Classification of vowel sounds. Definition of phonetics

Language is a truly wonderful gift to humanity. This perfect communication tool has a complex device, it is a system of language units. Traditionally, starting the study of language, they turn to phonetics, the division of the science of language, the subject of which are sounds of speech, and more specifically, the classification of vowels and consonant sounds.

Phonetics

Phonetics is designed to study speech sounds. It occupies a special position, which is determined by the fact that the subject of its study are units of language that are of a material nature. Sound speech is formed by the organs of human speech and air vibrations. Perception of sounding speech occurs by the organs of a person's hearing.

Phonetics deals with the most minimal unit of language - the sound of speech. Such sounds are endless. After all, each one says it in his own way. But one can distinguish among this variety such sounds that are pronounced in the same way. The method of education is the basis for classifying sounds.

The main thing that phonetics is studying is the classification of vowels and consonant sounds. Articulatory and acoustic sounds of speech are either vowels or consonants. Vowels provide speech with melodiousness. Consonants - noise.

When air comes from the lungs through the vocal cords and the oral cavity freely, sounds are formed, which are called vowels. They differ only in overtones, formed by movements of the tongue and lips.

Consonant same sounds are obtained when the air overcomes obstacles in its path. They consist of voice and noise or just noise. Different ways of forming and overcoming these obstacles make it possible to distinguish consonant sounds from each other. On these differences, the classification of the vowels / consonants of the Russian language is constructed. We will discuss its principles further.

Phonetics is a division of linguistics, in which articulatory and acoustic features of speech sounds are studied. Articulatory phonetics is engaged in studying the anatomical and physiological nature of sound and the mechanisms of its production. Acoustic phonetics examines sound as oscillatory movements, carried out by its passage through the vocal cords and mouth. The subjects of studying acoustic phonetics are its height, strength, longitude and timbre.

Acoustic classification of vowel sounds

Familiarity with phonetics usually begins with the study of vowel sounds. We will not deviate from traditions, which are due to their greater importance. They are syllabic. The consonants are adjacent to the vowels.

What classification of vowel and consonant sounds will be the subject of our attention for the study of vowel sounds in the first place?

First, consider the acoustic features of vowels:

• All these sounds are formed by the tone of the voice;
• Characterized by shock and shocklessness, that is, they are weak and strong;
• Weak vowels short in sound, they do not need to strain their vocal cords when pronouncing them;
• Strong vowels are distinguished by a longer pronunciation and with vocal cord tension.

The tone of vowel sounds is not a semantic feature. Can transmit only the emotional state of the speaker or grammatical meaning. For example, in the interrogative sentence in a higher tone, a vowel is pronounced in the word carrying the greatest semantic load.

Weak and short sounds are called unstressed in Russian. Strong and long are percussion. The stress is in our language loose and performs most often a grammatical function: a house (unit hours), a house (plural). Sometimes the stress is semantic: the lock (construction), the lock (the device for locking the door).

Classification of vowel sounds by articulatory features. Rounded / unrounded vowels

Articulatory classification of vowel sounds is much broader than acoustic. In addition to voice, they are formed by the lips, tongue and lower jaw. Sound is formed in a certain way and is characterized by the following features:

• Participation of the lips in his education;
• Degree of lifting of the tongue;
• Horizontal movement of the tongue in the oral cavity.

Vowels can be formed by stretching the lips, then they have the name of the cut off (labialized). If the lips do not participate in the formation of a vowel, then it is called unbonded (unabalized).

The broken vowels are formed when the lips are pushed forward, the lips are drawn together. The air passes through a narrow space formed by lips folded into a tube, the oral cavity lengthens. The degree of killing is different: the vowel [o] is smaller, and the vowel [y] is characterized by a greater degree of killing. The rest of the vowels are unbroken, that is, unbalanced.

Vowels in terms of the degree of vertical movement of the tongue, that is, on the rise

By the way the tongue rises to the palate, vowel sounds are:

• Upper climb. These are sounds [and], [s], [y]. They are formed when the language rises as high as possible. These sounds are also called narrow.
  
• The middle rises are the sounds of [e], [o]. When they are formed, the language is lowered slightly lower than when the previous ones were formed.
  
• The bottom rise is the sound of [a]. It is formed when the language is as low as possible. This sound is also called wide.
  

The lower the rise, the wider the mouth opens and the lower jaw falls.

Vowels along the horizontal movement of the tongue

Vowels along the horizontal movement of the tongue in the mouth are also divided into three groups:

• The front row is the sounds [and], [e]. When they are formed, the front part of the tongue needs to be lifted to the front of the palate.
• The middle row is the sounds [a], [s]. When they form, the middle part of the tongue rises to the middle part of the palate.
• The rear row is [y], [o]. When they form, the back of the tongue rises to the back of the palatine part.

In a generalized form, the classification of vowel sounds is reflected in the vowel triangle. You can see it in the picture below.

Shades of vowel sounds

The division of the series and the rise does not correspond to all the richness and diversity of the vowels. In general, the classification of vowels / consonants sounds of the Russian language is much broader than given in the textbooks of the school program. Both the first and second can have variants of pronunciation. It depends on the position in which they stand.

In addition to the sound [and] there is one that is pronounced with a slightly greater openness of the mouth and a rise in the tongue lower than [and]. This sound is called [and] open. In transcription is denoted [and ^e ]. Example: forests [l'i ^e sa '].

Not so open is the sound [s]. For example, in the word "iron", which is pronounced as [zhy ^e l'ezny].

In a weak position, in front of the stressed syllable, instead of the sounds [a], [o], an unbalized sound [/ \] is pronounced. It takes place between [a] and [o] according to the position of the language, for example: grass [mp / \ va '], field [n / \ n'a'].

There are still reduced vowels, they are called still weakened sounds. These are [i] and [i]. [B] is the sound of the middle range of middle-rise. [B] - this sound is the sound of the front row of the middle rising. Examples: a steam locomotive [nap / \ wo], water [in water]. The weakening of their pronunciation is due to the remoteness of these vowels from stress.

Sounds [and], [ы ^э ], [/]], [ь], [ь] are found only in a position without stress.

Dependence of vowel sounds on the softness of consonants

Changing the pronunciation of vowels depending on the soft (palatalized) consonants considers phonetics. Classification of vowel sounds depending on such neighborhood can be represented as follows:

• The vowels ['a], [' e], ['o], [' y] move slightly up and forward at the beginning of the pronunciation.
• If these vowels are between soft consonants, changes in articulation are retained throughout the entire utterance of the sound: son-in-law [s'a't '], aunt [t'o't'a], tulle [t'u'l'].

Types of percussion vowels

In our language there are six positions, which are represented by different types of percussion vowels. All of them are presented in the table below.

Types of unstressed vowels

Classification of vowel sounds of speech, standing not under stress, depends on the proximity or distance from the stress and preposition or postposition in relation to it:

• Vowels [and], [s], [y], standing in a pre-syllable syllable, are slightly weakened in their articulation, but they do not change radically.
• If [s] is after sizzling and hard before soft, then it slightly moves up and forward at the end of the pronunciation of the sound, for example in the word x [y].
• The sound [y] at the very beginning of the word, standing in front of the consonants soft and after the hard back-lingual or hissing, also slightly shifts up and forward at the end of the pronunciation. For example: [у˙] tug, ж [у˙] рть.
• The vowel [y], if he is behind a soft consonant, before the consonant is firm, moves up and forward at the beginning of the pronunciation. For example: [l'y] bov.
• If [y] is between soft consonants, it shifts up and forth throughout the entire time of utterance: [l'yyu] beat.
• The vowels [a], [o], if they stand after the back tongue at the beginning of the word, hard and [c], are pronounced as [ㆄ], this vowel is formed in the middle row, on the rise is average, it is unabalized.
• The vowels [a], [o], [e], if they stand after the soft consonants, [h], [j] are pronounced as [ne], which is characterized as an unbalanced vowel, the mean between [u] and [e] A number of education it is front, on the rise is the mid-upper.
• The vowels [e], [o], which are after [w], [x], are pronounced as [uE], it is the sound of a forward series, it is no longer u and not, such a sound can be heard, for example, in the word " Wait. "
• The vowel [a] after [w], [w] is pronounced as [ㆄ]. This sound can be heard in the word "sh [ㆄ] pour".
• [And], [ы], [у] weaken their articulation in the third and second pre-syllable syllables, but their character of pronunciation does not change.
• The vowel [y], if it stands in the second and third pre-syllable syllables, before the palatalized consonant and behind the hard sounds, does not differ from the sound pronounced in the pre-syllable syllable, this applies to the vowels [s] and [and].
• The vowels [a], [o], [e] in the third and second pre-syllable syllables, at the very beginning of the word, change according to the type of the syllable that stands before the accent - on the place of the stressed vowels [a], [o] is pronounced [ㆄ] And the place [e] is pronounced [ue].

Changes in vowel percussion sounds in bumpy syllables are reflected in the table below.

Conclusion

Summarizing, we can conclude: the classification of vowel sounds affects the position of the language. Moving in the mouth, it creates different conditions for the formation of sounds. They are perceived as different vowels.