Chapter 4 Vowels

Vowel classification: o Vowels differ from consonants in terms of articulation.

❖ They are produced with an open approximation meaning there is no contact between
articulators.

❖ Vowels are generated within a confined space of the vocal tract, namely the palatal and
velar regions, signifying their oral production.

❖ All vowels are sonorants hence voiced and do not necessitate the voiced/voiceless
distinction. However, exceptions exist, like voiceless vowels that are positional variants of
voiced counterparts, as in Japanese, or breathy voiced/murmured vowels in Gujarati.
➔ This shows that the categories of analysis developed for consonants will be inapplicable to
vowels due to their fundamentally different characteristics.

o Vowels are classified in terms of "quality" and "quantity"

The quality of vowels can be measured according to three primary features:
Height: [ Vertical classification] It depends on how high or low the tongue is when
pronouncing the vowel. There are three main possibilities: high, mid, and low. [If needed,
there are in-between terms like (high-mid and low-mid)]
Backness: [Horizontal classification] This refers to which part of the tongue is involved or
highest when pronouncing the vowel. There are three main possibilities: front, central, and
back.
Rounding: This is about the shape of the lips when making a vowel sound.There are two main
possibilities: rounded or unrounded.
❑ Lip rounding, seen easily, contrasts with the challenge of judging vowel height and
backness without special tools. Even advanced methods like X-ray photography may not
provide entirely accurate measurements, leading to the retention of terms like "vowel height"
as convenient fiction.
The quantity of vowels can be measured according to three primary features:
Vowel length: how long the vowel lasts? tense or lax / long or short
Nasality: refers to whether the vowel is oral [velum is raised] or nasalized (nasal
vowels)[velum is lowered] as in ‘bean’ [bĩːn]. These differences do not change the meaning of
the word in English but it does in languages like French.
Diphthongisation: refers to whether the tongue stays in one position [Monophthong=one
symbol, like [i] ]or glides between two positions [diphthong= two symbols like [aɪ]]
The vowel space and Cardinal Vowels

❖The concept of a "Vowel space," is introduced as a way to visualize all possible vowel
sounds. It is established based on the dimensions of high versus low and front versus back. It
represents the limits of vowel articulation, beyond which we are no longer talking about
vowels.
❖The positions on the chart are abstract reference points. They do not refer to vowels of any
specific language. They are a set of vowel sounds employed by phoneticians to analyze and
categorize vowel sounds found in natural languages.
➔ If the tongue is any higher than for the highest high vowel or further back than for
the furthest-back back vowel, the articulation isn’t a vowel but a consonant, since
there will no longer be open approximation.

❖An alternative and widely adopted representation of the vowel space is known as the
Cardinal vowel chart. It is rather more stylised, being in terms of a quadrilateral, it was
first proposed by Daniel Jones. It shows the tongue position for the highest, furthest-forward
vowel [i] and the lowest, furthest-back vowel [ɑ], with six other approximately equidistant
divisions giving eight primary cardinal vowels. Cardinals (C) 1–5 are all unround vowels;
C6–8 are round.

❖The primary cardinal vowels were supplemented by a set of eight secondary vowels known
as secondary cardinal vowels. The only difference between them is the opposite rounding
value. ❖ A further pair of vowels – the high central unround [ɨ] and the high central round
[ʉ] – give a total of eighteen Cardinal Vowels.
The vowels of English:

❖Describing the vowels of English is challenging because English speakers demonstrate

variations in vowel sound pronunciation. This can be attributed to the speaker's regional
background, and sociolinguistic factors.
For instance, not all speakers have the same vowel in any particular word even though they
seem to pronounce it in the same way. Take a word like “book”

The RP and GenAm: [bʊk] ⁄ Northern England: [buːk] ⁄ Scotland [bʉk] ⁄ younger Southern.
Various English dialects exhibit differences in their vowel inventories. RP is commonly
identified with 19 or 21 distinct vowel sounds, while certain forms of Scottish English feature
only 10 to 14 vowels.
High front vowels
[iː]: A high, front unrounded, tense vowel. as in ‘see’
[ɪ]: A high, front [Somewhat lower and more centralized than [iː]], unrounded, lax vowel. as
in ‘sit’
Mid front vowels
[ɛ]: (sometimes transcribed [e]): A short mid-front unround vowel as in ‘bed’. The actual
quality of the vowel varies.
[eː]: A mid or high-mid front vowel [eː] as in ‘day’.
Low front vowels
[æ]: A low, front, long vowel as in ‘rat’
Low back vowels
[ɑː]: A low, back, unround, long Vowel as in ‘father’
[ɒ]: A low, back, round, short vowel as in ‘dog’.
Mid back vowels
[ɔ]: A low, mid-back round, long vowel [ɔ] in words like ‘bought’.
[oː]: A mid or high-mid back round, long vowel as in ‘goat’.
High back vowels
[uː]: A high, back, rounded, long vowel as in ‘shoe’
[ʊ]: A high, back[lower and more central than [uː]]rounded, short vowel as in ‘put’. while
Central vowels
[ʌ]: a low central-unround back vowel as in “cup”.
[ə]: Schwa is a mid-central, unrounded, short vowel as in the first vowel in 'about' or the last
vowel in 'puma.' It's common in unstressed syllables and doesn't occur in stressed syllables.
[ɜː]: A mid-central unround vowel as in words like ‘nurse’, ‘fir’, ‘her’
In the primary cardinal vowel, all front vowels are unrounded, and back vowels are rounded.
Distribution:

❖Short vowels ([ɪ] or [ɒ]) are prohibited at the end of stressed single-syllable words in
English unless the word concludes with a consonant (e.g., [bɪt], [bɒg]). Words like *[bɪ] or
[bɒ] are not valid.

❖Long vowels (like [iː]) and diphthongs (like [ɔɪ]) are not limited by this rule and can occur
in both open and closed syllables ([biːt], [bɔɪɫ]).
Some vowel systems of English:

❖The number of vowels in the system and their distribution among the lexical items of
English is not the same for all varieties.
The (conservative) RP has thirteen monophthongs and nine diphthongs this gives a total of
21 different vowel sounds. Compared to Received Pronunciation (RP).
General American (GenAm) lacks the [ɒ] sound and the three schwa-final diphthongs due to
being rhotic. Instead, GenAm has rhoticized or r-coloured vowels, resulting in a total of 16
distinct vowels.
Northern English English: This variety has 20 vowels, with more long monophthongs
compared to Received Pronunciation (RP). It includes three additional mid-long vowels,
which are diphthongs in RP. However, it lacks the [ʌ] sound. In rhotic Northern English
accents, the schwa-final diphthongs and [ɛː] are absent, resulting in a total of 16 vowels.
Lowland Scottish English: this dialect of English, has around 10 vowels with vowel length
determined by context. It lacks distinctions found in other English forms, resulting in
homophony for words like "fool" and "full." There's limited contrast between vowel sounds
([uː], [ʊ], [aʊ]), and fewer diphthongs. Scots is rhotic, pronouncing "r" at the end of words,
contributing to its distinct pronunciation.
Australian English: Australian English shares many similarities with RP and Southeastern
English varieties, like Cockney. It has 19 vowels, but variations exist within Australia, with
some varieties using [e:] instead of [eə].