THEORY OF PHONETICS

7 lectures (14 hrs.), 5 seminars (10 hrs.), CREDIT

Lecture 2
ARTICULATORY AND
FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF
SPEECH SOUNDS
 Literature
• Паращук В.Ю. Теоретична фонетика англiйськоi мови: Навчальний
посiбник для студентiв факультетiв iноземних мов. – Вiнниця, НОВА
КНИГА, 2005. – 240 с.
• Дворжецька М.П., Макухіна Т.В., Велікова Л.М., Снегірьова Є.О.
Фонетика англійської мови: фоностилістика і риторика мовленнєвої
комунікації. Посібник для студентів вищих навчальних закладів. –
Вінниця: НОВА КНИГА, 2005. – 208 с.
• Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учебное пособие для
студентов пед. ин-тов и фак. ин. яз. / М.А. Соколова, К.П. Гинтовт, И.С.
Тихонова. – М.: Гуманит. изд. центр ВЛАДОС, 1996. – 286 с.
• Giegerich H.J. English Phonology: An Introduction. – Cambridge: CUP,
1992. – 378 p.
• Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. – 5th ed. Revised by Alan Cruttenden. –
Bristol: J W Arrowsmith Ltd, 1996. – 305 p.
• Laver J. Principles of phonetics. – Cambridge: CUP, 1995. – 707 p.
• O’Connor J. D. Phonetics / J. D. O’Connor. – L.: Penguin books Ltd., 1984. –
320 p.
• Roach P. English Phonetics and Phonology. A practical course. –
 POINTS OF DISCUSSION
1. Aspects of speech sounds.
2. The functional aspect of speech sounds. The phoneme
theory as the basis of phonology.
3. Three facets and three functions of the phoneme.
4. Methods of phonological analysis.
5. Speech sounds as articulatory units and the problem
of their classification.
6. The articulatory classification of the English vowels
and consonants.
7. The Ukrainian sound system. Typical mistakes of
Ukrainian learners of English.
 ASPECTS OF SPEECH SOUNDS
1) articulatory (a complex of movements and positions of speech
organs → production of a speech sound);
2) acoustic (every speech sound is a complex of
acoustic effects and has its physical properties
– it is a physical phenomenon and its physical (acoustic) properties
consist of: 1) frequency, 2) spectrum (energy division), 3) intensity,
4) duration;
3) auditory (a psychological mechanism of hearing,
which selects from a great amount of acoustic
information only the one which is linguistically relevant);
4) functional (linguistic, social) of speech sounds. It is called so
because of the role the sounds of language play in its functioning as
medium of human communication.
 How are phonemes acquired?
• Infants are born capable
of learning any sounds of
any language

• They learn the phonemes

of their language by ~ 9 -
12 months
– (by learning to ignore
distinctions that are not
phonemic)
 Phoneme
Prof. V.A. Vassilyev: the segmental phoneme is the
smallest (i.e. further indivisible into smaller consecutive
segments) language unit (sound type) that exists in the
speech of all the members of a given language
community as such speech sounds which are capable of
distinguishing one word from another word of the same
language or one grammatical form of a word from
another grammatical form of the same word.
Can be illustrated in a minimal pair:
/bt/ - /b t/
/b t/ - /b z/
R. O. Jacobson: the phoneme is a
bundle of distinctive features.
 Allophone
• The phoneme manifests
itself in the form of its actual
realizations – allophones
• Example: in GAE, the
phoneme /t/ can be…
[t] [bt]
[th] [thp]
[] [l]
[] [bn]
 Phoneme
Peter Roach:
 Sounds in the mind = phonemes

 Sounds in the mouth = allophones

PLATO
(428/427 or 424/423
– 348/347 BC
• Dialogues: Philebus. Protarchus.
…SOCRATES: The sound which passes through the lips whether
of an individual or of all men is one and yet infinite. .…And yet not
by knowing either that sound is one or that sound is infinite are we
perfect in the art of speech, but the knowledge of the number and
nature of sounds is what makes a man a grammarian.
…Звук, исходящий из наших уст, один, и в то же время он
беспределен по числу у всех и у каждого.… Однако ни то ни
другое еще не делает нас мудрыми: ни то, что мы знаем
беспредельность звука, ни то, что мы знаем его единство;
лишь знание количества звуков и их качества делает каждого
из нас грамотным. [Т. 3. Филеб. 16 с- 17 b. С. 13–14]
 Phoneme
Ivan Olexandrovych Baudouin de Courtenay
(1845-1929).

 the phoneme as a psychical/

mental image of a sound,
 “mentalist” view of the phoneme.
 Phoneme
Lev Vol. Shcherba (1880-1944)
materialistic view of the phoneme
The phoneme = a real, independent, distinctive unit
which manifests itself in the form of its actual
realizations – allophones.
His pupil Lev Rafailovych Zinder – not only within
words (pen-ten), but also within morphemes.
The Petersburg (Leningrad) Phonological School: Маргарита Іванівна
Матусевич, Лія Василівна Бондарко, Мірра Веніаминівна Гордіна.
Olena Ivanivna Steriopolo (Kyiv), Yelena Borysovna Karnevskaya
(Minsk)
 Phoneme
The Moscow Phonological School
founded in the 20s of the last century
(Ruben Іvanovych Avanesov, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych
Reformatsky).

the phoneme is represented by a whole number of its

alternating features, e.g. the Russian phoneme /c/ (here:
archiphoneme) may be represented by the following
sounds:
[???] – с отцом, с сестрой, с братом, с шурином, с
женой.
 LPhSchool VS MPhSchool
• LPhSchool: purely phonetic
principle of defining a phoneme
• MPhSchool: morphological
principle (archiphoneme)

Дуб/п/ - дуба.
ВодА-вОды, том-сад.

[c] – с отцом, [с’] – с сестрой,

[з] – с братом, [ш] – с шурином,
[ж] – с женой.
 London phonetic school
Daniel Jones (DJ)
(IPA = International Phonetic Association)
physical view of the phoneme
the phoneme = a family of sounds, a sum of its actual
realizations.
1) The various members of the family must show phonetic similarity to
one another.
2) No member of the family may occur in the same phonetic context as
any other. (= complementary distribution)
Drawback: all reference to non-articulatory criteria in grouping of
sounds into phonemes is excluded. Phoneme = a group of articulatorily
similar sounds without any regard to its functional and abstract facets.
 Daniel Jones
• Professor at University College
London
• Promoted the term “cardinal
vowel.”
• A father of the IPA
• Suggested a two-parameter
diagram to visualize how
vowels are produced
• Popularized experimental
phonetics
• Developed new alphabets for
African and Indian languages

(1881 - 1967)
 Functional view of the phoneme
The Prague Linguistic Circle (1926-1953),
Vilém Mathesius

N.S. Trubetskoi (1890-1938) and Roman Jacobson (1896-

1982) viewed the phoneme as the bundle of
distinctive features (features involved in the
differentiation of the words)

1928, 1st International Linguistic Congress

(the Hague) and especially!!! after N. Trubetskoi’s monograph
Principles of Phonology (1939) ((system of oppositions)).
 DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
the phoneme is the bundle of distinctive features (features
involved in the differentiation of the words)

/t/ - 1) …
2) …
3) …
Non-distinctive features:
[t] [bt]
[th] [thp]
[] [l]
[] [bn]
 OPPOSITIONS_1: relationship to the entire
system

“dimensionality” (qualitative criteria):

o bilateral одномірні – the complex of features, proper to both
members of the opposition is not relevant to any other members of
the system; [t] : [d] – alveolar, plosive.
o multilateral багатомірні — the complex of features, proper to
both members of the opposition is relevant to other members of the
system. [b] : [d] voiced, plosive - /g/

“occurrence” (quantitative criteria):

o isolated — the relation does not occur in any other opposition;
[t] : [s]
o proportional — relations are equivalent to those in other
oppositions. [t]: [d] = [p]: [b] = [k]: [g]
 OPPOSITIONS_2: extent of the distinctive
force

constant — Voiced – voiceless consonants –

opposition is constant in English and German
languages (and Ukrainian!!!).

 neutralized — in Russian луг-лук.

 OPPOSITIONS_3: relation between the
opposition members

 privative – 1 member has or lacks a distinctive feature.

Voiced consonant (work of the vocal cords in the process of
articulation) — has this feature + (marked member),
voiceless doesn’t (vocal cords do not work) — absence of
the feature (-unmarked member);
 gradual — members of the opposition have different
degrees of the same feature. E.g. how tongue is raised (low,
mid and high vowels);
• equipollent — members are logically equal. /k/ and /g/ have
privative opposition of voicedness and voicelessness, and
equipollent (place of articulation).
 Methods of phonological analysis
• the aim of the phonological analysis is to find the inventory of
the phonemes of this or that language
/stik/ - /stæk/: /i/, /æ/;
/stik/ - /spik/: /st/, /sp/; /tik/ - /tæk/, /sik/ - /sæk/ minimal segments
[s], [t], [p].
distributional method
1) Allophones of different phonemes occur in the same phonetic
context (contrastive, free, phonemic distribution).
2) Allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same
phonetic context (complementary, allophonic distribution).
semantic method (phonemes can distinguish words and mor-
phemes when opposed to one another): commutation test,
consists in finding minimal pairs
difficulties: /ækt/ - /æpt/, /bed/ - /bet/.
 DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
the phoneme is the bundle of distinctive features (features
involved in the differentiation of the words)

/t/ - 1) voiceless
2) occlusive/stop/plosive
3) bilabial
Non-distinctive features:
[t] [bt]
[th] [thp]
[] [l]
[] [bn]
 DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
• minimal contrastive unit, helps to explain how the sound
system of languages is organized.
• Articulatory features which form the invariant of the
phoneme, i.e. if we change them → the meaning of the
word/gr. form is changed e.g. bad-bat
• DISTINCTIVE or RELEVANT.
• The articulatory features which do not serve to distinguish
meaning are called NON-DISTINCTIVE, IRRELEVANT
or REDUNDANT, e.g. aspiration tea.
• L.V. Scherba: pronunciation errors are phonological and
phonetic. Transcription: broad/phonemic,
narrow/allophonic (special symbols – diacritic signs - info
about particular allophonic features)
 Complementary distribution

[t] [bt] syllable final

[th] [thp] syllable initial
[] [l] btwn stressed &
unstressed syllable

* NOTE: As opposed to “free distribution”

 FACETS /'fæsɪt/ OF THE PHONEME
1. Material, real and objective - it exists in the
material form of allophones (eight thick books, eight
apples, twelve, stay, too). Each phoneme has several
allophones → classification.
•principal/typical (free from the influence of the
neighbouring sounds, most representative)
•subsidiary/secondary/subordinate.
•arbitrary
 Subsidiary allophones
2 groups:
• combinatory (result from the influence of the
neighbouring speech sounds – assimilation,
adaptation, accommodation tell, on that)
• positional (occur in certain positions only; appear
traditionally see – seed - seat).

Arbitrary allophones appear as a result of idiolect

or dialect: which (voiceless dental-velar fricative),
loch /x/ (voiceless velar fricative), etc.
 Facets of the phoneme (Vassilyev)
• Material, real and objective
Types of allophones:
a) principal/typical,
b) subsidiary/secondary/subordinate,
c) arbitrary

• Abstracted or generalized
• Functionality:
a) distinctive (dreamer- dreamy; pen – ten; It was gold – It was cold; He was
heard badly. – He was hurt badly.), - THE MAIN FUNCTION
b) constitutive,
c) recognitive/identificatory
IPA: 1) International Phonetic Association, founded 1886, led by
Paul Passy; 2) International Phonetic Alphabet
Cardinal vowels
Cardinal vowels
 UKRAINIAN SOUND SYSTEM
38 sounds, 6 vowels and 32 consonants
•Ukrainian vowels – 6 [і], [и], [е], [у], [о], [а]
1)front [е], [и], [і] and back [а], [о], [у];
2) low [а], medium [е], [о], high [і], [и], [у];
3) labialized [о], [у], non-labialized [і], [и], [е], [а].
 UKRAINIAN SOUND SYSTEM
• Ukrainian consonants – 32 [б], [п], [д], [д' ], [т], [т' ], [ґ ], [к], [ф], [ж], [з], [з'
], [ш], [с], [с' ], [г], [х], [дж], [дз], [дз' ], [ч], [ц], [ц' ], [в], [й], [м], [н], [н' ], [л],
[л' ], [р], [р' ]
1) sonorants (9 - [в], [й], [м], [н], [н' ], [л], [л' ], [р], [р' ]) and noise consonants
(voiced ([б], [д], [д' ], [ґ ], [ж], [з], [з' ], [г], [дж], [дз], [дз' ]) and voiceless ([п],
[т], [т' ], [к], [ш], [с], [с' ], [х], [ч], [ц], [ц' ]));
2) labial ([б], [п], [в], [м], [ф]), lingual ([д], [д' ], [т], [т' ], [з], [з' ], [с], [с' ], [дж],
[дж], [ц], [ц' ], [р], [р' ], [л], [л' ], [н], [н' ], [ж], [ч], [ш], [дж], [й]), pharyngeal
([г]);
3) hard, non-palatalized ([б], [п], [д], [т], [ґ ], [к], [ф], [ж], [ш], [з], [с], [г], [х],
[дж], [ч], [дз], [ц], [в], [м], [н], [л], [р]) and soft, palatalized ([д' ], [т' ], [з' ], [с' ],
[дз' ], [ц' ], [й], [л' ], [н' ], [р ] );
4) sibilants (свистячі [з], [з' ], [с], [с' ], [ц], [ц' ], [дз] [дз' ], шиплячі [ж], [дж], [ч],
[ш]), nasal ([м], [н], [н' ]).
• [ґ] ґанок, ґудзик, ґрунт, ґречний, ґрати (іменник), ґатунок
 [г] – pharyngeal constrictive, less voiced;
• [ґ] – backlingual, occlusive, more voiced.
 Typical mistakes
Major difference:
Articulation of English – lips are tense and insignificantly
movable while articulation. Lips are pressed to the teeth, flat
rounding (with labialized vowels). The soft palate is raised
higher and is more tense.

Ukrainian – inertness of lips, significant protrusion (esp. for

/ч/, /дж/, /ш/, /ж/, labialized vowels). No aspiration.
Consonants are contrasted on the basis of their softness
(palatalization), hardness.
 Typical mistakes
Typical mistakes of Ukrainian learners of English:
Валігура О.Р. Фонетична інтерференція в англійському мовленні українських
білінгвів. Тернопіль: Підручники і посібники, 2008. – 288 с.
Кочубей В.Ю. Особливості вимовного акценту в англійському мовленні
українців: фонемний та фонетичний аспекти (PhD in Germanic languages,
dissertation)
Vowels:
1) English vowels have long and short monophthongs (long-tense,
short-lax).
2) Monophthongs, diphthongs, diphthongoids in English.
3) Vowels can be checked in closed syllables English (Ukrainian
syllable stereotype: consonant+vowel; in English: consonant-
vowel-consonant).
4) Positional length of vowels.
5) Unstressed vowels are pronounced as full ones.
 Typical mistakes
Consonants:
1) Consonants /w-v/, /n- / are not differentiated;
2) English consonants are palatalized;
3) No palatalization before back vowel and clear /l/;
4) Devoicing final voiced consonants without preserving the opposition of weak-strong
consonants;
5) No neutralization of aspiration or decreasing of it in certain phonetic contexts;
6) Absence of nasal, lateral plosions;
7) Absence of labialization of consonants under the influence of /w/;
8) Dental-dorsal pronunciation of apical-alveolar consonants;
9) Apical-alveolar pronunciation of /t/, /d/ before / / (instead of dental), /r/
(instead of post-alveolar);
10)Absence of linking /r/;
11)Absence of intrusive /r/;
12)No elision of /t/, /d/ in clusters like facts.
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