Dr Felicity Cox 1

LING110

Phonetics and Phonology

Dr Felicity Cox

Lecture 3

Vowels /vaʊlz/

Dr Felicity Cox 2

Aims

Reinforce the notion that vowels and consonants function differently in languageExplain the articulatory basis for vowel classificationDiscuss important vowel featuresOutline the transcription of English vowelsDescribe the two main classes of vowels: monophthongs and diphthongs

Dr Felicity Cox 3

Consonants Vowels

-constricted vocal tract - more open vocal tract-low amplitude - much louder-short, change rapidly - longer, slowly changing-mark edge of syllables - mark the syllable’s centre

multilayered information:- accent differences- personal attributes- intonation / emphasis

Dr Felicity Cox 4

Phonetic Features for Vowel Classification

Initiation of Airflow - vowels are pulmonic

Voicing - vowels are voiced

Direction of airflow - all vowels are central

- can be oral or nasal

Oral Constriction -Degree = Vowel Height

-Position = Vowel Backness

Dr Felicity Cox 5

Additional Vowel Features

Round - vowels can be produced with rounded or unrounded lips

Length - vowels can be long or short

Dr Felicity Cox 6

Vowel Space

Height and backness are used to define the vowel space.

When we produce vowels, the tongue forms an arch.

The apex of the arch is the Highest Point of the Tongue (HPT).

Dr Felicity Cox 7

Potential vowel space

/i/ /ʊ/

/æ/ /ɑ/

Potential Human Vowel Space

Dr Felicity Cox 8

Backnessrefers to the horizontal position of HPT.

front vowels - HPT is below the hard palate /i,ɪ,e/ e.g. “bead, bid, bed”

back vowels - HPT is in the velar/pharyngeal region

/ʊ,ɔ,ɒ/ e.g. “good, board, pod”

central vowels - HPT is between frontand back /ə,ɜ,a/ e.g. “above, bird, guard”

Dr Felicity Cox 9

Height

refers to vertical movement of the HPT

high vowels - the HPT is high but does not cause an obstruction to the flow of air

/i, u, ʊ/ e.g. “bead, rude, good”low vowels - the HPT is low -- the mouth is open the jaw is lowered

• /a, ʌ/ e.g. “card, cud”mid vowels - between high and low

/e, ɒ/ e.g. “pet, pot”

Dr Felicity Cox 10

Vowel Space (Height x Backness Space)

The space is typically quadrilateral in shape.

It is also (and primarily) an auditory space.

We hear vowels as similar or different from each other depending on their proximity in this space.

Dr Felicity Cox 11

Australian English Vowel Space

Dr Felicity Cox 12

Dr Felicity Cox 13

Vowel Dispersion

Languages prefer vowels to be maximally dispersed in the vowel space.

This assists intelligibility.

When vowels of an accent change, they often remain dispersed in this space.

Dr Felicity Cox 14

Round

In most English accents, back vowels and [u] are produced with rounded lips.

/u, ʊ, ɒ, ɔ/ e.g. “cooed, could, cod, cord”

Languages tend to prefer back vowels to be rounded and front vowels to be unrounded but there are exceptions

e.g. French: front rounded vowels [y]Japanese back unrounded vowels [ɯ]

Dr Felicity Cox 15

Length

long heed, who’d, heard, hoard, hardshort hid, hood, head, hod, had, hub

English short vowels don’t occur in open syllables (syllables that end in a vowel).

Dr Felicity Cox 16

Schwa /ǝ/by far the most common vowel in the English

language

typically found in function words (unless they are said in isolation): for, the, but, should, can etc.

the schwa vowel is typically very short in duration and not very loud

occurs in the large majority of English polysyllabic words e.g. “photographer” /fətɒgrəfə/

“abominable” /əbɒmənəbl/

Dr Felicity Cox 17

What are you doing later today?/wɒtʃəduənleɪtətədeɪ/

Dr Felicity Cox 18

Vowel Classes

Vowels can be classified according to whether they are static or dynamic.

Static vowels are called monophthongs.e.g. /a/ as in “are”

Dynamic vowels are called diphthongs.e.g. /aɪ/ as in “eye”

Dr Felicity Cox 19

Monophthong SpectrogramMonophthong Spectrogram

Dr Felicity Cox 20

Diphthong SpectrogramDiphthong Spectrogram

Dr Felicity Cox 21

Describing Diphthongs

Diphthongs are described with referenceto the HPT at the beginning and the end of the diphthongal glide.

They are transcribed using two vowel symbols. e.g. /eɪ/ as in “day”

These two symbols represent a single vowel.

Dr Felicity Cox 22

Rising and Falling Diphthongs

Diphthongs can be further classified as rising or falling.

Rising diphthongs: the end of the glide has a higher tongue position than the beginning.

Falling diphthongs: the end of the glide has a lower tongue position than the beginning.

Dr Felicity Cox 23

• Front rising diphthongs have glides that move up and to the front. e.g. /eɪ/ “day”

• Back rising diphthongs have glides that move up and to the back. e.g. /aʊ/ “how”

• Falling diphthongs have glides where the end of the glide is lower than the start.

e.g. /ɪə/ “hear”

Dr Felicity Cox 24

Dr Felicity Cox 25

Monophthongs

front central backhigh / i,ɪ/ /u/ /ʊ/mid high /e/ /ɜ,ə/ /ɔ/mid low /æ/ /ɒ/low /a,ʌ/

Dr Felicity Cox 26

æ

Dr Felicity Cox 27

Diphthongs

Front rising diphthongs/eɪ/ “bay”, /aɪ/ “by”, /ɔɪ/ “boy”Back rising diphthongs/oʊ/ “beau”, /aʊ/ “bough”Falling diphthong/ɪə/ “ear” (sometimes /eə/ “air” is also a

falling diphthong for some speakers)

Dr Felicity Cox 28

Summary

Reinforced the notion that vowels and consonants function differently in languageExplained the articulatory basis for vowel classificationDiscussed important vowel features: height, fronting, rounding, lengthOutlined the transcription of English vowelsDescribed the two main classes of vowels: monophthongs and diphthongs