Force of Articulation

According to the data of instrumental analysis, consonants are fully voiced only in a formal setting, when the speech tempo is slow and the vocal cords vibrate all through the time of the sound production. On the other hand, in informal communication, when the speech is fast and careless, the vocal cords might not vibrate at all while producing such “voiced” plosives as [b], [d] or [ɡ].

Here the question arises: how are they then be distinguished from the corresponding voiceless plosives [p], [t] or [k]? How do hearers recognize them as such? What is the feature that differentiates meaning?

Researchers suppose that it is aspiration when the consonants are used in the initial position and the length of the preceding vowel when the consonants are in the final position.

e.g. such words as pay-bay, tie-die, Kate-gate are perceived as different not just because [p], [t] and [k] are voiceless and [b], [d] and [ɡ] are voiced, but because [p], [t] and [k] are pronounced with aspiration. In contrast to English, initial [б, д, г] are always fullyvoiced in Russian and Romanic languages.

Now let’s consider the quality of consonants in the final position. The difference in meaning between the words coa t -co d e, lea k -lea g ue is conditioned by the difference in the length of the preceding vowel ([t] and [k] significantly shorten preceding vowels). Similarly, the final [v], [ð], [z], [ʒ] can get completely devoiced in informal communication, when the speech tempo is fast. Thus, such word as eyes-ice, leave-leaf will be perceived as different only due to the length of the preceding vowel.

Many phoneticians consider English voiceless consonants to be produced with greater force of articulation compared to the voiced ones. Consequently, they find it more logical to differentiate English consonants not as voiced and voiceless, but as fortis (strong) and lenis (weak). This is the classification accepted now. As a rule, fortis consonants are also characterized by greater length. E.g. experiment: when the beginning of ([p], [t] and [k] was erased from the recording, native speakers of English got to identify them as [b], [d] and [ɡ].

Не нашли, что искали? Воспользуйтесь поиском: