Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University CHAIR OF ENGLISH

PHILOLOGY

Kenshinbay Temirbolat-candidate of
philological sciences

Kyzylorda
 Comparative Phonetics

I. The Aim, Objectives of

Theoretical Phonetics
II. Classification of English,
Kazakh and Russian
languages.
 What is phonetics?

What does phonetics study? Write what phonetics studies.

The term “phonetics” is derived from the Greek language.
Phonetics is often defined as a branch of linguistics dealing with
the phonetic structure of a Ianguage .It means that phonetics
studies
(1) the sounds, their classification and distribution;
(2) the syllabic structure of words, i.e. syllable formation and
syllable division
(3) the accentual structure of words, its nature , place and
degree;
(4) the intonational structure of sentences
 What sciences is
phonetics connected with?

Write in the gaps those sciences , which phonetics

is connected with.

As а branch of linguistics phonetics occupies a peculiar position. Though it is

an independent science and develops according to its own laws, it is
connected with a number of other linguistic and non-linguistic sciences.
On the one hand, phonetics is connected with lexicology of the language On
the other hand, it is connected with grammar and other sciences.

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 What aspects of language
do the linguistic sciences study?

* Phonetics - the study of speech sounds in their physical aspects

*Phonology-   the study functional aspect of speech sounds
*Morphology- is the study of the internal structure of words
*Syntax - the study of the formation of sentences
*Semantics - the study of meaning
*Pragmatics-  is the study of the aspects of meaning and language use
The linguistic sciences study the language from different viewpoints.
Lexicology treats of the vocabulary of a language, of its origin, meaning and
word-building. Grammar studies the structure of a language and the rules
governing the combination of words into sentences. Stylistics means the study
of style. The history of the language traces its historical development.
Phonetics is connected with them because lexical, grammatical and other
phenomena are expressed phonetically. They cannot exist outside phonetics.
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 What other sciences is
phonetics connected with?

Explain them and compare your answer

Phonetics is connected with stylistics through intonation which

serves to express different emotions and to distinguish between
different attitudes on the part of the speaker or reader.
Phonetics is connected with physics because speech like any
other sounds in nature are acoustic phenomena and may be
studied from the point of view of their physical properties.
The articulation of sounds and their perception are connected
with anatomy and psychology.
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 What are the aspects
of speech sounds?

Point out the aspects.

Human speech sounds are of a complex nature and they may be viewed
from four points articulatory, auditory, acoustic and functional.These
are the aspects of speech sounds.They all function simultaneously and
cannot be separated from one another.But each of them can be singled
out only for purposes of linguistic analysis.

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 What branches of phonetics
do you know?

Record your answer

Point out the branches instead of gaps.

Thus, phonetics, as a science, has developed a number of its
own branches: physiological phonetics, which treats of the
articulation and perception of sounds, acoustic phonetics,
which studies the physical nature of speech sounds, and
phonology, which is concerned with the study of functions of
different phonetic phenomena. Each of these branches of
phonetics has its own methods of investigation and its own
terminology.
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 What branch of phonetics studies
the articulatory aspect of
speech sounds?

Write the missing branch.

From the point of view of its articulation every speech sound is a complex
unity of definite movements and positions of the speech organs. It is
physiological phonetics (sometimes also called “articulatory phonetics”)
which deals with the study, description and classification of speech
sоunds. It is the oldest and the most developed branch of phonetics.

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 What branch of phonetics studies
the auditory aspect of
speech sounds ?

Write the branch in the gap.

Physiological phonetics also studies the auditory aspect of speech

sounds. There is an especially close connection between the
articulatory and auditory aspects, because when man pronounces
speech sounds they are perceived not only by the listener but by the
speaker himself too.
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 What are the physical
properties of a sound ?

Write the physical properties in the gap.

The physical properties of a sound are:
(1) fundamental frequency
(2 ) intensity and
(3) time
There is a close connection between acoustic and auditory aspects of speech sounds.
Care should be taken not to confuse the terminology which is used in them.
The fundamental frequency of a sound, as an acoustic property, is perceived by us
as its pitch or tone. The intensity of a sound corresponds to its loudness. The time or
temporal component is perceived as the duration or length of a speech sound.
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Blok-scheme

What do you know about

historical and comparative
phonetics ?
Historical phonetics is connected with general history and the history of the people
whose language is studied..The study of intonation is impossible without a good knowledge of
logic.
Closely connected with historical phonetics is comparative phonetics whose
aims are to study correlation between the phonetics system of two or more
languages, especially kindred ones and find out the correspondences between
the speech sounds kindred languages.

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 What are the spheres of
application of practical phonetics?

Write your point of view and compare it with correct answer.

Phonetics may be practical and theoretical.
Practical phonetics has wide sphere of application
Theoretical phonetics has wide sphere of application
Practical phonetics is connected with teaching foreign language and is
applied in method of speech correction, teaching mute transliteration,
radio, TV. The latter term is used to designate all the practical
applications of phonetics, which are very manifold. All the branches of
phonetics are absolutely indispensables to the teaching of the
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prononciation of foreign languages, especially to adults learners.
 Module 1

May the articulation basis of different languages

differ? How are final consonants articulated in
Russian and Kazakh? What is articulation basis?
1) The English have a tendency to hold the tip of the tongue in neutral position at the level of the alveoli (or teeth-
ridge), whereas the Russians and the Kazakhs keep it much lower, at tooth level. That is why there are about 50%
of all the consonants in RP which are articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveoli, as in /t, d, n, l, s/
etc. they are alveolar, palato-alveolar and post-alveolar in accordance with the place of obstruction. The tip of the
tongue in the articulation of Russian and Kazakh forelingual consonants occupies dental position.
2) The English and the Kazakhs have a general habit to hold the bulk of the tongue in neutral position a little further
back, lower and flatter than the Russians. This may be observed in the art-n of the consonants /h, ŋ/ in British RP
and /h, ң, қ, ғ/ in Kazakh.
3) The English have a specific way of articulating final consonants. Voiced consonants in final position are always
weak in English (even partially devoiced). They are called lenis. Voiceless consonants in final position, on the
contrary, are strong. They are called fortis. In Russian voiced consonants are impossible in final positions (except
sonorant), and voiceless cons-s in final position are always weak. In Kazakh sonorant and /з/ are possible in final
position, e. g. көз.
4) There is a specific way of articulating voiceless plosive cons-s in English. When they are followed by a stressed
vowel they are aspirated, as in ‘teacher’, ‘paper’. In Kazakh and Russian they are non-aspirated.
5) There is a tendency to lengthen the English word-ending sonorant before a pause, especially when they are
precede by a short vowel. As in Tom, doll, long. The similar Russian and Kazakh sonorants are short in the same
position.
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Module 1

What are complete and incomplete obstructions?

What sounds are produced in these cases?

Write them in the gaps.

The obstruction is complete when the articulating organs are in close

contact. The air passage is completely blocked. They are called
occlusive.
The obstruction is incomplete when the organs of speech are
not blocked completely but only constricted, or narrowed
leaving a passage for the air to go through. They are called
constrictive.
Beginning with a complete and ending with an incomplete
one is the type of obstruction when affricates are produced.

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 Module 1

How are plosive consonants in the following

words in English, Russian and Kazakh
pronounced before stressed vowels:
teacher, tact, tart.
The seven Russian vowel sounds are all similar to English vowel sounds, with the exception of “ы”. It should be noted
that the Russian vowel sounds are pronounced more open than in English. Most Russian consonants are pronounced slightly
more forward than in English. For example, the sounds [t] and [d] are dental and [s] and [z] are created by touching the tongue to
the top edge of the lower teeth. One Russian consonant is not formed in English, щ, and is pronounced [∫t∫] as in “fresh cheese”.
There are two groupings of consonant sounds in Russian, often known as “hard” and “soft”. The “hard” sound is the normal
formation, while the “soft” sound is pronounced as a palatalized velar, with a raised tongue position. English approximation
examples are talk and costume; body and beauty. The most difficult consonant sounds for Russians are /θ/, /ð/, /ŋ/ and /w/.
Also, the sounds /t/, /d/, /l/ and /n/ are formed differently by Russians, giving them a strong foreign sound. Russians
usually devoice /b/, /d/ and /g/ in final voiced positions, causing mispronunciation. When /p/, /k/ and /t/ are at the
beginning of words, Russians often mispronounce these sounds. The sound /h/ is replaced by a rougher sound
like ch in loch. They often soften many consonants before front vowels and replace the dark /ł/ with the clear
/l/.Consonant clusters that are especially challenging are /s/ + /θ/, /ð / + /z/ and /θ/ + /s/. Other problems include
pronouncing /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/ followed by /y/; exploding the first plosive in a combination of two plosive consonants;
inserting the sound /ә/ in the combination /tl/, /dl/, /tn/ and /dw/; and pronouncing the initial clusters /tw/, /tr/, /pr/, /dr/
and /br/.

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 Module 1

What is the difference in the position of the bulk

of the tongue in the production of
vowels and in their length in English,
Russian and Kazakh?
In the production of English vowels the bulk of the tongue is more often at the back of the mouth; in the production
of Russian and Kazakh vowels the tongue is mostly in the front part of the mouth. Besides, the tongue may occupy
more positions when articulating English vowels than in Russian or Kazakh vowel production Some vowels in
English are pronounced with a fixed resonator (the tongue and the lips do not change their position), others are
articulated with a modified resonator (the tongue and the lips move from one position to another).
1)The positions and movements of the lips are very peculiar. On the one hand, when an English is silent, his lips
occupy the so-called flat-type position, they are more or less tense and the corners are raised as in a smile. A Russian
and a Kazakh keep the lips rather lax with the corners of the lips lowered. Spreading of the lips for front vowels is
rather typical of English. In Russian and Kazakh the lip position for unrounded vowels is neutral. On the other hand,
in the production of the Russian vowels /o, у/ and the Kazakh /o, e, у, ү, ұ/ the lips are considerably protruded. In
English such protrusion does not take place, as in /o, o:, u, u:/.
2)In the production of English vowels the bulk of the tongue is more often at the back of the mouth; in the
production of Russian and Kazakh vowels the tongue is mostly in the front part of the mouth. Besides, the tongue
may occupy more positions when articulating English vowels than in Russian or Kazakh vowel production.
3)English and Kazakh vowels are more tense than Russian. This is especially felt in unstressed syllables. In English
and Kazakh an unstressed vowel does not always differ greatly from a stressed one. In Russian it is always short, lax
and reduced.
4)There are in English short and long vowels which are different both in quality and quantity. There are no such
phonemic oppositions in the Russian and Kazakh languages .
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Module 1

What speech organs are responsible

for the production of vowels?

Give 4 principles of vowel classification and classify the sounds [e, з:]

Speech sounds are produced by passing breath through the oral cavity or additionally through
the nasal cavity and modulating the air flow by moving some speech organ (vocal folds, the
tongue or the lips called active articulators) against some other moving or non-moving speech
organ (teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate or velum called passive articulators). A sound
articulated by air passing unobstructed through the vocal folds and the oral/nasal cavity is
called a vowel. According to them there are 4 principles of vowel classification:
-position of lip(rounded/unrounded)
-position of tongue (horizontal - front, central, back; vertical-close, mid-open, open)
-degree of tenseness/character of the end of the vowel (tense, lax, checked, free)
-lenght(long and short);
Hence, sounds [ з:] are unrounded, central, mid-open;
Sound [e] is unrounded, front.
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Module 1

What speech organs are responsible

for the production of consonants.

Give 4 principles of consonant classification and classify the sounds [t, m, dз, w]

4 principles of consonants classification: .

- work of vocal cords (voiceless/voiced)
- place of articulation (labial, lingual, pharyngal)
- manner of the production of noise (occlusive, constrictive, occlusive-constrictive)
-position of the soft palate (oral/nasal).
Sound: [t] is voiceless, lingual, occlusive, oral;
[m] - voiced, bilabial, occlusive, nasal;
[dз] - voiced, forelingual, occlusive-constrictive, oral;
[w] - voiced, labial, constrictive, oral

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Module 1

Write down consonant phonemes in English

which have no counterparts
in Russian&Kazakh.

More should be spent on those sounds that differ in English and the two
local languages. A first priority would be those sounda that are difficult
for both Russians and Kazakhs. These sounds include (Nilsen,1971):
/p/vs./b/ /ᶞ/vs./ᶿ/ /w/vs./ᵑ/ /w/vs./hw/ /v/vs./z/ /ᶞ/vs./d/
/p/vs./f/

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Module 1

Write down vowel phonemes in English

which have no counterparts
in Russian&Kazakh.

/iy/ vs./ I/ /a/ vs. /ↄ>/ /e/ vs. /ᵆ/ /ᵆ/ vs. /a/
/ᵊ>/ vs. /a/ 

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