1. Structure of Spoken Language
CS 551/651:
Structure of Spoken Language
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
John-Paul Hosom
Fall 2010

2. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Vowels
12 English vowels (not all are phonemic), 8 or 9 phonemic vowels:
/iy/ beet (front, high, unrounded, tense)
/ih/ bit (front, high, unrounded, lax)
/eh/ bet (front, mid, unrounded, lax)
/ae/ bat (front, low, unrounded, lax)
/ix/* roses (back, high, unrounded, lax) (subst. /ih/)
/ux/* suit (back, high, rounded, lax) (subst. /uw/)
/ax/ * above (back/central, mid, unrounded, lax) (subst. /ah/)
/uw/ boot (back, high, rounded, tense)
/uh/ book (back, high, rounded, lax)
/ah/ above (back/central, mid, unrounded, lax)
/ao/ caught (back, low, rounded, tense) (subst. /aa/)
/aa/ father (back, low, unrounded, tense)
* these vowels are more centralized and shorter in duration
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

3. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Vowels
5 or 6 English diphthongs:
/ey/ bay (front, midhigh, unrounded, tense)
/ay/ bye (backfront, lowhigh, unrounded, tense)
/oy/ boy (backfront, midhigh, roundedunrounded, tense)
/aw/ about (back, midhigh, unroundedrounded, tense)
/ow/ boat (back, mid, unroundedrounded, tense)
/yu/ beauty (frontback, high, unroundedrounded, tense)
All diphthongs start or end with a /w/ or /y/ sound.
(If /w/, it’s at the end of the diphthong.)
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

4. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Vowels
Vowel formant frequencies (averages for English, males only):
*from Ladefoged, p. 193
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

5. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Diphthongs
Diphthongs have characteristic formant movements:
/ay/
/oy/
/aw/
/yu/
/ow/
/ei/
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

6. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Techniques
Most vowels can be identified by answering four questions:
1. Is the vowel front or back?
Front vowels have F2 closer to F3 than to F1
If F1, F2, F3 equally spaced, then probably /ae/ = front vowel.
2. Is the vowel high or low?
High vowels have low F1, low vowels have high F1
“high” and “low” F1 values are relative, sometimes difficult
3. Is the vowel tense or lax?
Tense vowels have more extreme formants
Tense vowels are longer in duration
4. Is the vowel a monophthong (“pure vowel”) or diphthong?
Diphthongs are characterized by formant movement. Some diphthongs (/ei/, /ow/) easily confused with monophthongs
Diphthongs are longer than monophthongs.
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

7. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Techniques
Front vowels: iy ih eh ae
Back vowels: uw uh ah aa
High vowels: iy ih uh uw
Low vowels: ae eh ah aa
Tense vowels: iy ae uw aa
Lax vowels: ih eh uh ah
Monophthongs: iy ih eh ae uw uh ah aa
Diphthongs: ei aU aI oI oU yu (?)
same in height, tenseness
same in frontness, tenseness
same in frontness, height
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

8. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Techniques
We can graph the vowel relationships along the F1/F2 axis:
high
low iy ih eh ae
front F2
back ah aa uh
lax uw
tense F1
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

9. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

10. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

11. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

12. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

13. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

14. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

15. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

16. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Vowels
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

17. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

18. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

19. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

20. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

21. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

22. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom
Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs
Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom