of.v)- the accuracy of the temporal similarity has a certain effect on a human being. This function is espes-ly well-manifested in poetry.The results of the experiments: R.groups in poetry don’t exceed 1 second.→there is a certain connection b/length of a R.group and the human being. It may explain the phsycologic.influence of the poetic speech on a person. In prose the duration of sense groups doesn’t exceed 2 seconds-we can correlate the length of R.group with the length of the breathing cycle. The regularity in SR seems to be in harmony with the biologic.rhythms of a man.