Translate the texts

Articulatory phonetics. From the articulatory point of view every speech sound is a complex of definite, finely coordinated and differentiated movements and position of the various speech organs. All the movements and positions of the speech organs necessary to pronounce a speech sound constitute its articulation.

Organs of speech include the power mechanism, the vibrator mechanism, the resonator mechanism, the obstructer mechanism. The power mechanism consists of the diaphragm, the lungs, the bronchi, the windpipe (or trachea), the glottis, the larynx, the mouth cavity and the nasal cavity. The vibrator (or voice producing) mechanism consists of the vocal cords. The resonator mechanism consists of the pharynx, the larynx, the mouth cavity and the nasal cavity. The obstructer mechanism consists of the tongue, the lips, the teeth, the soft palate, the uvula, the hard palate, the alveolar ridge. The four mechanisms are not only closely interconnected, but actually also overlap, as the speech organs forming part of one mechanism may form at the same time part of another mechanism thus performing different functions. Each speech sound is the result of the simultaneous work of all the four mechanisms. From the point of view of their functions the speech organs of the obstructer mechanism are divided into active and passive. The active organs of speech are the vocal cords, the tongue, the lips, the soft palate with the uvula. The passive organs of speech are: the teeth, the teeth ridge, the hard palate, and the walls of the resonance chambers (or the supra-laryngeal cavities). The active speech organs are mobile; in articulating sounds they occupy one or more positions in respect to the passive organs of speech which are immobile.

Acoustic phonetics. From the physical, or more exactly, acoustic point of view a speech sound like any other sound in nature is a physical phenomenon and it is communicated to the air in the form of sound waves, which appears due to the disturbance of the air stream by the movements of the speech organs. These movements push the particles of air which are next to it and displace them. The displaced layer of particles displaces the next layer, and the pressure is transmitted through the air. Thus, the space between the air particles becomes smaller and the air is compressed or condensed. Compressed air particles reach the listener’s ear-drum and cause pressure to it. When the pressing force has spent itself, the displaced particles return to their original position because of the elasticity of air and produce rarefactions behind them – that is the space between two neighbouring particles is increased. These alternating waves of condensation and rarefaction are sound waves.

Sound waves have a number of physical properties, such as frequency, length, amplitude and duration, which all exist and manifest themselves simultaneously; each of them can be singled out and separated from the others only for purposes of analysis. Frequency is the number of vibrations per second. Sound waves may follow one another at different rates of frequency, therefore the number of vibrations, or cycles per second varies greatly. Length is the distance between the point of maximum compression in one wave to the point of maximum compression in the next wave, or, in other words the distance between points having the same phase (position) in two adjacent waves. Wave length is inversely proportional to the frequency of vibrations; the higher the frequency, the shorter the wave length. Frequency of repeated pressure on the ear-drum is perceived as the pitch of the sound. The greater the frequency, the higher the pitch, and vice versa. The frequency of sound depends on certain physical properties of the vibrator, such as its mass, length and tension. The greater the mass of the vibrator, the slower its vibrations, and the lower the pitch (other conditions being equal). Some people’s vocal cords are thicker and heavier than those of others and their voices are lower than the voices of those with thinner, lighter vocal cords. The longer the vibrator, the slower the vibrations, the lower the frequency and the pitch. A man’s voice is lower than a woman’s partly because his vocal cords are longer. As the tension of the vibrator increases, the frequency increases and the pitch rises. Amplitude of vibrations is the distance to which the air particles are displaced from their position of rest by the application of external force, produced by the movement of speech organs, or, in other words, by the degree of the condensation of air and therefore by the force of the pressure which the displaced air particles exert on the ear-drum. The amplitude of vibration is correlated with the intensity of the sound, changes in which are perceived primarily as variations in the loudnessof sound. Naturally, the greater the external force applied to cause vibration, the greater the amplitude of vibration, the greater the intensity of sound, the greater the pressure of the displaced air particles upon the ear-drum, the louderthe sound. Intensity is measured in decibels. Closely connected with the frequency and amplitude of sound is its composition or complexity. A physical body that is set into vibration vibrates not only as a whole but also in its parts (segmental vibrations). The sound wave produced by the vibration of the whole body is called the fundamental. Waves produced by the vibrations of the parts of the body are called partial waves.Most sound waves are complex ones i.e. they consist of the fundamental and partial waves blended together. The frequency of the fundamental wave is lower than that of the partial waves. The sound wave which results from the vibrations of the whole body and which has the lowest frequency is perceived as the fundamental tone. The characteristic partial waves which result from the vibrations of the parts of the vibrating body are perceived as partial tones, or overtones. They are perceived as changes in tambre. Like any other form of matter sound can only exist and develop, or move, in time. In other words, any sound has a certain duration. It can be defined as the quantity of time during which the same vibratory motion, the same patterns of vibration are maintained.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14