L103: Introduction to Linguistics Phonetics—vowels 1

Last time ... Consonants

Today ... vowels syllables

Vowel Articulation Manner = vowel Glottal state = voiced (generally) Place = ???? Make this sequence of vowels, and feel how your tongue moves around in your mouth: i u e o a æ Place for vowels requires us to locate our tongues inside the oral cavity, even though it’s not touching anything…

Vowels Apex of Tongue Vowel Space The VOWEL SPACE is divided into a grid, based on the position of the highest, most front part of your tongue as you pronounce that vowel

The Vowel Space Central Front Back u i e æ High Mid Low ɪ ɛ ʊ Ͻ Ʌ o a

The Vowel Space u i ɪ ʊ e o Ʌ ɛ ɔ æ a (TENSE) (ROUND) (LAX) (UNROUND) Central Front Back (TENSE) (ROUND) u i e æ High Mid Low ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ (LAX) Ʌ o a (UNROUND)

Other sound properties - diphthongs Some vowels are made up of more than one ‘part’ For example, ‘buy’, ‘bough’, ‘boy’ [baɪ], [baʊ], [boɪ] or [baj], [baw], [bɔj] or [bai], [bau], [boi] The term for these is ‘diphthong’

Diphthongs u i ɪ ʊ e o Ʌ ɛ ɔ æ a ([j]) ([w]) boi bai baʊ Central Front Back u ([j]) ([w]) i e æ High Mid Low ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ boi bai baʊ Ʌ o a

A weird fact Central Front Back u i e æ High Mid Low ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ ə o Ʌ a

Other sound properties - length Finnish: [taka] ‘back’ [takka] ‘fireplace’ [ta:kka] ‘burden’ [taka] ‘back’ vs [takka] ‘fireplace’ (the notation [kk] indicates a ‘long’ [k]) (‘long’ means, literally, longer – more milliseconds - than a short sound) [takka] ‘fireplace’ vs. [ta:kka] ‘burden’ (the notation [a:] indicates a ‘long’ [a]) (some linguists write long vowels like this [aa] instead of this [a:]) Not all languages use length differences in their phonemic inventory

Other sound properties - tone

Syllables Arrangements of consonants and vowels Arrangements of things based on their acoustical energy (sonority) Vowels > Liquids > Nasals > Fricatives > Plosives/Stops (Sonority Hierarchy)

Parts of a syllable C V C [d a g] “dog” The “NUCLEUS” can also be called the “PEAK” RIME/Rhyme ONSET NUCLEUS CODA [d a g] “dog” C V C

Ideal Sonority contour SYLLABLE RIME ONSET NUCLEUS CODA C V C |||||||||||||||||||||||

How many syllables? Cow [kaʊ] Easy. 1. CVV Cowboy [kaʊboɪ] Still easy. 2. [kaʊ.boɪ]CVV.CVV Cowabunga [kaʊəbʌŋgə] Easy to count (tap it out) 4. But - harder to parse! [kaʊ.ə.bʌŋ.gə] or [ka.wə.bʌŋ.gə]? CVV.V.CVC.CV or CV.CV.CVC.CV

Syllable Restrictions Every naturally occurring human language (we think) allows this kind of syllable: CV Only some languages allow syllables to begin with vowels (=onsetless syllables) Only some languages allow syllables to end with consonants (=closed syllables) Some co-occurrence restrictions: If you allow CVC and V, you’ll also allow VC If you allow CVCC, you’ll also allow CVC If you allow CCCV, you’ll also allow CCV

Syllable restrictions Hawaiian: the only kind of syllable is CV Therefore, all words will begin with a consonant, AND All words will end with a vowel, AND There will never be more than 2 consonants in a row inside of a word English: In addition to CV, we allow onsetless syllables [aj], and closed syllables [dag]. We also allow consonant clusters in onset and coda

The Maximal English Syllable? strengths [strɛŋkɵs] CCCVCCCC If CCCV, the first consonant is an [s], and the third is a liquid or glide [r, l, w, j] [splɪts], [skwɪʃ], [skju] If VCCCC, the last consonant is an [s] or a [t], and it’s an affix (plural or past tense) [siksɵt] ‘I sixthed it’

Next time... Print Project Homework 1 instructions and bring to class… Quiz on Monday: How are “stops”, “fricatives”, and “affricates” produced. Define “language”.