Contents Introducti

Chapter II. English vowel phonemes in connected speech.
2.1. Modifications of Vowels in Connected Speech


While learning modification of the vowel phonemes I came across different approaches to the modification of vowels and their scientific problems in learning and some of them we have discussed below.
The modifications of vowels in a speech chain are traced in the following directions: they are either quantitative or qualitative or both. These changes of vowels in a speech continuum are determined by a number of factors such as the position of the vowel in the word, accentual structure, tempo of speech, rhythm, etc.The decrease of the vowel quantity or in other words the shortening of the vowel length is known as a quantitative modification of vowels, which may be illustrated as follows:
1. The shortening of the vowel length occurs in unstressed positions, e.g.

blackboard [ɔ:], sorrow [зu] (reduction). In these cases reduction affects both the length of the unstressed vowels and their quality.

Form words often demonstrate quantitative reduction in unstressed positions, e.g.

Is →he or she to blame? – [hi:]

But: At → last he has come . – [hi]

2. The length of a vowel depends on its position in a word. It varies in different

phonetic environments. English vowels are said to have positional length, e.g.

knee – need – neat (accommodation). The vowel [i:] is the longest in the final position, it is obviously shorter before the lenis voiced consonant [d], and it is the shortest before the fortis voiceless consonant [t].

Qualitative modification of most vowels occurs in unstressed positions. Unstressed vowels lose their "colour", their quality, which is illustrated by the examples below:
1. In unstressed syllables vowels of full value are usually subjected to qualitative
changes, e.g. man [mæn] – sportsman ['spɔ:tsmən], conduct ['kɒndəkt] – conduct [kən'd٨kt]. In such cases the quality of the vowel is reduced to the neutral sound [ə]. These examples illustrate the neutralized (reduced) allophones of the same phonemes as the same morphemes are opposed. Nearly one sound in five is either [ə] or the unstressed [i]. This high frequency of [ə] is the result of the rhythmic pattern: if unstressed syllables are given only a short duration, the vowel in them which might be otherwise full is reduced. It is common knowledge that English rhythm prefers a pattern in which stressed syllables alternate with unstressed ones. The effect of this can be seen even in single words, where a shift of stress is often accompanied by a change of vowel quality; a full vowel becomes [ə], and [ə] becomes a full vowel. Compare: analyse ['ænəlaiz] – analysis [ə'nælisis].
2. Slight degree of nasalization marks vowels preceded or followed by the nasal consonants [n], [m], e.g. never, no, then, men (accommodation).
The realization of reduction as well as assimilation and accommodation is connected with the style of speech. In rapid colloquial speech reduction may result in vowel elision, the complete omission of the unstressed vowel, which is also known as zero reduction. Zero reduction is likely to occur in a sequence of unstressed syllables, e.g. history, factory, literature, territory. It often occurs in initial unstressed syllables preceding the stressed one, e.g. correct, believe, suppose, perhaps.
The example below illustrates a stage-by-stage reduction (including zero reduction) of a phrase.
Has he done it? [hæz hi· ,d٨n it] [həz hI ,d٨n it] [əz i ,d٨n it]
[z i ,d٨n it]

3. Sound Alternations

The sound variations in words, their derivatives and grammatical forms of words are known as sound alternations. It is perfectly obvious that sound alternations are caused by assimilation, accommodation and reduction in speech. Alternations of consonants are mainly due to contextual assimilations: the dark [ł] in spell alternates with the clear [l] in spelling. Vowel alternations are the result of the
reduction in unstressed positions: combine ['kɒmbain] (n) – combine [kəm'bain]
(v) where [ɒ] in the stressed syllable of the noun alternates with the neutral sound in the unstressed syllable of the verb. Some sound alternations are traced to the phonetic changes in earlier periods of the language development and are known as historical.
The following list of examples presents the most common types of historical alternations.
1. Vowel Alternations

1. Distinction of irregular verbal forms: [i: – e – e]: mean – meant – meant

[i – ٨– ٨]: dig – dug – dug.

[ai – зu – i]: write – wrote – written [i – æ – ٨] : sing – sang – sung

[εə – ɔ: – ɔ:]: wear – wore – worn [ai – i – i]: hide – hid – hidden
[i: – зu – зu]: speak – spoke – spoken [зu – u: – зu]: know – knew – known [i – ei – i]: give – gave – given
[e – ɒ – ɒ]: get – got –got
[i: – ɔ: – ɔ:]: teach – taught – taught
[æ – u – u]: understand – understood – understood [ei – u – ei ]: take – took – taken
[ei – зu – зu]; wake – woke – woken
[u: – ɒ – ɒ]: shoot – shot – shot [e – зu – зu]: tell – told – told
[i – æ – æ]: sit – sat – sat

[i – ɔ: – ɔ:]: think – thought – thought [٨ – ei – ٨]: become – became – become

[ai – зu – i]: rise – rose – risen

[зu – u: – зu]: grow – grew – grown [u: – зu – зu]: choose – chose – chosen [ai – u: – зu]: fly – flew – flown

[ai – ɔ: – ɔ:]: fight – fought – fought [ai – au – au]: find – found – found
[i: – ɔ: – i:]: see – saw – seen
[iə – з: – з:]: hear – heard – heard

and some other less common verbal alternations of this type. 2. Distinction of causal verbal forms:

[i – e]: sit – set

[ai – ei]: rise – raise [ɔ: – e] fall – fell

3. Distinction of singular and plural forms of nouns: [æ – e]: man – men
[u – i:]: foot – feet [u: – i:]: tooth – teeth
[au – ai]: mouse – mice [u – i]: woman – women [ai – i]: child – children
4. Distinction of parts of speech in etymologically correlated words: [i: – e]: feast – festive between phonemes and morphemes is called morphophonemics. The interrelation of phonology and morphology in linguistic investigations is also known as morphophonology or morphonology which is actually the phonology of morphemes. Morphonology studies the way in which sounds can alternate as different realizations of one and the same morpheme. A morpheme is a minimal unit of meaning. We would all agree that such words as windy, dusty, sunny consist of two morphemes. Similarly, demonstration, alternation have two component morphemes. The meanings of wind, dust, sun as well as of demonstrate, situate are obvious. But what function do the morphemes -y and -ion perform? On the basis of the examples, it appears that the function of -y is to convert a noun into an adjective. Similarly -ion converts a verb into a noun
These morphemes have a grammatical meaning, their main purpose is to convert one part of speech into another. Each set of data below exemplifies a sound alternation in one and the same morpheme of two different parts of speech.
malice ['mælis] – malicious [mə'li∫əs] active ['æktiv] – activity [ək'tiviti]
abstract ['aæbstrækt] – abstract [æb'strækt]

conduct ['k ɒndəkt] – conduct [kən'd٨kt]

contrast ['k ɒntræst] – contrast [kən'træst]

We are interested now in the sound in its weak position. Vowels are said to be in their strong position when they are in stressed syllables and in the weak position when they are in the unstressed ones. Consonants may well be said to be in their strong position before vowels and in the intervocalic position; they are in weak positions when they are word final or precede other consonants.
There may be different solutions to the problem of phoneme identification in weak positions of alternated words. The question arises whether the sound [ə] in the words activity and con'trast is a neutral phoneme or it is an allophone of the [æ] or
[ɒ] phonemes (as in active, 'contrast) which loses some of its distinctive features in
the unstressed position. The difference is quite essential as in the first case the neutral sound is identified as an independent neutral phoneme, in the second – it is
a neutralized allophone of the [æ] or [ɒ] phonemes of the corresponding alternated words. The loss of one or more distinctive features of a phoneme in the weak position is called phonemic neutralization. In English, the voicing opposition is neutralized after the initial [s]. We are well aware of the fact that the phonemes [t] and [d], for example, contrast in most environments: initially (tick —Dick), finally (bid – bit); after nasals (bend – bent), after [l] (cold – colt). But after [s], no contrast between [t], [d] is possible, nor, similarly, is there a contrast between [p], [b] and [k], [g] in this environment. The voicing contrast is neutralized after initial