VOWEL SOUNDS STRUCTURAL/TRADITIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF FEATURES OF PRONUNCIATION SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES

Pitch

Rhythm

Intonation

Consonants

Segmental Features Close Height tongue Half Close Half Open Monophthong Open Part tongue Centre Back

Vowels Closing

Ending in / / Ending in / / Diphthongs

Centring

Ending in / /

Triphthong

Closing Diphthongs

//

VOWEL SOUNDS

When studying vowel sounds, both their phonetic nature and the phonological distributional possibilities can be considered. Generally as nucleus of the syllable structure, vowels may occupy the peak position and be preceded and/or followed by marginal consonant elements. Unlike consonants, vowel sounds do not produce any type of obstruction of the airflow coming from the lungs. This may seem an advantage, but the vowel-like quality of some approximant consonants poses certain problems for the foreign learner of English. Although an articulatory description may be beneficial, an auditory and acoustic approach may help us discriminate vowel sounds from one another more effectively. Therefore, the change in the shape of the oral cavity due to the movements of the tongue may produce different modifications in the acoustic effect of sound production and in vowel quality. Lip position and lower jaw movement may also contribute to this effect. THE CARDINAL VOWELS AND THE VOWEL CHART

The vowel area and its subsequent simplifications leading to vowel diagram.

The primary Cardinal Vowels displayed on the vowel diagram. In 1917, Daniel Jones devised the vowel chart, a quadrilateral graph containing the most distinctive vowel sounds of a language in different positions, to represent the vowel area inside the oral cavity. The vowel chart is closely related to the system of Cardinal Vowels, also proposed by Jones, consisting in eight representative vowel sounds. According to Finch and Ortiz Lira (1982), they do not belong to any particular language, but can be used as reference points. The vowel sounds of any language can be identified with this system. The advantage of Cardinal Vowels is that their quality is invariable and permits accurate comparison. The Cardinal Vowels are on the limits of the vowel diagram, i.e. they occupy the peripheral, extreme positions. If the tongue exceeds this limit, frictions will be heard. CVs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are pronounced with spread or open lips, and the last three with lip rounding.

CLASSIFICATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS

In English, vowel classification as to the place and manner of articulation or voicing may not be relevant, since vowel sounds are voiced and they do not show any type of modification of the out coming stream of air. Other distinctive features are employed, which involve height of the tongue within the oral cavity, part of the tongue involved, lip rounding and tenseness or laxness, among others. HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE Four classes can be distinguished according to the degree of height to which the tongue is raised or not. 1. Close vowels are those in which the tongue is raised as high as possible consistently with the sounds remaining vowels; 2. Half-close vowels are those in which the tongue occupies a position about one-third of the distance from close to open; 3. Half-open vowels are those in which the tongue occupies a position about two-thirds of the distance from close to open; 4. Open vowels are those in which the tongue is as low as possible. (Jones: 1980) PART OF THE TONGUE Out of the five parts of the tongue, only three are involved in vowel sound production: the front, the centre and the back. Vowels articulated in each part are called front, central, and back vowel sounds, respectively. LIP POSITION Three main types can be found, and their acoustic and auditory differentiation is perceptible to the trained ear. When pronouncing vowels, the lips may be: a) Rounded, with a slight lip protrusion and approximation of the corner of the lips, as in / / b) Neutral, with the lips neither rounded or spread, as in / / c) Spread, like for a smile, teeth are visible and lips are parted from each other and the corners are lengthened, as in / i / Both neutral and spread lip positions may also be known as unrounded. English vowel sounds articulated with the front of the tongue have a spread or neutral lip position, and those produced with the back part have a more rounded lip position, with the exception of / a /, as in park. TENSENESS AND LAXNESS According to Jones (1980), those who consider that vowels may be differentiated by degrees of muscular tension distinguish two classes, tense vowels and lax vowels. Tense vowels are those which are supposed to require considerable muscular tension on the part of the tongue; lax vowels are those in which the tongue is supposed to be held loosely. The difference in quality between the English vowels in seat / sit / is ascribed by some writers to a difference of tension (the vowel in seat being considered tense and the vowel in sit lax). LENGTH

A traditional classification divides pure vowel sounds into two: long and short. Long vowels show a certain extension in tempo and include / i, a, , u, /. Short vowels, on the other hand, are uttered with a small amount of time, and they include / , e, , , , /. A vowel sound which cannot be classified as either long or short is / /. When discriminating long sounds from short ones, length is not a convenient category, since long vowel sound may be clipped (i.e. shortened) if followed by voiceless sounds and they can keep their length if followed by voiced sounds or due to stress. Kelly (2000) reports that short vowels are actually more likely to be longer before certain types of voiced consonants. However, a length mark / / is conventionally used to distinguish them in transcription. Although diphthongs can be included under the long-vowels category, they suffer the same processes of length change just mentioned. DESCRIPTION OF VOWEL SOUNDS / i / This vowel sound has a close resemblance to Cardinal Vowel N 1, since it occupies the close position, though not so close. The part of the tongue used to produce it is the front and the rims make a firm contact with the upper molars. The lips are slightly spread and the opening of the jaw is from narrow to medium. It is considered to be relatively long and almost never unstressed. In certain dialects (Cockney and Birmingham), the pronunciation of this vowel implies a diphthongization, beginning with the vowel / / and then gliding to a closer position. The result is / i /. Examples of this sound are: Field piece these secret evening equal key ski pizza machine magazine people. // In consonance with / i /, this sound is produced with the same type of lip position and jaw aperture. However, it is retracted from front and in the half-close position. The rims of the tongue make a slight contact with the upper molars, so the airflow passes more freely. The production of / / is laxer than for / i /. It is considered a short vowel sound and almost always monophthongal. Examples of this sound are: This listen miss business system. /e/ Intermediate between Cardinal Vowels N 2 and N 3, i.e. mid between half-close and half-open positions, this sounds implies the raising of the front part of the tongue. The tongue rims may make contact with the upper molars. The lips may take a spread or neutral or neutral position. It is considered to be a relatively short vowel sound. Examples of this sound are: Check leg bread read (past) friend any again says.

 // This phoneme is pronounced with the front part of the tongue, almost at rest, between Cardinal Vowels N 3 and N 4, i.e. halfway between half-open and open positions. The position of the lips may be spread or neutral, with a medium to wide jaw opening. It is normally short, but it may be long in other contexts. Examples of this sound are: Back hand hat plaited. /a/ For the production of this sound, the back, though more centralized, part of the tongue is used in a fully open position. It is nearest to Cardinal Vowel N 5 than to N 4. The lips are in a neutral position and the jaw opening is from medium to wide. Notice that this vowel sound is generally replaced for the vowel sound / / in words such as father, aunt, etc. This vowel sound is relatively long. Examples of this sound are: After ask bath card aunt laugh heart half father. // When pronouncing this phoneme, the back part of the tongue is used, with a close approximation to Cardinal Vowel N 5, although the lip rounding for this sound makes the difference. The tongue is raised above the open position and no contact is made between the tongue rims and the upper molars. This phoneme is not part of the phonemic inventory of AmE, in which it is replaced by either the cardinal sound / a / or the sound / /. This sound is considered to be relatively short. Examples of this sound are: Bottle got want quality watch cough. / / For the production of / /, the back part of the tongue is raised between Cardinal Vowels N 6 and N 7, i.e. between the half-open and half-close positions. Unlike / /, the lips are more closely rounded and the gap flanked by them is smaller. The jaw aperture is medium to wide. It is considered to be a relatively long vowel. Examples of this sound are: All ball talk walk autumn saw caught taught bought quarter warm born corner door floor before more four. // The articulation of this phoneme involves the more advanced area of the back part of the tongue, place in half-close position, closer than for Cardinal Vowel N 7. It has a slight lip-rounding and the opening between the jaws is medium. For some authors, it is the lax correspondent for / u /, and a relatively short vowel sound. Examples of this sound are:

 / u / Unlike Cardinal Vowel N 8, this phoneme is a little more advanced from back and not so close. The lips are closely or moderately rounded and the jaws have a narrow to medium opening. There exists a diphthongal variant used in some dialects, especially in final position. This sound is considered to be tense and relatively long. Examples of this sound are: Too group shoe blue music new fruit juice two you. // This central vowel phoneme is pronounced just above the open position, with neutrally open lips. There is a wide opening of the jaws. This sound is relatively short. Examples of this sound are: Bus colour cup front tongue sun son Monday nothing one won blood mother. / / Halfway between the half-open and half-close position, this phoneme is central and pronounced with unrounded lips. The opening of the jaws is narrow. It is considered a relatively long vowel and for some authors, variety of / /. Examples of this sound are: Bird first word world turn Thursday early learn service prefer. // The eight to which the tongue is raised for the production of this sound is difficult to establish, mainly covering the whole area between the half-close and half-open positions. There are two main variants: a closer variety in which the central part of the tongue is raised towards a half-close position, as for the initial vowel sound in about, and non-final vowel sounds, as in standard. The second variant is used for word final vowel sounds, as in sailor, sofa, among others. This phoneme is a relatively short vowel sound and never pronounced in stressed position. Examples of this sound are: About paper banana nation sailor. THE VOWEL CHART

Full sugar book foot would woman.

DIPHTHONGS DEFINITION According to roach (1991), RP has a large number of diphthongs, sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another. In terms of length, diphthongs are like long vowels. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about all diphthongs is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part. The total number of diphthongs is eight. For Cruttenden (1994), diphthongs are those vocalic elements which form a glide within one syllable. They may be said to have a first element (the starting point) and a second element (the point in the direction of which the glide is made. CLASSIFICATION OF DIPHTHONGS Diphthongs can be classified into two groups, according to the height or part of the tongue of the last element: Closing, and Centring diphthongs. The first element in a closing diphthong is opener than the final close element. In a centring diphthong, the first element is either a front or back vowel and the last element is central (schwa). Auditorily, diphthongs may also be termed as either rising or falling. Falling diphthongs consist of two elements and the first element is more prominent than the second. In rising diphthongs, the second element is more prominent. English diphthongs are all falling. The RP diphthongs have as their first element sounds in the general region [, e, a, , u] and their second element [, , ]. Diphthongs may also undergo clipping, i.e. shortening, when followed by a voiceless sound.

RP closing diphthongs: acceptable onset areas.

RP centring diphthongs: acceptable onset areas. DESCRIPTION OF DIPHTHONGS / e / This diphthong starts in a position between Cardinal Vowels [] and [e] to the vowel sound []. The lips are spread. Examples of this sound are: Age table rain day play grey break eight weight. / a / The starting point of this diphthong is nearer [a] than [a]. The lips move from a neutral to lightly spread position. Examples of this sound are: Like white die dry high buy. / / With a starting point nearer [] than [], and ending near []. The lips may change from a rounded or to a slightly position. Examples of this sound are: Coin point boy enjoy. / / This diphthong starts in the position for schwa and then glides towards []. The lips change from a neutral to a rounded position. Examples of this sound are: No cold post close know low boat show toe. / a / For the production of this sound, a more centralized back part of the tongue, as for [a], initiates the glide. The finishing point of this diphthong does not completely reach the [] are. The lips are slightly rounded. Examples of this sound are: How now loud sound. / /

When pronouncing this phoneme, the back part of the tongue is used, with a close approximation to Cardinal Vowel N 5, although the lip rounding for this sound makes the difference. The tongue is raised above the open position and no contact is made between the tongue rims and the upper molars. This phoneme is not part of the phonemic inventory of AmE, in which it is replaced by either the cardinal sound / a / or the sound / / This sound is considered to be relatively short. Examples of this sound are: Real ear year beer here. / e / For the production of this diphthong, the starting point is a vowel in the half open front position and moving almost horizontally to the opener variety of schwa when in final position and a closer position when followed by a consonant. The lips are neutrally open throughout. Nowadays a long monophthong [] is completely acceptable alternative en General RP. (Cruttenden: 1994) Examples of this sound are: Care Squire air - stair stare wear where airplane. / / The diphthong glides from a half close position to a more open variant of schwa. The lips are neutrally rounded at the beginning, becoming spread in the final element. This diphthong is nowadays being leveled to / / by many speakers. Examples of this sound are: Lure tour pure.

DIPHTHONGS

CENTRING

CLOSING

ending in e e

ending in a

ending in a

DIPHTHONGS AND THE VOWEL CHART

TRIPHTHONGS OR DIPHTHONGS + / / DEFINITION With the exception of centring diphthongs, closing diphthongs may allow the possibility of the addition of / / in slow, formal style and only on rare occasions. The vocalic cluster is produced as a part of one syllable. Therefore, the combinations with schwa may produce the following triphthongs (Roach) or closing diphthongs + / / (Cruttenden: 1994): / e, a, , , a /. PHONOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES There are three possibilities for a diphthong to take place: 1. As an inseparable part of the word 2. As a suffix (morpheme) appended to the root 3. As a separable element in a compound SMOOTHING OR LEVELING In rapid or colloquial speech, these triphthongs may be reduced an allophonic diphthongal variant, in which one element is omitted, and when the triphthong is felt to contain an inseparable morpheme. The most common processes of smoothing include the following: Omission of / / [ a ] fa, ta, kwa, ssati, ha, la [ e ] ple, gre, le, pre, e [ ] mpl, ndbl, ds

/ a / / / / /

Omission of / / [ a ] a, a, fla, ta, nadez [ ] l, m TRIPHTHONGS AND THE VOWEL CHART

/ a / / /