Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage

world.

CHAPTER ONE

AN INTRODUCTION TO SPEECH AND PHONETICS

ARTICULATORY AGILITY

Articulatory agility is developing the ability to effortlessly and believably utter clearly the most conceivably convoluted consonant combos in the world.

Flexible lips and strengthened tongue-tips

are needed to toss off Cowardian quips.

And who can dispute a relaxed lower jaw

for spewing forth a torrent of Shaw?

It takes superlative diction to theatrically mumble and clearly be misunderstood in the jumble.

Be it couplets or prose—be it dese, dem or dose from Shakespeare to Simon from Molière to Mamet it simply won’t do if they don’t understand it!

Lilene Mansell

THE PROCESS OF VOICE AND SPEECH

The production of voice involves the coordination of breathing, vibration and resonation. In other words, a good voice is one that is firmly supported by the breathing mechanism in the body, specifically the interplay of the diaphragmatic and intercostal muscles. A good voice issues from a relaxed throat and resonates freely through the pharynx, mouth and nasal passages, producing an appropriate balance of resonance. A good voice is flexible; it can vary in pitch, timbre, volume, and tempo. Speech, the final step in the process, is articulated breath, or breath that is shaped by the articulators into the sounds of language.

THE FOUR ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF VOICE AND SPEECH

The Excitor is the force that triggers the production of voice. The respiratory muscles, mainly the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles, regulate and control the supply of air necessary to produce voice. An efficient inhalation of breath is both inaudible and invisible throughout all areas of the face, neck and throat. An economic use of exhalation gives rhythmical endurance and support of tone.

The Vibrator, or vocal folds (also known as vocal cords), produce sound waves or sound vibrations when breath travels across them; this action is an involuntary one that relies on concentration and mental images. For this reason, it is essential that the breath and the vocal folds function with relaxation, so that the speaker can achieve a smooth initiation of tone and avoid a tightening of the throat, which results in what is known as glottal attacks of vowel and diphthong sounds.

The Resonators, or cavities of the chest, throat, mouth, and nose, serve to reinforce and amplify sound waves. The production of tone is dependent on internal and external physical conditions, as well as on mental attitude and emotional response.

The Articulators shape the breath as it passes out through the mouth and the nose. What are known as the movable articulators (lips, lower jaw, tongue, and soft palate) work with the immovable articulators (teeth, upper gums, hard palate, and throat) to give definite shape to each separate speech sound. COMPLETE COOPERATION IS NECESSARY BETWEEN THE EXCITOR AND THE ARTICULATORS, the only two parts of the voice and speech process that the speaker can control directly.

ORGANS OF SPEECH—DIAGRAM OF ARTICULATORS

EIGHT ESSENTIAL ARTICULATORS give definite shape to each separate speech sound as the AIR passes out through the mouth or through the nose.

THE SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE

WRITTEN LANGUAGE is organized by punctuation and the visual arrangement of words on a page. SPOKEN LANGUAGE is governed by time (rhythm, phrasing and pauses) and by melody (pitch, intonation and inflection).

The individual speech sounds of any language are defined by how the breath, whether voiced or voiceless, is used in making the sound. A voiced sound is produced with vibration of the vocal folds; a voiceless sound is produced without vibration. In Spoken English,

A Vowel Sound

♦ Is made with an open, uninterrupted flow of air, the breath flowing through the mouth only: an oral sound. French, by contrast, contains four vowel sounds made with the breath flowing through the mouth and the nose simultaneously: nasalized vowels;

♦ Is a single sound, involving no movement or change of the articulators during the creation of the sound. Therefore, vowels are PURE sounds;

♦ In most languages, including English, is always a voiced sound.

Every Vowel Sound

♦ Is made with the tip of the tongue resting behind and touching the back of the lower front teeth. The front, middle or back of the tongue arches to various heights, from high to low in the mouth, to create distinct, pure vowel sounds;

♦ Is made with a RELAXED LOWER JAW;

♦ Is made with the soft palate raised. This prevents the vibrated breath from escaping into the nasal passage, assuring that it flows through the oral cavity, or mouth, only.

The following words each contain a single vowel sound:

The same vowel sound can be represented by several different spellings:

There are fifteen pure vowel sounds in well-spoken English.

A Diphthong Sound

♦ Is made by movement of the articulators that can be seen, heard and felt by the speaker;

♦ Is a blend of two vowel sounds into a single phonetic unit;

♦ Is perceived as one sound.

Some words that contain a single diphthong sound:

The same spoken diphthong sound can be represented by several spellings:

There are ten diphthong sounds in well-spoken English.

A Triphthong Sound

♦ Is a blending of three vowel sounds to form one sound comprising one syllable.

Some words that may contain a triphthong and may be pronounced as one syllable:

The same spoken triphthong sound is represented by several spellings:

There are two triphthong sounds in well-spoken English.

A Consonant Sound

♦ Is made with a stopped, impeded or interrupted breath, either through the mouth (oral) or through the nose (nasal);

♦ May be VOICED (vibration through the vocal folds) or VOICELESS (no vibration through the vocal folds). These are also known as breathed or whispered consonants;

♦ May have stationary articulators during the formation of the sound itself or moving articulators forming the sound.

Some words that contain a single consonant sound:

The same spoken consonant sound can be represented by several spellings:

There are 26 consonant sounds in well-spoken English.

An Affricate Sound

♦ Is comprised of a stop-plosive and a fricative consonant blended together so closely as to seem like a single sound;

♦ Is considered part of the plosive family of consonant sounds.

Some words that contain a single affricate sound:

The same affricate consonant sound can be represented by several different spellings:

There are two affricate consonant sounds in well-spoken English.

THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

The sounds of Spoken English will be studied in this book through the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The IPA, first published in 1888, notates the SOUNDS of the world’s languages, so that anyone can be taught to speak a language accurately, regardless of the alphabets or characters of a language’s written form. The guiding principle of the IPA is that one sound is represented by one particular phonetic letter only; and conversely, each letter represents one, and only one, sound.

In the beginning, the IPA used two kinds of phonetic transcription: VERY NARROW TRANSCRIPTION, which is the detailed notation of speech sounds and employs DIACRITICAL MARKS; and BROAD TRANSCRIPTION, or simplified notation of speech sounds, which employs a minimum of diacritical marks. However, over the years, the IPA has undergone modification, and what was intended originally to be one standard method of writing out sounds has now become a range of slightly different methods, even in the most established pronouncing dictionaries. So for the student who may at some point look into all the available texts, Appendix A of Speak with Distinction offers easily understood Levels of Phonetic Transcription. (See pages 376-379.)

Diacritical marks modify the phonetic letters in various ways. They denote details of spoken language such as lengths of sounds, stressed syllables, intonation, and minute features of placement and articulation that distinguish shades of sound within the same speech sound. Speak with Distinction also uses a number of signs unrelated to the IPA, to suggest further details of utterance; and a Chart of IPA and Non-IPA Signs used in this textbook is found in Appendix B. (See pages 380-383.)

The IPA used in this textbook is shown in very narrow transcription, meaning that the notation of the sound is very detailed. The letters are in their script form. The spelling is different in each of the following words, but the words share the same vowel sound i: as in Lee.

A VOWEL SOUND, since it is one pure sound, is represented by a single phonetic letter:

as in my:

A TRIPHTHONG SOUND is a blending of three sounds and is represented by three letters written closely together but spoken as one syllable to maintain rhythm in verse and poetry. The spelling is different in the following words, but each word may share the same triphthong sound:

occurs in the following words:

AN OVERVIEW OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

A vowel sound is produced as the breath is freely emitted through a single shape or position of the mouth. In Spoken English the breath is always voiced and exits through the mouth only.

The Shape of the Tongue

For ALL vowel sounds the tip of the tongue is relaxed behind the lower front teeth. The body of the tongue arches in various heights toward the roof of the mouth.

FRONT VOWELS: The front of the tongue arches toward the hard palate:

MID VOWELS: The middle of the tongue arches toward the middle of the palate:

BACK VOWELS: The back of the tongue arches toward the soft palate:

The Height of the Arch of the Tongue and the Degree of Opening of the Lower Jaw

The Position of the Lips

FRONT VOWEL SOUNDS: The lips are slightly smiling.

MID VOWEL SOUNDS: The lips are relaxed or neutral.

Again, the lips are relaxed or neutral.

BACK VOWEL SOUNDS: The lips are rounded.

The Potential Length or Duration of the Sound in Spoken English

LONG VOWELS: There are five vowels found in various lengths, but conveniently classified in three lengths: long, half-long and short.

SHORT VOWELS: There are nine vowels found only short in length in Spoken English.

The VOWEL CHART on page 11 summarizes in visual form the information on this page and introduces the diphthong and triphthong sounds of Spoken English.

Reminder———————————————————————————————————————————————

IN THE CORRECT FORMATION OF ALL ENGLISH VOWELS:

The tip of the tongue is relaxed behind the lower front teeth.

The vocal folds are vibrating, producing a voiced sound.

The air is emitted through the mouth ONLY.

THE VOWEL CHART

This chart is a simplified visualization of the tongue-arch, jaw and lip placement, noted on the preceding page, of the FIFTEEN vowel sounds of Spoken English. Remember that for all vowel, diphthong and triphthong sounds of Spoken English:

♦ The tip of the tongue is relaxed behind the lower front teeth;

♦ The soft palate is raised, making vowels oral sounds;

♦ The sounds are voiced.

The vowel sounds are classified according to the part of the tongue that is arched:

The quadrangle below roughly represents the inside of the mouth. Imagine that the head is in profile, facing left. Refer also to the chart on page 4.

THE FIVE SO-CALLED LONG DIPHTHONG SOUNDS:

THE TWO TRIPHTHONG SOUNDS:

THE FIVE ALWAYS-SHORT DIPHTHONG SOUNDS OF R:

Throughout this textbook a ² or ³ at the upper right corner of a word indicates that the word has two or three variants or standards of pronunciation.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE CONSONANT SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

The fundamental difference between the vowel and consonant sounds of Spoken English lies in the manner of their articulation. A vowel sound employs an uninterrupted flow of air, while a consonant uses an interrupted flow of breath; the mouth passage for consonants is either completely stopped for a moment or is narrowed to create friction.

Consonant sounds are classified according to:

Vibration;

Where the sound is made in the mouth;

How the sound is made.

VIBRATION

Is the consonant sound voiced or voiceless? In other words, is the consonant produced with vibration of the vocal folds, resulting in tone, or is the consonant produced without vibration of the folds? You can readily feel and identify a voiced or voiceless sound by placing the tips of your fingers on your Adam’s apple while producing a consonant sound. You will feel vibration during the production of all voiced sounds, but the area will remain still, and you will not feel vibration during the production of any voiceless sound.

There are 16 voiced consonant sounds in well-spoken English:

There are 10 voiceless consonant sounds in well-spoken English:

Cognates are pairs of different consonant sounds that are related by being produced in the same place of articulation, in the same manner of articulation, with one of the pair voiced and the other voiceless.

There are 10 pairs of cognates in Spoken English:

WHERE IS THE SOUND MADE IN YOUR MOUTH?

What articulators are used to stop, or hinder, the voiced or voiceless breath during production of the sound ?

HOW IS THE SOUND MADE, OR WHAT IS THE MANNER OF ARTICULATION?

In what way do the articulators influence the breath stream to create the sound?

Stop-Plosives

The air is stopped and then exploded.

When a voiceless stop-plosive is followed by a vowel or diphthong sound or by silence, the breath is quickly released. It is said to be aspirated.

When a voiceless stop-plosive is followed by another consonant sound, either within the same word or in the next word of a phrase, the plosive is unreleased, or held. It is said to be unaspirated.

Affricates

Part of the stop-plosive family, an affricate is a combination of a stop-plosive and a fricative, blended so closely as to seem like a single sound.

Nasals

The air is sent through the nose.

Lateral

The only sound in Spoken English in which the air is emitted over the sides of the tongue.

Fricatives

The air is forced through a very narrow opening formed by the articulators, resulting in a kind of audible friction.

Glides

The articulators begin in a particular shape and then glide, or swiftly move, from this position to the position of the vowel or diphthong sound that follows.

THE CONSONANT SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH IN SAMPLE WORDS

COMBINING THE SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

To combine the sounds of Spoken English in a way that appears to be conversational and unstudied is central to effective communication and must be mastered at the most elementary level of study. In any language, the words in a spoken phrase consist of unbroken streams of sounds, although some of the sounds are more prominent than others. For instance, vowels tend to be more sonorous than consonants, and open vowels are more resonant than closed vowels. Voiced nasal consonants and the lateral consonant have more musicality than other voiced consonants, and all voiced consonants have more carrying power than voiceless consonants. In addition, syllable stress, the lengths of sounds and the rhythmical contribution of operative ideas or words juxtaposed with unimportant words ensure that some sounds become more prominent than others.

SYLLABICATION

use the consonant r to begin a syllable rather than to end the previous syllable: pronounce the word merry as ME-rry and not MARE-ee, which mars the vowel sound with r-coloring. Pronounce starry as STA-rry and not STAR-ee.

Stressed Syllables

A STRESSED SYLLABLE is one that has a stronger degree of prominence in relation to other syllables in the same word. With the exception of weak forms of words, all words when considered separately have a stressed syllable. In phonetic transcription, a stress mark is placed above and before a stressed syllable:

Unstressed Syllables

UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES are left completely unmarked in phonetic transcription:

Secondary Stress

SECONDARY STRESS applies to a weak degree of stress given a syllable that is spoken with less stress than the syllable receiving a strong stress. In phonetic transcription, a secondary stress is placed below and before the syllable:

LENGTHS

LENGTH refers to the duration of a speech sound achieved without change in its phonetic quality. Since vowel sounds and continuant consonant sounds (nasals, the lateral consonant sound and fricatives) involve a single articulatory position, they could conceivably last as long as a breath can last. The same is true of the glide from one vowel element to another in the creation of a diphthong sound.

The lengths of speech sounds are governed by phonetic laws of which most people are unaware ; however, an understanding of these laws is essential to the student who wants to speak without a regional dialect or to the person learning to speak English as a second language. Since the lengths of the sounds in a language are the very essence of its rhythms, knowing about them is invaluable for both the student of oral interpretation and for the actor endeavoring to enter the rhythmic life of a character. In this book, and in any general discussion of Spoken English, length refers to the duration of sounds in proportion to one another, rather than to their length in real time. No one is actually