SPEECH SOUND PRODUCTIONPLACE OF ARTICULATIONPHONETICS: LECTURE 1LANGUAGENatural/human language is the system that provides creation of:1. Infinite number of messages from a finite number of linguistic units;2. It also enables producing and understanding new words, phrases and sentences, as necessary.In short, HUMAN LANGUAGE IS A CREATIVE SYSTEM.KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGELinguistics attemts to answer the following questions:1. What constitutes knowledge of language2. How is such knowledge acquired3. How is such knowledge put into use4. What are the physical mechanisms that serve as the material basis for this system of knowledge.BUILDING BLOCKS OF A LANGUAGELanguage consits of:1. a finite number of words, morphemes and phonemes;2. An infinite number of their combinations in the sentence;3. Mechanisms which provide creation of the infinite number of messages from the very limited number of language elements.BUILDING BLOCKS OF A LANGUAGEIn other words:The building blocks in a language are:Phonemes > morphemes >words > phrases > clauses > text > discourse.LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC STUDYFollowing the building blocks in a language, linguistic study involves the following linguistic branches:1. Phonetics and Phonology:Phonetics studies the following:A) How the speech sounds are produced � ARTICULATORY PHONETICS;B) The physical properties of speech sounds (acoustic waves) - ACOUSTIC PHONETICS;C) How the speech sounds are perceived and understood by the hearer � AUDITORY PHONETICS.

LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC STUDYPHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS � study how the speech sounds are realized and patterned in the larger units � syllables and morphemes.MORPHOLOGY � is the study of the form of words � their internal structure and the components of the words which are larger than a sound but smaller than a word:Un-success-fulPay-ment-sLEVELS OF LINGUISTIC STUDYSYNTAX � is the study of the internal structure of phrases (units larger than a word but smaller than a clause) but it also deals with the internal structure of clauses � simple, compound and complex.SEMANTICS � is the study of meaning of individual words and their sense relations in the lexicon (lexical semantics) but it is also the study of the meaning of sentences as individual units � (sentence semantics).LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC ANALYSISPRAGMATICS � is the study of the sentence meaning within the context.Linguistics also studies the PRODUCTIVE RULES OF A LANGUAGE AS WELL AS THE CONSTRAINTS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN ALL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE.PHONOLOGY � studies the possible combinations of phonemes but also the phonological combinations that are not possible in a language. (constraints)

In English � there are words that do not exist but are completely possible, such a

s:*prasp (by analogy with grasp)*flib (by analogy with slip)*traf (by analogy with graph)These phonological combinations are MEANINGLESS BUT POSSIBLE in English.PATTERNS AND RESTRICTIONSHowever, some phonological patterns � combinations in creation of syllables and words - are impossible (phonotactic restriction):*psapr*bfli*ftraNot only that these are MEANINGLESS but they are also NOT POSSIBLE in English.Such phenomena are the filed of the study in PHONOLOGY.PHONETICSPHONETICS is a general study of the characteristics of SPEECH SOUNDS.Human languages display a wide variety of sounds called PHONES or SPEECH SOUNDS.There are a great many speech sounds.However, the class of possible speech sounds is FINITE (limited in number).Each individual language uses a portion of this class.PHONETICSThe subbranches of phonetics are:1. ARTICULATORY PHONETICS � that studies the physiological mechanisms of speech production. It studies how speech sounds are produced and pronounced.2. ACOUSTIC PHONETICS � is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds as acoustic waves in the air. It is concerned with measuring and analysing the physical properties of sound waves that we produce when we speak.PHONETICS3. AUDITORY PHONETICS or PERCEPTUAL PHONETICS � deals with our perception of speech sounds and the way we understand and relate these sounds with the meaning.THE LINGUISTIC SIGN CONSISTS OF TWO FACES:ACOUSTIC IMAGECONCEPTPHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONSince the 16th century, efforts have been made to devise a universal system for transcribing the sounds of speech.The best known system, THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA) has been developing since 1888.This system attempts to represent each speech sound with a single symbol.PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONThese symbols are enclosed in brackets: / / to indicate that the transcription is phonetic and does not represent the spelling system of a particular language:E.g. The difference between: /i:/ and /i/ is clearly seen in: leave /�li:v/ vs live /�live/ sleep /�sli:p/ vs slip /�slip/ sheep /�?i:p/ vs ship /�?ip/Or:

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTIONThe difference between /e/ and /a/can be seen in the following examplesbed /�bed/ vs bad /�bad/ men /�men/ vs man /�man/ beg /�beg/ vs bag /�bag/ We may conclude that if one fails to pronounce the vowel properly, the communication will crash and there might be misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

DISTINCTIVE UNITS

This leads to the conclusion that the speech sounds are THE SMALLEST DISTINCTIVE UNITS OF A LANGUAGE THAT CAN AFFECT THE MEANING OF THE WORD UTTERED.Despite the fact that /i/ or /i:/ or /e/ or /a/ individually mean nothing whatsoever, their presence or absence affects the interpretation of the entire word or a sentence:

DISTINCTIVE UNITS/ai/ /k?n/ /si:/ /?/ /?ip/ vs/ai/ /k?n/ /si:/ /?/ /?i:p/ When we spell the above sentences we shall get two completely different pieces of information:

DISTINCTIVE UNITSI can see a ship./ai/ /k?n/ /si:/ /?/ /?ip/AndI can see a sheep./ai/ /k?n/ /si:/ /?/ /?i:p/In speech, the above two pieces of information differ in only one single segment or a speech soound: /i/ or /i:/DISTINCTIVE UNITS- A PHONEMEFor these reasons the speech sound which, as an abstract unit of a language is called a PHONEME, is in fact, THE SMALLEST DISTINCTIVE UNIT OF A LANGUAGE. It, in itself, has no meaning but it affects the meaning of a word and the entire information.UNITS OF REPRESENTATIONThis means that if only one smallest segment or a speech sound is changed the meaning will be affected.Compare:pat The change of only one singlebat distinctive unit (speech sound)mat changes the meaning of a word.hat Speech sound is not just a sound.rat It is a distinctive unit of a languagecatARTICULATORY PHONETICSThis subbrunch of phonetics studies how the speech sounds are produced and pronounced.All the sounds that we make when we speak are the result of muscle contracting.The muscles in the chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for almost all speech sounds.Muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth.ARTICULATION1. The air is pushed by the lungs.2. The air passes through the trachea (windpipe)3. The air passes into the larynx which contains vocal folds/vocal cords.4. After passing through the larynx the air goes through what we call the vocal tract which ends at the mouth and nostrils.5. Here, the air from the lungs escapes into the atmosphere.THE VOCAL TRACTThe VOCAL TRACT contains a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of the vocal tract.To learn about the process of production and pronunciation of the speech sounds we must become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract:THE SOUND PRODUCING SYSTEMThe LUNGSIn order to produce the majority of sounds in the world�s languages, we take air i

nto the lungs and then expel it during speech. A certain level of air pressure is needed to keep the speech mechanism functioning steadily.The pressure is maintained by the action of various sets of muscles. The muscles are primarily: INTERCOSTALS (the muscles between the ribs) and the DIAPHRAGM (the large sheet of muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen.THE LARYNXTHE LARYNXThe larynx consists of a framework of cartilage with surrounding soft tissue. The most prominent piece of cartilage is a shield-shaped structure called the thyroid cartilage. The anterior portion of the thyroid cartilage can be easily felt in thin necks as the "Adam's apple". THE LARYNXSuperior to the thyroid cartilage is a U-shaped bone called the hyoid. The hyoid bone supports the larynx from above and is itself attached to the mandible by muscles and tendons. These attachments are important in elevating the larynx during swallowing and speech. The lower part of the larynx consists of a circular piece of cartilage called the cricoid cartilage. Below the cricoid are the rings of the trachea.

VOCAL FOLDS/CORDSIn the center of the larynx lie the vocal folds (also known as the vocal cords). The vocal folds are made of muscles covered by a thin layer called mucosa. There is a right and left fold, forming a "V" when viewed from above. During speech the vocal folds are brought close together. As the air passes by the vocal folds in this position, they open and close very quickly. The rapid pulsation of air passing through the vocal folds produces a sound that is then modified by the remainder of the vocal tract to produce speech. BREATHINGSPEECHGLOTTAL STATESThe vocal folds may be positioned in a number of ways to produce different glottal states.When the vocal folds are pulled apart then air passes directly through the glottis. Any sound made with the vocal folds pulled apart is said to be VOICELESS.VOICINGWhen the vocal folds are brought close together but not tightly closed, air passing between them causes the vocal folds to vibrate producing sounds that are said to be VOICED.Another glottal state produces a WHISPER. Whispering is VOICELESS, but the front portions of the vocal folds are close together while the back portions are apart.

Yet another sound can be produced � a MURMUR (whispery voice). The murmur sounds are voiced but the vocal folds are relaxed not tense so that they allow enough air to escape and produce a whispery effect.When air leaves the larynx it enters the vocal tract above the larynx where different organs or articulators participate in shaping the final acoustic image of speech sounds.VOCAL TRACTVOCAL TRACT- ARTICULATORS ABOVE THE LARYNXARTICULATORS ABOVE THE LARYNX

The jaws and the nasal cavity also participate in sound production but they are not articulators. It is true that we move the jaws while speaking and we use the

nasal cavity for producing the nasal sounds such as /m/ and /n/. Though they are important equipment in sound production, they do not change the shape of the vocal tract and therefore cannot be called articulators in the sense that we treat other organs above mentioned.SOUND CLASSESThe sounds of language can be grouped into CLASSES based on the phonetic properties that they share.All voiced sounds, for example, form a class.All voiceless sounds form a class too.Speech sounds fall into two major classes:VOWELS andCONSONANTS

SOUND CLASSESThere is yet another class: GLIDES.Glides share the properties of both:VOWELS andCONSONANTS.VOWELS, CONSONANTS and GLIDES can be distinguished on the basis of differences in articulation.Another criterion for distinguishing vowels, consonants and glides is whether they function as SYLLABIC or NON-SYLLABIC ELEMENTS.THE ARTICULATORY DIFFERENCECONSONANTS � which may be voiced or voiceless, are made with a narrow or complete closure in the vocal tract.The airflow is either blocked momentarily or restricted so much that noise is produced as air flows past the constriction. VOWELS � are produced with little obstruction in the vocal tract and are generally voiced.THE ACOUSTIC DIFFERENCEAs a result of the difference in articulation, consonants and vowels differ in the way they sound.VOWELS � are more SONOROUS than consonants, and we perceive them as louder and longer lasting.SYLLABIC AND NON-SYLLABIC SOUNDSThe greater sonority of vowels allows them to form the basis of SYLLABLES.A SYLLABLE can be defined phonetically as a PEAK OF SONORITY SURROUNDED BY LESS SONOROUS SEGMENTS.SONOROUS SEGMENTS HAVE A RICHER SOUND THAN NON-SONOROUS ONES.

EXAMPLE:The words �a� and �go� each contain one syllable.The word �laughing� contains 2 syllables.The word �telephone� contains 3.In counting the syllables in a word, we are, in fact, counting the VOWELS.A VOWEL is called the NUCLEUS of a SYLLABLE.VOWELS VS CONSONANTSThe major differences between VOWELS and CONSONANTS ARE:VOWELS (and other syllabic elements):1. ARE PRODUCED WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE OBSTRUCTION IN THE VOCAL TRACT2. ARE MORE SONOROUS.

CONSONANTS (non-syllabic elements):1. ARE PRODUCED WITH A NARROW OR COMPLETE CLOSURE IN THE VOCAL TRACT;2. ARE LESS SONOROUS.

glidesGLIDES � ARE THE TYPE OF SOUND THAT SHOWS PROPERTIES OF BOTH CONSONANTS AND VOWELS.GLIDES may be defined as RAPIDLY ARTICULATED VOWELS. This is the auditory impres

sion they produce.

glidesGLIDES are produced with an articulation like that of a vowel. However, they move quickly to another articulation.This is the case with the glides /j/ and /w/ like inYET and WETYELLOW and WIND

Even though they are vowel-like in articulation, glides function as consonants.For instance, GLIDES CAN NEVER FORM THE NUCLEUS OF A SYLLABLE.Since glides show the properties of both consonants and vowels the term SEMIVOWEL and SEMICONSONANT.CONSONANT ARTICULATIONWe have seen that a speech sound has at least three stages available for investigation:1. The production;2. Transmission and3. Reception stages.A complete description of a sound should, therefore, include the information concerning all three stages.CONSONANT ARTICULATIONCONSONANTS are most easily described mainly in terms of their articulation, whereas vowel sounds require for their description a predominance of auditory impressions.CONSONANTS are those segments which OCCUR AT THE EDGES OF SYLLABLES.VOWELS are those which OCCUR AT THE CENTRE OF SYLLABLES:

E.g. red; wed; dead; lead; saidThe sounds represented by<r, w, d, l, s> are consonantsWhile in:beat; bit; bet; but; boughtThe sounds represented by<i: ; i; e; ?; ?:> are vowels

CONSONANTS ARTICULATIONThe description of consonants articulation must provide answers to the folowing questions:1. Is the airstream set in motion by the lungs or by some other means (pulmonic or non-pulmonic);2. Is the airstream forced outwards or sucked inwards (egressive or ingressive)CONSONANTS ARTICULATION3. Do the vocal folds vibrate or not (voiced or voiceless)4. Is the soft palate raised, directing the stream wholly through the mouth, or is it lowered, allowing the passage of air through the nose (oral, nasal or nasalized)

CONSONANTS ARTICULATION5. At what point or points and between what organs does the closure or narrowing take place? (PLACE OF ARTICULATION)6. What is the type of closure or narrowing at the point of articulation? (MANNER OF ARTICULATION)

For example: If we want to describe the speech sound /z/ in the word �easy�, the following description should be given:

1. pulmonic2. egressive3. voiced4. oral5. tongue tip � alveolar ridge6. fricativeThese answers provide a concise label for the sound.PLACES OF ARTICULATION OF CONSONANTSAirflow is modified in the oral cavity by the placement of the tongue and the positioning of the lips.These modifications occur at specific places or points of articulation.The primary articulating organ is the tongue which is very agile.It can be raised, lowered, thrust forward or drawn back, and even rolled back.The sides of the tongue can also be raised or lowered.TONGUE AREASPhonetic description refers to five areas of the tongue:1. The TIP is the narrow area at the front2. The BLADE lies just behind the tip;3. The BODY is the main mass of the tongue4. The BACK is the hindmost part of the tongue in the mouth.The BODY and the BACK of the tongue can also be jointly referred to as the DORSUM.5. The ROOT of the tongue is contained in the upper part of the throat (pharynx).

PLACES OF ARTICULATIONEACH POINT AT WHICH THE AIRSTREAM CAN BE MODIFIED TO PRODUCE A DIFFERENT SOUND IS CALLED A PLACE OF ARTICULATION. Places of articulation can be found at the LIPS; within the ORAL CAVITY; in the PHARYNX, and at the GLOTTIS.LABIAL CONSONANTSAny sound made with closure or near closure of the lips is said to be LABIAL.1. Sounds involving both lips are BILABIAL.2. Sounds involving the lower lip and upper teeth are LABIODENTALS.1. INITIAL BILABIALS IN ENGLISH ARE:p � like in peerb � like in binm � like in month2. INITIAL LABIODENTALS IN ENGLISH ARE:f � like in firev � like in veryDENTAL CONSONANTSWhen the tongue is placed against or near the teeth the produced sounds are called DENTALS.If the tongue is placed between the teeth the sound is called INTERDENTAL.INTERDENTALS in English are:? - like in three ? - like in this

ALVEOLAR CONSONANTSWithin the oral cavity, a small ridge protrudes from just behind the upper front teeth. This is called ALVEOLAR RIDGE.The tongue may touch or be brought near this ridge in the production of certain sounds. Such sounds are described as ALVEOLAR.Initial ALVEOLAR sounds are:t � like in topd � like in deers � like in soapz � like in zipper

l � like in lipn � like in neckPalato-alveolar and palatal consonantsJust behind the alveolar ridge, the roof of the mouth rises sharply. This area is known as the palato-alveolar (or alveopalatal) area.The highest part of the roof of the mouth is called the PALATE, and sounds produced with the tongue on or near this area are called PALATALS.

Palato-alveolar and palatal consonantsPALATO-ALVEOLAR consonants are:? - like in shirt? - like in measuret? - like in chaird? - like in journeyTHE WORD-INITIAL PALATAL GLIDE IS:j � like in Yes

VELAR CONSONANTSThe soft area towards the rear of the roof of the mouth is called the VELUM.Sounds made with the tongue touching or near this position are called VELARS.VELARS are:k � like in callg � like in goal? � like in hangTHE GLIDE w � like in wet is called LABIOVELAR GLIDE, since the tongue is raised near the velum and the lips are rounded at the same time.UVULARSThe small fleshy flap of tissue known as the UVULA hangs down from the velum. Sounds made with the tongue near or touching this area are called UVULARS.English has no uvulars, but the sound r pronounced in European French (Parisian French) is uvular speech sound.PHARYNGEALSThe area of the throat between the uvula and the larynx is known as the pharynx. Sounds made through the modification of airflow in this region by retracting the tongue or constricting the pharynx are called PHARYNGEALS.Pharyngeals exist in many dialects of Arabic but do not exist in English.GLOTTAL CONSIONANTSSounds produced by using the vocal folds as the primary articulators are called GLOTTALS. An obstruction, or a narrowing causing friction but not vibration takes place between the vocal folds.The sound /h/ at the beginning of the English words:hugheatIs made at the glottis.SECONDARY PLACE OF ARTICULATIONIn the case of some consonantal sounds, there may be a secondary place of articulation, in addition to the primary.Thus, in so-called �DARK /?/ as in the words: middle or pull, in addition to the partial alveolar contact, there is an essential raising of the back of the tongue towards the velum (velarization).SECONDARY PLACE OF ARTICULATIONAnd again, some sounds may be articulated by slight lip-rounding (labialization).THE PLACE OF PRIMARY ARTICULATION GIVES RISE TO THE GREATEST OBSTRUCTION TO THE AIRFLOW.THE SECONDARY ARTICULATION EXHIBITS THE STRICTURE OF LESSER RANK.WHERE THERE ARE TWO COEXTENSIVE STRICTURES OF EQUAL RANK, AN EXAMPLE OF DOUBLE

ARTICULATION RESULTS._________________________FONETIKA 2_________________________

SPEECH SOUNDS � DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATIONMANNERS OF ARTICULATIONPHONETICS: LECTURE 2

MANNERS OF ARTICULATIONThe lips, tongue, velum and glottis can be positioned in different ways to produce different sound types. These various configurations are called the MANNERS OF ARTICULATION.

ORAL VERSUS NASAL PHONESA basic distinction in manner of articulation is between ORAL and NASAL phones.When the velum is raised, cutting off the airflow through the nasal passages, ORAL SOUNDS are produced.However, the velum can be lowered to allow air to pass through the nasal passages, producing a sound that is NASAL.

NASAL SOUNDSBoth consonants and vowels can be nasal, in which case they are generally voiced.NASAL CONSONANTS in English are:n � like in sunm � like in sum? - like in sing NASAL VOWELS in North American English are:a - like in banki - like in wink

MANNER OF ARTICULATIONThe obstruction made by the organs may be total, intermittent or partial, or merely constitute a narrowing sufficient to cause friction.The chief types of articulation, in decreasing degrees of closure are the following:MANNER OF ARTICULATION(1) COMPLETE CLOSUREPLOSIVE: A complete closure at some point in the vocal tract, behind which the air pressure builds up and can be released axplosively /p, b, t, d, k, g, ? - glottal stop/. AFFRICATE: a COMPLETE CLOSURE AT SOME POINT IN THE VOCAL TRACT, BEHIND WHICH THE AIR PRESSURE BUILDS UP. The separation of the organs is, however, slow compared with that of a plosive, so that friction is a characteristic second element of the sound: /t?; d?/

MANNER OF ARTICULATIONNASAL: A complete closure at some point in the mouth but, the soft palate being lowered, the air escapes through the nose. These sounds are continuants and, in the voiced form, have no noise component. They are, to this extent, vowel-like /m, n, ?/.MANNER OF ARTICULATION(2) INTERMITTENT CLOSURETRILL (or ROLL): A series of rapid intermittent closures made by a flexible organ on a firmer surface, for instance /r/, where the tongue tip trills against th

e alveolar ridge (as in Spanish perro), or /R/ where the uvula trills against the back of tongue (as in French rouge).TAP: A single tap made by a flexible organ on a firmer surface, for instance /?/ where the tongue tip taps once once against the teeth ridge � as in many Scottish pronunciations of English /r/.MANNER OF ARTICULATION(3) PARTIAL CLOSURELATERAL: A partial but firm closure is made at some point in the mouth, the airstream being allowed to escape on one or both sides of the contact.These sounds may be continuant and frictionless and therefore, vowel-like (these are APPROXIMANTS like /l/ and /?/ or they may be accompanied by a little friction /l/ as in the word fling, or by considerable friction as in the word please.MANNER OF ARTICULATION(4) NARROWINGFRICATIVE: Two organs approximate to such an extent that the airstream passes between them with friction. In English these sounds are: f, v, ?; ?; s, z, ?; ?; ç (which occurs at the beginning of the word huge); x (which occurs at the beginning of which or loch etc. in Scottish pronunciation; and /h/

MANNER OF ARTICULATION(5) NARROWING WITHOUT FRICTION:APPROXIMANT (OR FRICTIONLESS CONTINUANT): A narrowing is made in the mouth but the narrowing is not quite sufficient to cause friction. In being frictionless and continuant, approximants are vowel-like.However, they function phonologically as consonants, meaning that they appear at the edges of syllables. (before or after the vowel)Approximants are: /j/ /w/ /r/ and /l/OBSTRUENTS AND SONORANTSSometimes it is useful to classify categories of sounds according to their NOISE COMPONENT.Those sounds in whose production the constriction impeding the airflow through the vocal tract is sufficient to cause noise are known as OBSTRUENTS.OBSTRUENTSThe category of OBSTRUENTS comprisesPLOSIVES /p, b, t, d, k, g/FRICATIVES /f, v, s, z, ?; ?; ?; ?; h/ andAFFRICATES /t?; d?/

SONORANTSSONORANTS are those voiced sounds in which there is NO NOISE COMPONENT.These are:VOICED NASALS /m, n, ?/APPROXIMANTS /l, r, w/ andVOWELSFORTIS AND LENIS (strong & weak)A VOICELESS/VOICED pair such as English /s, z/ are distinguished not only by the presence or absence of voice but also by the degree of breath and muscular effort involved in the articulation.FORTIS AND LENIS (strong & weak)Those English consonants which are usually voiced tend to be articulated with relatively WEAK energy, whereas those which are always voiceless are relatively STRONG.STRONG and WEAK consonants are usually called FORTIS and LENIS respectively.

VOWELSVOWELS are speech sounds normally made with a voiced egressive airstream without any closure or narrowing that would produce the noise component which is the characteristic of many consonants.

The escape of the air is accomplished in an unimpeded way over the middle line of the tongue.VOWELSThe glottal tone is modified by the action of of the upper resonators of the mouth, pharyngeal and nasal cavities.The movable organs are mainly responsible for shaping these resonators.These organs are: soft palate, lips and tongue.VOWELSThe description of vowels includes:(1) the position of the SOFT PALATE � RAISED FOR ORAL VOWELS; LOWERED FOR NASALIZED VOWELS;(2) the shape of the opening formed by lips � DEGREE OF SPREADING OR ROUNDING OF LIPS;(3) THE PART OF TONGUE WHICH IS RAISED � THE DEGREE OF RAISING.

VOWELSOf all these three factors only the second (THE LIP POSITION) can be easily described by visual means.Our judgement of the activity of the soft palate depends on the presence or absence of the nasality in the speech sound produced.The movements of the tongue largely determine the shape of the mouth and pharyngeal cavities.VOWELSSince we cannot see the movements of the soft palate and tongue, vowel description is usually based on the auditory judgements and sound relationships together with some articulatory information, especially as regards to the position of lips.Certain positions and gross movement of the tongue can be felt.VOWELSFor instance, if we want to describe the vowels /i:/ and /a/ in both cases the front part of the tongue is raised. We could say that they are FRONT VOWELS.However, if the back part of the tongue is in its highest position we can describe them as BACK VOWELS, such as /a:/ or /u:/.Another characteristic is that in the case of /i:/ and /u:/ we can say that they are CLOSE whereas /a:/ and /a/ are OPEN because of the position of the lower jaw.

VOWELSVOWELSCARDINAL VOWELSHowever, a finer and more precise system of description is needed, on both the auditory and the articulatory levels.The most satisfactory scheme is that devised by Daniel Jones and known as the CARDINAL VOWEL SYSTEM. It is based on physiological characteristics of vowels: CARDINAL VOWELSCARDINAL VOWELSNASALITYBesides the information concerning lip and tongue positions which the chart denotes, a vowel description must also indicate whether the vowel is purely ORAL or NASALIZED. All the cardinal vowels may be transformed into their nasalized counterparts if the soft palate is lowered.SUMMARY - VOWELSUnlike consonants that are mostly articulated via closure or obstruction in the vocal tract,VOWELS ARE PRODUCED WITH THE RELATIVELY FREE FLOW OF AIR AND WITH THE VIBRATION OF THE VOCAL FOLDS.VOWELS ARE MOSTLY DESCRIBED AS TO THE WAY IN WHICH THE POSITION OF THE TONGUE INFLUENCES THE SHAPE OF THE RESONATOR (MOUTH CAVITY) THROUGH WHICH THE AIRSTREAM MUST PASS.

SUMMARY - VOWELSIn this sense, VOWELS MAY BE:HIGH or FRONT: if produced with the FRONT PART OF THE TONGUE IN A RAISED (HIGH) POSITION.LOW or BACK: if produced with the BACK PART OF THE TONGUE IN A LOWERED (LOW) POSITION.

SUMMARY - VOWELSFRONT VOWELS are:/i/ like in: beef, thief, chief/e/ like in: dead; said/a/ like in: bad; wrap; manCENTRAL VOWELS are:/?/ like in above, support; hurt/?/ like in blood, cup, sun/a/ like in part; car; start

SUMMARY - VOWELSBACK VOWELS are:/u:/ like in move; two; you/?/ like in could; put; book/?:/ like in fall; raw; born/?/ like in Bob; swan; cotEach of these may be nasalized if positioned close to the nasal consonants.

Phonology and THE LINGUISTIC HIERARCHYThe building blocks of a language are:Speech sounds (phonemes) > morphemes > words > phrases > clauses (sentences)The minimal unit of a language is a speech sound. Yet, the question is:Do the speech sounds mean anything?PHONOLOGYIf, for, instance, we analyse the word:BOYSWe can see that it consists of the units smaller than a word:Boy + sIn spite of the fact that the individual speech sounds in: B � O � Y mean nothing, we can still notice that the sound -S attached to the stem BOY means something � it means: MORE THAN ONE ENTITY called BOY.PHONOLOGYTherefore, we can say that the linguistic units smaller than a word are MORPHEMES � THEY ARE THE MINIMAL ELEMENTS OF A LANGUAGE THAT HAVE THE MEANING.However, the speech sounds in B-O-Y individually mean nothing. But, if we compare the words:BOYTOYJOYWe can see that the change of just one speech sound may affect the meaning of the entire expression.PHONEMEFor this reason we shall say that a speech sound which is called a PHONEME (as an abstract mental image of a speech sound) IS THE SMALLEST CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTIC UNIT WHICH MAY CHANGE THE MEANING (although a phoneme itself has no meaning whatsoever).To establish the PHONEMES in a language we can use MINIMAL PAIRS.

PHONEMEMINIMAL PAIRS ARE THE PAIRS OF WORDS DISTINGUISHED BY A SINGLE PHONEME:OPPOSITION IN THE INITIAL POSITION:tame hat pie twogame pat tie doname bat die zoolame rat buy who /h/dame cat high wooMINIMAL PAIRSHowever, it is not sufficient to consider only one position (initial position) in the word.Possibilities of phonemic opposition can be found in the medial and final position as well.OPPOSITION IN THE MEDIAL POSITION:letter /let?/ latter /lat?/leather /le??/ ladder /lad?/

MINIMAL PAIRSOPPOSITION IN THE FINAL POSITION:son /s?n/some /s?m/sung /s??/ For all the above reasons we say that A PHONEME IS THE MEANING-DISTINGUISHING UNIT IN A LANGUAGE.However, A PHONEME IS AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT/UNIT � A PHONEME IS A SOUND TYPE (not an actual speech sound). It is an abstract mental image of a speech sound

PHONEMESLASH MARKS ARE USED TO INDICATE THIS ABSTRACT SEGMENT OF THE SPEECH SOUND:E.g. /t/; /z/; /f/; /a:/ etc.A PHONEME FUNCTIONS CONTRASTIVELY.IF THERE ARE DISTINCT PHONEMES such as /r/ and /h/THEN 2 WORDS HAVE DIFFERENT MEANING:rathatTHIS CAN BE USED AS A TEST FOR DETERMINING THAT A SPEECH SOUND HAS THE STATUS OF A PHONEME IN A LANGUAGE.PHONEMEEACH PHONEME HAS ITS DISTINCTIVE FEATURES:/p/ can be described as /p/ /-voice, +labial, + stop/As its counterpart /b/ has one distinctive feature different:/b/ /+voice, +bilabial, +stop/THIS REPRESENTATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS USING THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE SOUND TO DESCRIBE IT IS CALLED COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS.DISTINCTIVE FEATURESSuch a description of speech sounds interms of their distinctive features involves explaining all the contrasts of a language in terms of BINARY DISTINCTIVE FEATURES and suggesting that there is a set of binary features that we mark as + or -.+ meaning that the feature is present- meaning that such a feature is absentDISTINCTIVE FEATURESThe description of speech sounds using their distinctive features usually involves the place or the manner of articulation as well as activity of the vocal folds in production of a specific speech sound.However, the features involving the place of articulation have been turned into

only two distinctive features:CORONAL andANTERIORDISTINCTIVE FEATURESCORONAL � means that the speech sound is made with the BLADE OF THE TONGUE RAISED ABOVE THE NEUTRAL POSITION.ANTERIOR � means that the speech sound is made IN FRONT OF THE HARD PALATE:

CORONAL AND ANTERIOR SPEECH SOUNDSALLOPHONESA PHONEME IS AN ABSTRACT (MENTAL) CONCEPT/UNIT OF A LANGUAGENo two realizations of a phoneme are the same.This is true even when the same word is repeated.VARIANTS OF THE SAME PHONEME OCCURING IN DIFFERENT WORDS OR IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS IN A WORD WILL FREQUENTLY SHOW CONSISTENT PHONETIC DIFFERENCES.SUCH CONSISTENT VARIANTS ARE CALLED ALLOPHONES.

ALLOPHONESThe same difference exists for the sound /t/ in the words:tar /ta:/ andstar /sta:/While in the first word the sound /t/ is produced with aspiration [tha:] in the second word it is simply produced as a voiceless sound with no aspiration: [sta:].Aspirated and non-aspirated variant of the phoneme /t/ are called allophones.

ALLOPHONESSimilar situation is with the phoneme /l/:The phoneme /l/ is not identically pronounced in the following words:leave /li:v/ andmiddle /midl/The first /l/ is so-called �CLEAR� /l/ with a front vowel resonance, while /l/ in the word �middle� is so-called �DARK� [?] with the symbol [?]. The quality of the dark [?] is the back vowel resonance.

COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTIONThe difference in the quality is related to the position of the phoneme in a word or syllable.In such cases we say that the allophones [l] and [?] of the same phoneme /l/ are in complementary distribution.Complementary distribution is the relation between sounds whose distribution do not overlap. The alophones that are in complementary distribution never occur in the same contexts.FREE VARIATIONThere is yet another notion related to allophones of the same phoneme.It is FREE VARIATION.When the same speaker produces noticably different pronunciations of the same word � the different realizations of the phonemes are said to be in FREE VARIATION.E.g. In a word �cat� final /t/ may be produced as the exploding or the non-exploding sound.Phonemes vs allophonesThe crucial difference between PHONEMES and ALLOPHONES is:The substitution of a PHONEME results in another word and another meaning- The substitution of an ALLOPHONE does not result in a new word and does not affect the meaning. The word still remains the same.PHONOLOGYWhile phonetics is a general study of the characteristics of speech sounds:The way they are producedThe way they are perceived (heard) and interpretedThe physical characteristics of sound waves produced in phonation.

PHONOLOGY IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM AND PATTERNS OF SPEECH SOUNDS IN A LANGUAGE.PHONOLOGYPhonology is about the underlying design, the blue print of each sound type � a PHONEME � as an abstract phonological unit and its actual realization in different words and phonological contexts.PHONOTACTICS IS YET ANOTHER SUBBRANCH OF PHONOLOGY THAT DEALS WITH THE SYSTEMATIC PATTERNS OF SOUND COMBINATIONS PERMITTED IN A LANGUAGE.phonotacticsKnowing the patterns of speech sounds combinations:-we can predict possible but non-existing words in a language-we can also predict which combinations are unacceptable and impossible in a language.PHONOTACTICS STUDIES THE CONSTRAINTS ON SOUND COMBINATIONS: PERMITTED AND UNPERMITTED COMBINATIONS.phonotacticsThere are rules of phonotactics that can predict:A) WORDS THAT ARE POSSIBLE BUT DO NOT EXIST:*prasp (cf. grasp)*flib (cf. slip)*traf (cf. graph)The above words are POSSIBLE BUT MEANINGLESS.

PHONOTACTICSB)WORDS THAT ARE NOT AT ALL POSSIBLE AND THEREFORE DO NOT EXIST:*psapr*bfli*ftraThe above words are not possible combinations to create syllables and words.They are IMPOSSIBLE AND MEANINGLESS.PHONOTACTICSPhonotactics (from Ancient Greek phon? "voice, sound" and taktikós "having to do with arranging�) is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes. Phonotactics defines permissible syllable structure, consonant clusters, and vowel sequences by means of phonotactical constraints.SYLLABLESA SYLLABLE must contain a VOWEL or VOWEL-LIKE SOUND (diphtong).The common syllable has:CONSONANT (C) before the VOWEL (V)The basic elements of a syllable are:ONSET (1 or more consonants) followed byRHYME (containing a VOWEL (nucleus) and possible consonant (coda).INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF A SYLLABLE SYLLABLE

ONSET RHYME

CONSONANT(S) NUCLEUS CODA VOWEL CONSONANT(S)TYPES OF SYLLABLESSYLLABLES usually (but not necessarily) have an ONSET but they needn�t have the CODA.There are two (2) types of syllables:1. OPEN SYLLABLES:ONSET + NUCLEUS � NO CODAE.g.

me; too; no; spaTYPES OF SYLLABLES2. CLOSED SYLLABLES: ONSET + NUCLEUS + CODAgreen (CCVC)ham (CVC)and (VCC)red (CVC)spring (CCCVCC)PhonotacticsPhonotactics also deals with:CONSONANT CLUSTERS.Since both ONSET and CODA can consist of more than one (1) consonant, CONSONANT CLUSTERS ARE SITUATIONS WHEN EITHER ONSET OR CODA CONSIST OF MORE THAN 1 CONSONANT.THESE CLUSTERS ARE STUDIED WITHIN THE FIELD OF STUDY OF PHONOTACTICS.

PHONOTACTICSFor example:Clusters with the sounds /s/ and /t/ = consonant cluster /st/ is a possible consonant combination in English in both: onset and coda:ONSET: stop; stay; star; stool...CODA: post; ghost; toast; roast...

PHONOTACTICSThere are many different consonant clusters permitted in English such as:/bl/: blood; blow; bleed .../br/: bring; broom; bread; break.../tr/: trick, tray; tree; true.../fl/ flee, flow, flirt, fly.... Etc.Larger clusters involve more than 2 consonants: CCC:stress; splash; stray, spring....PHONOTACTICSPHONOTACTICS ALSO DEALS WITH COARTICULATION EFFECTS SUCH AS:NEUTRALIZATION � when a contrast between two phonemes is lost: e.g. dicussed/disgust � where /k/ and /g/ may be neutralized.PHONOTACTICSASSIMILLATION � when two sounds occur in sequence and some aspect of 1 sound is taken or �copied� by the other:E.g.have to /haft?/ELISION � when some sound is not pronounced in certain contexts (it is elided)E.g.You and me /ju: ?n mi:/etc.

_________________________FONETIKA 3_________________________

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION andstandard american pronunciation (GA)PHONETICS: LECTURE 3RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION - RPBritish received pronunciation (RP), by definition,the usual speech of educated people living in London and southeastern England, is one of the many forms of standard speech.Other pronunciations, although not standard, are entirely acceptible in their own right on conversational levels.RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONRECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONRECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONRECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONRECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONRECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

Other names have been proposed, such asGENERAL BRITISH (GB) and EDUCATED SOUTHERN BRITISH ENGLISH.BBC PRONUNCIATION or BBC ACCENT

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATIONCONSONANT CHART-transcriptionVOWEL CHART - TRANSCRIPTIONDIPHTONG CHART � closing diphtongsDIPHTONG CHART � CENTRING DIPHTONGSRECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

RP is basically a regional (geographical) dialect as contrasted to COCKNEY which is a class (social) dialect.RP is not superior to other varieties of English.It is itself only one particular reginal dialect that has, through the accidents of history, achieved a more extensive use than others.

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

Although acquiring its unique status without the aid of any established authority, this variety of English may have been fostered by the public schools (Eton, Harrow, Rugby etc) and the ancient universities (Oxford and Cambridge).RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

Other varieties of English are well preserved in spite of the influences of film, television and radio.Other dialects spoken in Britain that deserve to be mentioned are:Scottish English, Cockney, Northern English.General American and Australian English are also dialects widely spread outside Britain.

AMERICAN ENGLISH

The traditional division of the United States for pronunciation purposes is intoEASTERN ( including New England and New York City)SOUTHERN(stretching from Virginia to Texas and to all points sothwards) andGENERAL(all the remaining area)

GENERAL AMERICAN

GENERAL AMERICAN (GA) can be regarded as the form of American which does not have marked regional characteristics.

In this way it is comparable to RP.It is a standard model of pronunciation of English also in parts of Asia (the Phillipines) and parts of Latin America (Mexico)RP and GAThere are two areas of systemic difference between RP and GA.GENERAL AMERICAN:1) has no /?/ sound.Those words which have /?/ vowel in RP are pronounced with /a:/ in General American:Spot /spa:t/ instead of /sp?t/Pocket /pa:kit/ instead of /p?kit/Bottle /ba:dl/ instead of /b?tl/RP and GARP and GAHowever, a limited subset of words has the long vowel /?:/ such as: gone, across, often.2) The second major difference between RP and GA is that General American lacks some RP diphtongs:/i?/, /e?/ and /??/In GA these are pronounced as:VOWEL + /r/

RP and GARP and GAThis reflects the distributional difference between RP and GA:In RP: /r/ can occur BEFORE VOWELSIn GA: /r/ can occur BEFORE CONSONANTS and BEFORE PAUSE.For this reason:GENERAL AMERICAN is called a RHOTIC DIALECT.RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION is a NON-RHOTIC DIALECT.RP and GAThe main difference of lexical incidence concerns words which in RP have /a:/ while in GA they have /a/.Like the change from /?/ to /?:/, this change, too, involves the context BEFORE THE VOICELESS FRICATIVE, or BEFORE A NASAL FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER CONSONANT:

RP and GARP and GADifferences are numerous between the two systems of pronunciation.However we shall mention only the most salient ones.Among vowels these differences also include the realization of the diphtongs:/ei/ and/??/

RP and GAIn fact, the RP diphtong /ei/ is pronounced as a monophtong /e:/ in General American.On the other hand, the RP diphtong /??/ is pronounced as /o:/ in General American.We shall compare the pronunciation in words such as:lateload

RP and GARP and GACONSONANTS:Among the consonants, /r/ is either phonetically realized in such a manner that the tip of the tongue is curled further backwards that in RP, or a similar au

ditory effect is achieved by bunching the body of the tongue upwards and backwards.RP and GAIn General American the consonant /t/ is usually pronounced as a VOICED TAP:better /be??//l/ is generally pronounced as dark [?] in all positions in General American unlike RP where /l/ is a clear /l/ before vowels and dark [?] in other positions.There are numerous other differences between RP and GA but we have mentioned only the major and most prominent ones.

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION

SCOTTISH ENGLISHVOWEL SYSTEMThe typical vowel system of Scottish English (SE) involves:1. the loss of the RP distinction between /a:/ and /a//u:/ and /?//?:/ and /?/These vowels are generally long and reduced only before nasal sounds and voiced plosives.

SCOTTISH ENGLISHFor these reasons, in Scottish English the words such as:ant/aunt /a/soot/suit /u:/caught/cot /?:/ Are pronounced similarly.SCOTTISH ENGLISHSE also has no diphtongs such as:/i?/, /e?/ and /??/.Like American English, Scottish English is RHOTIC so that the words:beard fare dourAre pronounced in the following manner:

SCOTTISH ENGLISHSCOTTISH ENGLISHThe diphtong /??/ is also monophtongal /o:/.Therefore, a word such as:coat /k??t/ is pronounced as:coat /ko:t/.So the vowels in the words:fare andcoatare similar to those in American English.SCOTTISH ENGLISHIn the case of consonants, the chief difference lies in the use of the tap [?]Like in:red [?ed]trip [t?ip]The phoneme /l/ is most commonly pronounced as dark [?] like in:plough [p?a?].Finally, intervocalic /t/ is often realized as a glottal stop:butter [b???]

COCKNEYThe term Cockney rather than London English is used because, unlike General American and Scottish English, Cockney is not a regional but a class dialect.It includes a considerable vocabulary of its own as well.Cockney pronunciation is largely spread through the working class of London.Some traces of Cockney pronunciation are also present in most middle-class speech of that area.COCKNEYUnlike General American and Scottish English, there are no differences in the inventory of vowel phonemes between RP and Cockney.However, there are a number of differences in their realization.The short front vowels tend to be CLOSER than in RP.COCKNEYSince they are closer, there is very little difference in pairs such as:sat /sat/set /set/that sound almost the same.The same case is with set /set/ and sit /sit/ That also sound similar.

COCKNEYAmong the long vowels, most noticeable is the diphtongization of the vowel /i:/ that sounds as [?i] and /u:/./u:/ may be pronounced as [?u].Long vowel /?:/ varies between [??] if the morpheme is in the medial position and [?w?] if the morpheme is in the final position.

COCKNEYCOCKNEYDiphtongs are also pronounced in a different manner in Cockney:/ei/ is pronounced [ai]/ai/ is pronounced [?i]/??/ is pronounced [a?]/a?/ is pronounced [a:]Here are a few examples:

COCKNEYCOCKNEYCONSONANTS:/h/ is very often ommitted in Cockney./?,?/ are replaced by /f,v/Dark [?] and /l/ becomes vocalic [?]/t/ becomes glottal stop [?] between vowels.There is also a glottal replacement of /p,t,k/ before a following consonant/j/ is elided after alveolar plosives.

COCKNEYCOCKNEYCockney has consistently had a major influence on the development of RP.Nowadays, the regional type of RP is heavily influenced by Cockney and it is referred to as ESTUARY ENGLISH. (A middle-class pronunciation typical of the Thames estuary).

NORTHERN ENGLISHThe label �Northern English� is used to identify pronunciation systems in the north of England. In this region there are differences in pronuncations but there are also some things that all the varieties in this region have in common.NORTHERN ENGLISHVOWELS:1. The difference between RP /?/ and /?/ is lostSo that put and cut rhyme � they are both pronounced with the vowel /?/put /p?t/cut /k?t/up /?p/under /?nd?/

NORTHERN ENGLISHOn the other hand, in the attempt to correct the regional RP in some regions /?/ is pronounced as /?/sugar /??g?/put /p?t/pussy /p?si//a:/ is changed to /a/past /past/laugh /laf/aunt /ant/

NORTHERN ENGLISHWhere RP has /?/ in prefixes, in Northern English it is pronounced as a full vowel such as: /a/ or /?/:advance /ad�vans/consume /k?n�sju:m/observe / ?b�z??v/

NORTHERN ENGLISHThe short vowels are most often realized with more open qualities:mad /mad/The diphtongs /ei/ and /??/ are commonly monophtongal /e:/ and /o:/as in General American and Scottish English.In some areas the diphtong /e?/ is lost and replaced by /??//a?/ may be pronounced as /u:/ while/u:/ becomes /i?/.

NORTHERN ENGLISHCONSONANTS:In Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, for instance /r/ is pronounced as / ?/A single consonant /?/ becomes /?g/ with /g/ phoneme pronounced.singing /si?gi?g/AUSTRALIAN ENGLISHAustralian English shares many features with Cockney, but, has, of course, some features specific for this variety of English.As in Cockney, Australian English has no differences of phonemic inventory compared to RP.As in Cockney /i:/ and /u:/ are diphtongized and realized as /?i/ and /?u/.

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISHShort vowels are all closer than in RP.Sometimes /?/ is realized as /i:/ in word-final position or as /?/ in other positions. For example:city /s?ti/

In diphtongs, Australian English, just like Cockney changes the diphtong /ei/ into /ai//ai/ into /?i/And converges the quality of/??/ into /?u/

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISHHowever, diphtongs ending in /?/ are monophtongized:/i?/ > /i:/clear [kli:] instead of RP /kli?//e?/ > /?:/fare [f?:] instead of RP /fe?/

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH/??/ > /?:/ like insure [??:] instead of /???/Or it becomes disyllabic like insewer [su:?] instead of /s??/Although Australian English drops /h/ it does not use glottal stop typical for Cockney.It also has dark [?] in all positions.

_________________________FONETIKA 4_________________________VOWELSPHONETICS: LECTURE 4SOUND CLASSESThe sounds of language can be grouped into CLASSES based on the phonetic properties that they share.All voiced sounds, for example, form a class.All voiceless sounds form a class too.Speech sounds fall into two major classes:VOWELS andCONSONANTSThere is yet another class: GLIDES.

Glides share the properties of both:VOWELS andCONSONANTS.VOWELS, CONSONANTS and GLIDES can be distinguished on the basis of differences in articulation.Another criterion for distinguishing vowels, consonants and glides is whether they function as SYLLABIC or NON-SYLLABIC ELEMENTS.

CONSONANTS � which may be voiced or voiceless, are made with a narrow or complete closure in the vocal tract.The airflow is either blocked momentarily or restricted so much that noise is produced as air flows past the constriction. VOWELS � are produced with little obstruction in the vocal tract and are generally voiced.

As a result of the difference in articulation, consonants and vowels differ in the way they sound.VOWELS � are more SONOROUS than consonants, and we perceive them as louder and longer lasting.

In articulation of vowels vocal folds are drawn closer and the airstream from the lungs pushes them apart which causes vibration.They mutually differ only by the shape of the resonator (vocal tract � oral cavity) which changes in dependance of the position of the tongue.

THE ENGLISH VOWELSA large number of vowel sounds have a distinctive function in English.Vowels are sonorous, syllabic sounds made with the vocal tract more open than it is for consonant and glide articulation.Different vowel sounds are produced by varying the placement of the body of the tongue and shaping the lips.THE ENGLISH VOWELSThe shape of the cavity can be further altered by protruding the lips to produce rounded vowels, or by lowering the velum to produce a nasal vowel.Finally, vowels can be TENSE or LAX, depending on the degree of vocal tract constriction during their articulation.THE ENGLISH VOWELSEnglish vowels are divided into two major types:SIMPLE VOWELS (also called PURE VOWELS or MONOPHTONGS) ANDDIPHTONGSSIMPLE VOWELS- do not show a noticable change in quality:pit, sat, cat, dog, but, put, suppose/pit/,/sat/ /kat/ /d?g/ /b?t/ /put/ /s?p?uz/These are all simple vowels.

THE ENGLISH VOWELSDIPHTONGS are vowels that exhibit a change in quality within a single syllable.ENGLISH DIPHTONGS show changes in quality that are due to tongue movement away from the initial vowel articulation towards another vowel position.ice go boy here how suppose/ais/ /g?u/ /b?i/ /hi?/ /hau/ /s?p?uz/The first part of the diphtong is much longer and perceptually more salient than the second.

THE ENGLISH VOWELSIn RP, there are nine diphtongs and they fall into two classes:CENTRING DIPHTONGS andCLOSING DIPHTONGSIn CENTRING DIPHTONGS � during the final phase of vowel articulation, the highest point of the tongue moves quickly towards the centre of the mouth (that is the typical position for articulation of SCHWA /?/.

THE ENGLISH VOWELSSCHWA /?/ is the vowel such as in the words:address /?�dres/, doctor /�d?kt?/, famous /�feim?s/ , colour /k?l?/ , figure /fig? /and the like.There are FOUR CENTRING DIPHTONGS:/i?/ � dear, hear, near, clear/??/ � chair, rare, where, there/u?/ � poor, sure, pure/??/ - shore, roar, oar

.

THE ENGLISH VOWELSNowadays, /??/ and /u?/ are disappearing from RP.They are being relaced by /?:/For this reason, for instance, the distinction between:paw � poor is lost.They are both pronounced as /p?:/

TABLE � ENGLISH PURE VOWELSTRANSCRIPTION SYMBOLSWe should keep in mind that sometimes there are some different symbols used for certain vowels in some dictionaries.One is the traditional which represents the opposition between LONG/SHORT VOWELS only by using colon after the symbol for the LONG VOWELS.However, Gimson introduced some new notations that are nowadays universally accepted.

TRANSCRIPTION SYMBOLSTo avoid any confusion and for the sake of simplicity, the traditional symbols are presented here.The distinction between LONG and SHORT used to be marked only by a colon.For instance/i/ for short/i:/ for its long counterpartTranscription symbolsHowever, Gimson uses slightly different notation.To avoid any confusion we must know the following:/??/ stands for the LONG VOWEL SCHWA /?/ which used to be represented by /?:/

Transcription symbolsThe opposition between SHORT/LONG /?/Is now better seen because they have different symbols. They used to be represented by /?/ for SHORT/?:/ for LONG Instead of /?/ for SHORT and/?/ for LONG

Transcription symbolsGimson uses /?/ for short /i/This opposition is represented in some dictionaries by/i/ for SHORT and/i:/ for LONGGimson uses /? / for short /u/

We said that articulation of vowels largely depends not only on activity of vocal folds but mostly on the shape of the oral cavity, position of the tongue and shape of the lips.If, for instance we wish to compare how two vowels such as /i:/ and /a/ are produced in the words such as:See /si:/ andCat /kat/

We should look at the cross section of the resonator:

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSVowel articulations are not as easy to feel as consonant articulations since the vocal tract is not narrowed as much. We can try to compare the articulation of, for instance, vowels /i:/ and /?/ in the words:he /hi:/pot /p?t/We can feel that the tongue moves from HIGH FRONT to LOW BACK position.

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSNow, if we compare the vowels /?/ and /a/ in the words:pot /p?t/pat /pat/We can feel the tongue moving from the LOW BACK (with the rounded lips) and LOW FRONT position (with the lips unrounded).

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSFinally, if we compare /i:/ and /u:/ in the words such as:he /hi:/ andwho /hu:/We will notice that, in addition to the tongue movement between HIGH FRONT and HIGH BACK position, we are also pursing our lips for /u:/VOWEL ARTICULATIONVowels for which the tongue is neither raised nor lowered are called MID VOWELS. In some cases the relative height of the tongue in the general mid zone results in vowels that are perceptibly different.So, it may be necessary to distinguish betweenMIDMID-HIGH andMID LOW VOWELSImages- TONGUE POSITIONS

The vowels may be represented on Cardinal Vowel charts

VOWEL CHARTBASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSHowever, there are no clear cutoff points between various tongue height positions.Thus, in RP /e/ or /?/ the front vowel of the word set /set/Is said to be mid-high, front and unrounded;

But the vowel /?:/ in the wordstorm /st?:m/Is said to be mid-low, back and rounded.Schwa is the long unrounded central vowel /?/ like in the words

bird /b?:d/ and word /w?:d/ or /b??d/ and /w??d/

TONGUE POSITIONSBASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSTherefore, it is not always obvious whether a sound should be classified sayMID-HIGH, rather thanMID, or

MID, instead of MID-LOW.

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSHowever, the motivation for the distinction between mid-high and mid-low vowel is much clearer in Scottish English where the contrast normally exists between the mid-high front unrounded vowel /e/ like in the wordtail /teil/And the mid-low front unrounded vowel /?/ found in the wordtell /t?l/

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSA similar contrast in Scottish English exists between the mid-high back rounded vowel /o/ as in the wordboat /bo:t/And the mid-low back vowel /?/ as in the wordbought /b?:t/

BASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSFor all these reasons the basic phonetic parameters for describing RP English vowels are:HEIGHTBACKNESSROUNDINGBASIC PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING VOWELSVOWEL CHARTFor this reason, we should take one more look at the VOWEL CHART and a few more examples illustrating the classification of RP English vowels:VOWEL CHARTTERMINOLOGYThis chart or the diagram corresponds roughly to the space within which the tongue moves, which is wider at the top of the oral cavity and more restricted at the bottom.For the clarity of terminology the terms:HIGH/HIGH-MID/LOW-MID/LOWCorrespond respectively to the termsCLOSE/CLOSE-MID/OPEN-MID/OPENUsed by some linguists.TENSE AND LAX VOWELSTENSE VOWELS are produced with a placement of the tongue that results in greater vocal tract constriction than that of NON-TENSE VOWELS.TENSE VOWELS are LONGER than NON-TENSE VOWELS.TENSE AND LAX VOWELSSome vowels of English are made with roughly the same tongue position as the tense vowels but with a less constricted articulation.These are called LAX VOWELS.All the vowels in English except /e/ /a/ and /?/ are tense vowels

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSVOWELS IN DIPHTONGS - ALL TENSETENSE AND LAX VOWELSThe difference between vowels � whether they are tense or lax � is not easy to hear at first.If we take for example the vowel /?/ as incut, luck, run/?/ is back/central/unrounded, mid-low and LAXTENSE AND LAX VOWELSAnd if we compare it with /?/ as in:banana, about, tomahawk and sofa/?/ is mid/central/unrounded and LAXthey are both central/unrounded and mid and therefore, the distinction is hard to be made.

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSThe vowel /?/ is derived historically from /?/.The change from /?/ to /?/ affected only some words, such as:Cut, pluck, luck, run.But not some other words, such as:Pull, push, butcher, put... Which retained /?/ pronunciation..

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSMost speakers of North England dialects do not have the vowel /?/ at all.In this area the change from /?/ to /?/ did not take place.They still pronounce /?/ in the place of RP /?/:cut /k?t/dull /d?l/pluck /pl?k/TENSE AND LAX VOWELSThe vowel /?/ labelled SCHWA as in:banana, about, tomahawk, sofaIs called REDUCED VOWEL.TENSE VOWELS � tend to be LONGER than the LAX VOWELS.For this reason, they are often referred to as LONG and SHORT VOWELS (where long are tense and short are lax).

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSDIPHTONGS are LONGER THAN SIMPLE VOWELS.For this reason, DIPHTONGS ARE ALL TENSE..Sometimes, in some dialects, the same vowel may be realized as tense simple vowel or as a diphtong in different contexts.For instance, in RP, when tense /i:/ and /u:/ occur at the end of a word, they are often pronounced not as pure vowels but as diphtongs /ij/ or /uw/.TENSE AND LAX VOWELS/??/ such as in the words:word, bird, nerve, church, journal...Is MID/CENTRAL/UNROUNDED/TENSEIt is just like SCHWA.However, /??/ is derived from a vowel followed by /r/.In most varieties of British English the /r/ following the vowel was lost, leaving behind the LENGTHENED TENSE VOWEL.

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSHowever, in North America, South-West of England, and parts of Lancashire the /r/ sound is not entirely lost. There is still the residual /r/ which �colours� the preceding vowel.The r-colouring of a vowel is referred to as RHOTACIZATION.TENSE AND LAX VOWELSThere is a simple test that helps determine whether vowels are tense or lax.In English, monosyllabic words spoken in isolation do not end in lax vowels.We find:see /si:/say /sei/Sue /su:/saw /s?:/ so /s?u/

TENSE AND LAX VOWELSBut, in English, we cannot hear anything like:*/se/*/sa/*/su/*/s?/However, schwa frequently appears in unstressed position in polysyllabic words such as:Sof/?/Canad/?/But many speakers produce this final vowel not as /?/ but as /?/

_________________________FONETIKA 5_________________________INDIVIDUAL DESCRIPTION OF PURE VOWELSPHONETICS: LECTURE 5The vowel /i:/The vowel /i:/ can be written in the following ways:ee � tree, cheese, canteene � complete, be, theseea � leaf, reason, seeie � piece, field, siegeei, ey � seize, key, receivei � machine, police, prestigeThe vowel /i:/DESCRIPTION:The front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind the front close position. The lips are spread. The tongue is tense with the side rims making a firm contact with the upper molars.VARIANTS:This vowel is often noticabily diphtongized, especially in final position.

The vowel /i:/Almost all long vowels can be articulated in two variants, as:LONG andREDUCED in length.They are produced as LONG if followed by LENIS (weak/voiced) consonants.They are produced with REDUCED length if followed by FORTIS (strong/voiceless) consonants.The vowel /i:/The long vowel /i:/ may be slightly shorter in some words. Compare:LONG: see, seen, fee, feed..REDUCED: seat, piece, lease, beef, reach

/i:/ is THE HIGH-FRONT UNROUNDED VOWEL.We can see the position of this long vowel on the Vowel Chart:The vowel /i:/The SHORT vowel /?/The short counterpart of /i:/ is /?/ as in the words:pin, bit, lip, fill, milk, list, hill...We can compare the position of articulation for LONG and SHORT / ? /LONG /i:/ SHORT /?/LONG /i:/ SHORT /?/Both vowels � LONG and SHORT are CLOSE or HIGH FRONT vowels. However, SHORT VOWEL / ? / is more open and nearer to the centre compared to its LONG counterpart /i:/.The tongue shape in both cases is not much different but the lips are very slightly spread for the long vowel /i:/ which results in a rather different vowel quality.THE SHORT VOWEL /?/DESCRIPTION:The SHORT RP vowel / ? / is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to front, raised just above the close-mid position.The lips are loosely spread.The tongue is lax (compared with the tension for /i:/).The rims of the tongue make a light contact with the upper molars.SHORT VOWEL / ? / may occur in all positions in the word.THE SHORT VOWEL /?/VARIANTS:The degree of closeness and centralization varies according to the accentual force falling upon the vowel and its position in the word.NEUTRALIZATION:The contrast between /i:/ and /?/ is neutralized in word-final position, so no ambiguity arises from such pronunciation.THE SHORT VOWEL /?/A trend towards /?/ in non-final unaccented syllables, traditionally having /? / sound, is becoming increasingly noticable among RP speakers.For example: 1. words ending in -itysincerity, quality ....Are no longer pronounced as:/sin�siriti/ or /kw?liti/ but as/sin�sir?ti/ or /kw?l?ti/

THE SHORT VOWEL /?/2. words ending in �ily:easily, happily..... Are pronounced as /?li/ instead of /ili/3. words endding in � ate as in:fortunate, chocolate... are now pronounced in /?t/ instead of in /it/4. Words ending in �iblepossible, visible....Are pronounced in /?bl/ instead of /ibl/THE SHORT VOWEL /?/5. The same change in vowel pronunciation from short /? / into schwa /?/ happens in the words ending in:-em: problem, system, item-ess: useless, careless, goodness-ace: necklace, preface, palaceTHE SHORT VOWEL /?/However, in some other cases SHORT / ? / remains DOMINANT and is still pronounced as /?/ not /?/In words ending in:

-age: marriage, village, manage-et: pocket, target, budget-be: believe, begin, between, becomeTHE SHORT VOWEL /?/Although in majority of cases, replacement of the short vowel /?/ FOR schwa /?/ there is no significant opposition, there are still some minimal pairs in which this distinction between the two vowels must be preserved. Otherwise, there is the phonological ambiguity:effect/affectexcept/accept

LONG /i:/ and SHORT /?/Although the LONG VOWEL /i:/ also occurs in its reduced forms, the distinction between the LONG and SHORT VOWEL /i:/ and /?/ must be carefully preserved for there are many minimal pairs in which the length of this very vowel makes the distinction between words. For example:/liv/ and /li:v/ (live vs leave)/slip/ and /sli:p/ (slip versus sleep)/?ip/ and /?i:p/ (shp versus sheep) etc.

THE VOWEL /e/ VERSUS /a/

The vowel /e/ is most frequently written as:e � bed, set, went, redea � breath, dead, heada � many, thamesThere are many minimal pairs in which / ? / and /e/ are the distinctive phonological units.sit/settin/tenwill/welldisk/deskTHE VOWEL /e/However, the distinctive phonological units are also /i:/, /?/ and /e/ because there are many sets of words the meaning of which depends only on the one of the three vowels:/i:/ /?/ /e/neat knit netreach rich wretchfeel fill fellTHE VOWEL /e/Vowel /e/ may also be lateralized if preceding the dark [?]:well, sell, else, health, held....DESCRIPTION:For the short /e/, the front of the tongue is raised between the close-mid and open-mid positions.The lips are loosely spread and are slightly wider apart than for /?/.THE VOWEL /e/The tongue may have more tension than in the case of /?/.The side rims make a light contact with the upper molar.This is the MID-HIGH FRONT UNROUNDED VOWEL.Its position on the VOWEL CHART is as follows:

THE VOWEL /e/THE VOWEL /a/The vowel /a/ is most frequently written as:a � hand, lamp, rash, sat, marry

ai � plaid, plait.Most frequently it is spelled with <a>The phonological distinction between /e/ and /a/ is very important. They are distinctive units in many pairs of words, such as:THE VOWEL /a//e/ /a/pet patpeck packsaid sadten tanlend landmerry marryTHE VOWEL /a/However, the distinctive phonological units are also /?/, /e/ and /a/ because there are many sets of words the meaning of which depends only on the one of the three vowels:/?/ /e/ /a/bid bed badbig beg bagmiss mess massTHE VOWEL /a/DESCRIPTION:The mouth is slightly more open than for /e/.The front of the tongue is raised to a position midway between open and open-mid, with the side rims making a very slight contact with the back upper molars.The lips are neutrally open.NOTE: In the south of England /a/ is often produced with considerable constriction in the pharynx, the tongue itself having more tension than in the case of /e/THE VOWEL /a/THE VOWEL /a/This vowel is defined as:LOW FRONT UNROUNDEDVARIANTS:Sometimes, /a/ is realized as a diphtong:bag /ba?g/bad /ba?d/Younger speakers of RP usually pronounce /?/ in the place of /a/:bag /b?g/ bad /b?d/

THE VOWEL /a/The north of England generally has a full open pronunciation /a/.In this area the words which have /a:/ plus a voiceless fricative in RP are pronounced /a/ and this also applies to General American:past /past/after /aft?/bath /ba?/

THE VOWEL /?/The vowel /?/ is most frequently written as:u: cut, dull, sun, yuppieo: son, come, among, done, monthou: country, southern, couple, enough, youngoo: blood, floodoe: doesTHE VOWEL /?/The phonological distinction between /a/ and /?/ is very important. They are distinctive units in many pairs of words, such as:/a/ /?/

cat cutlamp lumpmatch much

THE VOWEL /?/The distinction with other vowels:/a:/ /?/cart cutbarn bunmarch much/?/ /?/cot cutfond fund/?:/ /?/fern funcurt cut

THE VOWEL /?/DESCRIPTION:The short RP vowel /?/ is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and with the lips neutrally open. The centre of the tongue is raised just above the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. It is the MID-LOW/LOW CENTRAL VOWEL

THE VOWEL /?/THE VOWEL /?/VARIANTS:In the North of England there is no contrast between /?/ and /?/, so that:�put� and �putt� are pronounced the same.In such cases, the vowel is generally closer to RP /?/ so we can say there is no vowel /?/.

THE VOWEL /?/Some regional RP speakers from the north of England, in adopting /?/ use this vowel even in the words where /?/ should be pronounced:butcher /b?at ? ?/cushion /k???n/sugar /??g?/In the north of England they also pronounce �one� as /w?n/ rather than /w?n/

THE VOWEL /a:/The vowel /a:/ is most frequently written as:a : pass, charge, bath, father, branch...ar: part, car, march....ear: heart, hearther: clerk, sergeant, derby...al: calm, palm, half...au: aunt, laugh....THE VOWEL /a:/In actual articulation the vowel /a:/ can be pronounced as:LONG: bar, far, farm, large, hard; orREDUCED: dart, last, arch, lark...LONG/REDUCED /a:/ - PAIRS:Compare:card/cart

parse/pass carve/calf

THE VOWEL /a:/For the difference between /a:/ and / ?/ compare the following pairs:/a:/ / ?/cart cutharm hummarch muchlark luckTHE VOWEL /a:/DESCRIPTION:The normally long vowel is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and the lips neutrally open.A part of the tongue between the centre and back is in the fully open position.There is no contact between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.THE VOWEL /a:/Although there is a difference of length according to whether this vowel occurs in a syllable closed by a voiceless or a voiced consonant, this difference is not as marked as in the case of other long vowels.This is a LOW BACK VOWEL.THE VOWEL /a:/COMPARE THE VOWELS /?/ and /a://?/ - is more LOW CENTRAL VOWEL/a:/ is LOW BACK VOWELTHEY ARE BOTH OPENTHE VOWEL /a:/VARIANTS:If the vowel /a:/ is followed in RP by a voiceless fricative or by a nasal plus a second consonant, both General American and the north of England have /a/:laugh /laf/pass /pas/branch /brant?/advance /?dvans/

THE VOWEL /a:/In many dialects, including General American and that of the south-west of England RP /a:/ corresponds in a number of words to:/a/ + /r/: car; card, largeSuch dialects having /r/ in positions after the vowel are called RHOTIC (r??t?k).

THE VOWEL /a:/This also applies to Scottish English where /a:/ is also pronounced as / a/. Thus, there is no contrast in pairs such as:cam/calm, or pam/palm that are pronounced alsmost identically.

THE VOWEL /?/

The vowel / ? / or / ?/ is most frequently written as:o � dock, dog, holiday, sorry, gonea: was, what, swan, want, watch, qualityou; ow: cough, knowledge; Gloucesterau: because, sausage, Austria, Australia

THE VOWEL /?/

Compare /?/ and /a:/ in the following pairs:/?/ /a:/lodge largecot cartcough calfimpossible impassableTHE VOWEL /?/The difference in length is important for the same vowel in its short and long version:/?/ /?:/cod corddon dawnstock stalkpot portTHE VOWEL /?/DESCRIPTION:This short vowel is articulated with wide open jaws and slight open lip-rounding.The back of the tongue is in the fully open position.There is no contact between the tongue and the uper molars.This is the LOW BACK ROUNDED VOWEL. THE VOWEL /?/THE VOWEL /?/VARIANTS:The realization of this vowel varies very little within RP.In small number of words /?:/ is preferred:off, cloth, across.(This also applies to Cockney)In General American the contrast between /a:/ and /?/ is lost:bomb, balm � are pronounced as /a:/ in GA.THE VOWEL /?:/The vowel / ?:/ is most frequently written as:ar, or: war; quarter; cord, horse; sword; bornore: before, moreour: court, fouroar, oor: board, door, floorau, augh: fault, cause, daughtera: all, , talk, wateraw: saw, jaw, lawn, yawnou: bought, ought

THE VOWEL /?:/This vowel can be produced as:LONG /?:/: saw, war, born, board, dawnREDUCED: sort, ought, horse, chalkCompare the following pairs:LONG REDUCEDsaw sortwar wartboard boughtsaws (noun:PL) sauceTHE VOWEL /?:/Compare the vowels /?/ and /?://?/ /?:/cod corddon dawnstock stalkpot port

THE VOWEL /?:/Minimal pairs with/?/ /?:/put portcould cordbull ball/??/ /?:/code cordcold calledbone bornTHE VOWEL /?:/DESCRIPTION:This vowel is articulated with medium lip-rounding. The back of the tongue is raised between the open-mid and closed-mid positions.There is no contact between the tongue and the upper molars.This is a MID-LOW BACK ROUNDED vowel.THE VOWEL /?:/THE VOWEL /?:/VARIANTS:Until recently there was a contrast between this vowel /?:/ and the diphtong /??/ like in:saw /s?:/ versus sore/s??/However, this contrast no longer existis.

THE VOWEL /?:/But, a number of words which formerly had only /??/ in RP have now acquired an alternative pronunciation with /?:/:sure /?u?/ > /??:/poor /pu?/ > /p?:/your /ju?/ > /j?:/

THE VOWEL /?:/VARIANTS:Words which formerly had the diphtong /??/ are often words derived from /?/ and /?:/ plus /r/ as reflected in the spelling.Rhotic dialects like General American and the Scottish English will therefore have a shorter vowel plus /r/ in words like:horsecordwar

THE VOWEL /?:/In non-rhotic dialects other than RP /??/ may nevertheless be kept distinct from /?:/ - like in some parts of northern England.In Scottish English /?:/ covers both RP /?/ and RP /?/ no contrast being made between two vowels. Thus,cotcaught Are pronounced in the same way.THE VOWEL /?:/However, a number of pairs of words are still kept apart by the presence of /r/:cod /k?:d/ vs cord / k?:rd/GENERAL AMERICAN:There is no distinction between /?:/ and /?/Words with /?/ in RP usually have /a:/ in General American � because the quality of the vowel /?/ in General American is generally more open.THE VOWEL /?/The vowel /?/ is most frequently written as:u � butcher, cellular, cushion, full, put, sugar

oo � book, good, wood, woolo � bosom, wolf, womanou � could, courier, should, wouldNOTE: �Worcester� /�w?st?/�worsted� (cloth) /�w?stid/THE VOWEL /?/DESCRIPTION:The short RP vowel /?/ is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to centre than to back raised just above the close-mid position.No firm contact is made between the tongue and the upper molars.The lips are closely but loosely rounded.It occurs in both � accented and unaccented syllables.The nearest cardinal vowel is /u/ but /?/ is more open and nearer to central:

THE VOWEL /?/THE VOWEL /?/VARIANTS:In some words /u:/ is much more common instead of /?/ like in:roomgroombroomtoothTHE VOWEL /u:/The vowel /u:/ is most frequently written as:u � rude, june, susan, crucialoo: food, soon, moon, spoono: do, who, move, loseou: group, soup, wound, throughew � chew, flewue, ui, oe � blue, juice, shoeNOTE: In many cases of the spelling: u, eu, ew, ui /u:/ is preceded by /j/:music, neuter, duke, new, few, argue, beauty

THE VOWEL /u:/This vowel may be realized as:LONG: two, blue, food, moveREDUCED: boot, fruit, group, The reduced /u/ is pronounced if followed by a voiceless sound.If /l/ follows after the vowel /u:/ it is pronounced as DARK [?]:cool, rule, schools, fooledTHE VOWEL /u:/DESCRIPTION:RP long /u:/ is a HIGH (CLOSE) BACK ROUNDED VOWEL.The tongue raising is relaxed from the closest position and is somewhat centralized. It is not quite so back nor so close.The lips are only moderately rounded:THE VOWEL /u:/THE VOWEL /u:/VARIANTS:Considerable centralization is present following /j/ in RP:youth, beauty, cute/u:/ is more back before /l/:tool, school, ruleScottish English lost the the contrast between /u:/ and /?/. (discussed in the previous section).THE VOWEL /?:/The vowel /?:/ is most frequently written as:er, err: her, serve, err

ur, urr: turn, church, nurse, purrir, yr: bird, first, girl, myrtlw+or: word, world, work, worseour: journey, courtesyNOTE: /?:/ in �colonel� /k?:nl/

THE VOWEL /?:/This vowel can be pronounced as:LONG: fur, burn, bird, urgeREDUCED: first, earth, worse, churchReduction takes place if the vowel is followed by voiceless sounds.THE VOWEL /?:/COMPARE: LONG REDUCEDheard hurtThursday thirstyserve surf

Dark [?] occurs if the vowel is followed by �l�:earl, curl, girls

THE VOWEL /?:/DESCRIPTION:This is a LONG CENTRAL MID ROUNDED VOWEL.It is articulated with the centre of the tongue raised between close-mid and open-mid. There is no firm contact between the tongue and the upper molars.The lips are neutrally spread.THE VOWEL /?:/THE VOWEL /?:/The quality of the vowel /?:/ often concides with that of the vowel /?/ in unaccented syllables.For this reason they should be treated as the allophones of the same phoneme.However, there are clear cases where /?:/ cannot be reduced to /?/:commerce /�k?m?:s/ versus commas /�k?m?z/foreword /�f?:w?:d/ versus forward /�f?:w?d/

THE VOWEL /?:/VARIANTS:/?:/ is the only accented vowel in the central areaIn most cases /?:/ is derived from an earlier sequence of �VOWEL + r�.Therefore, in General American and in south-west of England it is pronounced with r-colouring which is produced by a slight retroflexion:burn, stern, turn, church, nurseTHE VOWEL /?/

This vowel may be spelt with most vowel letters and their combinations:i: possiblee: gentlemana: womano: obligeu: supposear: particularTHE VOWEL /?/

er: motheror: doctorou: famousour: colourure: figure

THE VOWEL /?/

It is frequently in opposition with the ZERO VOWEL:Compare:about/o-boutwaiter/wait-oThere is also the opposition with /i/:Compare:affect/effectaccept/exceptwaiter/weightysitter/cityTHE VOWEL /?/

/?/ is normal in common unaccented (weak) forms of words such as:a, but, an, the, for, to, and....DESCRIPTION:This is a CENTRAL MID UNROUNDED VOWEL.Lips are in neutral positionThe tongue is between open-mid and and close-mid position.THE VOWEL /?/

THE VOWEL /?/

VARIANTS:In most cases /?/ is derived from an earlier sequence of �VOWEL + r�.Therefore, in General American and in south-west of England it is pronounced with r-colouring which is produced by a slight retroflexion:waiter, doctor, colour, figure

_________________________FONETIKA 6_________________________DIPHTONGAL VOWEL GLIDESPHONETICS: LECTURE 6

DIPHTONGSRP has a large number of diphtongs, sounds which 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. One of the most common pronunciation mistakes that result in a so-called �foreign accent� in foreign learners is a production of pure vowels where a diphtong should be pronounced.

DIPHTONGSIn terms of length, diphtongs are like long vowels. The most important thing to remember about all the diphtongs is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part.For example, most of the diphtong /a?/ as in the word �eye� and pronoun �I� consists of the vowel /a/ and it is only in the last quarter of the diphtong articulation that the glide to the vowel /?/ becomes noticable. As the glide to /?/ happens, the loudness of the sound decreases. For this reason the /?/ sound in the diphtong /a?/ is shorter and quieter.The last part of the diphtong must not be made too strongly.

DIPHTONGSDIPHTONGAL VOWEL GLIDESThe sequences of vocalic elements included under the term �DIPHTONG� are those which form a glide within one syllable. They may be said to have a first element (the starting point) and a second elem

ent (the point in the direction of which the glide is made).DIPHTONGAL VOWEL GLIDESThe English RP diphtongs have as their:FIRST ELEMENT � sounds in general region:[i, e, a, ?, u] and for theirSECOND ELEMENT they have:[i, ?, ?].Certain generalizations can be made as regards to English RP diphtongs:

DIPHTONGAL VOWEL GLIDES1. Most of the length associated with the glide is concentrated on the first element, and the second element is only lightly sounded � the only exception are the diphtongs /i?/ and /??/.Diphtongs of this type are said to be �falling�.2. Diphtongs are equivalent in length to LONG VOWELS and are subject to the same variation in quantity:LONG: playsREDUCED: placeDIPHTONGAL VOWEL GLIDES3. Diphtongs are particularly susceptible to variation in different regional and social types of speech.4. No diphtong occurs before the velar nasal /?/ except where word-final /n/ is assimilated to /?/ in connected speech:his own car /hiz ??? ka:/5. With the exception of /?i/, the RP diphtongs principally derive from earlier pure vowels.

CLOSING DIPHTONGSCLOSING DIPHTONGS ARE THE ONES ENDING IN:/i/ - /ei/, /ai/, /?i/and ending in /?/ - /a?/ /??/

CLOSING DIPHTONGSThe closing diphtongs have the characteristic that they all end with a glide towards a closer vowel. Because the second part of the diphtong is weak, they often do not reach the 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.

THE DIPHTONG /ei/This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:a: late, make, lady, waste, baseai: waist, rail, aim, rainay: day, mayei, ey: eight, veil, weigh, they, ea: great, steak, breakNOTE:gauge /geid?/gaol /d?eil/

THE DIPHTONG /ei/This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG [e:i]: day, made, game, gazeREDUCED [ei]: eight, late, state, hate, face

DESCRIPTION:The glide begins from slightly below the close-mid front position and moves in the direction of RP /i/.Then there is a slight closing movement of the lower jaw.The lips are spread.THE DIPHTONG /ei/THE DIPHTONG /ei/VARIANTS:There is a considerable variation in the starting point.The usual realization in Cockney is /ai/Many other regional realizations of /ei/ have a monophtongal /e:/ like in Scottish English, General American and Northern English.

THE DIPHTONG /a?/This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:i: time, write, bite, climbie: die, lie, pie, triedy, ye: cry, dry, fry, dyeigh, eigh: high, light, fight, might, heightei, ai: either,, neither, designNOTE:/ai/ also occurs in eye, buyTHE DIPHTONG /a?/This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG [a:?]: fly, die, mine, hide, eyesREDUCED [a?]: fight, like, ice, ripeCompare:LONG REDUCEDtie tighttidal titleeyes iceriding writing

THE DIPHTONG /a?/Dark [?] is pronounced if /l/ occurs after this diphtong:mile, pile, smile, mild.DESCRIPTION:The glide of RP /a?/ begins at a point slightly behind the front open position and moves to the direction of the position associated with RP vowel /?/.The closing movement of the lower jaw is obvious.The lips change from a neutral to a loosely spread position.THE DIPHTONG /a?/THE DIPHTONG /a?/VARIANTS:Variants are mostly related to the differences of the starting point of the glide.In Cockney /a?/ has the back starting point. The same case is in Australian English.In an extensive area of south-west and south-central England a more central starting point may be heard [??]

THE DIPHTONG /??/This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:oi: boil, noise, point, voiceoy: boy, toy, oyster, joyThis diphtong can be pronounced asLONG: [?:i]: boy, toy, noise, coinREDUCED [?i]: voice, joint, choiceCompare:LONG REDUCED

noise voice

THE DIPHTONG /??/If /l/ follows after this diphtong it is pronounced as dark [?]:soil, coiled, boilsDESCRIPTION:For RP glide /??/ the tongue glide begins at a point between the open-mid and open-back positions and moves in the direction of /?/.THE DIPHTONG /??/The tongue movement extends from back to centralized front.The jaw movement is not as marked as in the case of /a?/.The lips are open rounded for the first element, changing to neutral for the second.

THE DIPHTONG /??/THE DIPHTONG /??/

This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:o: so, old, home, over, clone, zerooe: toe, doe, foe, hoeow: know, blow, slowoa: oak, road, toast, soapou: soul, though, shoulder

THE DIPHTONG /??/

This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG: [?:?]: go, toe, home, road, poseREDUCED: [??]: goat, rope, toast, oak, postCompare:LONG REDUCEDrobe ropetoes toastroad wrote

THE DIPHTONG /??/

There are minimal pairs in which this diphtong /??/ and the long vowel /??/ are the distinctive phonological units affecting the word:Compare:/??/ /??/foe furown earngoal girlfoam firmTHE DIPHTONG /??/Compare /??/ and /?:/so sawpose pausebold baldload lordboat boughtchoke chalk

THE DIPHTONG /??/Compare:/??/ /??/ /?:/foe fur fourbone burn bornwoke work walkcoat curt caughtcoal curle callTHE DIPHTONG /??/If /l/ follows this diphtong it is pronounced a s dark [?]:hole, role, old, polesDESCRIPTION:The glide of RP /??/ begins at a central position, between close-mid and open-mid and moves in the direction of the RP vowel /?/.Then there is a slight closing movement of the lower jaw.The lips are neutral for the first element but have a tendency to round on the second element.

THE DIPHTONG /??/THE DIPHTONG /??/VARIANTS:In some dialects /??/ is reduced to /?/:window /�wind?/ instead of /�wind??/fellow /�fel?/ instead of /�fel??/.THE DIPHTONG /a?/This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:ou: house, mouse, out, councilow: allow, cow, townNOTE: �Macleaod� = /m?�kla?d/This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG: [a:?]: how, loud, town, cowsReduced: [a?]: shout, about, mouse, mouth

THE DIPHTONG /a?/DESCRIPTION:The glide of RP /a?/ begins at a point between the back and front open positions, slightly more fronted than for the vowel /a:/. Then it moves in the direction of the RP /?/.The tongue may not be raised higher than the close-mid level.The lips change from a neutrally open to a weakly rounded position.THE DIPHTONG /a?/THE DIPHTONG /a?/VARIANTS:In Cockney the first element may be /?/ or /a/. Sometimes it is realized as /??/ so there is no difference between:now and noAlternatively the diphtong /a?/ can be realized as the long vowel /a:/ so, instead of:town /ta?n/ we can hear /ta:n/

CENTRING DIPHTONGSThe centring diphtongs glide towards the schwa vovel /?/.There are three centring diphtongs:/??/ - as in: here, near, dear/e?/ - as in: hair, air, chair/??/ - as in: tour, pure, sure

THE DIPHTONG /??/

This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:er, ere � material, hereear, eer � dear, tear (drop of liquid), deereir, ier, ir � weird, fierce, fakiria, ea � brilliant, ideaNOTE:�hero� /h??r??/�zero� /z??r??/�year� /j??/THE DIPHTONG /??/

This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG: [?:?]: dear, hear, cheer, beardREDUCED: [??]: pierce, fierceCompare:LONG: [?:?] REDUCED: [??]fears fierce

If followed by /l/ then dark [?] is heard: realTHE DIPHTONG /??/

DESCRIPTION:The glide of RP /??/ begins with a tongue position close-mid and centralized from front.Then it moves in the direction of the more open variety of /?/ when this diphtong occurs final in a word..In non-final positions the glide may not be so extensive and then it is of a mid-type.

THE DIPHTONG /??/

Compare:OPEN /?/ if the diphtong is in a final position:hear, near, beerMID /?/ if not in a final position:beard, fierceThe lips are neutral with a slight movement from spread to open.THE DIPHTONG /??/

THE DIPHTONG /??/

VARIANTS:In some kinds of RP, when /? ?/ is final in a word, there it is pronounced with a length shift to the second element. This final quality is near the phonetic quality of /??/ or /?/ or even /a:/. For instance:here /hj??/ or /hja:/ instead of /h? ?/

THE DIPHTONG /??/

VARIANTS:Rhotic dialects (General American and Scottish English) have no such diphtong.There is no / ??/. They have only / ? / or /i:/ + /r/ In those words where which have an /r/ in spelling.

THE DIPHTONG /e?/

This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:are: rare, care, share, mare, awareair: air, hair, pair, chairear: bear, pear, wear, tear (verb)NOTE:there, their, mary, sarah, scarce ....THE DIPHTONG /e?/

This diphtong can be pronounced asLONG: [e:?]: pair, there, chairs, caredREDUCED: [e?]: scareCompare:LONG: [e:?] REDUCED: [e?] scares scarceTHE DIPHTONG /e?/

DESCRIPTION:The glide of RP /e?/ begings in the open mid front position and moves in the direction of the more open variety of /?/ especially when this diphtong is final in a word.If it occurs in the syllable closed by a consonant the /?/ element tends to be of a mid /?/ type..The lips are neutrally open.THE DIPHTONG /e?/

THE DIPHTONG /e?/

VARIANTS:In General RP a long monophtong /?:/ is completely acceptable. Sometimes the first element is pronounced as /a/ so we can hear

air /a?/; hair /ha?/ instead of /e?/ or /he?/.

 

THE DIPHTONG /e?/

VARIANTS:Rhotic dialects (General American and Scottish English) pronounce this diphtong as:/e?/ or /e/ + /r/.In some dialects (northern England � Liverpool) the contrast between the diphtong /e?/ and the long central vowel / ??/ is lost  

THE DIPHTONG /??/

The last centring diphtong is /??/.This diphtong is most frequently spelled as:oor � poor, moorour � tourure � pure, endure, cure, sureue, ua � cruel, fluent, actual, mutual, usualTHE DIPHTONG /??/

DESCRIPTION:RP /??/ glides from a tongue position similar to that used for /?/ towards the more open type of /?/ which forms the end-point of all three centring diphtongs.The lips are weakly rounded at the beginning of the glide, and become neutrally spread as the glide progresses.

THE DIPHTONG /??/

THE DIPHTONG /??/

VARIANTS:Since the previously existing diphtong /??/ has been replaced by /?:/, the first element in the diphtong /??/ is sometimes considerably lowered and can be heard pronounced as /??/. So we can sometimes hear:poor, sure pronounced as /p??/ and /???/Instead of /p??/ and /???/.

THE DIPHTONG /??/

VARIANTS:This glide /??/ , in turn, may be realized as the long vowel /?:/:poor, sure, are then pronounced as:/p?:/ and /??:/.Then, the distinction is lost in such cases as:sure, Shaw, shore/???/ /??:/ /???/ THE DIPHTONG /??/

VARIANTS:In General American and Scottish English (rhotic dialects) � in which /r/ occurs, then this diphtong is pronounced as:/u:/ + /r/Or/?/ + /r/.In Australian English /??/ tends to be pronounced as /?:/, although in RP /??/ is often merged into /?:/

TRIPHTONGSThe most complex English sounds of vowel type are triphtongs.They can be rather difficult to pronounce, and very difficult to recognize.A triphtong is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and without interruption.

TRIPHTONGSFor example, careful pronunciation of the word �hour� /a??/Begins with the vowel quality similar to /a:/Then it goes on to a glide towards the back close rounded area for which we use the symbol /?/;Finally it ends with a mid-central vowel schwa /?/We use the symbols /a??/ to represent the way we pronounce the word �hour�However, this is not always an accurate representation of pronunciation.

TRIPHTONGSTRIPHTONGSTRIPHTONGSDIPHTONGS + [?]All the preceding diphtongal glides: /e? , a? , ?? , ??, a?/ are:

FALLING WITH THE length on the first element; ANDCLOSING � gliding from more open to a close position.THREE OF THEM: /a? , ?? , a?/Require extensive movement of the tongue.

DIPHTONGS + [?]All diphtongs may be followed by [?] within the word:Either as an inseparable part of the word. For instance:Noah /n???/fire /fa??/choir /kwa? ?/iron /a??n/society /s?�sa? ?ti/tower /ta??/DIPHTONGS + [?]Or as a suffix appended to the root:Greyer /gre??/Player /ple??/Slower /sl???/Drier /dra??/Employer /im�pl???/Sometimes / ?/ is a separable element internal in a composite form:nowadays /na??de?z/

DIPHTONGS + [?]VARIANTS:Sometimes there is the tendency to omit a second element in a triphtong, such as [?] or [?], especially when [?] is not felt as a separable morpheme.This process is sometimes called SMOOTHING.

DIPHTONGS + [?][a??] > [a:?] - fire, tyre, hire[a??] > [a:?] - shower, flower, nowadays[e??] > [?:?] - player, layer, greyer[???] > [?:?] � enjoyable, employer[???] > [?:] � mower, slower

CARDINAL VOWELS CHARTOnce again we shall go back to the cardinal vowels chart to see the position of of articulation of the vowels.We shall do the same for diphtongs to see the direction of gliding in pronunciation of the second element:CARDINAL VOWELS CHARTCLOSING DIPHTONGSCENTRING DIPHTONGS