Phonetics: Vowel articulation, transcription LING 200 Spring 2003

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 Can differ in: Vowel ‘quality’ – Height: high, mid, low – Backness: front, central, back – Labiality (lip rounding): rounded, unrounded Vowel quantity: long, short

A five vowel inventory Spanish (manner of articulatio high mid low (place of articulation) front central back i u e o

Spanish vowels front high mid low central [mis ] ‘Mass’ [mes ] ‘table’ back [mus ] ‘muse’ [mosk ] ‘housefly’ [m s ] ‘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 inventory Mandarin (Chinese) [ü] high front rounded vowel [ ] mid central unrounded vowel front high i central back ü u mid low

Mandarin vowel quality high mid front central back unround round unround round [l ] [lü ] [lû] ‘advantage’ ‘green’ ‘road’ [l ] happy’ low ‘sp icy’ [ ] high falling tone (see File 3.7)

Vowel quantity: Sahaptin [:] long [ ] high central unrounded vowel [i] high front unrounded vowel [i:] long high front unrounded vowel high low front central back i i: u u: :

Sahaptin short vowels high low front central back [latít] ‘flower’ t t] ‘tooth’ tút] ‘your father’ k k] ‘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' [c i:š] 'water' [pyuš] 'snake' [pu:š] 'juniper'

English vowels English, a Germanic language Proto-Germanic vowels i i: e e: u u: o: Historical length 'tense'/'lax' contrast – Long vowels tense – Short vowels lax

English vowels North Atlantic English (UK, Ireland): high mid low front central back unrounded unrounded rounded u o i lower-high higher-mid e lower-mid

The vowel space i u e o a

English vowels A speaker from Southern England: high front central back unrounded unrounded rounded [bid] bead [bud] booed lower-high [b d] bid [b d st] Buddhist higher-mid [bed] bayed [bod] bode lower-mid bed [b d] bud [b d] bawd low [b d] bad b ] bard [b ] bah [b di] body

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 [h k] [h k] or [h k] [h k] ? – cot vs. caught – Polly vs. Paulie – Don vs. dawn

English vowels Western North America high mid low front central back unrounded unrounded rounded i e u o ( )

English vowels Diphthongs: 2 vowel qualities – [ w] [a ]: [h wd] (how’d) – [ y] [a ]: [h yd] (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 [ri kt] a [rí kt] (reject) – to [prot st] a [prót st] (protest) to [prót st]

English vowels [ ] only occurs in unstressed syllables stressed: [ ] unstressed: [ ] cup [k p] hiccup [h k p] cud [k d] wicked [w k d] cut [k t] racket [r k t]

English vowels [ ] nasals, liquids For many speakers, – [ r] [r ] [p kr ] picker – [ l] [l ] [p kl ] pickle – [ n] [n ] [ kn ] thicken – [ m] [m ] [r m ] rhythm [ ] syllabic

English vowels In Western North America, [ ] only before [r]: [m r] more [mor ] mower [m r] mar

English vowels: rhotic nuclei Rhotic nuclei ([V r] combinations) in North American English front central high back [ur ] [ r] mid low [ r] [r ] [ r]

English vowels: rhotic nuclei In most of England, syllable-final [r] [ ] or beer bare bard bored bird boor W. N. Amer. S. England [b r] [b r] [b rd] [b rd] [br d] [bur ] [b ] [b ] [b d] [b ] [b d] [b ]

Transcription practice fish scrimmage schism asthma azalea mayonnaise

Transcription practice fish [f š] scrimmage [skr m ] schism [sk zm ] asthma [ zm ] azalea [ zely ] mayonnaise [m nez]