Lecture 2 Handout Chapter 5. THE ENGLISH VOWEL SYSTEM 5.1. DEFINITION 5.2.

THE VOWEL CHART Cardinal vowels are a set of reference vowels used by phoneticians in describing the sounds of languages. For instance, the vowel of the English word "keep" can be described with reference to cardinal vowel 1, [i], which is the cardinal vowel closest to it. A cardinal vowel is a vowel sound produced when the tongue is in an extreme position, either front or back, high or low. The current system was systematised by Daniel in the early 20th century. The degree of aperture plus the frontback distinction define 8 reference points on a mixture of articulatory and auditory criteria. These eight vowels are known as the eight primary cardinal vowels, and vowels like these are common in the world's languages. The device onto which these primary cardinal vowels are mapped is called the Cardinal Vowel quadrilateral, whose representation produced by Daniel Jones in 1956 is given below:

The English simple vowels may be placed on the Cardinal Vowel quadrilateral as shown in Fig.1.

5.3. VOWEL CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA 1. stability of articulation If the articulators hold their position for the whole duration of the vowel sound, there results a .. (pure vowel); if there is a change, generally of the tongue, from one vowel position to another, a . will be produced. An alternative label for diphthongs is glides since the tongue actually glides from a relatively long vowel position to a second vowel. A vowel sound that glides between three qualities is a ... Stability of articulation (simple/ pure/ stable vowels) (glides) . Set

/i:/, //, /e/, //, //, /:/, //, /u:/, //, /:/, //, /:/ /e/, /a/, //, /e/, //, //, /a/, //. /e/, /a/, //, /a/, //

2. position of the soft palate The position of the velum (soft palate) distinguishes between . and vowels. 3. position of the tongue a. With respect to tongue height, projected on the vertical axis, two extreme situations are identifiable: one in which the body of the tongue is raised, almost touching the hard palate, for the production of (high) vowels; an opposite one, where the tongue is held low in the mouth, leaving the oral cavity wide open for the articulation of (low) vowels. For accuracys sake, however, two intermediate positions between high and low levels may be pictured, with .(..) vowels being pronounced if the tongue occupies one third of the distance close-open, and .. (..) vowels being produced as the tongue occupies two thirds of the distance close-open. b. With respect to tongue frontness/ backness, estimated along the horizontal axis, vowels are considered to be .. if they are uttered as the front part of the tongue is highly involved in the articulatory process, or .., if the rear part of the tongue articulates them, or ., when the central part of the tongue effects the articulation. 4. position of the lips Although the lips may be seen to adopt a variety of positions, there are three major possibilities to consider: - ., when the lips adopt a more or less clear circular shape (e.g ); - ., when the corners of the mouth are pushed back as for a smile (e.g. ); - ., when spreading or rounding does not visibly take place (e.g. ). 5. vowel length The quantity criterion termed length plays a major role in distinguishing long versus short vowels. Consider: bee /bi:/, bead /bi:d/ and beat /bi:t/. This long vowel /i:/ sounds longer when .., shorter when it is followed by a .. and even shorter when . This observation is valid for the other long vowels too. Since for short vowels variations in phone length may also be measured, the natural conclusion is that vowel length is very much a contextual feature. 6. tenseness of the muscles in the articulatory organs Long vowels are associated with a considerable degree of muscular tension in the articulatory organs, and they are described as ... Alternatively, short vowels involve less articulatory tension, hence their label as ...

5.3.1. THE SIMPLE VOWEL PHONEMES IN ENGLISH

Simple vowels /i:/ // /e/ // // /:/ // /u:/ // /:/ // /:/

Characteristics Class front, close, long, tense vowel, produced with spread lips. front (retracted), almost half-close, short, lax, unrounded lips. front, intermediate between half-open and A. The Front Vowels half-close, short, lax, unrounded lips. front, open, short, lax, unrounded lips. central, mid, short, lax, unrounded lips. central, mid, long, tense, spread lips. central, half-open, short, lax, unrounded B. The Central Vowels lips. back, close, long, tense, rounded lips. back (advanced), almost half-close, short, lax, rounded lips. back, half-open, long, tense, rounded lips. back, open, short, lax, slightly rounded C. The Back Vowels lips. back advanced, open, long, tense, unrounded lips. Distribution word-initial: Easter, eager word-medial: peas, keen word-final: plea, key word-initial: inner, innate word-medial: kitten, lit word-final: sadly, sorry word-initial: else, ever word-medial: belly, settle word-initial: asset, alimony word-medial: bat, carry word-initial: again, alone word-medial: convert, collide word-final: rather, bother word-initial: early, err word-medial: reverse, first word-final: defer, fur word-initial: under, other word-medial: subway, subtle word-initial: ooze, uhlan word-medial: crude, mood word-final: tattoo, chew word-medial: cushion, stood word-final (rare): to, who, do word-initial: awful, awkward word-medial: slaughter, hawk word-final: saw, guffaw word-initial: onset, honest word-medial: toll, potter

Simple Vowels /i:/ // /e/ // // /:/ // /u:/ // /:/ //

/:/

word-initial: army, archbishop word-medial: barn, cartridge word-final: far, car

/i:/

Characteristics: front, close, long, tense, spread lips. Articulation: the front of the tongue is fairly close to the forward part of the palate and
slightly below the close front position; the lips are spread; the tongue is tense, and the sides of the tongue almost touch the upper molars. Variants: it is longer if it occurs in syllable-final position (tea) and shorter if it precedes a voiced sound (read), the shortest before a voiceless consonant (seat). It is nasalized before a nasal consonant (lean). In Cocnkey, a local dialect of London, it is diphthongized to // or it may be replaced by /i/. Distribution: This sound occurs in word-initial positions (eaves), medially (seem, cream) and word-final positions (fee, sea). Spelling: ee greed, meet ea peas, feast, conceal e legion, thesis ei conceive,receipt ie chief, field, believe ae Caesar, Aesop, formulae, personae eo Oedipus ey key i police Exceptional spellings: Beauchamp, quay, people

//

Articulation: the front of the tongue is raised just above the half-close position, but not as
high as in /i:/; the lips are spread loosely and the tongue is more relaxed; the sides of the tongue may just touch the upper molars. Variants: Its length decreases if the following sound is voiceless (pit). In unstressed syllables it can be replaced by /e/ or // (goodness, believe). Spelling: i miss, hit, lip y cosy, gipsy e basket, resulted ie lorries, berries a savage, separate Exceptional spellings: minute, women, business, build, England, money, busy, Sunday /e/

Articulation: the front of the tongue is between the half-open and half-close positions; lips
are unrounded; the tongue is tenser than for /i/, and the sides of the tongue may barely touch the upper molars. Variants: It is diphtongized to /e/ when it is stressed in loan words (attach, resum). In RP it sounds closer for hearers to distinguish it from //. Spelling:

e mess, beggar ea tread, head, ready a any, many, Thames, Pall Mall Exceptional spellings: says, said, friend, leopard, again, against, Leonard, Leicester, ate, leisure, bury, cleanse. //

Articulation: the front of the tongue is raised to just below the half-open position; lips are
neutrally open; Variants: In RP before lenis consonants it is lengthened (bad, cab). Spelling: a marry, factory, bracket, tax Exceptional spellings: plait, plaid, reveille B. The Central Vowels // (schwa) Articulation: the centre of the tongue is between the half-close and half-open positions; lips are relaxed and neutrally spread; Variants: Daniel Jones distinguishes three allophones: in words like along, admit, attempt, it is near to long /:/ in timber, only extremely short; in words like condemn, again, (accompanied by /k/, /g/), it is higher and more retracted; it sounds opener, more like // in word final position (America, Sheila). In the words where the letter r follows this vowel, the American pronunciation uses the sound /r/ (/r/ colouring) sister, leader. Spelling: a around, across, Canada e sadden, caller, component i tension, elixir, precision o London, atom, doctor u circus, sulphur, census, measure y martyr, satyr, Pennsylvania Exceptional spellings: courageous /:/

Articulation: the centre of the tongue is between the half-close and half-open positions; lips
are relaxed and spread;

Variants:
South-West British has a post-vocalic /r/ and it is heard like // or /r/ (bird). Spelling: er verb, clergy, verse, stern ir fir, circle, bird, shirt ur fur, turn, refurbish, church er, err, ear her, err, earth, pearl yr Byrd, Myrth, myrtle ou courtesy, journalism, journey, scourge (w+) or world, word, work, worse eur amateur, chauffer, connaisseur

 Exceptional spellings: colonel

//

Articulation: the centre of the tongue is raised to just above the fully open position; lips are
neutrally open;

Variants:
In hurry, worry there is variation between /r/ and /:r/. Spelling: u butter, cup, study, much o come, onion, monkey, tongue, London ou country, southern, couple, cousin, enough Exceptional spellings: oo blood, flood

does, hiccough
C. The Back Vowels /u:/ Articulation:the back of the tongue is raised just below the close position; lips are rounded; the tongue is tense Variants: In final position its longest allophone is heard (do), a shorter variant occurs before a voiced consonant (spoon) and its length is reduced in soup before a voiceless consonant. It is often preceded by the palatal semi-consonant /j/ yielding alternative pronunciations of suit, new, fruit. Spelling: oo shoot, cool, root, roof o prove, lose, move ou wound, through, youth, Sioux u crude, rule, June eu, eau beautiful, feud Exceptional spellings: ew, ui, eu, ue, oe slew, sluice, maneuver, glue, true, shoe //

Articulation: the part of the tongue just behind the centre is raised, just above the half-close
position; the lips are rounded, but loosely so; the tongue is relatively relaxed. Variants: In Cockney, before dark /l/, it sounds more retracted and lowered from the normal position (pull, school). In Scottish English there is no distinction between /u:/ and //. Spelling: u bullet, sugar oo look, wood, took ou could, should, would Exceptional spellings: woman, wolf, bosom, bouquet, Boleyn, Worcester /:/

Articulation: the back of the tongue is raised to between the half-open and half-close
positions; lips are loosely rounded;

Variants:

A fully long allophone occurs in word-final position (more), it is slightly reduced before a voiced consonant (dawn) and even shorter before a voiceless consonant (caught). Spelling: or door, sort, floor, short aw raw, lawn, gnaw, dawn au daughter, naughty, taught ou sought, bought, nought all call, ball, all (w+) ar war, warden, swarm ore, oar, our - bore, more, soar, boar, court, four Exceptional spellings: water, broad, wrath, Sean, //

Articulation: the back of the tongue is in the fully open position; lips are lightly rounded; Variants:
In conservative RP it may be pronounced as /:/; in cough, cloth. In Scottish English // and /:/ belong to the same phoneme. In some American English dialects it is still open and more fronted, sounding very similar to /:/, so that cot and cart are rather difficult to tell apart. Spelling: o cot, loss, mock, economy a (after w) want, watch, wash Exceptional spellings: what, cough, knowledge, sausage, cauliflower, laurel, Australia, quarrel, quantity, because /:/

Articulation: the tongue, between the centre and the back, is in the fully open position; lips
are neutrally open. Variants: RP speakers freely choose between // and /:/ in transfer, telegraph, Atlantic, photograph. In American English // is preferred (example, laugh, dance). Spelling: ar March, park, bar er clerk, Berkeley, Derby, Hertford ear heart, hearth a +ff staff, quaff a + ss pass, glass a + f + cons raft, craft a + s + cons mast, cast a + n + cons dance, cant a + th path, bath a + mute l calm, palm, psalm Exceptional spellings: memoirs, moustache, bourgeois, chamois, reservoir, banana, pyjamas, drama, sultana 5.3.2. THE ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS DEFINITION A diphthong or a . is produced by the . as it glides from one vowel position to another. The first component, the .., is longer and more stressed; the second component, the .., is only lightly sounded.

English is usually described as having eight diphthongs: three glides to // /e/, /a/, //; three glides to // : /e/, //, //, two glides to //: /a/, //. Diphthongs are similar to long vowels in that their length is ., i.e. they have full length in final position or when followed by a voiced consonant, and they sound slightly reduced in length before a voiceless consonant. DIPHTHONG CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA A. The .. The element of the diphthong which is longer and stronger is called the nucleus, while the other component is called the glide. All the English diphthongs have the nucleus on the first item in the diphthong, that is why they are considered to be falling diphthongs. B. The .. If the tongue glides towards a closer vowel than the nucleus, the diphthong is a closing one. If the tongue moves towards a more open glide, the diphthong is an opening one. If the diphthong ends in a centring glide, it is a centring one. C. The . If the tongue covers a large distance from the nucleus to the glide, the diphthong is wide. Conversely, if the distance covered by the tongue is short, the diphthong is narrow.

a. Glides to // /e/

Characteristics: falling, closing, narrow Articulation: the glide begins in the position for /e/, moving up and slightly back towards /i/;
the lips are spread. Distribution: word-initial: eight; word-medial: plate; word-final: stay. Spelling: ai, ay aim, available, pay, say ei, ey eight, freight, weigh, they, grey ea great, steak, break a +bl + e able, fable a age, late, state, brake a +st +e haste, taste a + ng + e change caf, resum Exceptional spellings: bass, gauge, gaol, halfpenny, dahlia, Shea, Yeats /a/

Characteristics: falling, closing, wide Articulation: the glide begins in an open position, between front and centre, moving up and
slightly forward towards /i/; the lips move from neutral to loosely spread.

Distribution: initial: ice, either; medial: bite, spite; final: buy, fly. Spelling:
e + consonant bite, time, Irish ie pie, lie, die ei height, sleight i + cons. + e ripe, wide, siren i + mb climb i + ld wild, mild i + nd find, kindness i + gn sign, benign i + ght bright, knight, right final i stimuli, termini final y shy, cry ye bye, rye, dye y + cons. + e type, stylistic Exceptional spellings: viscount, isle, island //

Characteristics: falling, closing, wide Articulation: the glide begins in the position for /long o/, moving up and forward towards /i/;
the lips start open and rounded, and change to neutral. Distribution: - initial (oil, oyster); medial (toil, recoil); final (Roy, toy). Spelling: oi soil, coin, noise, foil oy joy, voyage, employ Exceptional spellings: buoy, buoyant, Fowey

b. Glides to // //

Characteristics: falling, closing, narrow Articulation: the glide begins in the position for //, moving back towards //. The lips are
initially neutral, then change to loosely rounded.

Distribution: - initial (own, old); medial (toes,bow); final (row, foe). Spelling:
o go, post, rogue, hero oa boat, float, goal oe hoe, toe ou soul, poultry, shoulder ow know, sow, flow o + ll/ lt/ st/ th roll, bolt, most, both o + cons. + e note, dole, pose Exceptional spellings: portmanteau, bureau, brooch, sew, dont, wont, only, folk, yolk, Shrewsbury /a/

Characteristics: falling, closing, wide Articulation: the glide begins in a position quite similar to /long a/, moving up towards
/short u/; the lips start neutral, with a movement to loosely rounded; the glide is not always completed. Distribution: - initial (ounce, out); medial (loud, scout), final (brow, vow) Spelling: ou bout, round, house ow owl, gown, show Exceptional spellings: MacLeod c. Glides to // //

Characteristics: falling, opening, centring, narrow Articulation: the glide begins in the position for /i/, moving down and back towards //; the
lips are neutral, but with a small movement from spread to open. Distribution: - initial (ear, earing); medial (period, fearful); final (tear, spear). Spelling: er serious, series eer beer, steer, career ear clear, dear,near ere here, were, mere Exceptional spellings: museum, theological, Ian /e/

Characteristics: falling, opening, centring, narrow Articulation: the glide begins in the position for /e/, moving back towards //; the lips
remain neutrally open.

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 Distribution: - initial (airy); medial (paired); final (fair). Spelling:

air hair, air, chair aer aeroplane, aerial ear wear, tear, bear are hare, mare, share Exceptional spellings: their, there, where, heir, prayer, scarce //

Characteristics: falling, opening, centring, narrow Articulation: the glide begins in the position for //, moving forwards and down towards //;
the lips are loosely rounded, becoming neutrally spread. Distribution: - medial (cured), final (poor). Spelling: ur during, curious, jury, rural ue cruel, influence, fuel ua valuable, manual, gradual oor moor, poor, boor ure pure, lure, sure our tour, dour, gourmet Exceptional spellings: skewer, doer, sewer 5.3.3. THE ENGLISH TRIPHTHONGS DEFINITION A vowel sound that glides between three qualities is a triphthong. These three-vowel sequences are generally considered to be made up of one of the diphthongs /e, a, , a, / plus a schwa (e.g. fire /fa/, player /ple/). The existence of triphthongs in contemporary English remains a controversial issue. They may be considered as sequences of a diphthong plus the vowel schwa. Triphthong /e/ /a/ // /a/ // Tip: To practice the vowels, check out Vgrid. Example slayer, layer, mayor, player dire, aspire, desire, tyre lawyer, loyal, soya flower, power, shower lower, slower, mower

Available at http://www.btinternet.com/~eptotd/vm/vgrid/vgridem.htm

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