Comparative Study of Suprasegmental Units of the Russian and Persian Languages in the Speech of Iranian Students Acquiring the Sixth Intonation Pattern

When learning a new language, students may encounter various challenges, particularly those related to the unique structural aspects of the target language. One of the fundamental and most important subjects in the field of language education is phonetics − one of the main sections of linguistics, which allows the language to focus on the physical aspects and coordinates speech sounds. Phonetics is the field that examines intonation as a means of registering utterances and creating their integrity, while simultaneously dividing speech streams into minimal units with semantic meaning.

In this article, a comparative analysis of the suprasegmental units of the Russian and Persian languages examines the prosodic differences between the compared languages in terms of tonal movement. This analysis provides an explanation for the factors contributing to the incorrect pronunciation by Iranian students in the implementation of the sixth intonation pattern. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to determine the contradictions of intonation systems of sentences in the Russian and Persian languages according to the purpose of the utterance in the speech stream within the framework of physical (acoustic) analysis and to identify factors and problems of distortion of Intonation Pattern No.6 among Iranian students and finally trying to correct them. The study is intended for Iranian students who have a fundamental understanding of the phonetic structure and the basic parameters of Russian sounds, rhythm, and intonation. Our research aims to develop pronunciation skills while simultaneously improving oral speech. Understanding intonation has become a key element of our research approach. By analyzing the acoustic signals, including waveform, pitch and intensity, obtained from the sixth intonation pattern produced by Iranian students, it was found that their speech orientation was influenced by the phonetic structure of the Persian language. This orientation differs from the way phonetic parameters are used in Russian. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that declarative sentences in both languages differ in pitch in their neutral implementation. This difference is explained by the intonation center of utterances and the position of stress in each melodic phrase.

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