Vowels The voiced sounds produced without obstruction in the mouth are called vowels. These sounds are not accompanied by any frictional noise. The qualities of vowels depend upon the positions of the tongue and lips. It is convenient to classify them according to the position of the main part of the tongue. In the production of most vowels the tongue is convex to the palate. Vowels may, therefore, be conveniently arranged according to the position of the highest point of the tongue. There are front vowels, in the production of which the ‘front’ of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate. In the production of the back vowels, the ‘back’ of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate. There are vowels intermediate between front and back and these are called central vowels. Tongue positions There are twelve pure vowels in English: seven short vowels; five long vowels. Short vowels: /ɪ,ʊ,e,ə,æ,ʌ,ɒ/ Long vowels: /i:,u,:ɜ:,ɔ:,ɑ:/ Front vowels: /i:,ɪ,e,æ/ Back vowels: /u:, ʊ, ɔ:, ɒ, ɑ:/ Central vowels: /ə, ʌ, ɜ:/ Description of vowels 1. /ɪ/ Spellings of /ɪ/ i fifth, rich, fill e pretty, needed, except, ui built, y rhythm, cyst, a village, private, ie ladies, cities The short RP vowel /ɪ/ is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to centre than to front. The tongue is raised just above the close-mid position. The lips are loosely spread. The tongue is lax. This vowel can be described as a centralised front unrounded vowel just above half-close position. This sound may occur in all--initial, medial and final—positions in the word. 2. /e/ Spellings of /e/ e bed, went, ten ea breath, health, head a many, Thames During the production of short RP /e/, the front of the tongue is raised between the close-mid and open-mid position. The lips are loosely spread and are slightly wider apart. /e/ is a front unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open. This vowel does not occur in word-final positions in English words. 3. /æ/ Spellings of /æ/ a hand, lamp, bat ai plaid, plait i timbre The front of the tongue is raised to a position just above open with side rims making a very slight contact with the back upper molars. The lips are neutrally open. This is a front unrounded vowel just below the half-open position. This sound does not occur in word-final positions. 4. /ʌ/ Spellings of /ʌ/ u cut, dull, sun o son, among, wonder, one ou country, southern, couple oo blood, flood oe does The short RP /ʌ/ is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws with the lips neutrally open. The centre of the tongue is raised just above the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. /ʌ/ can be described as a central unrounded vowel just above open. This sound does not occur in word-final positions. 5. /ɒ/ Spellings of /ɒ/ o dog, dock, holiday, revolver a was, what, swan, want, watch, yacht ou cough, trough, Gloucester ow knowledge au because, sausage, laurel The short vowel is articulated with wide open jaws and slight open lip- rounding. The back of the tongue is in the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. This is a back rounded vowel between half-open and half-close. This sound occurs in all places. 6. /ʊ/ Spellings of /ʊ/ u butcher, cushion, put oo book, good, wool, o wolf, woman, bosom ou could, courier, would This vowel is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to centre than to back, raised just above the close-mid position. The tongue is laxly held. No contact is made between the tongue and the upper molars. /ʊ/ is a back rounded vowel just above half-close. This sound does not occur in word-final positions. 7. /ə/ Spellings of /ə/ a woman, about, affect o oblige, original e gentlemen er mother, father, grocer re mitre, litre i possible, animal, beautiful u suppose ar particular or doctor, razor our colour, odour ure figure ou famous This vowel has a very high frequency of occurrence in unaccented syllables. Its quality is that of a central vowel with neutral lip position, having in non-final positions a tongue-raising between open-mid and close-mid. This is a central unrounded vowel just below half-open. This sound occurs in all places. 8. /i:/ Spellings of /i:/ ee tree, cheese, see e complete, be, these ea leaf, reason, reach i machine, police, prestige ie piece, field, siege ei seize, receive ey key eo people uay quay The front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind the front close position. The lips are spread. The tongue is tense with the side rims making a firm contact with the upper molars. /i:/ is a centralised front unrounded vowel just above the half-close position. This sound occurs in all places. 9. /ɑ:/ Spellings of /ɑ:/ ar art, part, lark ear heart, hearth er clerk, Derby, sergeant a last, past, dance al calm, calm, palm au laugh, aunt This vowel is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and the lips neutrally open. A part of the tongue between the centre and back is in the fully open position. No contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars. This is a back open unrounded vowel. This sound occurs in all places. 10. /ɔ:/ Spellings of /ɔ:/ ar war, quart or cord, horse, born ore before, more oar oar, board oor door, floor au fault, cause, daughter aw saw, lawn, jaw al all, talk, salt ou bought, ought oa broad This RP vowel is articulated with medium lip-rounding. The back of the tongue is raise between the open-mid and close-mid positions. No contact is made between the tongue and the upper molars. /ɔ:/ can be described as a back rounded vowel between half-open and half-close. This vowel sound occurs in all places. 11. /u:/ Spellings of /u:/ u rude, use, rule oo food, spoon, school o do, who, move, lose, two ou group, soup, wound ew chew, flew, newt ue blue ui juice oe shoe This is close back vowel with varying degrees of centralization, lowering and unrounding. The articulation is tense, no firm contact is made between the tongue and the upper molars. This vowel does not normally occur before /ŋ/. /u:/ is a back close rounded vowel. This sound occurs in all places. 12. /ɜ:/ Spellings of /ɜ:/ er her, serve err err ur turn, church, curl urr purr ir sir, bird, girl yr myrtle yrr myrrh w+or word, world, work ear earth, heard, search our journey, courtesy, scourge This vowel is articulated with the centre of the tongue raised between close- mid position. No firm contact is made between the tongue and upper molars. The lips are neutrally spread. This is a central unrounded vowel between half- close and half-open. This sound occurs in all places. Diphthongs Diphthongs are otherwise called vowel glides. During the articulation of diphthongs, the tongue starts in the position required for the articulation of a particular vowel and moves in the direction of the position required for the articulation of a different vowel. The glide should take place within one syllable. The starting vowel is called the first element and the end vowel is called the second element. There are eight diphthongs. Three diphthongs in RP glide in the direction of RP /ɪ/. The tongue- positions of these diphthongs are given in the following diagram. 1. /eɪ/ Spellings of /eɪ/ a...e ate, paste, make ai waist, aim, fail ay day, may, way ei eight, veil, weigh ey they, whey ea great, steak, break The glide begins from slightly below the close-mid position and moves in the direction of RP /ɪ/. There is a slight closing movement of the lower jaw. The lips are spread. This is glide from a front unrounded vowel just below half- close to a centralised front unrounded vowel just above half-close. This glide can occur in all places. 2. /aɪ/ Spellings of /aɪ/ i...e time, write, hide ie die, lie, pie y cry, dry, by ye dye, y (non-finally) type, tyrant, cycle igh high, light, right This diphthong begins at a point slightly behind the front open position and moves in the direction of the position associated with RP /ɪ/. The lips change from a neutral to a loosely spread position. This is a glide from a front unrounded vowel to a centralised front unrounded vowel just above half-close. This diphthong occurs in all places. 3. /ɔɪ/ Spellings of /ɔɪ/ oi boil, noise, choice oy boy, voyage, joy The tongue glide begins at a point between the open-mid and open-back positions and moves in the direction of RP /ɪ/. The tongue movement extends from back to centralised front. The lips are open rounded for the first element, changing to neutral for the second. This is a diphthong from a back rounded vowel between open and half-close to a centralised front unrounded vowel just above the half-close position. Diphthongs gliding towards /ʊ/: There are two diphthongs in RP gliding towards the direction of RP /ʊ/. Following is the tongue-position diagram of the diphthongs. 4. /əʊ/ Spellings of /əʊ/ o so, old, both o...e home, clone, pose oe toe, doe, hoe ow know, blow, pillow oa oak, road, toast ou soul, though, moult The glide of RP /əʊ/ begins at a central position, between close-mid and open-mid.