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IV. THE ENGLISH VOWELS

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4.1. Classification of the English vowels

4.2. The system of cardinal vowels

4.3. The English front vowels

4.4 The English back vowels

4.5. The English central vowels

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4.1. Principles of classifying vowels

a) Stability of articulation:

- monophthongs (12): [i:, i, e, , a:, , , u, u:, , , :] - diphthongs (8): [ei, ai i, i, , u, u, au].

b) The height to which the tongue is raised:

- close vowels: [i:], [u:];

- half-close vowels: [e]:

- half-open vowels: []. - open vowels: [a:]

c) The part of the tongue which is raised:

front vowels; [i:], [i], [] and [e];

central vowels: [], [], [:].

back vowels: [a:], [], [], [u], and [u:];

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Tongue height for [i:] and []

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Tongue position for [], [:], [u], and [u:]

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Principles of classifying vowels … (continuation)

d. lip-rounding:

-rounded [u:]

-spread [i:]

-neutral [ə]

e. duration (length):

-short vowels

-long vowels

f. degree of muscular tension:

-tense vowels

-lax vowels

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… continuation

g. Position of the soft palate:

- Nasalised vowels

- Oral vowels

h. distribution: with certain exceptions, English vowels may appear in

-initial

-mid positions

-final

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4.2. The system of cardinal vowels (H. Sweet & D. Jones)

Diagram of cardinal vowels

ɛ

ə

e

i

Front Central Back

Close

Close-mid

Open-mid

Open

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2

3

4 5

6

7

8

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4.3. The English front vowels

[i:] variants: longest in final position relatively shorter before voiced consonants shortest before voiceless consonants distribution: initial: eel [i:l] eagle [i:g(ə)l] mid: feet [fi:t], grease [gri:z] final: sea [si:], tea [ti:]

spelling: -ee): feed [fi:d], tree [tri:], seem [si:m], absentee [bsnti:], week [wi:k];-e: me [mi:], evening [i:vni], scene [si:n], cathedral [ki:drl];-ea: leave [li:v], meat [mi:t], peak [pi:k], please [pli:z];-ie: believe [bili:v], niece [ni:s], yield [ji:ld];-ei/ey: ceiling [si:li], conceive [knsi:v], key [ki:];-i: foreign suffixes-ine [i:n] as in marine [mri:n], -ique [i:k] as in antique [nti:k];

-in native words: police [pli:s], ski [ski:];-oe, ae in words of Greek origin: Oedipus [i:dips], Caesar [‘si:z], formulae [‘f:muli:].

Exceptional spelling: quay [ki:], people [‘pi:pl], Beauchamp [‘bi: tm]

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[i] variants: -pronounced longer in word-final position:

pretty [priti:], Derby [da:bi:] (educated south-eastern Brits and some

Americans)

-pronounced more open in final position; city [site], pretty [prite].

distribution: initial

mid

final

Spelling:

-i and y: rid, with, lynch [lint], skin, mirror, syllable rhythm;live, lily, fuzzy;

- ui: guilty [gilti], biscuit [biskit], build [bild];

- ee (in unstressed position): coffee [‘kfi], Yankee [‘jki];

- ey (in final position): money [‘mni], journey [‘d:ni];

- ie: auntie [‘a:nti], bookie [‘buki], Charlie [‘ta:li];

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- a (in weakly stressed affixes or words ending in –ace, -ate, -ain): delicate [‘delikit], affricate [‘frikit], furnace [f:nis], menace [‘menis], fountain [‘fauntin], mountain [‘mauntin];

- e (in –ed adjectivized participles): learned [‘l:nid], wicked [wikid]

-e (in word-final position in words of Greek origin): apostrophe [’pstrfi], catastrophe [k’tstrfi], syncope [‘sikpi].

Exceptional spelling: England [iglnd], character [krikt], busy [bizi],

lettuce [letis], minute [minit], women [wimin], sieve [siv], breeches [britiz], Greenwich [grinid], forehead [frid], pigeon [pidin], pretty [priti].

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[e]Distribution: -initial position: egg, every, exit

-medial position: debt friend, breakfastVariants. -a general tendency to pronounce a closer

variety of [e] in order to keep the opposition [e] – [] clear;

-a tendency to diphthongize [e] towards [] or [i], before a voiced consonant: e.g. bed [beid].

Spelling: -e as in ten, press, insect;-ea as in weapon, death, deaf, measure, realm;-ai as in against [genst]/[geinst], said [sed];-eo as in leopard [lepd], Leonard [lend], Geoffrey [defri], jeopardy [depdi];-ei as in Leicester [‘lest], leisure [le], heifer [hef];-u as in bury [‘beri];-ue as in guess [ges], guest [gest];-ay as in says [sez];-ie as in friend [‘frend];-a (in a few words): ate [et], any, many, Thames [temz], Pall Mall [pel mel].

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[]

Distribution: -initial position : ant,

abstract, -medial position: cat, shadow, fat.

(in stressed syllables.)

Spelling: a

Exceptional spelling: Balaam [beilm], Caedmon [‘kdmn], Aelfred [‘lfrid]

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4.4. The English back vowels

[a:] Distribution: -initial position: art, argue, -medial position:

park, master, -final position: par, bar, car

Variants: 2 main dialectal variants:

- an even more retracted (fully back) variety, typical of refined RP;

- an advanced variety of [a:], closer to cardinal vowel no. 4, typical of Australian English.

- RP [a:] +voiceless fricative = [] in American English

- Free variation. RP, [a:] and [] are in free variation (i.e. either may be heard), e.g. contrast [kntra:st ] or [kntrst], transfer [tra:nsf] or [trnsf], elastic [ila:stik] or [ilstik], lather [la:] or [l].

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Spelling:

-a (+ ff, ss, th, f, s, n + cons), staff, chaff, pass, Bach, charge, mass, bath, craft, last, past dance, demand, father, rather;

-a in loan-words: garage [gra:], drama [dra:ma], pyjamas [pda:mz], moustache [msta:].

-ar as in farm, marble, card, garden, march;

-ear as in heart, hearth;

-a + silent ‘l’ as in calm, palm, half, psalm;

Exceptional spelling:

-er as in clerk [kla:k], Derby [da:bi], sergeant [sa:dnt], Berkshire [ba:k];

-au as in aunt, laugh, draught.

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[]

Distribution: -initial position: on, odd,

operate,

-medial position: got, fox,

want, quality

Spelling:

-o in graphically closed syllables: stop, cotton, lost, dock, dog, gone, and in graphically open syllables (in very few words): sorry, holiday;

-a - was, what, swan, want, watch, quality;

-ou, ow - cough, trough, Gloucester [glst], knowledge;

-au - because, sausage, laurel, Austria, Australia, cauliflower.

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[:]Distribution:-initial position: orchard, order;

-medial position: form, board, torn, fought;

-final position: law, four, floor, core.

Free variation: [] and [:] are in free variation : cost [kst] or [k:st], frost [frst] or

[fr:st]=alternative pronunciations which reflect age differences: [] is used by younger people, while [:] by older ones.

Spelling:-ar, or: orchard [:td], form [f:m], sort [s:t], war, horse;-ore: shore, before, more, bore, core;-aw: law, paw, dawn [d:n], saw, lawn, yawn, awesome [:sm];-au/augh: cause, taught fault, daughter;

-ou + silent ‘gh’: fought, naught, ought;-oar: roar, board, oar;-our: pour, four, court;-oor: door, floor;-a + l +cons: all, call, talk, walk, halt, chalk;

Exceptional spelling: George, sword [s:d], Maugham [‘m:m].

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[u]

Distribution: medial position only: butcher, sugar, full.

Variants. tendency to use less lip-rounding and a lower tongue position - an ‘opener’ half-close vowel sound []: should, could, would [wd].

- north of England no contrast is made between [u] and []

Free variation: [u] and [u:] room [rum] or [ru:m], groom, booth, tooth, broom, the commoner phoneme being [u:].

Spelling:

-u: butcher, bush, put, pudding, cushion, sugar, full;

-oo + k/other cons.: book, cook, look, took, good, wood, wool, foot, hood;

-o: bosom [‘buz()m], wolf, woman, Boleyn [‘bulin], worsted [‘wustid], Worcester [‘wust];-ou: could, courier, should, would, bouquet.

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[u:]Distribution: -initial (in very few words): ooze [u:z], oops [u:ps];

-medial: rude, ruby, usual, tomb;-final: shoe, toe, crew, who, flew, chew.

Spelling:-u: June, duty, rule, humour, crucial;-oo (not followed by ‘t’ or ‘k’): food, soon, moon, spoon, cool, loose, fool;-o: do, lose, tomb, who, move;-ou: group, soup, wound, through:-ew: crew, grew, few;-eu: feud [‘fju:d], neuter [‘nju:t], rheumatism [‘ru:mtizm];-ue, ui, oe: blue, clue, juice, fruit, shoe, canoe.

Exceptional spelling: view, two.

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4.5. The English central vowels

[] Distribution: -initial (utter, usher, unable)

- middle position (luck, shut, mother, country).

Spelling:

-u: study, mutton, sun, cut

-o: London, none, oven, constable [knstb()l], monkey, tongue, colour;

-ou: country, couple, trouble, southern, enough.

Exceptional spelling: flood, blood, does, twopence [tpns].

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[:]Distribution:- initial: earth, earl, urge;

-medial: bird, circle, burn, first, :

-final: fir, Sir, prefer.

Spelling:-er, err: her, herb, clergy, mercy, verse, serve, kernel, err;-ir, yr: bird, thirsty, first, myrtle [‘m:tl];-ur, urr: occur, turn, fur, church, nurse, purr;-ear: earth, heard, earn, pearl, learn;

Exceptional spelling:-our (in words of French origin): journey, courtesy, scourge-w + or: work, worm, word;colonel [‘k:nł].

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[]

Distribution:-initial: above, allow, attempt;-medial: police, method, balloon;-final: summer, better, theatre, sofa.

Variants:-in non-final position [] has a closer value than the one described, e.g. effort, movement;-preceded and followed by [k] and [g], the vowel is still closer and more retracted, e.g. back

again [bkgen], long ago [lg];-in final position it is much more open, being quite similar to [], e.g. never, mother, China,

Canada.

Spelling: [] is spelt with all vowel letters of the English alphabet and combinations of these letters.-a: aloud, academic, alarm;-e: audience, gentlemen;-i: intention, possible;-o: tailor, doctor;-u: suppose, sulphur;-y: martyr.

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