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2011-12 LINGUA INGLESE 1 modulo A/B Introduction to English Linguistics prof. Hugo Bowles

2011-12 LINGUA INGLESE 1 modulo A/B Introduction to English Linguistics prof. Hugo Bowles. Lesson 9 Diphthongs. DIPHTHONGS. TRIPHTHONGS. Minimal pairs. Beware of heard a dreadful word that looks like beard and sounds like bird.

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2011-12 LINGUA INGLESE 1 modulo A/B Introduction to English Linguistics prof. Hugo Bowles

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  1. 2011-12 LINGUA INGLESE 1 modulo A/BIntroduction to English Linguisticsprof. Hugo Bowles Lesson 9 Diphthongs

  2. DIPHTHONGS

  3. TRIPHTHONGS

  4. Minimal pairs Beware of heard a dreadful word that looks like beard and sounds like bird

  5. While the position of the tongue is more or less stable for a pure vowel…

  6. … a diphthong is characterised by a graceful movement from one point to another, for this reason they are also sometimes known as glides.

  7. English diphthongs may cause Italian speakers difficulty for two main reasons: • Italian has four diphthongs while English has eight. All the Italian diphthongs have equivalents in English which are not the same but which are reasonably similar • Nowhere is the English spelling system more bizarre than in its representation of diphthongs

  8. If one has a clear idea of where pure vowels are articulated on the quadrilateral then interpreting the diphthong symbols is not difficult.

  9. Technically, English diphthongs are divided into two groups: • Closing diphthongs – which tend to move from an open to a close position, these roughly correspond to Italian sounds • Centring diphthongs – which tend towards a central position

  10. First we will look at the closing group…

  11. … the ‘pay’, ‘ made’, ‘maid’, ‘reign’, ‘obey’, sound:

  12. Then we have the ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘tie’, ‘sigh’, ‘either’, ‘eye’, ‘Thai’, sound:

  13. Then there is ‘boy’, ‘choice’:

  14. Then ‘down’, ‘loud’:

  15. To end the closing group, the most common diphthong in English, that of ‘no’, ‘know’,‘bone’, ‘foam’, ‘sew’, ‘though’, ‘don’t’, ‘foe’, ‘crow’:

  16. To start with the centring group, we have the most common, that of ‘clear’, ‘deer’, ‘here’, ‘wier’:

  17. Then ‘air’, ‘where’, wear’, ‘care’, ‘heir’:

  18. Finally, there is a diphthong which is quite rare - ‘tour’, ‘poor’:

  19. Pronunciation change • Poor used to be pronounced like puer in Latin (and still is in some regions, e.g. Scotland). • Now it tends to be pronounced as a long vowel (like “door” and “more”) • Is there a difference between the pronunciation of “poor” and “paw” (zampa) ?

  20. Finally: • Diphthongs are the element in a language which are most liable to change. The majority of the characteristics of a given accent are usually to be found in this area, so understanding of the underlying mechanics is vital if one wants to understand accents and accent change.

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