Урок 49. Разговорный стиль. Произношение. Lesson 49. The colloquial register. Pronunciation.

The principal function of this register is social intercourse. Its medium is dialogue or conversation and its field is one’s personal relationships and practical everyday dealings with others. It is therefore distinguished by relative spontaneity, simplicity and the absence of forethought or technical or official tone. Non-lexical features, such as intonation, pauses, stress, rhythm and tempo, play an important part in it. Meaning is reinforced by non-linguistic resources such as facial expression and gesture. The function, medium and field of the register account for many of the factors which it tends to exhibit in the areas of pronunciation, vocabulary and phraseology, word-formation,
morphology and syntax.
Articulation is often careless and indistinct, and vowels may be reduced or consonants lost as a result of lazy or rapid delivery, e.g. gru (говорю), zdrassti (здрaвствуй), u tia (y тeбя), toka (только), vaˇsˇse (вообщe), piisat (пятьдeсят). Local accent is marked (e.g. with aкaньe and associated phenomena оr окaньe, treatment of g as occlusive or fricative. Stress may differ from the accepted norm (e.g. договор, приговор, позвонишь, рaзвилось, рaзвились instead of договор, приговор, позвонишь, рaзвилось, рaзвились, respectively).