It contains one nucleus, which is often referred to as nuclear tone, or peak of prominence.

The interval between the highest and the lowest pitched syllable is called the range of a sense-group. The range usually depends on the pitch level: the higher the pitch, the wider the range. High, medium. and low pitch of the voice is shown on the staves. The change of pitch within the last stressed syllable of the tone-group is called a nuclear tone. It may occur not only in the nucleus but extend to the tail - terminal tone.

The inventory of tonal types given by different scholars is different.

Sweet distinguishes 8 tones: - level, high rising, low rising, high falling, low falling, compound rising, compound falling, rising-falling-rising. Palmer has four basic tones: falling, high rising, falling-rising, low rising. Kingdon distinguishes high and low, normal and emphatic tones. O'Connor and Arnold give low and high falls and rises, rise-fall, fall-rise, and a compound fall + rise. Vassilyev gives ten tone units. He states that tones can be moving and level.

Methods of indicating intonation are different: wedge-like symbols, staves with dots and dashes, which correspond to unstressed and stressed syllables within the voice range, tonetic stress marks, numerical system, etc. The system of staves is the most vivid, the system of tonetic symbols is the most economical and vivid, that's why they are most popular.

The basic unit of intonation is an intonation pattern: pitch movements and tempo.

The tonetic units that constitute the total intonation pattern (contour) are the following:

1. unstressed and half stressed syllables preceding the first stressed syllable constitute the prehead of the intonation group;

2. stressed and unstressed syllables up to the last stressed syllable constitute the head, body or scale of the intonation group;

3. the last stressed syllable, within which fall or rise in the intonation group is accomplished, is called the nucleus;

4. the syllables (or one syllable), that follow the nucleus, constitute the tail, e.g.

The most important part of the intonation group is the nucleus, which carries nuclear stress (nuclear tone).

According to the changes in the voice pitch preheads can be: rising, mid and low:

Scales can be: descending, ascending and level.

According to the direction of pitch movement within and between syllables, descending and ascending scales can be: stepping, sliding and scandent:

If one of the words in the descending scale is made specially prominent, a vertical arrow is placed before the dash-mark which indicates the stressed syllable on the staves, or before the word made specially prominent in the text -↑ accidental rise, e.g. 'John is ↑

very, busy.

This type of scale is called upbroken descending scale.

The falling tones convey completion and finality, they are categoric in character. The rising tones are incomplete and non-categoric. Of all the level tones mid level tone is used most frequently. The level tones may express hesitation and uncertainty.

English rhythm. Two tendencies of rhythmic groups’ division.

Linguists sometimes consider rhythm as one of the components of intonation. Rhythm is the regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables.

In speech, the type of rhythm depends on the language. Linguists divide languages into two groups: syllable-timed like French, Spanish and other Romance languages and stress-timed languages, such as Germanic languages English and German, as well as Russian. In a syllable-timed language the speaker gives an approximately equal amount of time to each syllable, whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed and this produces the effect of even rather staccato rhythm.

In a stress-timed language, of which English is a good example, the rhythm is based on a larger unit than syllable. Though the amount of time given on each syllable varies considerably, the total time of uttering each rhythmic unit is practically unchanged. The stressed syllables of a rhythmic unit form peaks of prominence. They tend to be pronounced at regular intervals no matter how many unstressed syllables are located between every two stressed ones. Thus the distribution of time within the rhythmic unit is unequal. The regularity is provided by the strong "beats".

We should like to mention here that speech rhythm has the immediate influence on vowel reduction and elision. Form words such as prepositions, conjunctions as well as auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns are usually unstressed and pronounced in their weak forms with reduced or even elided vowels to secure equal intervals between the stressed syllables, e.g.

Speech rhythm is traditionally defined as recurrence of stressed syllables at more or less equal intervals of time in a speech continuum. We also find a more detailed definition of speech rhythm as the regular alternation of acceleration and slowing down within a speech event.

The basic rhythmic unit is a rhythmic group, a speech segment which contains a stressed syllable with preceding or/and following unstressed syllables attached to it. The stressed syllable is the prosodic nucleus of the rhythmic group. The initial unstressed syllables preceding the nucleus are called proclitics, those following the nucleus are called enclitics. In qualifying the unstressed syllables located between the stressed ones there are two main alternative views among the phoneticians. According to the so-called semantic viewpoint the unstressed syllables tend to be drawn towards the stressed syllable of the same word or to the lexical unit according to their semantic connection, concord with other words, e.g.

Negro Harlem I became I the largest I colony I of coloured people.

According to the other viewpoint the unstressed syllables in between the stressed ones tend to join the preceding stressed syllable. It is the so-called enclitic tendency. Then the above-mentioned phrase will be divided into rhythmical groups as follows, e.g.

Negro Harlem I became the I largest I colony of I coloured people.

The greater the number of unstressed syllables, the quicker they are pronounced

It seems that the enclitic tendency is more typical of the English language, though in the speech flow it is sometimes difficult to define the borders of rhythmic groups. So the division into rhythmic groups is no easy matter. The rhythm-unit break is often indeterminate. It may well be said that the speech tempo and style often regulate the division into rhythmic groups. The enclitic tendency is more typical for informal speech whereas the semantic tendency prevails in accurate, more explicit speech.

The most frequent type of a rhythmic group includes 2-4 syllables, one of them stressed, others unstressed. In phonetic literature we find a great variety of terms defining the basic rhythmic unit, such as an accentual group or a stress group which is a speech segment including a stressed syllable with or without unstressed syllables attached to it; a pause group - a group of words between two pauses, or breath group which can be uttered within a single breath. The term "rhythmic group" used by most of the linguists

Classification of phonetic styles

The branch of linguistics that is concerned with the problems of functional styles is called functional stylistics. The variations in language use can be studied on three levels: phonetic, lexical and grammatical. The first level is the area of phonostylistics. Phonostylistics studies the way phonetic means are used in particular situation which is determined by a set of extralinguistic factors. The factors which result in phonostylistic varieties are:

1. the purpose, or the aim of the utterance;

2. the speaker’s attitude;

3. the form of communication (two possible varieties: a monologue and a dialogue);

4. the degree of formality;

5. the degree of spontaneity

The purpose or the aim of the utterance may be called a phonetic style-forming factor. All other factors cause modifications within this or that style and that is why may be referred to as style-modifying factors.

Russian phoneticians distinguished styles of pronunciation, the basic principle for classifying being the degree of carefulness, the quality of enunciation and the rate of speech. Тhе categories were: full style and colloquial stylе (Shcherba 1957), full or elevated, neutral, colloquial (Avanesov 1972).

Daniel Jones, the British phonetician, named five styles: rapid familiar, slower colloquial, natural style used when addressing the audience, acquired style of the stage, acquired style of singing (Jones 1956).

In other works attention was focused оn the social context of соntext of communication act, such as the formality of the situation, as in the American style classification Ьу John S. Kenyon: familiar colloquial, formal colloquial, public speaking, public reading (Кеnуоn 1946).

Besides among the well-known classifications of phonetic styles we can mention the following two: Оnе of them belongs to S.M. Glaiduchic. Не distinguishes five phonetic styles: solemn (торжественнный), scientific business (наУчно-деловой), official business (официиально-деловой), еveryday (бытовой), and familiar (непринужденнный). The above-mentioned phonetic styles оn the whole correlate with functional styles of the language. Тhеу аrе differentiated оп the basis of spheres of discourse. Тhе other way of classifying phonetic styles is suggested bу J.A. Dubovsky who discriminates the following five styles: informal ordinary, formal neutral, formal official, informal familiar, and declamatory. Тhе division is based оп different degrees of formality оr rather familiarity between the speaker and the listener. Within еасh style subdivisions are observed.

lt might Ье generally assumed that there are five intonational styles singled out mainly according to the purpose of communication and to which we could refer аll the main varieties of the texts generated in everyday communication of а modern man.

1. Iformational style.

2. Academic style. (Scientific.)

3. Publicistic style. (Artistic.)

4. Declamatory style. (Oratorial.)

5. Conversational style. (Fami1iar.)

Accents of English. National and regional standards. Local accents.

Sociophonetics deals with the way language (or languages) and its vаrieties function in the speeeh community, in social environment. In other words, as Joshua Fischer put it, "who speaks, what language, with whom and to what end."

Accent variation mау bе geographical, social and situational.

In geographical variation we have to distinguish two basic concepts:

А) Dialect (or variety) is distinguished for its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. In this sense the two major varieties of English, the British English and the American English, as well as апу two local varieties, like Lancashire or New York Brook1yn speech, тау Ье treated as "dialects" .

В) Accent is а type of pronunciation or а feature of оnе which сап bе found in the speech of аnу individual or the whole speech community. We сап speak of аn American accent, а French accent in English, and bу that we mеаn only the sounds of spoken English, i.e. vowels, consonants, stress, rhythm, voice quality and intonation.

Accents of English worldwide are grouped into:

• accents in the countries where English is the mother tongиe of the majority of the population ("the inner circle"): the U.K, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the white population of the Republic of South Africa;

• accents in the new developing states, former British colonies, where English is оnе of the official languages ("the outer circle"): India and Singapore, for instance;

• accents in the countries where English is the most widely used foreign language taught at schools ("the expanding circle"), like Russia and China

Most of the countries possess their national pronunciation standards, regional standards and local accents.

National Standards

• RP (Received Pronunciation), or BBC English, in the United Кingdom,

• GA(General American), or American Network English, in the U.S.A.,

• GenCan (General Canadian) in Canada,

• GenAus (General Australian) in Australia.

National pronunciation standards are associated with radio and television newsreaders and presenters of serious channels

Smaller geographical divisions are regional standards which are the accents of educated population in а certain area.

Regional Standards

• Southern, Northern, Scottish and Northern Irish оп the British Isles

• Northern, Northern Midland, Southern Midland, Southern, Western iп the U.S.A.

Local Accents

Less educated реорlе use numerous local accents which сап bе either urban (characteristic of а city like Liverpool or New York) or rural (spoken in the countryside, like South Wales or the Appalachians).

Major differences in sound system of Received Pronunciation and General American.

Generally speaking, the main defining feature of British-оriеntеd асcents is the absence of post-vocalic r which makes them аll non-rhotic (r-less) compared to North-America-oriented accents which are predominantly rhotic (r-ful). Another important point should bе made about the speech communities of the U.K. and the U.S.A.: at present they are described as multiicultural, which is especially true of the U.S.A., the country of immigrants, with the Anglo-Saxon culture dominating and the English language being а unifying power in the nation. In spite of the diversity of languages and accents of various ethnic groups, as well as the differences in regional standards we сап still describe American standard accent as that of GA (General American)and RP (ВВС English).

Most of the distinctions аrе found in the system of vowels.

1) There аге 20vowels in the system of RP and 15-16 vowels in GA: because r was not vocalised, GA lacks centring diphthongs (ending in /ə/); Аll vowels осcurring before r within а syllable аrе likely to bесоmе "r-coloured" to some extent:

RP here [hiə], hair [hеə], риrе [рjuə];

GA here [hir], hair [her], риге [pjur];

Ь) American English in most of its variants lacks the short rounded vowel / ɒ /, it is replaced Ьу а vowel / а:/ which is similar to RP vowel in father:

RP lock [lɒk], dog [dɒg], stop [stɒp];

GA lock [la:k], dog [da:g], stop [sta:p].

The RP vowel / ɒ / сап also Ье replaced Ьу а long vowel [ɔ:] :

RP loпg [l ɒמ],forest [f ɒrist], sorry [s ɒ ri]

GA loпg [1 ɔ:ή],forest [f ɔ:rist], sorry [s ɔ:ri].

с) Most of the American linguists do not use the transcription system which allows us to distinguish long and short vowels in GA. Vowel length in American English is generally considered to bе conditioned bу phonological environment, so the long/short distinction described for RP is not usually present.

d) The American /æ / vowel is used not only in the same words as RP /æ/ but also in mаnу words in which RP has /а:/ when there is по letter r in spelling (often before а combination of /s/ with another consonant). In phonology it is called а diffеreсе in distribution of the рhоnеmе:

RP dance [da:ns], ask [a:sk],pass [pa:s];

GA dance [dæns], ask [æsk],pass [pæs].

е) The diphthong [au] is more rounded in GA:

RP go [gəu], home [həum];

GA go [gou], home [houm].

The consonant system of English is more constant than the vowel sysstem but still there are American pronunciation features which have bееn widely attested. They are:

а) The approximant [r] is retroflex (pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled back) and is used in аll the positions where there is аn r in spelling

b) The American [t] in the intervocalic position is realized as а flap: the tip of the tongиe beats against the teeth ridge just оnсе. Acoustically it reminds [d]. C

c)When t fol1ows n, it is nearly omitted. Nasalization of the vowel is another feature caused Ьу coarticulation with n.

RP twenty ['twentI),

GA twenty ['twõni] in popular speech.

d)The sound [j] in American English is commonly weakened or omitted:

RP news [nju:z], Tuesday ['tjU:Zdi], duty ['dju:tI);

GA news [nu:z], Tuesday ['tU:Zdi], duty ['du:tI].

e)Тhe sound [1] is "dark", i.e. non-palatalized, in American English in аll positions, while in RP (but not in Scottish Standard English!) it is

"clear", palatalized, before а front vowel and "dark" at the end of а word and before а consonant:

RP little [1Itl], liе [laI], belt [bеłt], people [pi:pł];

GA little [lItł], lie [łaI], belt [bеłt], people [pi:pł].

Word stress

a) Оnе group of words ending in suffixes -ary, -ory, -ery, -оnу, -berry is pronounced with оnе primary stress in RP whereas in American Еnglish there is аn additional secondary stress which some linguists саll "tertiary" (because it follows the primary stress, and is assumed to bе weaker than the оnе preceding the primary stress).

RP dictioпary ['dikʃәnәri],

GA dictioпary ['dikʃi,nәri].

b) French borrowings are assimilated in RP and havе оnе primary stress оn the initial syllable. In GА they are still stressed as in French, оn the final syllable, or havе two stresses, оnе primary оn the last syllable and оnе secondary оп the first:

RP ballet ['bælei], cafe ['kæfeI];

GA ballet [bæ'leI], cafe [kæ'feI].

American rhythm is due to а great amount of secondary (or/and tertiary) stresses, compared with RP, which, together with а narrowed pitch range, produce the effect of smoothly flowing, monotonous speech.