The Diphthong Theory.

Articulation Basis of the Language. Every nation that speaks a certain language has definite and quite obligatory ways of the articulation of the sounds. Sometimes these ways coincide in different languages but more often they are different. The habitual way of the articulation of all the sounds of a definite language is called by the term the articulation basis of the language. The articulation basis of English differs from that of Russian: voiced consonants are less energetic, whereas voiceless ones are much more energetic; the lips do not protrude; the tongue is slightly drawn back. The phonation habits of the native speakers of different languages may differ depending on character of sounds. In all languages speech sounds are traditionally divided into two main types – vowels and consonants.

From the articulatory point of view the main principles of the division are as follows: 1. the presence or absence of obstruction; 2. the distribution of muscular tension; 3. the force of the stream of air coming from the lungs. Vowels are speech sounds based on voice which is modified in the supralaringeal cavities. There is no obstruction in their articulation. The muscular tension is spread evenly throughout the speech organs. The force of the stream of air is rather weak. Consonants are speech sounds in the articulation of which there is an obstruction, the removal of which causes noise, plosion or friction. The muscular tension is concentrated at the place of obstruction. The stream of air is strong. The articulatory boundary between vowels and consonants is not well- marked. There exist speech sounds that occupy an intermediate position between vowels and consonants. These are sonorants [m,n,n,l,w,r,]. The wide passage for the stream of air in the articulation of sonorants means that the oral and nasal cavities are active.

The classification of English consonants.

In the English consonant system there are 24 consonants. The quality of the consonants depends on several aspects: 1. the work of the vocal cords; 2. what cavity is used as a resonator; 3. the force of the articulation and some other factors. There are some principles of consonant classification: 1. the type of obstruction and the manner of production of noise. We distinguish 2 classes of consonants: a) occlusive c., in the production of which a complete obstruction is formed; b) constrictive c., in the production of which an incomplete obstruction is formed. Each of the two classes is subdivided into noise consonants and sonorants. Noise consonants are divided into plosives (or stops) and affricates and constrictive sounds. Sonorants are divided into occlusive and constrictive sounds. Constrictive sonorants may be medial and lateral. Another principle is the place of articulation. Consonants are classed into 1) labial, 2) lingual, 3) glottal. The first class is subdivided into a) bilabial; b) labio- dental; the second class is subdivided into: a) fore lingual, b) mediolingual, c)back lingual. The next principle is the presence or absence of voice which depends on the work of the vocal cords. All voiced consonants are weak (lenis) and all voiceless c. are strong (fortis). The next principle is the position of the soft palate. According to this, E. consonants can be oral and nasal.(m,n,n). According to the stability consonants are monophthongs, diphthongs and diphthongoids.

The classification of English vowels. In the E. vowel system there are 12 vowel monophthongs and 8 or 9 diphthongs. The quality of a vowel depends, first of all, on its stability, on the tongue position, lip position character of the vowel end, length, tenseness. 1. According to this principle E. vowels are subdivided into monophthongs, b) diphthongs, c) diphthongoids.[ I ], [ u ]. According to the position of the tongue vowels are classed from vertical and horizontal planes. From the horizontal plane vowels are divided into : 1. front; 2. front-retracted ; 3.central ; 4. back ; 5. back-advanced. From the vertical plane E. vowels are divided into: 1. close; 2. mid; 3. open. Each class has wide and narrow variations. According to the lip rounding vowels have 3 positions: spread, neutral, rounded. The next point is checkness. All E. short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness depends on the following consonant. All long vowels are free. According to the length E. vowels are traditionally divided into short and long vowels, it is a historical phenomenon. Besides, there exists the positional length of vowels, depending on the position of a vowel in a word. From the point of view of tenseness all historically long vowels are tense, while short vowels are lax.

The diphthong theory. The phonemic status of English diphthongs is still a question of discussion. Diphthongs are complex units of the two elements which are closely blended together. They are syllabically indivisible,the length of diphthongs is the same as that of English long vowels. In Russian there are no diphthongs, only combinations of sounds where both elements are equally energetic and distinct. English diphthongs consist of two elements, the first of which is a nucleus, strong and distinct; the second is a glide, which is very weak and indistinct. There exist languages where the second element of a diphthong is a nucleus, being strong and distinct, while the first element is weak and indistinct.(Italian, Latvian- piano, ruoka). Such diphthongs are considered to be false and rising, while English diphthongs are considered to be true and falling. There are 8 English diphthongs: close |ie|, |ue|; mid |ou|, |ei|; open |ea|, |oi|, |ai|, |au|. They are characterized according to the tongue position and the position of the lips.