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Phonetics Continued. Articulation and Description of English Vowels. Properties of Vowels. Most sonorant (audible) sounds Sound is caused by vocal fold vibration Usually function as syllable nuclei Almost always voiced
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Phonetics Continued Articulation and Description of English Vowels
Properties of Vowels • Most sonorant (audible) sounds • Sound is caused by vocal fold vibration • Usually function as syllable nuclei • Almost always voiced • Vowel sounds change according to SHAPE of vocal tract, no obstructions in vowels
How Many Vowels in English? • Teacher said 5 and sometimes y • We say 11 and 3 diphthongs • 1/2 of languages have 5, some have 3
Parameters • Review: consonant parameters: • Voicing. • Place of articulation. • Manner of articulation. • Vowel articulation is described using FOUR parameters.
Four Parameters of Vowels • Tongue HEIGHT • High / mid / low • Tongue BACKNESS • Front / central / back • Lip ROUNDING • Round / unround • Tenseness • Tense / lax
front central back i u high I Round e o mid E a low Lax Tense Vowels of English
Tongue Height • Put your hand under your chin and say seat, set, sat • High: leak, lick, Luke, look • [I], [I], [u], [U] • Mid: bait, bet, but, bought, boat • [eI], [E], [], [], [o] • Low: cat, con • [Q], [a]
Tongue Advancement • Front: seek, sick, sake, sec, sack • [I], [I], [eI], [E], [Q] • Central: luck • [] • Back: ooze, look, road, law, dot • [U], [U], [o], [], [a]
Lip Rounding • In English, only the high and mid back vowels are produced with lip rounding • Round vowels: [u], [U], [o], [] • Unround vowels: all the other vowels
Tenseness • Tense vowels • The tongue is at an extreme height or backness • Lax vowels • The tongue is not at an extreme position • Compare Pete and pit
Diphthongs • A diphthong is a complex vowel where the tongue begins in one place and moves to another (a two part vowel sound) • The vowel diphthongs: • [Ai]: bite • [AU]: bout • [oI]: boy • [eI]: stay ([e] is not a ‘true’ English vowel sound) • (Also: [o]: go, though we may write this with one symbol)