in the course of Contrastive Typology by A.A.Kalita

Glossary (lecture 2)

The contrastive phoneticsas branch of contrastive linguistics studies the isomorphic and allomorphic features of. the sound system of a definite language in comparison with the corresponding system of another language singling out its specificity. It focuses on the investigation of physiological or articulatory peculiarities of speech sounds as well as on the peculiarities of prosodic means (stress, tone, and the like) in contrasted languages, i.e. the isomorphic and allomorphic features in the systems of phonological units in English and Ukrainian.

The contrastive phonology is a branch of contrastive linguistics that deals with the peculiarities of phonological systems of contrastive languages. In other words it identifies and investigates the isomorphic and allomorphic features in the systems of phonological units of contrasted languages in general and in English and Ukrainian in particular.

Phonology/f@U"nQl@dZi/, or functional, or linguistic phonetics is a linguistic branch of phonetics. It studies sounds as units, which serve people for communicative purposes, the way they function in speech continuum. The primary aim of phonology is to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages.

Phoneme/"f@Uni:m/ is the smallest indivisible language unit capable of distinguishing one word from another word of the same language or one grammatical form of the same word, and which exists in the speech of all the members of a definite language community.

Speech sound/"spi:tS %saUnd/ is the material actualization of a phoneme in connected speech.

Monophthong is a vowel in the production of which there is no any noticeable change in its quality.

Diphthong/"dIfTQN/ The word diphthong comes from Greek and means “double sound”. In phonetics it is used to refer to a sound, which changes its quality in the course of its production, i.e. it consists of movement or glide from one vowel to another. The first element of a diphthong which remains constant and does not glide is called the nucleus.

Articulation /A:%tIkju"leIS^@n/ is the physiological movements involved in modifying airflow in producing different speech sounds.

Articulation basis /A:%tIkju"leIS^@n "beIsIs/ A term refers to the articulatory habits characteristic of all the native speakers of a language. The peculiarities of the articulation basis of English determine the specific articulatory characteristics of its sound system, the character of sound modifications in connected speech and the physiological mechanism of syllable formation.

Consonant/"kQns@n@nt/ is a sound made by a closure or narrowing in the vocal tract as a result of which the airflow is completely blocked as in plosives /p, b, t, d, k, g/ which form a complete stoppage of the airstream and are known as the most consonantal.

Vowel/"vaU@l/ is a speech sound in the production of which there is no obstruction to the airflow as it passes from the larynx to the lips.

Opposition/%Qp@"zIS^@n/ is the relationship between different phonemes. Sounds that are in opposition to each other are the ones, which according to the phonological rule can be substituted for each other in a given context (e.g. /pet/ – /bet/), forming different words.

Phonological opposition/%f@Un@"lQdZIk^@l %Qp@"zIS^@n/is the opposition of one phoneme to another phoneme (or to no sound) in the same position. The phonologically relevant features are normally identified by opposing one phoneme to every other phoneme in the language.

Ukrainian Phoneme System/ju"kreIni@n "f@Uni:m "sIst@m/consists of 6 vowel phonemes(/і, и, e, a, o, у/), which do not differ in length. All Ukrainian vowels are monophthongs. The classification of vowels into different groups according to the position of the tongue testifies the absence of mixed vowels in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian front vowels (/і/, /и/, /е/) are less front and less close than the corresponding English front vowels /i:, I, e/. The back vowels /о/, /у/ are less retracted than the back vowel phonemes in English (/Q, u:, O:/). The lips in producing Ukrainian labialized sounds are considerably protruded. In the non-labialized Ukrainian vowels production the lips move noticeably forward from the teeth.

There are 32 consonant phonemes in Ukrainian, which according to the place of articulation (or the active organ of speech) are classified into (1) labial: bilabial /п, б, в(w), м/, labio-dental /ф/, (2) lingual: forelingual /д, д’, т, т’, з, з’, с, с’, ц, ц’, р, р’, л, л’, н, н’, ж, ч, ш, дз, дз’, дж/, medio-lingual /j/, and backlingual /ґ, к, х/, (3) pharyngeal /г/. According to the manner of noise production Ukrainian consonants are classed into: (1) occlusive: plosives /п, б, т, д, к, ґ, т’, д’/, nasal sonorants /м, н, н’/; (2) constrictive: fricatives /ф, з, с, ж, ш, г, х, з’, с’/, sonorants: lateral /л, л’/, central /в(w), j/, rolled /р, р’/; (3) occlusive-constrictive, or affricates /дз, ц, дж, ч, дз’, ц’/. According to the work of the vocal cords the Ukrainian consonants are classified into voiceless and voiced. Ukrainian voiceless plosives are not aspirated. In Ukrainian there are pairs of consonants, which differ only in the degree of palatalization and yet are regarded as different sounds since they change the meanings of words, for example: бал /бал/ – біль /б’іл’/, саду /саду/ – сяду /с’аду/, рад /рад/ – ряд /р’ад/. Thus palatalization is phonematically an independent feature of articulation in Ukrainian. All palatalised Ukrainian consonants have apical articulation, while non-palatalized consonants are characterized by dorsal articulation. The question of Ukrainian long consonant phonemes is not settled yet, though their existence is mentioned by a number of linguists. Only few of them admit the phonematic independence of Ukrainian long consonants, who illustrate their independence by the following examples: Митю /мит’y/ – миттю / ми ’y/, у Вані /у ван’і/ – у ванні /у ва ’і/, у вічі /у в’іч’і/ – увіччя / ув’і ’a/. Thus if the consonants length is proved the number of Ukrainian consonants will increase. Ukrainian pronunciation is not characterized by the noticeable tension of the lips, though they are considerably protruded. 

Syllable/"sIl@b^@l/is the smallest unit into which the speech continuum is divided. It is the smallest pronunciation and perceptible unit since in connected speechsoundsare not pronounced separately; it is practically impossible to draw articulatory boundaries between syllables. Each syllable contains only one vowel.

Syllable structure/"sIl@b^@l %strVktS@/ is the way in which the syllables are formed. The syllable can be formed by: a vowel (V), a vowel and a consonant (VC), a consonant and a sonorant (CS), the latter being typical of only the English syllabic system. As to the presence, number and arrangement of consonants there are 23 syllable patterns in English (V, VC, CVC, CV, CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVC, CCCVCC, etc.). The most frequent and fundamental syllable pattern in English is CVC.

Phonotactics/%f@Un@U"t{ktIks/ is the branch of phonetics which studies the rules according to which the sounds are combined in connected speech in a particular language. As is known languages do not allow phonemes to appear in any order. In English the vowel of the syllable may be preceded by up to three consonants as in stress (CCCVC) and followed by up to four as in texts (CVCCCC); this is the most general statement of the possibilities of phoneme sequences in the English language. English does not exploit all the possible clusters of phonemes in the word and in the syllable. For instance, long vowels and diphthongs do not precede final /N/, sounds /e, {, Q, V/ never occur finally; the types of consonant clusters permitted are subject to constraints. It is the feature of English that in initial position, i.e. before the vowel, there can be any consonant except /N/; the sound /Z/ is rare in a word initial position, but it does appear in rather recent borrowings like gigolo, jabot; no consonant combinations are possible with /D, z, tS, dZ/; such consonant clusters as /pw, bw, tl, dl, mh, sr, sS, spw, fs, hr, stl/ never occur initially. Clusters of two consonants before the vowel have one of two forms: /s/ + C as in stay, swim, sleep, etc. or C + /w, j, r, l/ as in twin, beauty, creame, plain, etc. J.D.O’Connor noted that final clusters are more complex in English than initial ones since they express grammatical meanings of plurality, tense, ordinal number, e.g. /-ksts/ as in texts, /-kst/ as in mixed, /-mpst/ as in glimpsed, /-ksT/ as in sixth, /-NTs/ as in strengths. According to their position in the phonetic structure of a word clusters can be divided into: (1) prevocalic, (2) postvocalic and (3) intervocalic. In English the largest number of consonants in prevocalic clusters is three:

/spl/ – splash

/str/ – straw

/skl/ – sklent

/spr/ – spray

/skr/ – scream

/spj/ – spume

/stj/ – student

/skj/ – skua

/skw/ – square

The three-term initial clusters /spl-/, /spr-/, /str-/, /skw-/ as in splash, stew, square, etc. are used most frequently, the others less so. There are only nine four-term final clusters, for instance in twelfths /-lfTs/, exempts /-mpts/, sixths /-ksTs/, glimpsed /-mpst/, texts /-ksts/, etc. Most phonotactic analyses are based on the syllable since phonotactic possibilities of English phonemes for instance predetermine the rules of syllable division. Certain sequences are sometimes associated with particular feelings or human characteristics, e.g. bump, lump, hump, rump, mump(s), clump and others are associated with large blunt shapes; a whole family of such words muddle, fumble, straddle, cuddle, fiddle, buckle (vb.), struggle, wriggle are associated with clumsy, awkward or difficult action because they all end with a plosive and a syllabic /l/.

Palatalisation/%p{l@t@laI"zeIz^@n/ is (1) the articulation characterized by the raising of the front part of the tongue towards the hard palate occurring when a consonant is followed by a close front vowel; (2) the process in which the primary articulation is changed so that it becomes more palatal. Palatalisation is widespread in most Slavic languages, where there are pairs of palatalised and non-palatalised consonants. Palatalisation is not typical of English and is regarded as a pronunciation error.

Labialisation/%leIbi@laI"zeIS^@n/ is a secondary articulation in which the lip rounding is added to a sound. The term is more often used in relation to consonants, since the term rounded tends to be used for vowels produced with rounded lips.

Word accent/"w3:d "{ks^@nt/,orword stress/^|w3:d stres/ is a greater pronunciation effort as compared with that of the other syllable or syllables in a word, achieved by a greater degree of loudness, greater length of the stressed syllable, or modifications in its pitch and quality. Different languages harness different combinations of these in their word stress systems. Depending on the leading parameter (loudness, length, pitch and quality), word stress may be of the following types: (1) dynamic – achieved by a greater force of articulation, which results in a greater degree of loudness or intensity. Dynamic stress may be: quantitative, achieved by the quantity of the sound, i.e. its duration, and qualitative, achieved by a different quality of vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables; (2) musical – achieved by the variations in pitch level (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese are called musical or tonic languages). Swedish word stress is both dynamic and musical. English word stress is considered as dynamic and is of a complex nature, since it is dynamic quantitative and dynamic qualitative. Word stress in English manifests itself in intensity, or duration of the stressed syllables, or the spectrum of the stressed vowel, or the fundamental frequency, or the combination of any of these parameters. There are more than a hundred stress patterns in English (G.Torsuyev), grouped into 11 commonest types.

There are three linguistically relevant degrees of word stress in English (R.Kingdon, V.Vassilyev): primary (or strong), secondary (or partial), weak (the unstressed syllables have weak stress). G.Trager and A.Hill distinguish four degrees of word stress: 1) primary; 2) secondary; 3) tertiary; and 4) weak. Secondary stress occurs before the primary one. Tertiary stress usually occurs after the primary stress and is linguistically important since it serves to differentiate the accentual patterns of some British and American polysyllabic words. Word stress in English performs several functions: 1) constitutive (the ability of syllables to build up a word by forming its stress pattern, without which it ceases to be a word); 2) distinctive (the ability to differentiate words with analogous sound structure: ^|insult – in^|sult, ^|suspect – su^|spect, ^|accent – ac^|cent); 3) identificatory (words stress patterns enable us to identify definite combinations of sounds as meaningful linguistic units). Stress is sometimes referred to as accentand stressed syllables are said to be accentuated.

Utterance stress/"Vt^@r@ns "stres/ is a special prominence given to one or more words in an utterance. As is known, words grouped into an utterance are not equally important. Depending on the context or the communicative situation some words contribute more information than others. Those that are semantically more important are made prominent. When the potential stress pattern of a word is actualized in an utterance, stress becomes a feature of the utterance. Word stress and utterance stress are in close relation. Word stress is an essential part of word-shape, whereas utterance stress is a feature of the utterance. On the auditory level the special prominence is achieved by pitch, loudness, length and quality.

The subsystem of utterance stress in English includes the following basic types: nuclear stress (marked by a kinetic tone), non-nuclear full stress (often marked by static tones), partial stress (marked either by a dot (when a partially stressed word is pronounced after a rising tone in the rising tail, or within a scale), or a vertical bar (when the word that takes it follows a falling nuclear tone, or within the scale having two kinetic tones, e.g. the falling tone and the rising tone), and weak stress (syllables are not normally marked as they are not stressed). Each type of stress has functionally significant degrees depending on the modal and stylistic factors of speech and has different positional variants, say pre-nuclear and post-nuclear partial stresses, etc. The distribution of stresses in an utterance depends on the following factors: semantic (which determines the placement, type and degree of stress, singles out the utterance semantic centre by this or that nuclear, or primary stress, carries the greatest semantic importance); grammatical (grammatical structure of the utterance also predetermines its accentual structure); and rhythmical (the distribution of stresses in an utterance is also affected by the rhythmical laws of English, e.g. notional words that are usually stressed may lose their stress under the influence of rhythm, and form words may take stress under the influence of rhythm). All these factors are closely linked, the semantic factor being the most important.

Utterance stress fulfils three functions: constitutive (to form the utterance by integrating words), distinctive (to differentiate utterances as to their meaning), and identificatory (to provide a basis for the hearer’s identification of the important parts of the utterance and for his/her understanding the content).

Segment/"segm@nt/ (segmental)The term refers to the phonological sound units or segments that constitute the language phonemic system. The segments combine to produce syllables, words, and sentences, known as the verbal aspect of speech.

Suprasegmental /%su:pr@seg"ment^@l/ The term refers to the phonetic units such as syllables, rhythmic/accentual units, or groups (or phonetic words), intonation groups, utterances in which the prosodic features (speech melody, stress, rhythm, tempo, pausation, loudness, timber are actualized, though there has never been full agreement about how many suprasegmental features are to be found in speech. The term is used predominantly by American phoneticians, while most of the British phoneticians prefer to use the term prosodicinstead of suprasegmental.

Prosody/"prQs@dI/ The term refers to the non-segmental phenomena, or to the “vocal effects constituted by variations along the parameters of pitch, loudness, duration and silence” (as D.Crystal defines them), which do not belong to the system of segmental phonemes although in speech they can be added to the speech sounds. At thesame time some aspects of prosody are closely connected with the rest of speech. Since prosodic features are superimposed on speech sounds they are often termed suprasegmenal.

Intonation/%Int@"neIS^@n/ A term used to refer to the complex unity of speech melody, sentence stress, rhythm, tempo, pausation, loudness and voice timbre, which enables the speaker to express his thoughts, emotions and attitudes towards the content of the utterance and the hearer.

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