The school curriculum studies several sections of the science of language. Each of them involves the analysis of a language unit from a certain point of view. One of these sections is phonetics. Phonetic analysis of a word implies knowledge of what speech sounds are, what they are, how they relate to letters.
The meaning of analysis
In order to understand what phonetic analysis of a word means, you need to understand the principles of Russian graphics well. We are all accustomed to think of a word as consisting of certain letters. In fact, recording using the alphabet is just one of the ways that far from always reflecting the sound composition of a word. We record not sounds, but morphemes. If we reflected what we hear, the result would be illiterate from the point of view of Russian spelling. Say, we say “dup”, and write “oak”. The final consonant is interpreted in this way by us, since the root “oak” according to the rules of Russian spelling should be kept unchanged in a graphic form, regardless of the sound appearance of the word.
In phonetic analysis, you need to write down the word exactly as we actually hear and pronounce it (that is, “dup”, not “oak”), and then comment on each sound and word in general, using the information obtained from studying the school curriculum.
General sequence of actions
Phonetic analysis of the word is done according to a clear plan and with a developed sequence of actions. In this case, it is very important: violation of these developed rules can lead to serious distortions and errors. The general sequence is as follows:
- Spelling a word.
- Emphasis. Often in this lies an additional task - the student’s knowledge of how the token should be pronounced is checked. For example, in the word “contract” he should emphasize the last, not the first syllable.
The correct execution of this stage is especially important if the program involves the analysis of reduced vowels.
- Breakdown of a word into syllables, recording the number of syllables.
- Before doing a phonetic analysis of a word, it is necessary to write down its transcription in square brackets, that is, present such a variant of the token that we hear and pronounce (exempt from spelling rules). For some reason, it is at this stage that the maximum number of violations occurs. Often, the student seeks to first analyze the word, and only then write down the transcription. Often this makes the task impossible.
- Record each sound in a column.
- Commenting on the phonetic characteristics of vowels and consonants.
- Counting letters and sounds.
- Comments on differences in quantity (if any). This sums up the analysis. For example, you need to explain why the word has six letters, but seven sounds. Often formally this amount may coincide, this does not mean that comments are not needed. Say, in the word “anchor” there are five letters and five sounds: “I” means two sounds, and “b” means zero.
Transcription
The phonetic analysis of a word in fact is most often sound-literal, since transcription is not recorded from scratch, as in a university, when the sound image of a word in its entirety is interpreted. A schoolboy draws on spelling and analyzes what each letter means. For example, the course of his reasoning may be approximately as follows.
The word "anchor". The letter “I” is initial here, which means that it means two sounds in this word: “i” and “a”. “K” transmits “k”. “O” does not stand under stress, it is heard not as “o”, but as “a”. The combination "p" transmits one soft sound (the softness of the consonants in the transcription is transmitted by the apostrophe). As a result, we get a phonetic notation: [yakar ']. Many teachers require that the iot be transmitted in transcription professionally, with the sign “j”.
What are reduced vowels
Some programs also involve the use of special characters for the so-called reduced vowels. This often scares children and parents, but there is absolutely nothing complicated. The meaning of this is as follows.
In each word, only one vowel sound sounds fully - one that is under stress. The rest sound inferior, short, blurry, terminologically expressed - reduced. That is why we have problems with the spelling of the lexical unit. For example, in the word “anchor” in the second syllable we don’t hear either “o” or “a”, but we hear something in between. These reduced sounds in transcription must be conveyed with special characters. An unstressed sound does not equate to any other sound, but is fixed as "something in between."
This seems very reasonable to many schoolchildren, since when they write down the transcription [yakar '], they experience internal resistance: after all, they are aware that they don’t hear in the second syllable “a” how the school curriculum “dictates” them to hear.
Reduced Vowel Record Rules
In the event that the phonetic analysis of a word implies a record of reduced ones, one must act according to clear rules. You do not need to either desperately listen to yourself, or “poke your finger into the sky”, or put up with incomprehensible conventions.
These rules are as follows.
- They do not touch the sound "y". This sound without emphasis sounds briefly, but does not change its basic qualities. (In terminology, only quantitative, not qualitative, reduction occurs).
- Unstressed syllables can be before and after stress, so they need to be thought of as pre-stressed and, therefore, shock. For example, in the word “dog” the first refers to “sos”, and the second refers to “ka”.
- Among all unstressed syllables, the first pre-stressed (that is, the one immediately before the stress) occupies a special place. The vowel in this place sounds brighter and “better” than in other positions. For example, in the word "sausage" is the syllable "ba".
- In the case when any vowel is in the so-called absolute beginning of a word, it also sounds brighter and better (its reduction is less pronounced). For example, in the word "Antonina" this is the first sound transmitted on the letter with the letter "a".
- Unstressed sounds following solid consonants, in all cases, except for the syllable preceding the stressed, are transmitted in transcription by the sign “» ”. For example, in the word “sausage” this is the last “ka” - [kj], and in the verb “approach” - the first “under”: [pat]
- Unstressed, following the solid consonants in the syllable preceding the stressed, and the sounds “o” and “a” in the absolute beginning of the word are transmitted by the sign Ʌ. “The Dog” - [sɅbak]. "Antoshka" - [ntoshk].
- Unstressed sounds following soft consonants, in all cases except the first pre-stressed syllable, are transmitted in transcription by the sign “b”. For example, in the word “little finger” it is the last “nets” - [n'ts], and in the verb “pass” - the first “ne” and the second “re”: [n'r].
- Unstressed vowels following the soft consonants in the first pre-stressed syllable and the sounds “and”, “e”, “s” at the absolute beginning of the word are transmitted by the sign and e (and with the sound e): “fly” - [l 'and e tat'] .
It must be remembered that if the word begins with the letters i, u, e, e, vowel sounds are not an absolute beginning, since in front of them is a consonant “y”.
Sound analysis
Actually, the phonetic analysis of a word after recording transcription is usually very simple and is based on the ranks of elementary school (and quite a bit more complicated if the characteristics of sounds are studied in depth).
The amount of information about sounds varies by program, but by default you need to report the following about each sound.
- About a vowel - it is stressed or unstressed (or reduced). Sometimes the teacher also requires you to tell which row the sound belongs to.
- The consonant must be characterized by hardness / softness and deafness / sonorousness and note whether it has a pair according to the corresponding criterion.
Example 1
Phonetic analysis of the word "lilac". This is an example of elementary analysis.
Lilac. 2 syllables, the second of them is stressed.
Transcription: [c'ir'en '] or [c'i er r'en']
We write the letters in a column:
with
and
R
e
n
b
Transfer sounds from transcription - write them down in a column next to:
c '
and (and e )
R'
uh
n '
We note that the two letters “n” and “b” denote one sound:
n
\
n '
/
b
Commenting on each sound (not the letter):
c '- according to .; soft, doubles; deaf, doubles.
and (and e ) - vowel, unstressed (reduced).
p '- according to .; softly .; call., unpaired.
e - ch., shock.
n '- according to .; softly, couples., call., unpaired.
The word is written in six letters, but consists of 5 sounds (a soft sign indicates the softness of the consonant [n '].
Example 2
Phonetic analysis of the word "eclair". This is also an example of simple analysis.
Eckler: 2 syllables, the second of them is stressed.
Transcription: [ecl'er] or [and e cl'er]
We write the letters in a column:
uh
to
l
e
R
Transfer sounds from transcription - write them down in a column next to:
and uh
to
l '
uh
R
We comment on the characteristics of each sound:
e [and e ] - Ch., shockless. (reduced).
k - according to .; firm., parn .; deaf.
l '- according to .; softly .; ringing., unpaired.
e - ch., shock ..
p - according to; softly .; call., unpaired ..
There are 5 letters in a word, 5 sounds.
Example 3
Phonetic analysis of the word "language".
Tongue. 2 syllables, the second of them is stressed.
Transcription: [yazyk] or [jɅlanguage]
We write the letters in a column:
I am
s
s
to
Transfer the recording of sounds from transcription to the next column:
j
e (Ʌ)
s
s
to
We note that the letter “I” in this word means not one, but two sounds:
th
/
I am
\
e (Ʌ)
Record the characteristics of each sound:
j - according to; soft., unpaired .; call., unpaired.
e (Ʌ) - vowel, unstressed (reduced).
h - according to .; firm., parn .; call. guy ..
s - vowel
K - agree; firm., parn .; deaf.
The word is written in four letters, but consists of five sounds (the letter "I" means two sounds, since it is at the beginning of the word).
Sometimes a program requires the student to know additional terminology when characterizing sounds (sonorous consonant, quantitative and qualitative reduction, a number of vowels, etc.).
In general, phonetic analysis is based on mechanically applied elementary knowledge and the ability to use a clear plan and tables. In the event that the student follows them, this type of task will not be difficult for him.