The principal theories of syllable formation and syllable division

To explain the mechanism of syllabic formation several theories have been produced.

1)The most ancient theory states that there are as many syllables as there are vowels. But it doesn’t take into consideration that consonants can also form syllables.

2) The expiratory theory- as many syllables as there are expiratory pulses. It is inconsistent because it is possible to pronounce several syllables in exhalation.

3) A more popular theory- the relative sonority theory. Here the term sonority has another meaning. It is the carrying power of the sounds, their perceptibility. Although they are heard by the same normal pitch and force of utterance, they have different physical properties. Prof O. Jespersen proved that there are different degrees of sonority and established the scale of prominence: 1. Low v /a:, o:, o/; 2. Mid v /e, ^/; 3. High v /i:, I, u:, u/; 4. Semi-v /w,j/; 5. Sonorants /l, r, m, n, ng/; 6. Voiced constrictive cons /v, z, 3/; 7. Voiced plosive cons /b, d, g/; 8. Voiceless constrictive cons /d3, f, sh/; 9. Voiceless plosive cons /p, t, k/. The most sonorous are back vowels, then semi-v and sonorants, then voiced and voiceless cons. Sounds are grouped around the most sonorous tones- they form the peak of sonority in a syllable. Disadvantages: the theory fails to explain the mechanism of syllabic division, it does not state to which syll the weak sound of the boundary belongs.

4) L.V. Shcherba applied the muscular tension theory and the three types of consonants theory. He explained the phenomenon of syllable formation by muscular tension impulses. Each impulse has its strongest point/the peak of prominence and its weakest point/ the valley of prominence. Valleys of prominence correspond to the points of syllabic division. Types of consonants: 1. Initially strong (it, oath, add). The beginning of a cons is more energetic while the end is weaker. The more energetic part of a cons is attached to a vowel so that initially strong cons occur in the end of a closed syll, followed by short vowels. 2. Finally strong (may, tea, new). The beginning of a cons is weak, the end- is more energetic, occur at the beginning of a syll, followed by long vowels. 3. Geminate/double (midday, what time). A cons is pronounced in such a way that both the beginning and the end are energetic with a weakening of a muscular tension in the middle. Acoustically give the impression of 2 cons.

5) “Loudness theory” by N.I. Zhinkin. He stated that syllables are to a rise and fall of loudness. Loudness is regulated in the lower part of pharynx with the help of the epiglottis. Zhinkin asserts that every phoneme possesses specific inherent loudness, which manifests itself when the sounds are pronounces in sequences. Syllables are due to “curves of loudness”. Syllabic phoneme possesses greater inherent loudness. Loudness depends on the amplitude of sound waves. It should be mixed with inherent sonority, which depends on the degree of noise and muscular sound in phoneme.

 

The accentual structure of English words: Word stress (its types and functions); Sentence stress; Degrees of word stress; The factors that determine the degree and the place of stress.

The notion stress is closely connected with syllabic structure of the word. If we pronounce any word in isolation we can say that it has at least 1 prominent syllable. It is perceived as stressed.

It is important to define the place of stress correctly in a polysyllabic word. 1. In the stressed syll the force of utterance is greater, we try to articulate more than generally. 2. The pitch of the voice is higher in stressed syll. It is connected with the stronger tenseness of the vocal cords. 3. The quantity and the quality of the vowel in the stressed syllable are greater. Word stress can be defined as singling out of 1 or more syll in a word accompanied by: the change of force, the change of pitch of the voice, the change of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the word.

Types of word stress: 1. Dynamic/ force. If special prominence is achieved mainly through intensity of articulation, stress is achieved by the greater force of utterance. French, German, Russian have predominantly dynamic stress. 2. Musical/ tonic. Special prominence is achieved by change of pitch or musical tone. It’s characteristic of Japanese anf African languages in which the position of accent can differentiate words. In Scandinavian languages: dynamic+tonic. 3. Quantitative. Special prominence is achieved by thee changes in quantity of vowel. Stressed vowels are longer. 4. Qualitative. Special prominence is achieved by the change of the quality of the vowel under stress. Acc to place: 1. Fixed- the place of the stress is always the same (French). 2. Free- may fall on any syll in the word: a) constant- remains on the same morpheme through the paradigm (наша, wonder); b) shifting- falls on different morphemes in dif grammatical forms)Insult (n)-insUlt(v); Узко- узкО.

Functions of stress. 1. Constitutive. Every word has word accent. Creates shape of words as a pattern of relationships among its syll (force, pitch, quality and quantity). Word accent gives finishing touch to create a word as a lang unit. Word stress is obligatory. 2. Distinctive. It makes word accent a separate suprasegmental phonological unit which can be called the word accentin. Word accentin distinguishes forms of the words and word meaning. 3. Identificative/ recognitive. Correct accentual of a word facilitates their recognition and comprehension.

Sentence stress – is the greater prominence that is given to one or more words in a sentence. In English stressed words are uttered with greater force of exhalation and muscular tension. The greater prominence is also achieved by a change in the pitch and by an increase in the length of stressed syllables of words in sentence.

Degrees of word stress. Strictly speaking polysyllabic word has as many degrees of stress as there are syllables in it. There is a controversy about the degrees of word stress. British phoneticians: 1. Primary- the strongest 2. Secondary- other strong 3. Weak. Stress mark is placed before syll indicating stress place and syll division. American: 1.Loud 2. Reduced loud 3. Medial 4. Weak- not indicated. They use dif symbols for them. Other: primary, secondary, tertiary, weak. Henry Sweet: Weak, Medium, Strong, Extra strong. Vassilyev and D. Jones: primary, secondary, weak. In our system of transcription we show primary and secondary stress. Most engl scientists place stress marks before stressed syllables and don’t mark monosyllabic words. American scientists suggest placing stress marks above stressed syll and place stress marks on monosyll words. In Russian tradition there are 2 degrees of stress – primary and weak(is not marked). Stress marks are placed above the vowels.

Factors that determine the place and degrees of accent. Despite the fact that the stress is free there are certain factors that determine its place: 1. Recessive tendency. The incidence of the main accent acc to the recessive tendency is called the recessive stress. It is characteristic to all german languages. It consists of placing the accent on the initial syll. The accent is derived from prefixes which have lost their referential meaning. 2 types of recessive stress: Unrestricted- the stress falls on the initial syll when there are no prefixes. Restricted- falls on the root of native Engl words with prefix which has no referential meaning. (forget). The tendency has determined the change in stress in French words which were borrowed into Engl after the conquence. 2. Rhythmic tendency. The presence of great number of short monosyllabic and dysyllabic words results in obtaining of stress in unstressed syll-s. French words –on the end, Eng tendency – on the initial syll. Alternation of stressed syll-s took place. Gradually last stressed syll began to weaken. In modern Eng there’s also genuinely rhythmical stress on the 2^nd syll (pronunciation, examination – synchronically rhythmical). 3. Retentive tendency, which determines the degree of stress, manifestation of word accent in word derivation. Soviet- lithunien linguists: tendency to retain the accent in a derivative on the same syll on which it falls in the original word – retention of the primary accent (person- personally) But more often is remained as secondary – personality. 4. Semantic factor. Peculiar feature of Engl – existence of certain categories of words in whose accentuation the semantic factor plays the great role. Compound words and words with separable prefixes- the majority of this classes of words has double stress, so both stressed parts of words are considered to be of equal importance. Prefixes-unknown, overestimate. Comp adj- well-dressed, blue eyed. Verbs- sit down, take off. Numerals- the semantic importance of stressing teen, ty. In Engl there are compounds with 1 stress (bluebottle, greenhouse), nouns with single idea have single stress (birthday). In those cases where it is necessary to avoid the contrast which arises – the 2^nd element is stressed (mAnkind –мужч, mankInd – человечество).

 

English phonemes in writing: A grapheme; Simple and complex graphemes; Monographs, digraphs, trigraphs, polygraphs; Single-valued and multi-valued graphemes; Morphemic reference of graphemes; the notion of “orthography”; Syllabographs and morphographs.

Language performs its function as a means of intercommunication not only in oral but also in written form. Grapheme – symbol, which is a separate letter or combinations of letters, which correspond to vowel and consonant phonemes. Graphemic symbols are included into angle brackets. The ideal relationships are when 1 phoneme is represented by 1 grapheme. But usually 1 grapheme has many phonetic references – multi-valued grapheme. There are only few single-valued graphemes (one-to-one reference) <w>,<b>, <l>. A grapheme – is the smallest init of the writing system of the lang. <a> [ei]- baby, [aa]-back, [a]-task, [o:] –ball, [o]-wash.

Simple grapheme- consisting of 1 element <a>,<b>. Complex gr- consisting of several elements <ough>. One and the same phoneme can be derived from both simple and complex graphemes /e/ - <e> met, <ea> ready.

Monograph – a grapheme, which consists of 1 letter, corresponding to 1 phoneme <a>,<b>.

Digraph- a gr, consisting of 2 letters, corresponding to 1 phoneme <ng>, <ck>.

Trigraph – 3 letters <tch>, <sch>. Polygraph – 4 letters <ough>, <eigh>.

Morphemic reference of graphemes is many-sided. Any graphic difference must be considered as having an independent morphemic reference (boys-boy’s – boys’).

From the phonological point of view, a grapheme has a considerable number of allophonic references, in which a phoneme occurs. For example, the grapheme <o> in box is in reference with a more front allophone [o] in cot, where [o] is more back. The grapheme <t> in twice is in reference with a rounded allophone of [t] and with [t] post-alveolar in tree.

The notion of orthography. English orthography is a combination of several traditions- French, Greek, Latin. These traditions were integrated. Orthography dated back to the 18^th century and only few changes have been made since that time. There 60 symbols which are used to represent vowels and diphthongs and 44 symbols are used to represent consonants in the written language. The knowledge of orthography is very important because changes in orthography are much slower than changes in phonology. Orthography may help to differentiate homophones (sight- cite- site).

There are two notions which reflect the connection of orthography with syllables and morphemes: (a) syllabograph and (b) morphograph. The parts of a word which represent syllables graphically are called syllabographs. They may consist of a vowel, or a combination of vowels and consonants which corresponds to a syllable or syllables within the graphic norms (bankrupt – bank rupt). Morphograph – is the part of the word which represents a morpheme graphically (singing – ing – morphograph).