ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

LECTURE 3 SPEECH SOUNDS: The English Vowels

DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS

The position of the soft palate: nasal, oral The movement of the tongue :front,

central, back Length/Duration: long, short The degree of muscular tension: tense, lax The position of the lips: rounded, unrounded Constancy in articulation: monophtongs, diphthongs

ENGLISH CARDINAL VOWELS

ENGLISH FRONT VOWELS

/i:/ - FONT RETRACTED, LOWER CLOSE, LONG, TENSE, UNROUNDED
Spelling
- ee see, cheese, fifteen -e be, scene, these -ea sea, team, please -ie piece, thief, belief -ei, ey seize, receive, key -i police, unique, machine Articulation: For the articulation of /i:/ the front of the tongue is raised to a position that is very close to the hard palate, so the opening between the jaws is very narrow. The tongue is tense. The lips are spread. The sound is long. Position: The sound occurs in all three basic positions in the word initial eat medial meat final tea

ENGLISH FRONT VOWELS

/i/ - FRONT RETRACTED, LOWER CLOSE, SHORT,
LAX, UNROUNDED
Spelling:
-i sit, inn, ability -y myth, happy -e example, target -ie bodies, daddies -a sausage, private Articulation: For the articulation if [i] the part of the tongue nearer to center than to front is raised , the opening between the jaws is narrow to medium. The tongue is lax. The lips are spread, the sound is short. Position: The sound occurs in all three basic positions: initial inner medial begin final angry

ENGLISH FRONT VOWELS

/e/ - FRONT, MID-OPEN, SHORT, LAX, UNROUNDED
Spelling:
e bet, entry, went ea head, pleasure eo leopard, jeopardy a any, many ai/ay said, again, says ei leisure Articulation: for the articulation of /e/ the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, but the space between them is wider than that necessary for the articulation of /i/ or /i:/. The lips are spread. Position: initial entry medial rent

ENGLISH FRONT VOWELS

// FRONT, RAISED OPEN, SHORT, LAX, UNROUNDED

Spelling:
a mad, apple, hand ai plait Articulation : for the articulation of // the tongue is raised very little. The tongue is more open than for /e/ and the lips are spread. Position: initial attic medial handle

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/u:/ BACK ADVANCED, LOWER CLOSE, LONG, TENSE, ROUNDED
Spelling:
u flu, rude, brute ue clue, blue ui juice, fruit o lose, who oo boot, taboo ou group, soup oe canoe, shoe eu feud ew few, blew eau beauty Articulation: For the articulation of /u:/ the lips are closely rounded and the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate to nearly the close position. Position: initial ooze medial root final true

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/u/ - BACK ADVANCED, LOWER CLOSE, SHORT, LAX, ROUNDED
Spelling:
u butcher, bush, cushion o wolf, woman oo wool, foot, look ou could, would Articulation: A part of the tongue which is nearer to centre than to back is raised against the soft palate. Medium lip rounding and no tenseness are required for its articulation. The tongue is lax. Position: medial good

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/ / BACK, MID-OPEN, LONG, TENSE, ROUNDED Spelling: a all, water, salt au author, audience aw saw, lawn al talk, walk ar swarm oa(r) board, broad or(e) born, more oor floor, door ough ought our court, four Articulation: The back of the tongue is raised against the palate, in the mid-open position. The tongue is tense. The vowel is articulated with medium lip rounding. Position: initial always medial sauce final saw

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/ / BACK, RAISED OPEN, SHORT, LAX, SLIGHTLY ROUNDED
Spelling:
o on, spot, gone ou cough a want, wash, what au sausage Articulation: For the articulation of the vowel, the back of the tongue is raised very little. The distance between the jaws is very wide. Only slight lip rounding takes place. Position: initial olive medial swan

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/:/ BACK ADVANCED, OPEN, LONG, TENSE, UNROUNDED
Spelling:
a+ff/ss staff, pass a+ mute l half, calm ar car, part, garden a+f+cons after, craft er clerk ear heart Articulation: The part of the tongue between its centre and its back is raised. The tongue is tense. The jaws are kept wide apart. Position: initial argue medial park final far

ENGLISH BACK VOWELS

/ / BACK ADVANCED, LOWER HALF OPEN, SHORT, LAX, UNROUNDED
Spelling:
u sun, under o son, tongue ou cousin oo blood, flood Articulation: The part of the tongue nearer its centre is raised slightly. There is no tenseness of the tongue. The jaws are kept wide apart. Position: initial understand medial monkey

ENGLISH CENTRAL VOWELS

/ / CENTRAL, MID OPEN, LONG, TENSE, UNROUNDED
Spelling:
ir, yr third, myrtle er mercy, her ear learn, earth ur hurt, burn or word, worm our journey, journal Articulation: The centre of the tongue is raised between the halfclose and the half-open position, the lips are spread, the tongue is tense. Position: initial urgent medial first final confer

ENGLISH CENTRAL VOWELS

/ / CENTRAL, RAISED MID-OPEN, SHORT, LAX, UNROUNDED Spelling: a announce, account e master, audience i(on/al) mutation, official, possible o(r ) London, doctor u suppose er writer, drawer our neighbour, labour al economical, political Articulation: The position of the tongue is slightly lower than the position necessary for the articulation of / /. The lips are spread, the tongue is lax. Position: initial aloud medial famous final under