Descriptive Grammar of English Part 1: Phonetics and Phonology dr Iwona Kokorniak (with contribution from dr Jarosław Weckwerth) 15th November 2008

2 Vowels There is no obstruction in the vocal tract Air can freely escape All vowels are voiced

3 Vowels – how to describe? Consider: /i a/ Degree of opening Consider: /a u/ Frontness/backnessRounding

4 Vowels – how to describe? In general, position of the tongue More difficult than for consonants Because no contact between articulators

5 Tongue shape for C[a] i a ɑ u

6 Tongue shape for C[u] i a ɑ u

7 The vowel space

8 Cardinal vowels Vowels in all languages can be described by comparison to cardinal vowels They serve as points of reference

9 Cardinal vowel chart i a u ɑ

10 The vowel space

11 low=open mid high=close Cardinal vowel chart i e ɛ a u o ɔ ɑ

12 Cardinal vowel chart i e ɛ a u o ɔ ɑ cen- tral front back

13 Cardinal vowels: Description i high front (=close front) a low front (=open front) ɑ low back (=open back) u high back (=close back)

14 Cardinal vowels: Description e mid-high front ɛ mid-low front ɔ mid-low back o mid-high back

15 Secondary cardinal vowels y ø œ ɶ ɯ ɤ ʌ ɒ Reversed rounding: Front rounded Back unrounded

16 In specific languages Cardinal vowel symbols often used BUT The qualities are usually different: Convention

17 E.g. English vowels

18 Other examples y quite similar to German: müde / ˈ mydə/ French: tu /ty/

19 Other examples ø quite similar to German: Löwe / ˈ l ø və/ French: peu /p ø/

20 Other examples œ quite similar to German: Hölle / ˈ hœlə/ French: cœur /kœ ʁ /

21 English vowels

22 English vowels Parameters: –Height (high/low) –Frontness – backness –Roundness –Length

23 English vowels E.g.: /i:/ high front unrounded, long / ɪ / high front unrounded, short

24 Vowel clipping But REMEMBER: ALL English vowels are shortened before voicelss obstruents Pre-fortis clipping

25 Vowel clipping

26 Vowel clipping i ː ɪ bead – bid beat – bit ‘long’ – ‘short’

27 Vowel clipping i ː + voiced plosive: 285 msec i ː + voiceless plosive: 123 msec ɪ + voiced plosive: 147 msec ɪ + voiceless plosive: 73 msec

28 Vowel clipping bi ː d > b ɪ d > bi ː t > b ɪ t longer shorter

29 English vowels: / ɪ / Typical spellings: KIT fifth rich k ɪ t f ɪ fθ r ɪ t ʃ KIT fifth rich k ɪ t f ɪ fθ r ɪ t ʃ

30 English vowels: / ɪ / Typical spellings: recall destroy r ɪˈ k ɔː l d ɪˈ str ɔɪ recall destroy r ɪˈ k ɔː l d ɪˈ str ɔɪ

31 English vowels: / ɪ / Typical spellings: needed houses ˈ ni ː d ɪ d ˈ ha ʊ z ɪ z needed houses ˈ ni ː d ɪ d ˈ ha ʊ z ɪ z

32 English vowels: / ɪ / Typical spellings: village private ˈ v ɪ l ɪ d ʒ ˈ pra ɪ v ɪ t

33 English vowels: / ɪ / Less typical spellings: rhythm symbol ˈ r ɪ ðəm ˈ s ɪ mb ə l rhythm symbol ˈ r ɪ ðəm ˈ s ɪ mb ə l

34 English vowels: / ɪ / Less typical spellings pretty – England – build – women – sieve ˈ pr ɪ ti ˈɪ ŋglənd b ɪ ld ˈ w ɪ m ɪ n s ɪ v

35 English vowels: / ɪ / Short High front (centralised) Unrounded (spread) A bit different from Polish / ɨ /

36 English vowels: / ɪ / ɪ Polish / ɨ / chyba ɨ /'x ɨ ba/

37 English vowels: /e/ Typical spellings (84%): DRESS bed set dres bed set

38 English vowels: /e/ Typical spellings (6%): breath dead head ready breθ ded hed redi

39 English vowels: /e/ Exceptional spellings: says said sez sed

40 English vowels: /e/ Exceptional spellings: many any meni eni And their compunds, e.g. anybody

41 English vowels: /e/ Exceptional spellings: Thames friend ate again temz frend et ə ˈ gen temz frend et ə ˈ gen

42 English vowels: /e/ Short Mid front Unrounded (spread) Some sources (e.g. Oxford dictionaries) use / ɛ / Quite similar to Polish / ɛ /

43 English vowels: /e/ e Polish / ɛ /

44 English vowels: /æ/ (‘ash’) Typical spelling: TRAP hand lamp træp hænd læmp træp hænd læmp

45 English vowels: /æ/ (‘ash’) Spelling very regular! In particular: NEVER spelt with In particular: NEVER spelt with Thus man – men mæn men mæn men

46 ɑː British – American æ ɑː British – American æ If a fricative follows Standard BrE may have ɑː

47 ɑː British – American æ ɑː British – American æ d ɑː ns dance dæns kl ɑː s class klæs ˈɑː ftə after ˈ æft ə r l ɑː st last læst k ɑː nt can’t kænt k ɑː nt can’t kænt

48 ɑː British – American æ ɑː British – American æ Some others of this kind: laugh – half – example – demand – plant – grant – ask – aunt – pass – basket – branch – rather

49 English vowels: /æ/ Short Low front Unrounded Different from both / ɛ / and /a/ in Polish!

50 English vowels: /æ/ Br. æ Pol. / ɛ / Am. æ Pol. /a/

51 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Typical spellings: STRUT cut drug str ʌ t k ʌ t dr ʌ g

52 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Typical spellings: month mother brother m ʌ nθ ˈ m ʌ ðə ˈ br ʌ ð ə r BrAm

53 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Typical spellings: son come done s ʌ n k ʌ m d ʌ n

54 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Other words with : nothing London onion love ˈ n ʌ θ ɪ ŋ ˈ l ʌ ndən ˈʌ njən l ʌ v

55 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Less typical spellings: couple enough young couple enough young ˈ k ʌ p ə l ɪˈ n ʌ f j ʌ ŋ

56 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Less typical spellings: country southern country southern ˈ k ʌ ntri ˈ s ʌ ðən

57 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Less typical spellings: blood flood blood flood bl ʌ d fl ʌ d

58 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Notice: run ran run ran r ʌ n ræn r ʌ n ræn

59 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) Short Mid-low central Unrounded Different from Polish /a/ !

60 English vowels: / ʌ / (‘wedge’) ʌ Polish /a/

61 English vowels: / ʊ / Typical spellings: FOOT good bush f ʊ t g ʊ d b ʊʃ FOOT good bush f ʊ t g ʊ d b ʊʃ

62 English vowels: / ʊ / Other with : stood – wood – cook – look – shook

63 English vowels: / ʊ / Other with : put – full – butcher bullet – pudding

64 English vowels: / ʊ / Also: could – should – would woman – wolf

65 English vowels: / ʊ / Also: could – should – would

66 English vowels: / ʊ / Short High back (centralised) Rounded Very different from Polish /u/

67 English vowels: / ʊ / ʊ Pol. /u/

68 English vowels: / ɒ / Doesn’t occur in AmEng! Typical spellings: LOT odd God l ɒ t ɒ d g ɒ d l ɒ t ɒ d g ɒ d

69 English vowels: / ɒ / Sometimes: wash want w ɒʃ w ɒ nt w ɒʃ w ɒ nt

70 English vowels: / ɒ / Short Low back Rounded (slightly) Quite similar to Polish / ɔ /

71 English vowels: / ɒ / ɒ Polish / ɔ /

72 English vowels: / ɒ / AmEng / ɑː / instead, e.g.: God want g ɑː d w ɑː nt

73 English vowels: /i ː / Typical spellings: FLEECE tree cheese fli ː s tri ː t ʃ i ː z

74 English vowels: /i ː / Typical spellings: complete these kəm ˈ pli ː t ði ː z

75 English vowels: /i ː / Typical spellings: leaf sea piece field li ː f si ː pi ː s fi ː ld

76 English vowels: /i ː / Other spellings: machine police quay people mə ˈʃ i ː n pə ˈ li ː s ki ː ˈ pi ː p ə l

77 English vowels: /i ː / Typical spellings: seize key receive si ː z ki ː r ɪˈ si ː v si ː z ki ː r ɪˈ si ː v

78 English vowels: /i ː / Long High front Unrounded (spread) Similar to Polish /i/

79 English vowels: /i ː / i:

80 English vowels: /i ː / Similar to Polish /i/ But doesn’t cause palatalisation Consonants before it are not ‘soft’

81 English vowels: /i ː / Compare Pol. nit / ɲ it/ (palatal cons.) English neat /ni ː t/ Pol. bit /b j it/ English beat /bi ː t/

82 English vowels: / ɑː / Typical spellings (Br): START heart far st ɑː t h ɑː t f ɑː st ɑː t h ɑː t f ɑː

83 English vowels: / ɑː / Typical spellings (Am): START heart far st ɑː rt h ɑː rt f ɑː r st ɑː rt h ɑː rt f ɑː r

84 English vowels: / ɑː / Typical spellings (Am): LOT odd God got l ɑː t ɑː d g ɑː d g ɑː t l ɑː t ɑː d g ɑː d g ɑː t

85 English vowels: / ɑː / Other spellings (Br & Am): balm Iran bra b ɑː m ɪˈ r ɑː n br ɑː b ɑː m ɪˈ r ɑː n br ɑː

86 English vowels: / ɑː / Other spellings (Br & Am): father Am ˈ f ɑː ð ə r Br ˈ f ɑː ðə

87 English vowels: / ɑː / Also remember: Some words with /æ/ in Am have / ɑː / in Br

88 English vowels: / ɑː / Long Low back Unrounded Different from Polish /a/

89 English vowels: / ɑː / ɑː Polish /a/

90 English vowels: / ɔː / Typical spellings (Am): NORTH before more n ɔː rθ b ɪˈ f ɔː r m ɔː r n ɔː rθ b ɪˈ f ɔː r m ɔː r

91 English vowels: / ɔː / Typical spellings (Br): NORTH before more n ɔː θ b ɪˈ f ɔː m ɔː n ɔː θ b ɪˈ f ɔː m ɔː

92 English vowels: / ɔː / Typical spell. (Am & Br): saw law cause s ɔː l ɔː k ɔː z s ɔː l ɔː k ɔː z

93 English vowels: / ɔː / Other spellings (Am & Br): daughter all talk ˈ d ɔː tə ɔː l t ɔː k ˈ d ɔː tə ɔː l t ɔː k

94 English vowels: / ɔː / Other spellings (Am & Br): bought taught broad b ɔː t t ɔː t br ɔː d

95 English vowels: / ɔː / The spellings can be very misleading It’s not a diphthong!

96 English vowels: / ɔː / Warsaw ˈ w ɔː s ɔː

97 English vowels: / ɔː / Long Mid back Rounded (very much in Br) In BrEng, very different from Polish / ɔ /

98 English vowels: / ɔː / ɔː Polish / ɔ / ɔː Am Br

99 English vowels: /u ː / Typical spellings: GOOSE smooth groove loose gu ː s smu ː ð gru ː v lu ː s

100 English vowels: /u ː / Typical spellings: lose move tomb lu ː z mu ː v tu ː m

101 English vowels: /u ː / Typical spellings: do who two du ː hu ː tu ː

102 English vowels: /u ː / Typical spellings: group youth through gru ː p ju ː θ θru ː

103 English vowels: /u ː / Typical spellings: blue truth rude blue truth rude blu ː tru ː θ ru ː d blu ː tru ː θ ru ː d

104 English vowels: /u ː / Long High back Rounded Very different from Polish /u/

105 English vowels: /u ː / Pol. /u/ uu:uu:

106 English vowels: / ɜː / Typical spellings: NURSE hurt church n ɜː s h ɜː t t ʃɜː t ʃ n ɜː s h ɜː t t ʃɜː t ʃ

107 English vowels: / ɜː / Typical spellings: fur fir f ɜː

108 English vowels: / ɜː / Typical spellings: shirt bird girl first ʃɜː t b ɜː d g ɜː l f ɜː st ʃɜː t b ɜː d g ɜː l f ɜː st

109 English vowels: / ɜː / Typical spellings: verb person earth heard v ɜː b ˈ p ɜː s ə n ɜː θ h ɜː d

110 American / ɝː / ɝː

111 English vowels: / ɜː / Long Mid central Unrounded R-colored (=rhotacized) in AmEng

112 English vowels: / ɜː / ɜ:ɜ: Polish / ɨ /

113 Monophthongs Steady-state vowels: The same quality throughout Also known as pure vowels Or monophthongs

114 Diphthongs Diphthongs: the quality changes ‘Two vowels in one’ Smooth movement from one vowel to another