VOWEL SOUNDS

VOWEL SOUNDS
All speech sounds can be described
articulatorily, auditorily and acoustically. In
the case of vowel sounds an articulatory
description would tell us which part of our
tongue to raise and how high to raise it.
However, vowel sounds are generally learnt
auditorily, by listening and imitation.
DESCRIPTION OF VOWEL SOUNDS
Vowel sounds are produced in most cases
without any kind of contact between the
articulators. They can be made different from
each other mainly by raising a certain part of
the tongue to different levels, by modifying the
shape of the lips and by raising or lowering the
velum. Variations of this kind produced by
changing the shape of the mouth resonator are
referred to as differences in vowel QUALITY.
SOME SHARED CHARACTERISTICS
The vowel sounds of English and Spanish
have two characteristics in common:

They are normally voiced sounds.
They are usually oral sounds.
THE CARDINAL VOWELS
The system was introduced by Daniel Jones.
It does not belong to any particular language, but
they can be used as reference points.
It is based on two articulatorily selected vowel
sounds. The first is produced by raising the tongue
as close as possible to the palate without causing
friction. [i] (Cardinal Vowel number 1) The second
is produced by placing the tongue as low and as far
back as possible [A] (Cardinal vowel number 5)

CARDINAL VOWELS

It is possible to produce sounds between
these two points [e] (Cardinal Vowel
number 2) [E] (Cardinal Vowel number 3)
and [a] (Cardinal Vowel number 4). These
vowels are produced at auditorily
equidistant point between [i] and [A] by
gradually lowering the front of the tongue.
CARDINAL VOWELS

Cardinal Vowels 6, 7 and 8 [O,o,u]
respectively, are produced at auditorily
equidistant points between [A] and [i] by
gradually raising the back of the tongue.
CARDINAL VOWEL SOUNDS
CLASSIFICATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS
The classification labels for the articulation
of vowel sounds may be placed on two axes
a horizontal one indicating the part of the
tongue which is raised, and a vertical one
indicating height to which the tongue is
raised.
Primary Cardinal Vowels
http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAl
ab.htm

SPANISH VOWELS

ENGLISH VOWELS

CLASSIFICATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS
RP English Vowels can be divided,
articulatorily,according to the following
criteria:
Location
Height
Length
Lip posture
QUALITY AND QUANTITY

LOCATION
FRONT: When the highest point of the tongue lies below
the hard palate. ( /i: e / )
RETRACTED: Occupying intermediate positions between
front and central .( /I/ )
BACK: When the highest point of the tongue lies below the
soft palate. ( /A: Q O: u: / )
ADVANCED: Occupying intermediate positions between
central and back. ( /U/ )
CENTRAL: When the highest point of the tongue lies in an
intermediate position at the junction of the hard and soft
palates. ( /V 3: @/ )
HEIGHT
CLOSE: When the highest point of the tongue is close to the
roof of the mouth.
OPEN: When there is a considerable distance between the
highest point of the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
MID: When the highest point of the tonge is midway between
close and open.
CLOSE-MID
OPEN-MID
MID
LENGTH
Depending on the phonetic environment the relatively long
vowels have several degrees of length. However, we normally
distinguish between:
(RELATIVELY) LONG: (all the diphthongs plus
/i: A: O: u: 3:/ )

SHORT: ( /I e Q U V @ / )
LIP POSTURE
ROUNDED: /O: u: /
SLIGHTLY ROUNDED: /Q U/
UNROUNDED: /i: i e A: V 3: @/
THE RP PURE VOWELS
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/i:/
Vowel sound number 1
Front, between
close and close-
mid, relatively
long, unrounded.
COMMON SPELLINGS
EE
E
EA
I
IE
EI
EY
SEED
THESE
BEAT
MACHINE
FIELD
RECEIVE
KEY
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/I/
Vowel sound number 2
Retracted,
close-mid, short,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
I
E
Y
A
FILM
PRETTY
RHYTHM
VILLAGE

ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/e/
Vowel sound number 3
Front, mid,
short,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
E
EA
A
BED
HEAD
MANY
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
//
Vowel sound number 4
Front, between
open-mid and
open, normally
short,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELING
A HAND
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/A:/
Vowel sound number 5
Back, open,
realtively long,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
AR
EAR
ER
A
AL
AU
FAR
HEART
CLERK
LAST
CALM
AUNT
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/Q/
Vowel sound number 6
Back, open,
short, slightly
rounded.
COMMON SPELLING
O
A
OW / OU
AU
DOG
SWAN
KNOWLEDGE /COUGH
BECAUSE
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/O:/
Vowel sound number 7
Back, mid,
relatively long,
rounded.
COMMON SPELLING
AR / OR / ORE
OUR
OAR / OOR
AU(GH)
A(L)
AW
OU
OA
URE
WAR / HORSE / MORE
COURT
BOARD / FLOOR
TAUGHT
SALT
SAW
BOUGHT
BROAD
SURE

ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/U/
Vowel sound number 8
Advanced, close-
mid, short,
slightly rounded.
COMMON SPELLING
U
OO
O
OU
BUTCHER
BOOK
WOMAN
COULD
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/u:/
Vowel sound number 9
Back, between
close and close-
mid, relatively
long, rounded.
COMMON SPELLING
U
OO
O
OU
EW
UE / UI / OE
June
FOOD
WHO
GROUP
SEW
BLUE / JUICE / SHOE
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/V/
Vowel sound number 10
Central, between
open-mid and
open, short,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
U
O
OU
OO
OE
CUT
SON
COUNTRY
BLOOD / FLOOD
DOES
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/3:/
Vowel Sound number 11
Mid, central,
relatively long,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
ER / ERR
UR / URR
IR / IRR
YR / YRR
W+OR
EAR
OUR
SERVE / ERR
TURN / PURR
SIR
MYRTLE / MYRRH
WORLD
EARTH
JOURNEY
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
/@/
Vowel sound number 12
Mid, central, short,
unrounded.
COMMON SPELLING
A
O
E
ER / RE
I
U
AR / OR /OUR / URE


OU
WOMAN
OBLIGE
GENTLEMAN
MOTHER / CENTRE
POSSIBLE
SUPPOSE
PARTICULAR /
DOCTOR / COLOUR /
FIGURE
FAMOUS

PURE VOWELS V/S DIPHTHONGS
PURE VOWELS: unchanging.
DIPHTHONGS: have a considerable and deliberate glide.
DIPHTHONGS
Diphthongs are sounds that consist of a
movement or glide from one vowel to another.
A vowel which remains constant and does not
glide is called a pure vowel.
Concerning length, diphthongs are like long
vowels.
It is important to remember that the first part
of the diphthong is much longer and stronger
than the second part.
DIPHTHONGS: Classification
CENTRING DIPHTHONGS
CLOSING DIPHTHONGS
They all end with a glide towards a closer vowel.
Because the second part of the diphthong is weak,
they often do not reach a position that could be
called close. The important thing is that a glide from
a relatively more open towards a relatively more
close vowel is produced.
Three of the diphthong glide towards the /I/ the
other two glide towards /U/ so that as the tongue
moves closer to the roof of the mouth there is at the
same time a rounding movement of the lips.
CLOSING DIPHTHONGS
THRIPHTONGS
A third vocalic element can be added to all diphthongs, except the
centring ones.
The resulting sequence, however, is prononuced fully only
ocassionally.

SMOOTHING: When the diphthongs /eI aI aU @U/ are
immediately followed by /@/ the end target of the diphthong is left
out. Then:
/eI@/ /e@/
/aI@/ /a@/
/aU@/ /a@/
/@U@/ /3:/