Phonetics:Vowel articulation, transcription

LING 200

Spring 2003

Reading: Files 3.3, 3.6

Manner of articulation

• How close are lower and upper articulator?

– Relatively close: consonants

– Relatively far apart: vowels

Vowels

• Vowel ‘quality’– Height: high, mid, low– Backness: front, central, back– Labiality (lip rounding): rounded,

unrounded• Vowel quantity: long, short

Can differ in:

A five vowel inventorySpanish

(place of articulation)

front central back

(manner of

articulation)

high i u

mid e o

low

Spanish vowels

front central back

high [mis] ‘Mass’

[mus] ‘muse’

mid [mes] ‘table’

[mosk] ‘housefly’

low [ms] ‘dough’

Phonetic description of vowels

• [i] = high front unrounded vowel• [e] = mid front unrounded vowel• [o] = mid back rounded vowel• [u] = high back rounded vowel• [] = low central (-back) unrounded

vowel– cf. [a] = low front unrounded vowel

Another five vowel inventoryMandarin (Chinese)

[ü] = high front rounded vowel

[] = mid central unrounded vowel

front central back

high i ü u

mid

low

Mandarin vowel quality

[ ] = high falling tone (see File 3.7)

front central back

unround round unround round

high [l] ‘advantage’

[lü] ‘green’

[lû] ‘road’

mid [l] happy’

low ‘spicy’

Vowel quantity: Sahaptin

front central back

high i i: u u:

low :

[:] = long

[] = high central unrounded vowel

[i] = high front unrounded vowel

[i:] = long high front unrounded vowel

Sahaptin short vowelsfront central back

high [latít] ‘flower’

tt] ‘tooth’

tút] ‘your father’

low kk] ‘your (maternal) uncle’

[] = glottal stop; [ ] = stress (see File 3.7)

Sahaptin short vs. long vowels

short long

[sts’t] 'night' [sts’:t] 'dark'

[pišíš] 'paternal aunt' [ci:š] 'water'

[pyuš] 'snake' [pu:š]'juniper'

English vowels

• English, a Germanic language

• Proto-Germanic vowels

i i: u u:

e e: o:

• Historical length > 'tense'/'lax' contrast– Long vowels > tense– Short vowels > lax

English vowels

front central backunrounded unrounded rounded

high i ulower-high

mid higher-mid e olower-mid

low

North Atlantic English (UK, Ireland):

i u

e o

a

The vowel space

front central back

unrounded unrounded rounded

high [bid] bead [bud] booed

lower-high [bd] bid [bdst] Buddhist

higher-mid [bed] bayed [bod] bode

lower-mid bed [bd] bud [bd] bawd

low [bd] bad b] bard

[b] bah

[bdi] body

English vowelsA speaker from Southern England:

English vowels• Sound changes in N. America. What

happened to []: , > (‘merged as’) (East)

• []: body, bawd, []: bah , > (East, Midwest)

• []: body, bah, []: bawd

, , > (West)• []: body, bah, bawd

English vowels

• More [], [] pairs

– hock vs. hawk

• [hk] [hk] or

• [hk] [hk] ?

– cot vs. caught

– Polly vs. Paulie

– Don vs. dawn

English vowelsWestern North America

front central backunrounded unrounded rounded

high i u

mid e o

()low

English vowels

• Diphthongs: 2 vowel qualities

– [w] = [a]: [hwd] (how’d)

– [y] = [a]: [hyd] (hide)

– [oy] = [o]: [toyd] (toyed)

• For many speakers, [e], [o] are diphthongs

– [ey] = [e]– [ow] = [o]

English vowels

• Stressed and unstressed syllables

– verbs: nouns:

– to [rikt] a [ríkt] (reject)

– to [protst] a [prótst] (protest)

to [prótst]

English vowels

[] only occurs in unstressed syllables

stressed: [] unstressed: []

cup [kp] hiccup [hkp]

cud [kd] wicked [wkd]

cut [kt] racket [rkt]

English vowels

• [] + nasals, liquids• For many speakers,

– [r] = [r] [pkr] picker–[l] = [l] [pkl] pickle– [n] = [n] [kn] thicken– [m] = [m] [rm] rhythm

[ ] = syllabic

English vowels

In Western North America, [] only before [r]:

•[mr] more

•[mor] mower

•[mr] mar

Rhotic nuclei ([V+r] combinations) in North American English

front central back

high [ur]

[r]

mid

[r] = [r] [r]

low

English vowels: rhotic nuclei

W. N. Amer. S. England

beer [br] [b]bare [br] [b]bard [brd] [bd]

bored [brd] [b]bird [brd] [bd]

boor [bur] [b]

English vowels: rhotic nucleiIn most of England, syllable-final [r] > [] or

Transcription practice

• fish

• scrimmage

• schism

• asthma

• azalea

• mayonnaise

Transcription practice

• fish [fš]

• scrimmage [skrm]

• schism [skzm]• asthma [zm]

• azalea [zely]

• mayonnaise [mnez]