IV.

THE ENGLISH VOWELS

4.1. Classification of the English vowels

4.2. The system of cardinal vowels
4.3. The English front vowels
4.4 The English back vowels
4.5. The English central vowels

4.1. Principles of classifying vowels

a) Stability of articulation:
- monophthongs (12): [i:, i, e, , a:, , , u, u:, , , :]
- diphthongs (8): [ei, ai i, i, , u, u, au].
b) The height to which the tongue is raised:
- close vowels: [i:], [u:];
- half-close vowels: [e]:
- half-open vowels: [].
- open vowels: [a:]
c) The part of the tongue which is raised:
front vowels; [i:], [i], [] and [e];
central vowels: [], [], [:].
back vowels: [a:], [], [], [u], and [u:];

Tongue height for [i:] and []

Tongue position for [], [:], [u], and [u:]

Principles of classifying vowels (continuation)

d. lip-rounding:
-rounded [u:]
-spread [i:]
-neutral []
e. duration (length):
-short vowels
-long vowels
f. degree of muscular tension:
-tense vowels
-lax vowels

 continuation

g. Position of the soft palate:

- Nasalised vowels
- Oral vowels
h. distribution: with certain exceptions, English vowels may appear in
-initial
-mid
positions
-final

4.2. The system of cardinal vowels (H. Sweet & D. Jones)

Diagram of cardinal vowels

Front
i
Close

Central

Back

1
e

Close-mid

Open-mid

Open

4.3. The English front vowels

[i:]

variants: longest in final position

relatively shorter before voiced consonants
shortest before voiceless consonants
distribution: initial: eel [i:l] eagle [i:g()l]
mid: feet [fi:t], grease [gri:z]
final: sea [si:], tea [ti:]

spelling:
-ee): feed [fi:d], tree [tri:], seem [si:m], absentee [bsnti:], week [wi:k];
-e: me [mi:], evening [i:vni], scene [si:n], cathedral [ki:drl];
-ea: leave [li:v], meat [mi:t], peak [pi:k], please [pli:z];
-ie: believe [bili:v], niece [ni:s], yield [ji:ld];
-ei/ey: ceiling [si:li], conceive [knsi:v], key [ki:];
-i: foreign suffixes-ine [i:n] as in marine [mri:n], -ique [i:k] as in antique [nti:k];
-in native words: police [pli:s], ski [ski:];
-oe, ae in words of Greek origin: Oedipus [i:dips], Caesar [si:z], formulae [f:muli:].
Exceptional spelling: quay [ki:], people [pi:pl], Beauchamp [bi: tm]

[i]

variants: -pronounced longer in word-final

position:

pretty [priti:], Derby [da:bi:] (educated

south-eastern Brits and some Americans)
-pronounced more open in final
position; city [site], pretty [prite].
distribution: initial
mid
final

Spelling:
-i and y: rid, with, lynch [lint], skin, mirror, syllable rhythm;live, lily, fuzzy;
- ui: guilty [gilti], biscuit [biskit], build [bild];
- ee (in unstressed position): coffee [kfi], Yankee [jki];
- ey (in final position): money [mni], journey [d:ni];
- ie: auntie [a:nti], bookie [buki], Charlie [ta:li];

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- a (in weakly stressed affixes or words ending in ace, -ate, -ain): delicate
[delikit], affricate [frikit], furnace [f:nis], menace [menis], fountain
[fauntin], mountain [mauntin];
- e (in ed adjectivized participles): learned [l:nid], wicked [wikid]
-e (in word-final position in words of Greek origin): apostrophe [pstrfi],
catastrophe [ktstrfi], syncope [sikpi].
Exceptional spelling: England [iglnd], character [krikt], busy [bizi],
lettuce [letis], minute [minit], women [wimin], sieve [siv], breeches [britiz],
Greenwich [grinid], forehead [frid], pigeon [pidin], pretty [priti].

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[e]
*

Distribution: -initial position: egg, every, exit

-medial position: debt friend, breakfast
Variants. -a general tendency to pronounce a closer
variety of [e] in order to keep the opposition
[e] [] clear;
-a tendency to diphthongize [e] towards [] or
[i], before a voiced consonant: e.g. bed [beid].

Spelling:
-e as in ten, press, insect;
-ea as in weapon, death, deaf, measure, realm;
-ai as in against [genst]/[geinst], said [sed];
-eo as in leopard [lepd], Leonard [lend], Geoffrey [defri], jeopardy [depdi];
-ei as in Leicester [lest], leisure [le], heifer [hef];
-u as in bury [beri];
-ue as in guess [ges], guest [gest];
-ay as in says [sez];
-ie as in friend [frend];
-a (in a few words): ate [et], any, many, Thames [temz], Pall Mall [pel mel].

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[]
Distribution: -initial position : ant, abstract,
-medial position: cat, shadow, fat.
(in stressed syllables.)

*
Spelling: a

Exceptional spelling: Balaam [beilm], Caedmon [kdmn], Aelfred [lfrid]

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4.4. The English back vowels

[a:]

Distribution:

-initial position: art, argue,

-medial position: park, master,
-final position: par, bar, car

Variants: 2 main dialectal variants:

- an even more retracted (fully back) variety, typical
of refined RP;
an advanced variety of [a:], closer to cardinal vowel no. 4, typical of
Australian English.
RP [a:] +voiceless fricative = [] in American English
Free variation. RP, [a:] and [] are in free variation (i.e. either may be heard),
e.g. contrast [kntra:st ] or [kntrst], transfer [tra:nsf] or [trnsf], elastic
[ila:stik] or [ilstik], lather [la:] or [l].

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Spelling:
-a (+ ff, ss, th, f, s, n + cons), staff, chaff, pass, Bach, charge, mass, bath, craft,
last, past dance, demand, father, rather;
-a in loan-words: garage [gra:], drama [dra:ma], pyjamas [pda:mz],
moustache [msta:].
-ar as in farm, marble, card, garden, march;
-ear as in heart, hearth;
-a + silent l as in calm, palm, half, psalm;
Exceptional spelling:
-er as in clerk [kla:k], Derby [da:bi], sergeant [sa:dnt], Berkshire
[ba:k];
-au as in aunt, laugh, draught.

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[]

Distribution: -initial position: on, odd,

operate,
-medial position: got, fox,
want, quality

Spelling:
-o in graphically closed syllables: stop, cotton, lost, dock, dog,
gone, and in graphically open syllables (in very few words):
sorry, holiday;
-a - was, what, swan, want, watch, quality;
-ou, ow - cough, trough, Gloucester [glst], knowledge;
-au - because, sausage, laurel, Austria, Australia, cauliflower.

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[:]

Distribution:-initial position: orchard, order;

-medial position: form, board, torn,
fought;
-final position: law, four, floor, core.

Free variation: [] and [:] are in free variation :

cost [kst] or [k:st], frost [frst] or
[fr:st]=alternative pronunciations which reflect age
differences: [] is used by younger people, while [:] by older ones.
Spelling:
-ar, or: orchard [:td], form [f:m], sort [s:t], war, horse;
-ore: shore, before, more, bore, core;
-aw: law, paw, dawn [d:n], saw, lawn, yawn, awesome [:sm];
-au/augh: cause, taught fault, daughter;
-ou + silent gh: fought, naught, ought;
-oar: roar, board, oar;
-our: pour, four, court;
-oor: door, floor;
-a + l +cons: all, call, talk, walk, halt, chalk;
Exceptional spelling: George, sword [s:d], Maugham [m:m].

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[u]

Distribution: medial position only: butcher, sugar, full.

Variants. tendency to use less lip-rounding and a lower

tongue position - an opener half-close vowel sound []:
should, could, would [wd].
- north of England no contrast is made between [u] and []
Free variation: [u] and [u:] room [rum] or [ru:m], groom, booth, tooth, broom, the
commoner phoneme being [u:].

Spelling:
-u: butcher, bush, put, pudding, cushion, sugar, full;
-oo + k/other cons.: book, cook, look, took, good, wood, wool, foot, hood;
-o: bosom [buz()m], wolf, woman, Boleyn [bulin], worsted [wustid], Worcester
[wust];
-ou: could, courier, should, would, bouquet.

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[u:]
Distribution: -initial (in very few words): ooze [u:z], oops [u:ps];
-medial: rude, ruby, usual, tomb;
*
-final: shoe, toe, crew, who, flew, chew.

Spelling:
-u: June, duty, rule, humour, crucial;
-oo (not followed by t or k): food, soon, moon, spoon, cool, loose, fool;
-o: do, lose, tomb, who, move;
-ou: group, soup, wound, through:
-ew: crew, grew, few;
-eu: feud [fju:d], neuter [nju:t], rheumatism [ru:mtizm];
-ue, ui, oe: blue, clue, juice, fruit, shoe, canoe.
Exceptional spelling: view, two.

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4.5. The English central vowels

[]

Distribution: -initial (utter, usher, unable)

- middle position (luck, shut, mother, country).

Spelling:
-u: study, mutton, sun, cut
-o: London, none, oven, constable [knstb()l], monkey, tongue, colour;
-ou: country, couple, trouble, southern, enough.

Exceptional spelling: flood, blood, does, twopence [tpns].

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[:]

Distribution:- initial: earth, earl, urge;

-medial: bird, circle, burn, first, :
-final: fir, Sir, prefer.

Spelling:
-er, err: her, herb, clergy, mercy, verse, serve, kernel, err;
-ir, yr: bird, thirsty, first, myrtle [m:tl];
-ur, urr: occur, turn, fur, church, nurse, purr;
-ear: earth, heard, earn, pearl, learn;
Exceptional spelling:
-our (in words of French origin): journey, courtesy, scourge
-w + or: work, worm, word;
colonel [k:n].

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[]
Distribution:-initial: above, allow, attempt;
-medial: police, method, balloon;
-final: summer, better, theatre, sofa.

Variants:
-in non-final position [] has a closer value than the one described, e.g. effort, movement;
-preceded and followed by [k] and [g], the vowel is still closer and more retracted, e.g. back
again [bkgen], long ago [lg];
-in final position it is much more open, being quite similar to [], e.g. never, mother, China,
Canada.
Spelling: [] is spelt with all vowel letters of the English alphabet and combinations of these
letters.
-a: aloud, academic, alarm;
-e: audience, gentlemen;
-i: intention, possible;
-o: tailor, doctor;
-u: suppose, sulphur;
-y: martyr.

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