III. Spell and transcribe the words

IV. Translate the phrases into English.

V. Write the dictation.

VI. Listen to the wrong statements. Correct them.

VII. a) Listen to the poem "Twilight" by George G. Byron. b) Mark the stresses and tunes. Practise the poem, c) Learn it by heart.

Phonetic Exercises

Introduction

Intonation

Intonation is a complex unity of variations in pitch, stress, tempo and timbre.

The pitch component of intonation, or melody, is the changes in the pitch of the voice in connected speech.

Sentence stress, or accent, is the greater prominence of one or more words among other words in the same sentence.

Tempo is the relative speed with which sentences and intonation-groups are pronounced in connected speech.

Speech timbre is a special colouring of voice which shows the speaker's emotions, i. e. pleasure, displeasure, sorrow, etc.

Intonation serves to form sentences and intonation-groups, to define their communicative type, to express the speaker's thoughts, to convey the attitudinal meaning. One and the same grammatical structure and lexical composition of the sentence may express different meaning when pronounced with different intonation.

e, g. à Isn't it ri_/diculous? (general question)

à Isn't it ri_\diculous! (exclamation)

Long sentences, simple extended, compound and complex, are subdivided into intonation-groups. Intonation-group division depends on the meaning of the sentence, the grammatical structure of the utterance and the style of speech. Each intonation-group is characterized by a definite intonation pattern. The number of intonation groups in the same sentence may be different.

e. g. In _/June | Ju_/ly | and _/August | our æ children 'don't 'go to _\school.

In æJune, 'July, and _/August | our æ children 'don't 'go to _\school.

The end of each sentence is characterized by a relatively long pause. The pauses between intonation-groups are shorter, they vary in 'length. There may be no pauses between intonation-groups at all.

Each intonation-group is characterized by a certain intonation pattern, i. e. each syllable of an intonation-group has a certain pitch and bears a larger or smaller degree of prominence. Consequently pitch levels are inseparably connected with stress. Intonation patterns consist of one or more syllables. Intonation patterns containing a number of syllables consist of the following parts: the pre-head, the head, the nucleus and the tail.

The pre-head includes unstressed and half-stressed syllables preceding the first stressed syllable.

The head includes the stressed and unstressed syllables beginning with the first stressed syllable up to the last stressed syllable.

The last stressed syllable is called the nucleus.

The unstressed and half-stressed syllables that follow the nucleus are called the tail.

e. g. It was a ævery 'sunny _\day yesterday.

It was a ... - the pre-head.

… ævery 'sunny - the head.

... _\day ... - the nucleus.

... yesterday - the tail.

The rises and falls that take place in the nucleus or start with it are called nuclear tones.

The nucleus is the most important part of the intonation pattern as it defines the communicative type of the sentence, determines the semantic value of the intonation-group, indicates the communicative centre of the intonation-group or of the whole sentence.

The communicative centre is associated with the most important word or words of the intonation-group or of the sentence.

The nuclear tone of the final intonation-group is determined by the communicative type of the whole sentence.

The communicative types of sentences are differentiated in speech according to the aim of the utterance from the point of view of communication, i. e. in order to show if the sentence expresses a statement of fact, a question, a command or an exclamation.

There are four communicative types of sentences:

1. Statements, e. g. I like music.

2. Questions, e. g. Can you prove it?

3. Imperative sentences or commands, e. g. Try it again.

4. Exclamations, e. g. Right you are!

The intonation pattern of the non-final intonation-group, mainly its nuclear tone, is determined by the semantic value of the intonation-group and by its connection with the following one.

The falling nuclear tone shows that the non-final intonation-group is complete, important by itself and is not so closely connected with the following intonation-group.

A longer pause after an intonation-group pronounced with the falling tone makes the intonation-group even more significant.

e. g. I'll à tell him _\ all | when he _\comes.

The rising nuclear tone shows that the non-final intonation-group is closely connected in meaning with the following intonation-group, is not important by itself and implies continuation.

e. g. à Generally _/speaking, | pre à fer _\tennis.

The intonation pattern is also modified by the speaker's attitude towards his utterance:

e. g. _\Why? - detached, even unsympathetic.

_/Why? - wondering.

In English notional words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) are generally stressed. Form-words and most pronouns (personal and possessive mainly) are generally unstressed. But any part of speech may be stressed if it is semantically important.

e. g.æ What is he 'going to _\do? - do is the communicative centre.

àWhat is _\he going to do? - he is the communicative centre.

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