(a) The mouth is wide open.

(b) Show your tongue a little and say "Ah".

(c) Now draw the tongue back horizontally and say "Ah" again.
(d) Alternate these horizontal movements of the tongue counting "two" (positions b, c).

11.
(a) The mouth is wide open.
(b) Now say [a], with the tip of the tongue pressed to the lower teeth.
(c) Then say [H]. The position of the tip of the tongue is the same. The separation of
the jaws is smaller. Mind the vertical movement of the tongue.
(d) Alternate these vertical positions of the tongue counting "two" (positions b, c).

IV. Exercises for the Soft Palate

1.
(a) Take a mirror, turn your back to the light, open the mouth wide, keep the tongue
as low as possible and say "Ah", as if the doctor wanted to examine your throat. Mind
that the soft palate is raised closing the nasal cavity. The air stream goes through the
mouth.
(b) Keeping the mouth in this position breathe in and out through the mouth.
(c) Alternate the air effort while breathing out now making it strong now very slight.
2.
(a) The mouth is wide open.
(b) Now push the air through the nose. You will see and feel a contact between the
tongue and the soft palate, which is lowered now and closes the mouth cavity. The air
goes through the nose.
(c) Go on breathing in and out through the nose with your mouth open.
3.
(a) Press the lips together and push the air through the nose. The soft palate now is
lowered letting the air into the nasal cavity.
(b) Breathe in and out through the nose with your lips pressed.
(c) Now pronounce the sound (MJ, keeping the lips pressed together.

PHONETICS. SOUNDS AND PHONEMES

Phonetics is a science, which deals with pronunciation and the phonetical structure
of a language. There is a traditional point of view on pronunciation by which there is
understood to include only the system of speech sounds. This viewpoint is incomplete.
Pronunciation is much broader term which includes the system of all the phonetical
means of expression in speech – speech sounds, word-stress and intonation.

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 Phonetics is a branch of linguistics, which studies speech sounds (phonemes),
word-stress and intonation. Phonetics studies the articulation and acoustic qualities of
speech sounds, the physical characteristics and sound perception of stress and
intonation, the lexical and grammatical role of phonemes, word-stress and intonation.
Speech sounds are grouped into language units called p h o n e m e s. A phoneme
may be thought of as the smallest contrastive language unit, which exists in the
speech of all people belonging to the same language community in the form of speech
sounds, and may bring about a change of meaning.
The phoneme is a functional unit. That means that being opposed to other
phonemes in the same phonetic context it is capable of differentiating the meaning,
eg:
pie – tie
lot – lit
Are you fond of this cut?
Are you fond of this cart?

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 The phoneme is realized in speech in the material form of speech sounds of
different type. Various speech realizations of the phoneme are called its a11ophones.
The difference between the allophones of the same phoneme is due to their position in
various phonetic contexts. For example, the consonant [d] in the isolated position as
well as in such a sound sequence as [dat] is a lenis voiced stop articulated with the tip
of the tongue against the teeth ridge. In the position before an interdental constrictive
[θ] as in breadth it is formed with the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth, when
[d] is followed by the post-alveolar [r] as in dry the tip of the tongue is placed behind
the teeth ridge.
The list of the allophones of the phoneme [d] might continue. Nevertheless all the
allophones of the phoneme [d] have a few articulatory features in common. All of them
are forelingual lenis stops. If any of these features is modified the meaning of the word
is either changed or destroyed accordingly. In case the forelingual articulation is
changed for the labial one the word dot is modified into pot. Those articulatory
features, which are common to all the allophones of the same phoneme and are
capable of differentiating the meaning are called distinctive.
Allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same phonetic context. They
cannot differentiate the meaning since there is no mutual opposition possible in this
case. Such speech sounds are grouped into a phoneme and function as a language
unit opposed to other language units, i. e. phonemes.
In teaching English pronunciation we must certainly begin with that allophone of
the phoneme, which is not modified in various phonetic circumstances (the principal
allophone). But other allophones, which frequently occur in speech and differ quite
obviously deserve our attention as well (the subsidiary allophones). Therefore, for
instance, when teaching the articulation of the phoneme [d] one must not ignore the
changes in the place of articulation, in the character of plosion and other important
modifications which affect the allophones of this phoneme. All allophones of the same
phoneme are indicated by the same symbol.

VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

The organs of speech are capable of uttering many different kinds of sounds. From
the practical point of view it is convenient to distinguish two types of speech sounds:
vowels and consonants. Vowels are voiced sounds produced without any obstruction
in the supra-glottal cavities and consequently have no noise component. In the
articulation of consonants a kind of noise producing obstruction is formed in the
supra-glottal cavities. Such sounds may be pronounced with or without vocal cords
vibration.