Phonetics: Phonetics: Vowels Vowels

LING 400LING 400

Winter 2010Winter 2010

VowelsVowels

Upper and lower articulators Upper and lower articulators relatively far apartrelatively far apart

cf. manner of articulationcf. manner of articulation

A five vowel systemA five vowel systeme.g. Spanish

Tongue advancement Tongue advancement (backness)(backness)

frontfront centralcentral backback

Vow

el (T

ong

ue)

Vow

el (T

ong

ue)

heig

ht

heig

ht

highhigh ii uu

midmid ee oo

lowlow ɑɑ

Spanish vowelsSpanish vowels

frontfront centralcentral backback

highhigh [mis[misɑɑ] ] ‘Mass’‘Mass’

[mus[musɑɑ]] ‘muse’‘muse’

midmid [mes[mesɑɑ] ] ‘table’‘table’

[mosk[moskɑɑ] ] ‘housefly‘housefly’’

lowlow [m[mɑɑssɑɑ]] ‘dough’‘dough’

Lip roundingLip rounding A third parameter of vowel systemsA third parameter of vowel systems (height – backness – rounding)(height – backness – rounding) Vowels of SpanishVowels of Spanish

– [i] = high front unrounded vowel[i] = high front unrounded vowel– [e] = mid front unrounded vowel[e] = mid front unrounded vowel– [u] = high back rounded vowel[u] = high back rounded vowel– [o] = mid back rounded vowel[o] = mid back rounded vowel– [[ɑɑ] = low back unrounded vowel] = low back unrounded vowel

Most languages: high or mid back vowels tend to be round; other vowels unround

Vowel quality vs. quantityVowel quality vs. quantity Vowel “quality”Vowel “quality”

– height: high vs. mid vs. lowheight: high vs. mid vs. low– backness: front vs. central vs. backbackness: front vs. central vs. back– rounding: rounded vs. unroundedrounding: rounded vs. unrounded

Vowel “quantity”: long vs. shortVowel “quantity”: long vs. short

Danish vowel length Danish vowel length contrastscontrasts

http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter9/danish/danish.html

Modern English vowelsModern English vowels

Middle English > Modern English Middle English > Modern English – Long vowels (600 years ago) >now ‘tense’Long vowels (600 years ago) >now ‘tense’– Short vowels > ‘lax’Short vowels > ‘lax’

““Tenseness”Tenseness”– Positions of tongue or lipsPositions of tongue or lips

““more extreme”: tensemore extreme”: tense less extreme: laxless extreme: lax

– DurationDuration ““usually longer”: tenseusually longer”: tense shorter: laxshorter: lax

English also hasEnglish also has

Monophthongs vs. diphthongsMonophthongs vs. diphthongs– Monophthong = 1 vowel qualityMonophthong = 1 vowel quality

hawedhawed [ [ɑɑ]]

– Diphthong = sequence of vowel Diphthong = sequence of vowel qualitiesqualities hidehide [ [ɑɪɑɪ]]

Western North AmericaWestern North America

frontfront centralcentral backback

unroundedunrounded unroundedunrounded roundedrounded

highhigh heed [i]heed [i] who’d [u]who’d [u]

hid [hid [ɪɪ]] hood [hood [ʊʊ]]

midmid hayed [ehayed [eɪɪ]] hoed [ohoed [oʊʊ]]

head [ɛ] [ɛ] HUD [HUD [ʌʌ]]

lowlow had [had [ææ]] sod [ɑ]sod [ɑ]

lax vowelslax vowelslax vowels [eɪ] = [ej]; [oʊ] = [ow][eɪ] = [ej]; [oʊ] = [ow]

Further east in North Further east in North AmericaAmerica

frontfront centralcentral backback

unroundedunrounded unroundedunrounded roundedrounded

highhigh heed [i]heed [i] who’d [u]who’d [u]

hid [hid [ɪɪ]] hood [hood [ʊʊ]]

midmid hayed [ehayed [eɪɪ]] hoed [ohoed [oʊʊ]]

headhead [[ɛɛ]] HUD [HUD [ʌʌ]] hawedhawed [[ɔɔ]]

lowlow had [had [ææ]] sodsod [[ɑɑ]]

[ɔ] is [ɔ] is a lax vowel, according to textbook

[[ɑɑ] vs. [] vs. [ɔɔ]]

cotcot [[ɑɑ]] caught [caught [ɔɔ]] Polly [Polly [ɑɑ]] Paulie [Paulie [ɔɔ]] Don [Don [ɑɑ]] dawn [dawn [ɔɔ]]

A female speaker from New York City

Vowel summaryVowel summary

Main parametersMain parameters– Tongue heightTongue height– Tongue backness/advancementTongue backness/advancement– RoundingRounding

Some languagesSome languages– LengthLength– TensenessTenseness

Monophthongs vs. diphthongsMonophthongs vs. diphthongs

QuestionQuestion

Try to describe some vowel or Try to describe some vowel or consonant in a language you know consonant in a language you know that is not one of the speech sounds that is not one of the speech sounds of English. Be sure to name the of English. Be sure to name the language.language.