Vowels
Vowel Chart
Monophthongues
|
|
Front |
Central |
Back |
|
High Tense Lax |
/i/ /ɪ/ |
/y/ |
/u/ /υ/ |
|
Mid Tense Lax |
/e/ /Ɛ/ |
/ə/ /ʌ/ |
/o/ /ɔ/ |
|
Low |
/æ/ |
/a/ |
/ɑ/ |
Symbols and ASCII
/ɪ/ 026A /Ɛ/ 0190
/æ/ 00E6 /ə/ 0259
/ʌ/ 028C /υ/ 03C5
/ɔ/ 0254 /ɑ/ 0251
Diphthongues
Back-Low/Front-High-Tense /ɑi/
Back-Mid/Front-High-Tense /oi/
Back-Low/Back-High-Tense /ɑu/
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(Different approaches from various authors)
Mundtlig Sprogproduktion 1 Kim Ebensgaard Jensen, Engelsk Almen, Aalborg Universitet
1. WHAT´S A VOWEL?
A vowel is typically described as a sound in which there are no obstruents or closures in the speech tract. Moreover, the vocal cords vibrate such that the pulmonic egressive airstream isalways voiced.
2. THE DIMENSIONS OF VOWELS
Vowels are normally described in terms of a vertical dimension called the open-close dimension (orthe high-low dimension) and a horizontal one called the front-back dimension. These dimensions are relative to the position of the tongue in the mouth, the tongue being the primary active articulator (apart from cords of course).
2.1. Open-close dimension
The open-close dimension, also called the high-low dimension has to do with the vertical positionof the tongue in the mouth when producing a vowel. It is divided into four positions:
• close, or high: the tongue is raised as much as possible towards the roof of the mouth fromits natural resting position without touching it
• half-close, or medium high: the tongue is raised slightly above the natural resting positionbut not as high as the close position
• half-open, or medium low: the tongue is lowered slightly below the natural resting positionbut not as low as the open position mentioned below
• open, or low: the tongue is lowered from its natural resting position (and often the jaw dropstoo).
2.2. Front-back dimension
The front-back dimension has to do with which part of the tongue (in a horizontal perspective) is raised or lowered. There are three dimensions here:
• front: the front of the tongue is the raised or lowered part
• central: the transition area between the front and the back of the tongue is the raised or lowered part
• back: the back of the tongue is the raised or lowered part
2.3. Vowel diagrams
These dimensions are captured in vowel diagrams. A vowel diagram is a representation of the mouth as seen “in profile from the left side” and vowels are plotted into the diagram in accordance with their position of articulation in relation to the vertical and horizontal dimensions:
(Diagrams are shown in the book)
3. LIPS
The lips are also important to the production of vowels. The position of the lips can change thesound of a vowel completely even if you don't move your tongue. For example, if you pronounce [i] with rounded lips it becomes [y], known from 'ny' in Danish.
There are three positions for the lips:
• rounded: the lips are pushed forwards and rounded (like when you whistle a melody orsomething)
• neutral: the lips are almost completely relaxed
• spread: the lips are parted kind of in the same fashion as when you're smiling.
Often neutral and spread are conflated under unrounded.
4. LENGHT
Length simply has to do with the duration of the individual vowel. In some languages length is a distinctive feature. Such that a word with a long vowel means something different from the same word with a short version of the same vowel.
This does not apply to English, but a division is nevertheless made between short and long vowels in English.
5. VOWELS
5.1 Monophthongs vs diphthongs
A monopthong is a vowel in which the tongue remains in the same position all the time. Monopthongs are contrasted with diphthongs. A diphthong is a a vowel that consists of two vowels such that there is a glide from one vowel into the other. 'Glide' means that the tongue and other active articulators change from the position of the first vowel into that of the other vowel. This produces a gliding kind of sound.
5.2 Monophthongs
We are now able to describe the long and short monophthongs of English. Whereas the consonants are more or less uniform across RP and GA, there are a number of differences in terms of vowels.
Short front vowels:
Short central vowels:
Short back vowels:
Long front vowels:
Long central vowels:
Long back vowels:
5.3 Diphthongs
There are two major types of diphthongs in English centring and closing diphthongs. In the former, the final element of the diphthong is schwa, while in the latter it is either /ɪ/ or /υ/. RP generally has more diphthongs than GA. This is because final /r/ is pronounced in GA but not in RP. This means that in many (but not all) cases where what should have been an /r/ is aschwa in stead, such that the schwa and the preceding vowel end up forming a diphthong.
Front-closing diphthongues:
Centring diphthongues:
Back-clossing diphthongues:
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BRITISH ENGLISH
British English (BBC accent) is generally described as having short vowels, long vowels and diphthongs.
There are said to be seven short vowels, five long ones and eight diphthongs.
• Short vowels: pit pet pat putt pot put another
/ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ʊ/ /ǝ/ /ǝ/
• Long vowels: bean barn born boon burn
/iː/ /ɑː/ /ɔː/ /uː/ /ɜː/
• Diphthongs: bay buy boy no now peer pair poor
/eɪ/ /ai/ /ɔɪ/ /ǝʊ/ /aʊ/ /ɪǝ/ /eǝ/ /ʊǝ/
Every vowel sound represents a syllable in a word. Syllables are either emphasized and "stressed," orweak and "unstressed. "There are 17 different vowel sounds in English. They all have "voice," which occurs as the vocalcords vibrate. The tongue does not touch other parts of themouth, teeth, or lips.
The vowel sounds differ by
• the distance between the lips
• the shape of the lips
• the length of time the sound is held
The vowel sounds are ordered in this book according to how open the mouth is. The first sound, /ə/, is made with the mouth almost closed. As the lesson sprogress, the mouth gradually opens. The final sound, /ai/, is made with the mouth wide open.
To pronounce each vowel correctly, follow these steps:
• Look in the mirror.
• Compare your mouth with each diagram.
• Make short sounds quickly.
• Count to two, silently, for long sounds.
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Production of sounds:
AMERICAN ENGLISH SOUNDS
The sound /i/
To make this sound, set your lips % inch (1 em)apart. Widen your lips into a big smile. The sound is long. Count to two silently to be sureit is long enough.
The sound /ɪ/
To make the /ɪ/ sound, lower your jaw slightly. Thelips are relaxed and are about % inch (6 mm) apart. The sound is short.
The sound /e/
To make this sound, keep your jaw half \vay open. The lips are 1/2, inch (1.3 cm) apart. Tense your lips, and form a wide, downward smile. Begin the sound, then move your lips close together into the lal position. The sound is long.
The sound /Ɛ/
The sound /æ/
To make this sound, keep your lips 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) apart and form a half-smile, with tense lips. The sound is short.
The sound /y/
The sound /ə/
To make it, simply open your mouth very slightly, and make a noise. It does not sound like a formed vowel, and it isn't. The lips and tongue are relaxed, and the voicemakes a short, soft noise.
The sound /ʌ/
To make this sound, keep the mouth slightly open,with lips about 5/8 inch (1 cm) apart. The sound is short.
The sound /a/
To make this sound, drop your jaw until the lips are about 3/4 inch (2 cm) apart, but relaxed. The sound is short but takes a little longer because your mouth is open so wide.
The sound /u/
This vowel is formed by keeping the jaw slightly open. The lips are 1. inch (6 mm) apart and pushed outward to make an open circle. The sound is short.
The sound /υ/
To make this sound, keep the mouth slightly open and the lips 3/8 inch (1 cm) apart. The lips aretense, and pushed forward into a small circle. The sound is long.
The sound /o/
The sound /ɔ/
To make the vowel sound /ɔ/, drop your jaw until the lips are 1/2 inch (1.5 em) apart. Tense your lips and round them forward half way. The sound is long.
The sound /ɑ/
To make this sound, lower your jaw slightly. The lips are tense and spread outward in a half-smile,about 1/2 inch (1.3 em) apart. The sound is short.
The sound /iu/
The /iu/ sound is a combination of the sounds /i/ and /u/. The lips are % inch (1 cm) apart. Begin with the lips spread into a big smile, then push them forward into a circle.
The sound /ou/
To pronounce /ou/, with your lips about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) apart, round them into a circle. Begin the sound, then move your lips into a smaller circle. The sound is long.
The sound /oi/
The /oi/ sound is a combination of two sounds beginning with /o/ and ending in /i/. The lips, set about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) apart, begin in a circle. They move quickly to form a wide smile,3/8 inch (1 cm) apart.The sound is long.
The sound /ɑi/
The /ai/ sound is a double vowel. Begin sounding the /a/, with the lips about 3/4 inch (2 cm) apart. Then move your lips to the /i/ position, forming a big smile. This is a long sound.
The sound /ey/
This is a combination of sounds. Begin with your lips in the first position of /e/, about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) apart and with a wide, downward smile. Then, slowly widen them into an upward smile, forming /y/. Count to two silently to be sure the sound is long enough.
The sound /ɑ/
This is a combination of vowel sounds. Begin with /ɑ/ by setting your lips 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) apart; then, glide into low /u/, forming a circle with your lips. The sound is long.
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CAUSES OF VOWEL REDUCTION IN ENGLISH: an argument from word-final consonants
Sarah Collie, University of Edinburgh
For English, it is generally argued that there is a symmetrical relationship between vowelreduction and stress, such that the ‘reduced’ vowel schwa is unstressed, and all other vowels(i.e. ‘full’ vowels) are stressed (e.g. Ross, 1972; Halle & Vergnaud, 1987; Pater, 2000). This assumption leads to a number of complications in the stress system of English, notably Elfner’s (2007) proposal for stress assignment which is sensitive to the place of articulation of word-final stops.
Elfner (2007) is the most recent treatment of phenomena noted by Ross (1972). Ross observes a contrast in the reduction of vowels preceding word-final stops in certain nouns: vowels preceding word-final coronal stops have a tendency to reduce, as in the examples (1), whereas those preceding final velar and labial stops tend to be full, as in the examples in (2) (pronunciations for British English from Wells (2000)).
(1) Word-final coronal stops
chariot [ə]
cheviot [ə]
Connecticut [ə]
idiot [ə]
Iliad [æ/ə]
Lilliput [ʌ/ə]
Mohammed [ɪ/ə/Ɛ]
myriad[ə]
period [ə]
pilot [ə]
(2) Word-final velar and labial stops
Ahab [æ]
Aztec [Ɛ]
baobab[æ]
bebop [ɑ]
Beelzebub [ʌ/ə]
Cantab [æ]
Carnap[æ]
demagog [ɑ]
handicap [æ]
humbug [ʌ]
In order to account for these tendencies, Elfner proposes that English has contrastive coda consonant weight: velar and labial stops always count as moraic, but word-final coronals mayor may not be moraic. Under the assumption that there is weight-sensitive stress assignment to the final syllables of the words in (1) and (2), Elfner’s analysis predicts that words with final non-coronal stops will have stress on their final syllable, ensuring a full vowel, but those with final coronal stops will often not have final stress, leading to vowel reduction in the unstressed instances.
In this talk, I show that Elfner’s analysis is problematic – among other things, it requires the sacrifice of word-final consonant extra metricality. Word-final consonant extra metricality (e.g. Hayes, 1982) is a very useful prosodic generalisation: it can, for example, account for verbal stress contrasts like édi versus tormén , or the distribution of closed-syllable shortening (e.g. fi~fif). Building upon Burzio's(1994, 2007) work in Dispersion Theory (Steriade, 1994, 1997), I show that an analysis which assumes an asymmetrical relationship between vowel reduction and stress can avoid problems like the loss of consonant extra metricality, without introducing different but equivalent flaws. This finding indicates that analyses which consider multiple causes of vowel reduction in English, such as those possible in Dispersion Theory, deserve wider attention.
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SPELLING
https://www.nald.ca/CLR/search/
Spelling accurately isn’t as difficult as many people think. You have alreadylearned how to spell hundreds of words correctly. Now all you have to do isidentify and master the ones you have trouble with. The words you will learn in this spelling program are those that many people have trouble with.
Did you know most spelling mistakes are found in easy words. In general, people do not have trouble spelling long, difficult words because they realized that they were hard and made an extra effort to learn them correctly.
Don’t be too concerned about spelling when writing a first draft. Concentrate instead on what you want to say. Worrying about spelling when you are composing will distract you from creating a clear message. Do focus on spelling later when you revise/proofread your work. In fact, it is a good idea to read your work, looking forspelling mistakes, just before you write a “good” copy.