Department of English and American Studies English ... - IS MU [PDF]

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature

Věra Hromádková

Czech and English Sound Systems: Segmental and Suprasegmental Features with Regard to Czech Speakers of English Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D.

2011

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……..………………………………………… Věra Hromádková 2

I would like to express thanks to my supervisor PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D. for inspiration, motivation, her patient guidance and valuable advice throughout the making of this thesis. 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 6 MOTIVATION .............................................................................................................................................. 6 THE OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................................ 9 VOWELS .............................................................................................................................................. 10 SOUND [] ................................................................................................................................................ 13 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 14 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 16 SOUND [] .............................................................................................................................................. 17 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 18 SOUND [] .............................................................................................................................................. 18 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 19 SOUND [] .............................................................................................................................................. 21 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 22 SOUND [] .............................................................................................................................................. 23 SOUND [] ............................................................................................................................................... 24 SOUND [] .............................................................................................................................................. 26 DIPHTHONGS ....................................................................................................................................... 28 CENTRING DIPHTHONGS .............................................................................................................................. 29 [] .................................................................................................................................................... 29 [] ................................................................................................................................................... 29 [] ................................................................................................................................................... 29 CLOSING DIPHTHONGS ................................................................................................................................ 30 [] .................................................................................................................................................... 30 [] .................................................................................................................................................... 30 [] .................................................................................................................................................... 30 [] ................................................................................................................................................... 31 [] ................................................................................................................................................... 31 CONSONANTS...................................................................................................................................... 32 OBSTRUENTS............................................................................................................................................. 34 Plosives ............................................................................................................................................. 34 Affricates .......................................................................................................................................... 36 Fricatives .......................................................................................................................................... 36 SONORANTS .............................................................................................................................................. 38 Nasals ............................................................................................................................................... 38 Oral Approximants or Oral Continuants ........................................................................................... 40 Semi-vowels ...................................................................................................................................... 42 CONNECTED SPEECH AND SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES: STRESS, RHYTHM AND INTONATION ......... 43 STRESS ..................................................................................................................................................... 44 RHYTHM .................................................................................................................................................. 46 INTONATION ............................................................................................................................................. 47 Assimilation ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Elision ............................................................................................................................................... 50

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Liaison .............................................................................................................................................. 50 Juncture ............................................................................................................................................ 51 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: SUGGESTED PROCEDURE OF IMPROVING ONE’S PRONUNCIATION .......... 52 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 57 WORKS CITED ...................................................................................................................................... 59 ENGLISH RÉSUMÉ ................................................................................................................................ 61 CZECH RÉSUMÉ .................................................................................................................................... 62

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INTRODUCTION MOTIVATION Generally, Czechs are not at all considered as bad English speakers if contrasted with other nations either in Europe or all around the world. But still, their pronunciation at large shares some features which could be improved. As Gimson claims, “it is not sufficient for the learner to be easily intelligible when speaking English to a listener of his own nationality” (1975: 2). If only Czech teachers are heard in classes all the time and there is not any contact with native speakers, the outcome is the possibility of being unintelligible to native speakers. To avoid this Gimson suggests the minimum standard of performance which any ordinary learner should aim at is one which is easily understood by the native speaker of English. (1975: 2). The minimum standard is an important concept. It represents a basic need of a human being to communicate and be understood. However, in the modern world, only the understanding is not sufficient. Since the language and the way we speak very much determines how we are perceived by other people and how they evaluate us, it is important to develop one’s speaking skills to a certain level. For a non-native speaker of English the level should be not only the “intelligibility”, but also a language as close to the chosen variety as possible. As a result, the non-native speaker instead of applying the sound system of their native language to English should focus on mastering the characteristic features of the sounds of English. The possible way to achieve this would be to be aware firstly of the differences between the sound systems of the two languages and secondly of possible pitfalls and dangers in individual’s speech. This applies not only to those beginning to learn English, the advanced learners, but also to the non-native teachers of English. 6

From my personal point of view, it was the evaluation of my pronunciation in the very first year of my studies at the English Department by Dr. Tomková that first drew my attention to these problems. Simply due to the fact that I was not aware of any rules and possible dangers and principles in English pronunciation in comparison to Czech I was unconscious of my own imperfections. Moreover, when I came to England for a summer school, I became immediately aware how important it is to be equipped not only with grammatical structures and sufficient vocabulary, but also with universally intelligible speech. Even though it is sometimes said that in an international environment understanding is easier, because the different nationalities could never aspire to a perfect pronunciation. However, based on my personal observation I concluded that for most of the nationalities the aim was to sound like either like the British or the Americans. For most people it was not enough to be so-so intelligible with a strong foreign accent – they wanted to sound like native speakers. This brings me again to Gimson’s point that the reliable aim for the learner of English would be to be understandable for a native speaker. In other words, use the sound system of English instead of their native language. Then the important thing for the Czech learner would be the choice to what extent they want to develop their pronunciation in the frame of learning. Many factors would be involved in this decision, e.g. the variety they would like to learn (American, British, even Australian,…), the purpose of learning the language (for visiting the country, travelling around the world, studying in and English speaking country, living there, working,… ). These factors determine to what extent pronunciation will have to be developed, perhaps up to the extent that the non-native speaker would under certain circumstances be able to pass for a person confused for a native speaker. But 7

the minimum standard should always be the intelligibility for the native speakers of all varieties. Another important point is the teachers. As for how far they should aspire Gimson is uncompromising. He claims that “easy intelligibility is not enough for the teacher. He has the added responsibility of serving as a model for his pupils, who, if they are young, will imitate equally well a correct or a faulty pronunciation. His aim therefore must be perfection in respect of all aspects of pronunciation” (1975: 3). Moreover, the teacher not only has the responsibility to serve as a role model, but also has to be constantly alert to notice and correct the pupil’s mistakes as appropriate. The crucial goal for a Czech learner of English specifically would be to distinguish English and Czech sound systems. It seems that it is the particular sounds that for example do not exist in the Czech language at all that cause problems (dental fricative) or sounds that sound similar, but still bear differences in English and Czech, especially in the vowel category. However, there are also mistakes that are not at the level of segmental phonemes, but rather at the suprasegmental level as Doleželová in the study of her fellow students from the English Department claims. She emphasizes the “neutralization of lenis/fortis distinction in final consonants and its effect on the length of preceding vowels; lack of reduction in the weak forms of grammar words and unstressed syllables of lexical words, as well as missing aspects of connected speech such as liaison, assimilation and elision” (2008: 6). In my point of view, it is the connection and combination of the particular sounds and the suprasegmental elements such as stress and rhythm that make a pupil with native language different from English a good speaker.

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THE OBJECTIVE The objective of this thesis is to deal with segmental differences in English and Czech sound systems which would enable Czech learners of English at every level to realize the differences, and to offer solutions for improvement. Furthermore, the thesis will focus on the suprasegmental elements and connected speech features which are of the largest importance to the Czech speaker or in a significant variance to Czech rules. Last but not least, observations are made in respect to the process of achieving a correct pronunciation of English by the Czech learner and different author’s attitudes toward this issue are presented.

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VOWELS “Vowels are made by voiced air passing through different mouth-shapes; the differences in the shape of the mouth are caused by different positions of the tongue and of the lips” (O’Connor 1980: 79). It is important to point out that the two systems of vowels, the English and Czech are distinct. In Czech, Krčmová enumerates 10 vowel monophthongs: [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [+ (2007: 114). By contrast, Gimson claims that “there are 20 distinctive items (phonemes) in the RP1 vowel system” and he classifies them as follows: 5 long: [], [], [], [], [] 7 short: [], [], [], [], [], [] and 8 diphthongs (1975: 8). For the purpose of this thesis, diphthongs will be dealt with as a separate category and that leaves 12 separate vowel sounds in English. Although the amount may seem almost identical, Gimson observes that “the English system is one of the less common and most complex types. It is therefore completely predictable that most foreign learners will have trouble attaining the vowel system of any variety of English including RP” (Gimson 2008: 104). However, the learner should not be discouraged by

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Unlike before, these days RP can be described as an educated accent more than a preserve of social

elite associated with BBC broadcasting. RP continues to be the most widely used accent in the Court, Parliament, the Church of England, the legal profession and other national institutions (Crystal 1988: 63).

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this fact, because as far as the sounds are concerned, there is always the possibility that given a sufficient amount of practice, one’s own sounds will improve. Moreover, the differences in the systems are reflected in classifying the vowels in Czech and in English. Although there is the International Phonetic Alphabet classification of vowels (Fig. 1), which “provides the academic community world-wide with a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages“ ("The international phonetic association" 2011), Krčmová for her purposes creates her own visual representation or scheme for Czech vowels (Fig. 2). In that she presents only three degrees of what she calls “graduální protiklad výšky” (gradual opposition of height) (2007: 114) as opposed to the IPA, where there are four degrees: close, closemid, open-mid and open. In the second criterion, the front, central and back sounds, both sources are consistent.

Fig. 1. The IPA Vowel chart (Gimson 2008: 31)

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Fig. 2. Krčmová’s graphic table of Czech system of vowels (2007: 114)

The general differences are not only reflected in numbers of individual vowels in the system and in their graphic representation, but also in articulation. The most important contrast is the position of the tongue. In Czech, all articulation is more of a dorsal, convex character, whereas in English the position is more apical, concave (Skaličková 1982: 79). In other words, in Czech the tip of the tongue is in contact with the bottom of the oral cavity (either with the lower incisors or the teeth ridge). In English, on the other hand, the tip of the tongue rarely touches these parts of the mouth and protrudes in more or less apical way (Skaličková 1982: 79). Another important matter to deal with as far as the general issues connected with vowels is the fact that no speech and sounds respectively, are actually as pure as phonetics would like them to be. The pronunciation of native speakers is always influenced by the region they grew up in, the place they live in, their age, gender, professional occupation and many other factors. In English, it seems that vowels are more subject to these impacts, because Gimson (2008) only lists regional differences to each vowel and diphthong sound, but only to few consonants ([], [+). Krčmová (2007) describes regional variants in both vowels and consonants, but only on the level 12

of footnotes. Nevertheless, to consider all regional and other variations to the pronunciation would unfortunately be out of the scope of this thesis, but on the other hand, it is important to keep their existence in mind. In the following part of the work, individual sounds will be described from the point of view of Czech and English and differences will be summarized in respect to possible pitfalls which Czech learners could encounter and some recommendations will be given how to deal with the particular variation.

SOUND [] Czech – klid, byt, syn Krčmová puts the both short and long *, ] into the same category in the Czech language. The sound is front, high and unlabialized. The only difference she shows in her table (fig. 2) is the quantity – the length, respectively. So in Czech, both short and long [, ] are pronounced with equally positioned tongue and mouth. English – fill, sin, bid, will, wicked In English [] is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to front and is raised just above the close-mid position; the lips are loosely spread; the side rims of the tongue make a light contact with the upper molars and the tongue is lax as opposed to the tension of [] (Gimson 2008: 107). Moreover, Gimson observes that a current trend towards [] in non-final unaccented syllables is becoming increasingly noticeable among RP speakers of the middle and younger generations and he gives the following examples: In some terminations [] is more common than [], e.g. 13

–ity [–] in sincerity, quality, etc. –itive [–] in positive, fugitive, etc. –ily [–] in easily, happily, etc. –ate [–] in fortunate, chocolate, etc. –ible [–] in possible, visible, etc. –em [–] in problem, system, item, etc. (2008: 108) From the point of view of the Czech learner of English, the [] sound is produced again with the tip of the tongue lifted from the back of the lower incisors to the position between lips and with the rims of the tongue touching the upper molars. The produced sound is more to the close-mid and central position and significantly more relaxed due to the relaxed position of the tongue than the Czech [].

SOUND [] Czech – chtít, mít, být In Czech language, as Krčmová observes, the sound is front, high and unlabialized. While pronouncing the sound, the tongue is markedly elevated up and to the front, dorsum is concavely arched towards the palate, and the mouth is largely closed. She claims that in Czech, the [] sound is difficult to articulate and that the result of that is frequent shortening in substandard language – *paňi nováková+, *prosim tě+. In the literary language according to Krčmová, the long [] sound stays the same in all Czech words regardless on their position to other monophtongs (2007: 120). English – feel, seen, bead, leaf, police, siege 14

As Gimson points out, “while producing the sound, the front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind the front close position, the lips are spread and the tongue is tense, with the side rims making a firm contact with the upper molars” (2008: 106). According to this description, it can be observed that when the tongue makes a firm contact with the upper molars, the tongue tip is lifted and does not touch neither lower nor upper incisors. Furthermore, Skaličková emphasizes the fact that there is no unchanging *] sound in English as we know it in Czech. She claims that in Czech mít, tým both the [] sounds will be of the same length. However, in English there are two variants, shorter before the fortis and longer before the lenis. Thus in meat [] will be reduced to [] and in team will be longer (1982: 82). As it can be seen in the charts below, the main difference between the two sounds is the proximity to the close/high position. Krčmová positions the Czech sound at the top left corner as the highest and the most frontal sound. On the other hand, the English sound is less front and less close. The consequence for a Czech learner would be to change the resonating cavity by lifting the tip of the tongue from the lower incisors to the gap between the lower and upper incisors. Thus the whole resonating cavity changes its characteristics and the produced sound would be closer to an English sound. Secondly, the reduction of the sound before the fortis has to be taken into consideration.

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SOUND [] Czech – kabelka, oprava, dělat, květina This phoneme is articulated as a mid and low sound in Czech. The jaw is open and the tongue is in neutral position and lips are not involved in the articulation – they are rather passive (Krčmová 2007: 119). The muscle tension during articulation is not that high and that is why the nasal cavity is closed by the velum only partly and the result is the easier nasalization of the vowel (Krčmová 2007: 119). English – cut, lump, much, come, wonder, blood, does From the point of view of articulation the short [] is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and with the lips neutrally open; the centre of the tongue is raised just above the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. The [] sound does not occur in final, open syllables (Gimson 2008: 115). For the Czech speaker, Skaličková argues, it is often sufficient to notice that the middle variant of the English [] is comparable to the respective vowel in Czech (1982: 87). Even Gimson suggests that “most languages possess vowel of the [] or [+ type” (2007: 116). However, the sounds are not identical. It should be noted by the Czech learners that the centre of the tongue should be lifted up, the result being the fact that the tongue withdraws from the lower incisors to the teeth ridge and the produced sound is different from the Czech vowel [].

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SOUND [] Czech – krása, málo, lákat, dláto As all long vowels in Czech, [] and [] are considered to be distinct mainly from the point of view of quantity (Krčmová 2007: 119). However, in the case of *], Krčmová admits there is also a difference in articulation and acoustics: the long vowel [] is pronounced with the tongue positioned lower and more back than the shorter vowel. English – bar, farm, hard, heart, bath, calm As Gimson points out, this normally long vowel is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and the lips neutrally open; a part of the tongue between the centre and back is in the fully open position, no contact being made between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars (2007: 117). Although there is a difference of length depending on whether the vowel appears in a syllable closed by a voiced or voiceless consonant, Gimson holds that “the shortening effect of a closing voiceless consonant is not as marked as for other vowels” (2007: 117). According to Gimson’s description, it should be reminded that the English sound is more back and the tip of the tongue is again not touching any inner part of the oral cavity. Skaličková also notices that the labial aperture is larger in English than in Czech and the Czech speakers should also take this into consideration (1982: 88). Gimson suggests further advice for foreign learners and points out that “in the case of words in which [] is shown in the spelling by letter , and if the target is RP, the temptation to pronounce any kind of [] should be overcome (except when word-final [+ may link to a following word beginning with a vowel)” (2007: 119). 17

SOUND [] Czech – kolo, dělo, moci, nový The Czech phoneme is executed as back, mid, rounded. The centre of the tongue is lifted up, the tip of the tongue lies lax, labial aperture constricts, lips are rounded and active (Krčmová 2007: 120). English – dock, sorry, was, yacht, cough, because This short vowel is articulated with wide open jaws and slight open lip-rounding (Gimson 2008: 120). The back of the tongue is in fully open position, without contact between the rims of the tongue and upper molars (Crystal 2003: 240). As far as the differences are concerned, again, the tip of the tongue in English vowel the tip of the tongue is not in contact with the lower incisors or the alveolar ridge (Skaličková 1982: 90). Furthermore, according to the descriptions above, the lips are slightly more rounded in Czech than in English. Both in Czech and in English, the centre and back of the tongue slide back to the fully open position.

SOUND [] Czech – dóm In Czech language, as Krčmová points out, the phoneme is marginal. Its phonological function lies mostly in the subsystem of loan words (dóm – a dome) and that is why some authors do not regard this phoneme as Czech. As a speech sound, however, is a part of Czech sound system, although the realization of the phoneme is mostly in dialects, and informal and expressive speech (2007: 121, 114). The articulation differs from the short [] in quantity, but also the long [] is more close, the tongue slides more back and the centre of the tongue is arched. 18

English – war, court, door, daughter, talk, bought, broad This English vowel is articulated with the back of the tongue raised between half-open and half-close positions with no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars; pronounced with medium lip-rounding, although in Refined RP2 closer lip-rounding may occur (Crystal 2003: 240). It is the most back English vowel (Skaličková 1982: 91). Moreover, Gimson points out that a current development in English caused the difference between [] and [] sounds to be disregarded. As he claims, the contrast is not made by RP speakers with an exception of older speakers. Furthermore, “a number of words which formerly had only [] in RP have now acquired an alternative pronunciation with [+, e.g. sure, poor, your” (2008: 122). Apart from the usual difference of the tip of the tongue leaning against the lower alveolar ridge in Czech, unlike in English, the further difference in English is that the long [] is more back than the Czech sound. Furthermore, the quantitative difference between the two languages is that the English sound is prolonged before the lenis and reduced before the fortis.

SOUND [] Czech – uhnout, kulatý, sumec In Czech, the sound [] is high, back and rounded. The tongue is sliding greatly back, the tongue mass shrinks (Krčmová 2007: 121). According to Krčmová’s

2

“Refined RP is commonly considered to be upper-class; where formerly it was very common, the

number of speakers using Refined RP is increasingly declining” (Gimson 2008: 78).

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description it could be observed that the rims of the tongue are lifted up and are almost touching the upper molars. The lips are crucial to the creation of the sound in Czech (Krčmová 2007: 121). English – butcher, book, bosom, could, courier In English the tongue is more to the centre than to the back of the mouth (raised to just above half-close position) and thus has a symmetrical back relation with the front vowel [] (Gimson 2008: 125). Moreover, the tongue lies lax without firm contact between rims and upper molars. The lips are closely, but loosely rounded (Crystal 2003: 240). Again, as in the case of the sound [], Gimson suggests that there has been a shift in pronunciation: “this vowel has moved recently and there is an increasing tendency for this vowel to be unrounded; if the lips are rounded at all, a close but loose rounding is involved. The unrounding is particularly noticeable in the common word good” (2008: 125). The main difference between the sounds in English and in Czech is that the Czech is pronounced with the tongue more at the back and touching the upper molars as compared to English where the tongue is in the half-close position and is lax. Moreover, the key issue here would be the position of lips. In Czech, they are more active and more rounded as opposed to English, where the lips are rounded, but closely and loosely. According to Gimson’s observations that *] has a corresponding back relationship with [] and that the current trend in the RP is to pronounce the [] almost unrounded, the Czech speaker should take this shift into account and adjust his pronunciation accordingly.

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SOUND [] Czech – stůl, hůl, úkol This phoneme, as all long phonemes in Czech, differs mostly by the quantity, i.e. the length. However, the longer [+ is also more back and deeper, as Krčmová claims (2007: 121). According to her findings, she considers this long vowel to be demanding from the point of view of articulation and the result is phonetic shortening as in the case of [+ (Krčmová 2007: 121). English – rude, loose, who, through, flew, shoe The long vowel [] is pronounced with the back of the tongue raised between half-open and half-close position, the tongue being tense and with no firm contact between the rims and the upper molars; the lips are closely rounded (Crystal 2003: 240). Gimson admits a great variation of centralization, lowering and unrounding. He claims that the centralization of [] is greatest following [] in all types of RP, e.g. in youth, beauty, cute, as is a more monophthongal and back [] before [], e.g. tool, school, rule (2008: 127). Similarly as the short [],the English long [] is shifted to the front, the tip of the tongue is not in contact with the lower parts of the oral cavity and the labial aperture is constricted more than in the short English [+ (Skaličková 1982: 93). The Czech speaker should observe the less back quality of the English [] sound especially if the current development in the language is directed to more centralization.

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SOUND [] Czech – hned, tedy, zametat As Krčmová points out, Czech *] sound is produced with front, mid unlabialized sounds. From the point of view of articulation it is its characteristic feature that the tongue shifts from the base position slightly front and up (2007: 119). From Krčmová’s scheme of Czech vowels articulation it is still visible that [] is as [] pronounced with the tip of the tongue behind the lower incisors. English – bed, breath, well, many In this phoneme, the front of the tongue is raised to between half-open and half-close positions. Furthermore, the tongue is tenser than for [] and, rims make light contact with the upper molars (Crystal 2003: 240). As Gimson points out, the lips are loosely spread and are slightly more apart than for [] (2008: 110). The contemporary RP sound [] is closer to [] and in Refined RP what is called “affected diphthongization” occurs. In this diphthongization, a slide from a closer position *] in the direction of [] creates a diphthong in words such as men, said, get and they are pronounced as [, , ] (Gimson 2008: 111). Both in Czech and English the lips while pronouncing [] are spread and more apart than for [+. The Czech speaker’s attention need not be focused on the position of the lips, but rather to the tendency of “affected diphthongization” in the RP, which tends to diphthongize and darken the []. In other ways is the difference between the English and Czech system analogical to all previous vowels. In English the tongue is relatively drawn back and the tip of the tongue is lifted up, while in Czech the articulation is more front and the tip of the tongue is leaning against the alveolar ridge 22

(Skaličková 1982: 84). For the Czech speaker this would mean to lift the tip of the tongue from the lower incisors and as a result, the [] sound would not be so frontal and thus more English-sounding.

SOUND [] Skaličková pairs this English sound with the Czech letter é (as in téma). However, as Krčmová claims, the difference between short Czech *] and long [] is mostly in quantity not in quality (2007: 119). As a result and as is visible in the phonetic transcription, it can be concluded that the English [] is not an equivalent of the Czech [] and belongs to the confusing sounds in English for the native speaker of Czech. English – hand, lamp, land, marry, bad The [+ sound is according to Crystal’s chart, which is based on Gimson’s classification of vowels, paired with an [] sound. Thus it may be said Crystal considers the sound as a long equivalent of []. However, for the Czech speaker it may be misleading, because the pair of sounds are most dissimilar of the pairs of short and long vowels in English. The sound is pronounced with the front of the tongue raised to just below halfopen position, with rims making very slight contact with upper back molars; lips are only neutrally open (Crystal 2003: 240). In Gimson’s description mouth is more open for [] than for [] (2008: 112). This traditionally short vowel is now generally longer in RP than the other short vowels [, , , , ]. Such lengthening is particularly apparent before voiced consonants, e.g. in cab, bad, bag, badge, man (Gimson 2008: 113).

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The main point for the native speakers of Czech is to remember that the English [] is not in any respect an equivalent to the Czech long []. The mouth is not more open for the long [+ in Czech. As Krčmová argues, the sounds of short and long e’s are more in quantity than quality (2007: 119). From the point of view of articulation is the [] more open than Czech and as in all English vowels the tongue is not reclining against the lower alveolar ridge (Skaličková 1982: 86). The labial aperture is also more open than in Czech, but lips are only passively influenced by the lower jaw position (Skaličková 1982: 86). In many cases while teaching pronunciation Czech learners are given instructions to open their mouth for a and say e.

SOUND [] English – woman, gentlemen, mother, possible, suppose, particular, famous The [] sound, called the “schwa” in English, does not have any equivalent in Czech sound system. However, this does not mean that the native speakers of Czech are not capable of pronouncing the sound. In most cases, the sound is encountered during talk when the speaker is not sure how to continue or is lost in their thoughts for some time – as a filler or “slovní berlička”. From the point of view of articulation the [] sound is pronounced with the centre of the tongue raised between half-close and half-open position with no firm contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars; the lips are loosely spread (Crystal 2003: 240). Judging from this description it can be said that it corresponds with the sound []. Indeed, delineated in the cardinal vowel system, [] is in almost in the same position both horizontally and vertically. Although [] is slightly

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more to the front on the horizontal level and below the open-mid position, while [] is directly on the vertical central axis and slightly above the open-mid axis. Skaličková categorizes the *] sound into three categories: the unfinal, the back and the final variant. The unfinal variant can be regarded as a transition vowel and tends to disappear especially before syllabic consonants in multisyllabic words. Skaličková gives the example of considerable and history. Disregarding the unfinal variant, the words would be pronounced [] and [] and with the final variant taken into consideration [] and [+ (Skaličková 1982: 94). Secondly, Skaličková describes the back variant as shifted more to the back owing to the adjoining velar consonant: condemn [], back again [], long ago [] (1982: 95). Thirdly, Skaličková lists the final variant and points out that the timbre is slightly towards [] as in sofa [], collar [] (1982: 95). Gimson also observes that when occurring in the final positions, e.g. in supper, sofa, actor, the quality of [] should not be to open or too long. In particular, the learner should note those syllables of a word containing [], remembering that [] is a sound which occurs very frequently in native-speaker varieties and that correct obscuration of the unaccented syllables of a word is as much part of the word’s accentual pattern as the full vowels of the accented syllables (Gimson 2008: 133). Furthermore, as far as the particularity of the sound is concerned, Gimson recommends to those speakers of English who do not have the sound in their sound systems to gain greater familiarity with the occurrence of [] by reading English texts transcribed phonetically and by making a phonetic transcription of connected English

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with special attention to function words such as the [], has [], for [], etc. (2008: 133).

SOUND [] English – her, church, bird, myrrh, word, journey The long [] is also a sound which does not exist as a phoneme in Czech. The [] is pronounced with the centre of the tongue raised between the half-close and half-open position; lips are neutrally spread and with the rims of the tongue without firm contact with the upper molars (Crystal 2003: 241). As it is the same description of articulation as in the [], it can be concluded that this is the only pair of sounds in English where the difference is only in quantity, not so much in quality. All other pairs of sounds such as [] and [], [] and [] differ mostly both in quality and quantity. Skaličková points out the fact that the Czech speakers confuse the English *] with German spelled ö because the English *] is related to it. She also claims that in the RP English the r-colouring is not acceptable (1982: 96). However, Gimson declares that it is a feature of General American3 and “the r-colouring is produced by slight retroflection of the tip of the tongue or by the contraction of the body of the tongue” (2008: 131). Gimson admits that the [] sound is quite rare in language systems. He emphasizes that to avoid the influence of German and Dutch [, ] articulation with

3

“A term used for the majority accent of American English which conveys little or no information about

the speaker’s regional background. The accent is used, for example, by most radio and television presenters, and is not without some internal variation“ Crystal (2008: 207).

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spread lips as in fur, learn should be encouraged. Generally, the “quality must be of a central rather than fronted kind (2008: 131). Also, “since nearly all cases of *] occur in words having an in the spelling, if the target is non-rhotic RP, case must be also taken to avoid post-vocalic /r/” (2008: 131).

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DIPHTHONGS In Czech there are only three diphthong phonemes – //, //, // (Krčmová 2007: 114). Taking into consideration that English has eight diphthongs and that they are highly structured, the diphthongs represent a possible pitfall for Czech speakers. English diphthongs are divided into three groups, depending on the tongue movement involved. The first group ends with a glide towards the [] vowel in the centre of the mouth and are called centring diphthongs, the remainder end with a glide towards a higher position in the mouth and are called closing diphthongs. The closing diphthongs are divided further into the type of closing diphthongs which moves in the direction of an [] quality at the end of the vowel area and into the other type which moves in the direction of an [] quality at the back of the vowel area (Crystal 2003: 239). “From the point of view of length, the diphthongs are like long vowels; but the first part of a diphthong in English is much longer and louder than the second” (Crystal 2003: 239). As far as the RP diphthongs are concerned also other observations are made by Gimson. The diphthongs are equivalent in length to the long vowels and are subject to the same variations of quantity, reduced forms show a considerable shortening of the first element, they are particularly susceptible to variation regionally and socially (Gimson 2008: 134).

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CENTRING DIPHTHONGS [] Here, dear, museum, million, medium The glide of this diphthong begins with a tongue position close-mid and centralized from front and moves in the direction of the more open variety of [] when [] is final in the word; in non-final positions the glide may not be so extensive, the quality of the [] element being of a mid type. The lips are neutral throughout, with a slight movement from spread to open (Gimson 2008: 149).

[] Their, there, chair, hair, swear The glide begins in half-open front position and moves backwards towards [], lips are neutrally open throughout (Crystal 2003: 241). Where [] occurs in wordmedial position, the [] element tends to be of a mid [] type whereas in the final position the [] is more open (Gimson 2008: 150).

[] Poor, armour, curious, mutual As Crystal observes, the glide “begins in position for *], moves forwards and downwards towards []; the lips are neutral with slight movement from spread to open (2003: 241). Again, in final position the [] is more open than the occurrence in word-medial position of the diphthong (Gimson 2008: 152).

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CLOSING DIPHTHONGS [] Make, waist, day, break, ballet The sound glides from slightly below half-close position, moves upwards and slightly backwards towards []; the lips are spread (Crystal 2003: 241). Gimson argues that there being a slight closing movement of the lower jaw while sliding towards the [] (2008: 134).

[] Time, climb, fly, type, might, either The glide begins slightly behind the front open position and moves upwards towards the []. The position of the lips changes from neutral to loosely spread and there is an obvious closing movement of the lower jaw (Crystal 2003: 241). Gimson claims this is the most frequent glide of General RP and thus in different parts of England, all varieties of starting point from front to back may be heard (2008: 138). “In the so-called mid-Atlantic pronunciation used by pop singers, I and my are generally reduced to [] following the open monophthongal pronunciation of this vowel in the southern United States.

[] Boil, voice, oyster, voyage, toy “Glide begins between back and half-open and open positions, moves upwards and forwards towards [+; lips are open rounded and change to neutral” (Crystal 2003: 241). The tongue movement extends from back to centralized front, but the range of closing in the glide is not as great as for [] and the jaw movement, though 30

considerable, may not, therefore, be as marked as in the case of [] (Gimson 2008: 139).

[] Old, home, know, reproach, though, don’t “Glide begins in central position between half-close and half-open, moves upwards and back towards []; lips are neutral, with slight movement from spread to open” (Crystal 2003: 241). Older speakers of RP commonly use a rounded first element, but a very recent development in General RP is the fronting of the second element (Gimson 2008: 141).

[] House, found, allow, browser The vowel glide begins between back and front open positions, moves up and slightly back to []. The lips change position from neutrally open to slightly rounded and the jaw movement is quite extensive (Crystal 2003: 241). The RP variants involve particularly the fronting or retraction of the starting point rather than its raising (Gimson 2008: 143).

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CONSONANTS Consonants are made by a definite interference of the vocal organs with the air stream (O’Connor 1980: 24). All consonants have certain properties in common, which identify them in contrast to vowels. Firstly, from a phonetic point of view, they are articulated in two possible ways: either there is a closing movement of one of the vocal organs and the air passes through the constriction or the closing movement (by lips, the tongue, or the throat) is complete, giving a total blockage (Crystal 2003: 242). The consonants pronounced with only partial closure are called sonorants and those articulations in which there is a total closure are called obstruents (Gimson 2008: 157). Secondly, from a phonological point of view, they are units of the sound system which typically occupy the edges of a syllable, they appear is sequences (clusters) (Crystal 2003: 242). However, Skaličková observes that the individual consonants can, in the system of one language, fulfil a different function, occur in a different frequency and in different distribution or different position than in the other language (1982: 110). Furthermore, some consonants involve the vibration of the vocal chords: these are the voiced consonants, others have no vocal cord vibration and are called voiceless consonants. However, this distinction is not absolute, since the individual sounds are influenced by its position within a word. An alternative to this classification may be the force with which the individual sounds are articulated. Voiceless consonants are pronounced with much greater force than their voiced counterparts

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and the terms fortis (strong) and lenis (weak) have come to identify the two types, respectively (Crystal 2003: 242). Another characteristic of consonants particularly in English is, as O’Connor observes, that they are pronounced very much the same way wherever English is spoken, because he claims the accent differences are mainly the result of vowels (1980: 24). Sometimes the division between vowels and consonants is slightly blurred in the case of frictionless continuants or sonorants. These are sounds, which are articulated in the same way as vowels, but functioning in words as consonants (Crystal 2003: 242). Crystal gives the example of yes and we, where the first sound is pronounced as a short [] vowel in yes, but occurs at the beginning of a word and similarly in we the initial w is formed like a short [], but again acts as consonant (2003: 242). However, although the category of consonants shares these features, there are also distinctions. First of all, in both languages are sounds, which does not occur in the other. For example in Czech, there are no sound equivalents to [,,] and on the other hand, there are no equivalents of Czech ř, ť, ň, []. There is no need to focus on the specific Czech sounds, so for the purpose of this thesis, only the English sounds and their approximate equivalents and sounds which do not occur in Czech will be described. It is important to point out the differences in consonants here, because O’Connor sees consonants as contributing to the making of English sound in general, because they form the bones and provide English words with a skeleton and give them the basic shape (1980: 24). 33

In the following pages the English system of consonants will be presented with emphasis on the contrast with Czech.

OBSTRUENTS Articulation, in which there is a “total closure or a stricture causing friction; in this class there is a distinctive opposition between voiceless and voiced types” (Gimson 2008: 157).

Plosives [, ], [, ], [, ] Plosives are sometimes also called stop consonants or pulmonic egressive plosive consonants. “In stop consonants the breath is completely stopped at some point in the mouth, by the lips or the tongue-tip or tongue-back, and then released with a slight explosion” (O’Connor 1980: 39). As Gimson points out, the whole articulation process consists of three stages: the closing, the compression and the release stage. During the closing stage the articulating organs move together in order to form the obstruction. In the compression stage the lung action compresses the air behind the closure and the final release stage allows the compressed air to escape abruptly (2008: 158). There are three pairs of phonemes containing plosives [, ], [, ], and [, ] in English. From the point of view of the place of articulation [, ] are generally bilabial, [, ] alveolar and [, ] velar. The articulation force tends to be stronger with more muscular energy in [, , ] (fortis) than in [, , ], which are lenis (Gimson 2008: 159). In both languages, these sounds are articulated similarly, judging from the comparison of Gimson’s, Crystal’s and Krčmová’s descriptions. However, there is one 34

crucial feature in the English system, which poses a great risk for underestimation by the Czech speakers of English and that is the aspiration. The voiceless series [, , ] are accompanied by aspiration when initial in an accented syllable, i.e. “there is a voiceless interval consisting of strongly expelled breath between the release of the plosive and the onset of a following vowel” (Gimson 2008: 159). So in pen, ten, can the pronunciation would be more of a [, , ]. Preceding a vowel in an unaccented syllable such aspiration is relatively weak as [] in polite, lip and in absolute final positions there is no audible release, i.e. no aspiration at all (Gimson 2008: 159). A special instance of a plosive is the glottal plosive, sometimes called the glottal stop. This phoneme is especially important for the native speakers of Czech, because it is often used too much and affects the required rhythm of English. The glottal stop is an obstruction to the airstream which is formed by the closure of the vocal folds, thereby interrupting the passage of air into the organs above the vocal folds (Gimson 2008: 179). As Gimson observes, the glottal plosive, though frequently used by RP speakers, is not a significant sound in the RP system (2008: 179). He admits that there are regular cases, where glottal stop is used and that is especially as a syllable boundary marker, when the initial sound of the second syllable is a vowel. This usage is of [] is extended among careful speakers to those cases where there is a possibility of an intrusive [r] in an interspace between vowels as in law and order (Gimson 2008: 179). Although this problem concerns more stress, rhythm and connected speech, there is a very common misunderstanding of the Czech speakers of English in the

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usage of the glottal stop. In the phrase speakers of English many people would place glottal stops on the second two words of and English. However, the correct English pronunciation would be without the glottal stops with as much connection of the individual words as possible []. Although the RP speakers use glottal stops as well, the Czech speaker should use this phoneme as seldom as possible.

Affricates “The term affricate denotes a concept which is primarily of phonetic importance. Any plosive whose release stage is performed in such a way that considerable friction occurs approximately at the point where the plosive stop is made, may be called affricative” (Gimson 2008: 181). Gimson also gives the examples of *, , , , , , , ], but only [] and [] are relevant for the comparison with Czech. In Czech, the [] sound is similar to the English sound. When they slightly differ, the reason would be the proximity of vowels of different qualities. However, the [] sound is described by Krčmová as “once being regarded as combination of two phonemes. This sound was brought to Czech by loan words” (2007: 122). As this statement suggests, this sound is not native to Czech, but on the other hand the articulation of it should not be a problem, because it consists of two known sounds [] and [].

Fricatives [, , , , , , , , ] and [] As Gimson points out, in the articulation of fricatives “two organs are brought and held sufficiently close together for the escaping airstream to produce local air 36

turbulence.” He also observes that fricatives are therefore, like plosives and affricates, characterized by a noise component. This turbulence may or may not be accompanied by voice (Gimson 2008: 188). There are four pairs of sounds in the category of fricatives: [, , , , , , , , ] and [] occurring exceptionally in the Scottish speaker’s of English. In Czech, this category is described by Krčmová as “constrictives” (2007: 137). As all consonant phonemes, she describes them from the acoustic point of view as opposed to the Gimson’s and Crystal’s point of view, which is auditory. This difference apart from sharing the [, ,, , , and ] sounds brings in more sounds to this category in Czech, such as [, + (Krčmová 2007). But again, since there is no significant difference in the sounds themselves, for the efficiency only the crucial pair of [] and [] will be dealt with.

[] Think, tooth, worthless, with This dental fricative poses a great problem for the Czech speakers, since neither the exact sound, nor any form of equivalent exists in Czech, so the students of English have to learn to pronounce this sound. This particular sound is the voiceless and fortis sound in the pair. Soft palate is raised, tongue tip and rims make light contact with edge and inner surface of upper incisors, and a firmer contact with upper side teeth. Tip of the tongue protrudes for some speakers, thus is not unacceptable. Position of the lips depends on adjacent vowel (Crystal 2003: 244).

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[] The, this, that, then This sound is the voiced and lenis in the pair of dental fricatives, but otherwise has the same qualities from the point of view of articulation as []. Czechs often underestimate dental fricatives and tend to make their lives easier by pronouncing either the labiodental [, ] or the alveolar [, ]. As Underhill points out this is a common mistake made by foreign speakers of English, and as a most efficient solution he suggests to compare and contrast the sounds with the use of the horizontal consonant arrangement of the chart (1994: 125). Furthermore, the replacement of the dental fricatives by labiodental [] and [], as Crystal suggests, occurs in Cockney and London-influenced varieties (2003: 244). Since Cockney is regarded as a substandard variety of language, unless desired, the Czech learners of English should avoid slipping into that direction.

SONORANTS Sonorants are those articulations “in which there is only a partial closure or an unimpeded oral or nasal escape of air; such articulations are typically voiced, and frequently frictionless, i.e. without a noise component” (Gimson 2008: 157).

Nasals [], [], [] Nasal consonants resemble plosives in that total closure is made within the mouth; they differ from such plosives in that the soft palate is in its lowered position, allowing an escape of air into the nasal cavity and giving the sound the special resonance provided by the naso-pharyngeal cavity (Gimson 2008: 206). As Gimson 38

notes, since the airstream may escape freely through the nose, nasal consonants are continuants and therefore, in many respects, they resemble vowel-type sounds although being normally frictionless continuants (2008: 206). However, they differ from continuants such as fricatives in two ways. Firstly, in that no audible friction is produced, and secondly from the fact that they are usually voiced, without significant voiced/voiceless oppositions (Gimson 2008: 206). Gimson observes that “the three nasal phonemes correspond to the three oral plosive areas of articulation: bilabial []-[, ], alveolar []-[, ], velar []-[, +” (Gimson 2008: 207). Interestingly enough, in Krčmová’s system, these phonemes are indeed listed in the group of “occlusives” from the acoustic point of view, in the plosives from the auditory, respectively. However, since the bilabial consonant [] and alveolar [] are similar in both languages only the velar [] is worth discussing.

[] Czech – Hanka, tango, manko In Czech the velar [] is regarded as a combinatory allophone of the alveolar [] used in combinations of [] and [] in words such as mentioned above. This is a realization which is accepted in literary language, but is not used in all regions (Krčmová 2007: 133). English – singer, tongue, anxious, among, English In English, as it can be seen from the sample words above does not use the velar [] only before [, ]. Otherwise, the manner and place of articulation are almost identical.

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Native speakers of Czech learning English should if possible avoid using [] or sometimes more common [+ “in those cases where *] occurs in English without a following plosive and the nasal [+ should be given exaggerated length and sequences” in order to be able to produce nasal [+ without a plosive following, because “it does give a strong foreign accent and should be avoided if a native-like accent is aimed at” (Gimson 2008: 214).

Oral Approximants or Oral Continuants [], [], [], [] For this group of phonemes the airstream escapes through a relatively narrow aperture in the mouth without friction but with voice (Gimson 2008: 214). Some of their articulatory characteristics are different, but generally, Gimson points out some similarities: Firstly, “they appear in consonantal clusters in similar ways (a consonant plus [, , , +)” (2008: 214). These clusters, according to Gimson’s claim, are one of the two most common types of two consonant clusters which occur syllable-initially in English (as in play, broad, queen, pure) (2008: 214). Secondly, when they appear in such clusters they are all similarly devoiced if the preceding consonant is voiceless (e.g. [,  ,] produce devoicing in clay, crawl, queer, cure) (Gimson 2008: 214). This category is also quite different from Czech sounds, so all will be dealt with here.

[] Leave, fault, collide, intelligent A common sound of Czech and English is the clear [], the lateral approximant. It is pronounced with soft palate raised, with a closure made by tongue tip against the centre of alveolar ridge, while the air escapes round either or both sides. It is voiced, 40

with devoicing chiefly after fortis consonants. Front of the tongue is simultaneously raised in direction of the hard palate, giving a front-vowel resonance in such words such as RP leap. Position of the lips depends on adjacent vowel (Crystal 2003: 245). What Czech language lacks is the dark []. The tongue tip contact is again made on the teeth ridge, the front of the tongue being somewhat depressed and the back raised in the direction of the soft palate, giving a back vowel (or velarized) resonance such as in pool (Gimson 2008: 216). Although Gimson admits that this distinction between clear [] and dark [] does not cause unintelligibility if not observed, those whose English otherwise conforms to RP should learn to use the dark [] (2008: 219). It is also useful to remember that the dark [+ occur everywhere in words where the letter “l” is not before vowels and [].

[] Price, fury, history, carry, write, rhyme The Czech alveolar approximant [] is articulated with the rims of the tongue pressing against the hard palate and the tip of the tongue is laid against the alveolar ridge (Krčmová 2007: 145). Moreover, the Czech *] is accompanied by oscillation; usually there are two to three oscillations per phoneme (Krčmová 2007: 145). On the other hand, the English [] is more of a post-alveolar approximant than alveolar, the tip of the tongue is not touching the alveolar ridge and the back rims of the tongue are touching the upper molars (Crystal 2003: 245). Again, the mispronunciation of the [] would not cause unintelligibility, but strengthens the foreign accent of the non-native speakers. Because the RP variant of 41

[] is rarely encountered in other languages, the Czech speakers should realize that the English [] is more post-alveolar and the tongue tip is not touching the hard palate.

Semi-vowels [] Yes, lawyer, opinion, yours This unrounded palatal approximant is in both languages pronounced with raised soft palate, the tongue is in the position of a front close vowel. Lips are in both Czech and English influenced by following vowel (Gimson 2008, Krčmová 2007). It is the influence and the environment in which the sound occurs that can be unusual for the Czech learners of English, but the intelligibility would not be affected, because the differences would be only slight.

[] West, wine, swim, whisper, equal, language The labial-velar approximant is articulated by the tongue assuming the position for a back close-mid to close vowel and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound; the lips are rounded (Gimson 2008: 229). As this sound does not exist in Czech, it in most cases replaced by ordinary labiodental fricative [], which of course can cause problem with intelligibility in conversation with native speakers. It would be better for the Czech speakers to imagine a more rounded sound such as [] to enable them to round the lips properly and disable the use of teeth in any way.

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CONNECTED SPEECH AND SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES: STRESS, RHYTHM AND INTONATION Connected speech in Gimson’s words is “an utterance consisting of more than one word, that exhibits features of accentuation that are in many ways comparable with those found in the polysyllabic word” (2008: 263). Gimson further claims that some parts of the connected utterance will be made to stand out from their environment, in the same way that certain syllables of a polysyllabic word are more prominent than their neighbours, but that in connected speech the accent is determined largely by the meaning which is which the utterance is intended to convey, in the particular circumstances in which it is uttered (2008: 263). As Gimson observes, language is more often than not learned on a basis of isolate words forms. However, the outline of these words is often modified by the native speakers and as a result, the awareness of suprasegmental features of connected speech should be raised or otherwise it will be difficult for the foreign learner of English to understand much of the ordinary colloquial English (Gimson 2008: 308). Moreover, as O’Connor claims, incorrect suprasegmental features in the speech of a foreigner “make the utterances very hard to understand” and he recommends to devote one’s time to English stress, rhythm and intonation, which would help greatly in improving the sounds of speech (1980: 100). Indeed, the first step in the acquisition of a native-like accent of English are the individual sounds, for the Czech speakers especially vowels, diphthongs and some problematic and different consonants. But only having individual sounds sounding good is not good enough neither for intelligibility, nor for the native-like accent, 43

because something more is needed and that is the characteristic features of the suprasegmental level of speech. As Skaličková points out, judging from the term “suprasegmentals”, it could be assumed that these features are superior to the inherent characteristics of the lesser units. However, she claims that this should not be so, because on the level of utterance, all should be present what belongs to the human including connections and changes, which are caused by the relations between individual linguistic levels and their mutual integration (Skaličková 1982: 175).

STRESS Stress is described as the degree of force with which a syllable is uttered (Crystal 2003: 469). Palková adds that stress was considered as prominence caused by its intensification, but an instrumental analysis showed that the effect of prominence depends on the whole complex of acoustic qualities (pitch, force, length or the quality of the vowel) and that the contrast between individual syllables rather than an absolute value is more important (Palková 1994: 157). In English, every word has a definite place for the stress and we are not allowed to change it. So the first thing for the foreign learner generally would be to learn where the stresses fall in English in comparison with their language. In Czech, the main accent is tied to the first syllable (Gimson 2008: 235). On the other hand, in English, “the accentual pattern of English words is fixed, in the sense that the main accent always falls on a particular syllable of any given word, but free in the sense that the main accent is not tied to any particular point in the chain of syllables constituting a word” (Gimson 2008: 235). Generally, there is no simple way of knowing which syllable or syllables in an English word must be stressed, but every time a new word is learned 44

in the study process, stressed must be learned with the word. A good dictionary is priceless for a learner of English aiming at a native-like accent. Apart from words stress, which has been described above, there are the accentual patterns of connected speech. Gimson states that “the accentual patterns of connected speech are freer than those of the word and are largely determined by the meaning to be conveyed, some words are predisposed by their function in the language to receive an accent” (Gimson 2008: 263). For example all words with more than one syllable are stressed. Furthermore, words of one syllable are generally not stressed if they are purely grammatical words like pronouns, prepositions, and articles. Other words are stressed, for example full verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. (O’Connor 1980: 91). In other words, those words that carry meaning will probably be stressed with respect to the individual word stress of the word and those words which are only present, because of the grammatical structure will not be stressed. The words which are predisposed to receive an accent are called lexical words and other categories of words which are more likely to be unaccented are called function words (Gimson 2008: 263). “Lexical words (both monosyllables and polysyllables) generally have in connected speech the quantitative pattern of their isolate form” – they are in the strong form (Gimson 2008: 266). Crystal describes the strong (full) forms as those which are used when the word is said in isolation or is being emphasized (2003: 247). The function words often take the weak form: “peripheral vowels (those which are articulated towards the edge of the vowel area in the mouth) are replaced by those of a more central quality, and some consonants may be elided” (Crystal 2003: 247). O’Connor admits that even speakers of English think that pronunciation using weak 45

forms would mean being careless in their speech, but as O’Connor states, English with only strong forms is wrong and the weak forms are an essential part of English speech (1980: 92). This conclusion is also true for the foreign learners, because from the beginning pronunciation of the words is learned in isolation and a proper attention is not paid to the connected speech.

RHYTHM Rhythm is a speech effect, which is a combination of features such as pitch, loudness, speed, and silence (Crystal 2003: 249). Crystal adds that “our sense of rhythm is a perception that there are prominent units occurring at regular intervals as we speak” (2003: 249). The English rhythm is completely different from Czech. Skaličková argues that rhythm is determined by the quantization of the sound. In Czech, the features of quantity are quite simple. The duration of vowels is determined at the segmental level and the impact of a subsequent consonant on a previous vowel is much smaller than in English, that it is almost insignificant. The result is that Czech consonants are not participating in the quantitative (and rhythmical) characteristics of speech (Skaličková 1982: 182). In English as opposed to Czech the quantitative characteristics are much more important on the higher language levels. The quantity of English vowels depends on the subsequent consonant. The total length of a vowel with the subsequent fortis is equal to the total length with the subsequent lenis. Thus the length of the syllable is equalized and only the ratio of the individual components changes (Skaličková 1982: 182). 46

Furthermore, English stress groups are more subject to isochrony than the Czech “tacts”, i.e. the fact that the longer the stress group is in English, the more all elements are shortened. Czech “tacts” are more used as a unit of meaning, whereas English stress group more as a rhythmic unit (Skaličková 1982: 183). After realizing these differences between the Czech and English rhythm a basic rule of English rhythm can be delivered: “each stress group within a word group is given the same amount of time” (O’Connor 1980: 92). By a stress group O’Connor means a stressed syllable together with any unstressed syllables which may follow it (1908: 92). In other words, the English language respects rhythm in a musical sense in a way. O’Connor suggests tapping with one’s pen while pronouncing the stress groups properly (1908: 92). This method evokes a musician practising a tune with a metronome, which helps them to keep the rhythm. As a result, English rhythm as opposed to Czech is more regular. An example of the contrast between the Czech stress and rhythm will be presented on a sentence We may as well do it now. A very careless and exaggerated Czech pronunciation would be [      ], while the RP English sounds like this [   ]4.

INTONATION Intonation is a way of using tunes to add something to the words, and what it adds is a speaker’s feelings at that moment (O’Connor 1980: 108). “The manifestation

4

An example taken from O’Connor, J.D. (1976) Phonetic Drill Reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

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of intonation is fundamental frequency, which is perceived by listeners as pitch” (Gimson 2008: 270). Intonation has three basic functions in speech according to Gimson’s observations. Firstly, the changes of pitch signal divisions of utterances into intonational phrases. Secondly, they signal syllables with primary and secondary accent both in isolated words and in longer utterances of speech. Thirdly, the pitch changes can carry various types of meaning, especially discoursal and attitudinal (Gimson 2008: 270). However, Crystal explores more functions of intonation. First of all, he enumerates the emotional function of intonation, which serves to express attitude (sarcasm, surprise, reserve, irony, etc.). Secondly, there is a grammatical function to intonation, which enables the listener to identify the grammatical structure, performing a similar role to punctuation in written speech. Thirdly, the intonation fulfils an informational role which helps to draw attention to what meaning is given and what is new in an utterance. Next, the textual function is thought to help larger units of meaning than the sentence to contrast and cohere. Furthermore, in order to make the organization clearer into units which we could analyze and memorize better, Crystal speaks about the psychological function. Last, but not the least, the indexical function, along with other prosodic features, is an important marker of personal or social identity (Crystal 2003: 294). Taking all these functions into consideration, intonation is an important feature in a language. As O’Connor claims, the tune is not the same in all languages and in English, the tune belongs not to the words, but to the word group and the foreign speakers should learn the shapes of the tunes to lose their foreign accent (1980: 108).

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Skaličková claims that the English melody and intonation is not more difficult than in Czech, because there are some similarities. The principles which rule the English and Czech melody are the same. What is different is the structure of the isolative English and flexional Czech, which causes certain distinctions (Skaličková 1982: 176). Firstly, Skaličková emphasizes that stress group or “tact” division are elsewhere in Czech than in English. The Czech “tact” very often corresponds with the word (a unit which carries the meaning), whereas in English the stress group corresponds more often with the rhythmical unit. Moreover, the Czech sentence in most cases begins with a stressed syllable, whereas English sentence very often has an unstressed element. Further still, a Czech sentence largely begins with the highest point of the melody, while the beginning of an English sentence sounds much lower and does not rise until the first stressed syllable occurs (Skaličková 1982: 176). An example of the contrast of the melody at the beginnings of the sentences can be and English It seems pretty impressive to me. The English melody does not rise until the accent in [], while a Czech sentence Podle mě je to působivé the melody is highest at the very first word of the sentence and gradually falls towards the end. To connected speech and stress, rhythm and intonation other issues are related, such as assimilation, elision, liaison, and juncture.

Assimilation Assimilation is the influence of adjacent sounds on each other so that they become more alike (Crystal 2003: 247). This principle is also known to the Czech speakers from their language. In Czech, the assimilation is either in the sonority, or articulatory. The assimilation of sonority is a change during which the adjacent sounds interact in order to make the group either voiced or voiceless (Palková 1994: 145). An 49

example would be the word groups s babičkou (the first two sounds sounding [ ]) z kovu [ ]. In the assimilation of articulation the consonants with different articulation is equalized either with assimilation of place or manner of articulation (Junková 1996: 38). Větší thus sounds [], and anděl []. In English, assimilation also occurs and [ ] becomes [] and [ ] becomes [].

Elision Elision is the slurring or omission of a final unstressed vowel that precedes either another vowel or a weak consonant sound, as in the word [] for heaven. It may also be the dropping of a consonant between vowels, as in the word [] for over. Elision is used to fit words into a metrical scheme, to smooth the rhythm of a poem, or to ease the pronunciation of words (Encyclopædia Britannica). In Czech, as Krčmová observers it is a common feature of spoken language. She claims that it is an omission of consonants in more complex consonant clusters within words and gives an example of švestka, which with elision becomes [+ (Krčmová 2009: 113).

Liaison The term used in phonology to refer to one type of transition between sounds, where a sound is introduced at the end of a word if the following syllable has no onset. It may be heard in English where a “linking *+” is often found in words ending with an r in the spelling, when they occur before words beginning with a vowel, e.g. hear [] usually becomes [] in such phrases as here are (Crystal 2008: 280). The purpose of the inserted sound is to help the two syllables run together more smoothly (Crystal 2003: 247). Crystal points out that RP speakers only pronounce the [] in such words as

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clear and mother only when there is a following vowel. However, Crystal states that the intrusive [+ is “disliked after an open back vowel as in law(r) and order, flaw(r) in the argument, and draw(r)ing” (2003: 247). This characteristic of spoken language does not appear in Czech.

Juncture The term juncture is used in phonology to refer to the phonetic boundary features which may demarcate grammatical units such as morpheme, word or clause (Crystal 2008: 258). Crystal observes that the most obvious junctural feature is silence, but division between words can, for example, be signalled by a complex of pitch, stress, length and other features (2008: 259). Gimson gives an example of the following phonemic sequence: [], which may mean pea stalks or peace talks according to the situation of word boundaries and claims that only slight differences (as they may seem to the foreign speaker) such as the aspiration of [], reduced [] can signal that the initial word is peace (Gimson 2008: 307). According to Skaličková’s observations the reason why this is a typical feature of English rather than Czech is that the English stress groups does not follow the units of meaning and thus is more determined by rhythmical complex. The stress as a result is not a signal of a word boundary. In English, it is consequently necessary that the boundary between words is indicated by juncture.

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PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: SUGGESTED PROCEDURE OF IMPROVING ONE’S PRONUNCIATION As it has been suggested in the Introduction to this thesis, pronunciation plays a significant role in mutual understanding of individuals. As Tomková observes, “efficient communication is inseparable from intelligibility“ (2008: 140). Generally, the nonnative speakers of English, here the Czech speakers, should focus on some general issues in order to achieve intelligibility in English. Firstly, as Tomková claims, “frequent misconceptions, misunderstandings and much frustration is caused by Czech learners’ ignorance of the dynamic and rhythmic structure of English” (2008: 143). Furthermore, also Doleželová lists word stress and sentence stress and rhythm among the most common Czech mistakes in speech (2008: 46). Indeed, as shown above, the suprasegmental elements such as stress, intonation and rhythm differ in Czech and in English and as a result it is understandable that they cause problems both in the teaching process and in actual communication. Secondly, also segmental elements (vowels and consonants) vary between both the languages in question. In Doleželová’s table of most common Czech mistakes she includes the following individual sounds: [], [], [], [+. Moreover, Doleželová points out lack of aspiration of [, , ] and mistakes in lenis/fortis distinctions, in devoicing (2008: 46). These mistakes are, however, connected with consonants. Furthermore, in the pronunciation of non-native speakers of English, mistakes are made also in pronouncing vowels. Czech speakers according to Doleželová’s observations, make mistakes in vowels especially in the influence of lenis/fortis on vowels and in the strong and weak forms of vowels, respectively (2008: 46). As far as the sounds of vowels are concerned, they are not the most important element of the English 52

language from the point of view of the Czech learner. However, when all other elements in the non-native speaker’s utterance are well-executed, vowels can finalize and even improve the overall image of a native-like speech of a non-native speaker. The question is to what extent practical exercises should be aimed at particular sounds and to what extent on connected speech and suprasegmental elements. For example in Plavka’s Aspects of English Pronunciation (1997) only a third of the book is devoted to individual sounds (both vowels and consonants), while the rest is dedicated to stress and rhythm and intonation. The advantage of the guidebook lies in the fact that it is targeted directly on Czech learners and thus comparisons of and contrasts between both sound systems are made. A.C. Gimson’s A Practical Course of English Pronunciation provides the learner with balanced guidance and exercises of both segmental and suprasegmental elements (Gimson 1975). J.D. O’Connor’s Better English Pronunciation presents a slightly different concept in two ways (O’Connor 1980). Firstly, he starts with problems in pronunciation which can occur during the learning process and he further explains how speech organs work in English in order to provide the learner with general introduction into English sound system in general. Secondly, he does not start the actual practical part with vowels, but with consonants, because “consonants contribute to making English understood [more] than vowels do and because consonants are generally made by a definite interference of the vocal organs with the air stream, and so are easier to describe and understand” (1980: 24). As for the proportion, the segmental elements are given more space than stress, rhythm and intonation. All three publications are aimed at self-study more than active use in class. Nevertheless, the very first step for generally all foreign speakers of English in order to approximate their utterance as close as possible to the native speakers’ is to 53

realize that the native language of the speaker has by no means a sound system identical to that of English. Underhill’s chart provides a very efficient solution to this problem, because not only it shows the English sound system as a whole, but also it clearly presents that “all the sounds within it exist in some sort of relationship to each other, each sound helping to shape the contours and boundaries of its neighbours” (Underhill 1994: viii). IPA alphabet is used in the chart and it can be claimed that it is redundant for an average learner to get accustomed to using the specific signs. However, it can also be emphasized that the difference of the signs themselves from the ordinary alphabet provides the learner with awareness to the fact that spoken language is in many ways distinct from written language. Furthermore, as far as the contrast between the mother tongue and a foreign language of the speaker is concerned, it is also implied in the chart. Not only the chart helps to perceive the differences in the sound systems, but it can also assist the learner in describing how and where the particular sound is pronounced in English, because the chart is arranged according to the system of sounds in English. Its advantage lies in the fact that it is both for the use of teachers, so that they can make use of it to raise their awareness of the importance of pronunciation and both for active application in class (Underhill 1994: vii). After learning the foreign sound system and the symbols used, further advice to Czech speakers is to focus on the most marked differences in segmental features such as [], [], [], [], [] and the appropriate variant of [] in the consonant sounds and last but not least the aspiration in accented syllables [, , ]. Moreover, the neutralization of lenis/fortis should be avoided. In vowel sounds and diphthongs, the Czech speaker should primarily focus on mastering the more apical, concave character 54

of the position of the tongue in English in all sounds. In other words, as pointed out above, while speaking Czech the tongue is mostly in contact with the bottom of the oral cavity either with the lower incisors or the teeth ridge. However, when speaking English the Czech learner should notice and observe that the tip of the tongue rarely touches these parts of the mouth and almost protrudes out between the lower and upper incisors (Skaličková 1982: 79). Furthermore, the distinctions of lenis/fortis should be made both in the length of the vowels and a proper use of strong and weak forms should be observed and the specifically English sounds [] and [] should be practiced. Furthermore, word stress is crucially important in the comparison of English and Czech. As Nováková claims, “there are still many things in teaching English pronunciation to improve and work on in the future,” but that the positive thing which corresponds with this fact is that “learners realize great importance of English pronunciation, including the correct stressing” (Nováková 2007: 48). Nováková’s research of stress and rhythm in English and Czech showed that “73% of respondents knew that English word stress is variable, in contrast to Czech word stress. However, when they were asked to mark the correct stress in individual words, they succeeded only in about half of them” (Nováková 2007: 48). This shows that Czech learners of English are not in all cases confident where exactly in the word the stress lies. The solution to this problem would be to know not only how the words are pronounced, but also where the stress falls. Both traditional dictionaries and pronunciation dictionaries can be helpful and moreover, computer technology also works in favour of the learner. When the learner actively looks up the pronunciation of the word, they mostly do it on the internet, since it represents the fastest and most convenient way. 55

The advantage is that internet dictionaries offer instant pronunciation for both the British variety such as The Macmillan dictionary available online (“Macmillan dictionary” 2011) and for the American variety, which is at disposal on the Google website (“Google Translator” 2011). Last but not least issue to work on for the non-native speakers of English is sentence stress, rhythm and intonation. In sentence stress it is important to remember that the Czech “tact” more often than not corresponds with the word, because the words are stressed on their initial syllables, whereas in English the stress group corresponds more often to the rhythmical unit because word stresses fall in all other possible places than on the very first syllable. Features such as assimilation, elision, liaison and juncture should also be paid attention to as they help to support the English sound of the sentence and thus of the whole utterance.

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CONCLUSION This thesis is aimed at presenting differences in Czech and English sound systems both on the segmental and on the suprasegmental level with regard to Czech learners of English. Since mutual intelligibility is not only a matter of correct grammar and rich vocabulary of the particular non-native speaker, but also a question of intelligible and presentable pronunciation, the thesis explores three categories of individual sounds. The vowels in the English system are important since they can act as the element which finalizes the overall image of the non-native speaker. Each individual phoneme, long and short, is described in Czech and English sound systems and finally, a comparison is made with recommendations how to approach the English sound from the point of view of the Czech speaker. The description of English diphthongs follows, because they are an essential part of the English sound system and represent a possible risk for mispronunciation in a similar way as the vowels. Vowels are followed by the consonants which are included, because of their crucial role in shaping the sound of English. Consonants are categorized according to the manner of articulation for better organization and only consonants which can cause problems for the Czech learners of English are emphasized. Suprasegmental features, the word stress, sentence stress, rhythm, intonation and connected speech are given special treatment in the thesis. Each issue is commented on with regard to the differences to Czech language and recommendations are made how to deal with coarticulation of English. 57

Finally, a short observation is made in respect to the process of achieving a correct, intelligible and elegant pronunciation of English by the Czech learner and different author’s attitudes toward this issue are presented.

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WORKS CITED Cruttenden, Alan (2008) Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. 7th edition. London: Hodden Education. Crystal, David (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal, David (2008) A Dicionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th edition. Malden: Blackwell. Crystal, David (1988) The English Language. London: Penguin. Doleželová, Anna (2008) Fossilized Pronunciation Errors in Advanced Czech Speakers of English: Analysis & Strategies. Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis. Brno: Masaryk University. Elision. (2010). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. Gimson, A.C. (1975) A Practical Course of English Pronunciation: A Perceptual Approach. London: Edward Arnold. Google

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http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ Junková, Bohumila (1996) Vybrané kapitoly z fonetiky a fonologie. České Budějovice: Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích.

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Krčmová,

Marie

(2009) Fonetika

a

fonologie.

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http://is.muni.cz/elportal/?id=852835 Krčmová, Marie (1994) Úvod do fonetiky a fonologie pro bohemisty. (2nd ed.). Ostrava: Ostravská Univerzita v Ostravě. Macmillan

dictionary.

(2011,

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14).

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http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ Nováková, Petra (2007) Stress and Rhythm in English and Czech. Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis. Brno: Masaryk University. O’Connor, J.D. (1980) Better English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Connor, J.D. (1976) Phonetic Drill Reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Palková, Zdena (1994) Fonetika a fonologie češtiny: s obecným úvodem do problematiky oboru. Praha : Karolinum. Plavka, Rudolf (2003) Aspects of English Pronunciation. Havlíčkův Brod: Fragment. Skaličková, Alena (1982) Fonetika současné angličtiny. Praha: SPN. Tomková, Kateřina (2008) Perception of Non-native Pronunciation of English by Native Speakers. Dissertation. Brno: Masaryk University. Underhill, Adrian (1994) Sound Foundations. Oxford: Heinemann.

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ENGLISH RÉSUMÉ This thesis aims to compare and contrast sound systems of Czech and English languages both on the segmental and on the suprasegmental level of sounds. Moreover, it also attempts to refer to the differences with regard to Czech learners of English so as to provide a correct approach to the English sound system. In the thesis, three categories of sounds are explored. The vowels, because they can improve the overall impression of speech of the non-native speaker when all other important features are mastered. The diphthongs, similarly, are pointed out from the English sound system in order to present a different point of view for the Czech learner of English. The consonants are referred to as the most shaping part of the system of English and items which could cause most problems in pronunciation, are emphasized and again, an approach for the Czech learned of English is suggested. Furthermore, a comparison of English and Czech suprasegmental features is provided, because even though the individual sounds influence the intelligibility, suprasegmental elements much more contribute to mutual understanding with a native speaker. As a result, a comparison of Czech and English stress, rhythm and intonation as features of connected speech is made with recommendations how to avoid using elements of Czech connected speech in the usage of the English language. Lastly, along with a brief observation of various authors’ approaches to this issue, a short contemplation on the possible process of achieving the desired quality of pronunciation of English by the Czech learner is provided.

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CZECH RÉSUMÉ Tato práce srovnává zvukový systém českého a anglického jazyka, upozorňuje na jejich shody a rozdíly jak v jednotlivých hláskách (fonémech), tak na úrovni suprasegmentálních fonologických jevů. Navíc si práce klade za cíl popisovat vše s ohledem na českého mluvčího, aby mu bylo usnadněno vnímání správného anglického zvukového systému. Práce se v první řadě zabývá samohláskami, protože představují prvek, kterým je možno ústní projev finalizovat do podoby téměř rodilého mluvčího poté, co jsou zvládnuty ostatní důležité prvky řeči. Podobně dvojhlásky jsou popsány z pohledu anglického zvukového systému proto, aby český mluvčí mohl do tohoto systému nahlédnout a věnovat této problematice dostatečnou pozornost. Následuje popis souhlásek, neboť ty tvoří nejdůležitější část anglického systému fonémů. Vytvářejí totiž mnoho z celkového dojmu angličtiny jako jazyka. Jsou proto prezentovány s ohledem na českého mluvčího v tom smyslu, že jsou zdůrazněny hlásky, které se od češtiny odlišují, nebo pro ně čeština nemá žádné vhodné protějšky. Suprasegmentální jevy tvoří důležitou část obou zvukových systémů. V této práci jsou srovnány anglické a české fonologické jevy s doporučeními, jak se při projevu v anglickém jazyce vyhnout užívání suprasegmentálních jevů v tom smyslu, v jakém je známe v češtině. V závěru této práce se nachází krátké shrnutí přístupů různých autorů k získávání korektní anglické výslovnosti a zamyšlení nad optimálním postupem, jak docílit požadované úrovně výslovnosti v angličtině.

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