Phonological and non-phonological features in the system of english consonants (10)
In phonology the basic method of establishing the phonemic status of a sound is the method of finding minimal pairs. The method consists in finding at least one pair of words which are different in respect of that sound: pit – bit. When two words are identical except for one sound which makes a contrast in the meaning of words, they are said to form a minimal pair. The minimal pair may be 2 words or 2 gram-l forms of a word: man – men. Thus, the function of phonology is to relate the phonetic events of speech to gr-l units operation at the morphological, lexical, syntactic and semantic levels of lang-e.
Sounds are grouped into classes according to the features which are distinctive for the particular language. In English the following features are distinctive for consonants:
type of obstruction:
occlusive (in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed): [pul];
constructive (an incomplete obstruction is formed): [ful]:
place of articulation:
labial: [p], [b], [m], [w];
labio-dental (cons-s are articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth): [f], [v];
dental (articulated against the upper teeth either with the tip: [θ], [ð] or with the blade of the tongue);
alveolar (cons-s are articulated by the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge): [t], [d], [n], [l], [s], [z];
palatal: [j];
alveolar-velar: [ł]
glottal (are produced in the glottis): .
manner of production of noise:
plosive oral stop: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g];
fricative:
affricate: [t], [dж];
approximant.
presence or absence of voice:
voiced (lenis): [b], [d], [g], [dж], [v], [ð], [z], [ж], [m], [n], [ŋ], [w], [l], [r], [j];
voiceless (fortis); they are pronounced with greater muscular tension and a stronger breath force: [p], [t], [k], [t], [f], [θ], [s], [], [h].
position of the soft palate and the velum:
oral (consonants are produced when the soft palate is raised and the air escapes through the mouth): the rest of the consonants;
nasal (consonants are produced with the soft palate lowered while the air-passage through the mouth is blocked. As a result, the air escapes through the nasal cavity): [m], [n], [ŋ].
In each minimal pair the opposition is based either on:
one feature (single opposition): [pit – bit]: voiceless (fortis) vs. voiced (lenis);
two features (double opposition): [til – bil]: voiceless (fortis) vs. voiced (lenis) and alveolar vs. labial;
more than two features (multiple): [fil – bil]: voiceless (fortis) vs. voiced (lenis), labio-dental vs. labial, fricative vs. oral stop (plosive).
- Different approaches to the problem of phoneme. The definition of phoneme
- The notions of phoneme and allophone. Functions of phoneme (7)
- The definition of intonation. Componentes of intonation. Structural and functional approaches to the problem of its components (28)
- Sentence accentuation
- The difference between rp and ga in the system of vowels and consonants (4)
- Phonological and non-phonological features in the system of english consonants (10)
- 10. Практическая часть
- Territorial and social differences in the pronunciation of english in different countries (1)
- The notion of interference. Prerequisites for phonetic interference (segmental level) (12)
- Phonetic basis. Articulatory basis: static and dynamic approaches
- Intonational (prosodic) basis.
- Principal and subsidiary variants of english phonemes
- The definition of prosody. Functions of prosody (29)
- Phonological and non-phonological features in the system of english vowels (11)
- 11. Практическая часть
- The difference between rp and ga in the pronunctiation (word-stress, prosody (5)
- Social variations in english pronunciation. Social factors and phonetic markers
- Functions of intonation
- The orphoepic norm of english (rp) and its types
- Intonation and prosody. The correlation between these notions