LESSON 4: ENGLISH VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS

LESSON 4: ENGLISH VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS

Glossary:

aperture : độ mở back : sau back vowel : nguyên âm sau canonical : hợp nguyên tắc/tiêu chuẩn central : giữa central vowel : nguyên âm giữa classification of vowels : sự phân loại nguyên  âm closing : (nguyên âm) khép, đóng diphthong : nguyên âm đôi, nhị trùng âm distinction : sự phân biệt English vowel charts : bảng nguyên âm tiếng Anh falling : (nguyên âm) giáng, hạ front : trước front vowel : nguyên âm trước high : (nguyên âm) cao illustration : sự minh hoạ, cái minh hoạ lax : nới, nhẹ, chùng lax vowel : nguyên âm nhẹ, nguyên âm chùng lip rounding : sự chúm môi, tròn môi low : (nguyên âm) thấp mid : (nguyên âm) trung obstruction : sự cản trở openning : (nguyên âm) mở pronounce : phát âm pure vowel : nguyên âm thuần tuý relative : tương đối roof of the mouth : vòm miệng rounded : (nguyên âm) chúm môi syllable : âm tiết tense : (nguyên âm) căng, cao giọng tenseness of the articulators : độ căng của cơ  quan phát âm tongue backness : độ lùi về sau của lưỡi tongue height : độ cao của lưỡi unrounded : (nguyên âm) không chúm môi vowel : nguyên âm vowel length : độ dài của nguyên  âm

  

     In the last lesson, you were introduced to the classification of consonant sounds. The classification of consonants were shown to be based on three aspects of articulation: place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing. In this lesson, you will be introduced to vowel sounds and diphthongs.

English vowels

 

     Vowels are the class of sound which makes the least obstruction to the flow of air. They are almost always found at the centre of a syllable, and it is rare to find any sound other than a vowel which is able to stand alone as a whole syllable.

Classification of vowels

 

     The classification of vowels is based on five major aspects: tongue height, tongue backness, lip rounding, vowel length and the tenseness of the articulators.

Tongue Height     
Vowels are classified in terms of how much space there is between the tongue and the roof of the mouth, which is determined by the height of the tongue.    
There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: high, low, and mid.

/w/  /e/ /æ/

 

     In English, examples of high vowels are /w/, /i:/, //, /u:/. These are vowels with a relatively narrow space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Examples of low vowels are /æ/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/. These are vowels with a relatively wide space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Examples of mid vowels are /e/, /∂/, /f:/, /ž/. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the high and low vowels.    
These classifications are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue heights for different classifications.    
As you can see from the above diagrams, the tongue height of the high vowel /w/ is much higher than that for the low vowel /æ/, while the tongue height for the mid vowel /e/ lies somewhere in between the two.

Tongue Backness     
The second aspect of vowel classification that you will be introduced to is that of tongue backness. Vowels are classified in terms of how far the raised body of the tongue is from the back of the mouth, which is called the backness of the tongue.    
There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: front, back, and central.    
In English, examples of front vowels are /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/. These vowels are articulated relatively forward in the mouth. Examples of back vowels are //, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/. These vowels are articulated relatively far back in the mouth.. Examples of central vowels are /∂/, /f:/, /ž/. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the front and back vowels.    
These classifications, like the tongue heights, are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue backnesses for different classifications.    
As illustration of tongue backness, observe the following diagrams for the vowels /w/, /u:/.  

/i:/ /u:/

 

     As you can see from the diagrams, the articulation of the front vowel /i:/ is much farther forward than that for the back vowel /u:/.

Lip Rounding     
Another aspect of vowel classification is the presence or absence of lip rounding. Some vowels, such as the vowels /u:/ and /]:/, are formed with a high degree of lip rounding. Such vowels are called rounded vowels. Some vowels, such as /i:/ and /e/, are formed without such rounding, and are called unrounded vowels.

Vowel Length     
Vowel length is the length of time it takes to pronounce the vowel. We can measure this length in centiseconds - hundredths of a second.

• Short English vowels: /w/, //, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, /ž/
• Long English vowels: /i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/

 

     Some languages, like English, vary the lengths of their vowels according to certain rules. Below you can see the typical or average length of some of the vowels in English.    
As we will see, there is not a clear-cut long/short distinction. Typically, each vowel has its own length, with for instance /æ/ holding a half-way position between lax and tense vowels. Also, lengths of different vowels overlap in different contexts: looking at /i:/ and /w/ we found the following situation. The lengths are given in centiseconds.

Tense vs. Lax     
Another aspect of vowel classification is commonly characterized in terms of the tenseness or laxness of the articulators. Some vowels, such as the vowels /i:/ and /e/, are formed with a high degree of tenseness. Such vowels are called tense vowels. Some vowels, such as /∂/ and /ž/, are formed without a high degree of tenseness, and are called lax vowels.    
The general rule is:

• lax vowels (/w/, //, /æ/, /Z/, /e/, /∂/, /ž/) are short.
• tense (/i:/, /u:/, /Y:/, /]:/, /f:/) vowels (including diphthongs: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/, /∂/,/a/, /w∂/, /∂/, /ε ∂/) are variable in length, and often longer than lax vowels.

English vowel charts

  

(Source: University of Stirling, Centre for English Language Teaching)  

Descriptions of the English simple (“pure”) vowels

English front vowels     
There are four front vowel phonemes in English: /w/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/

Sound Description Distribution Spelling /i:/     front, close (high), long, tense, unrounded   initial, medial and final: east, dean, sea     e: economy, remark ee: eel, see, feet, ea: each, seal, plea ie: fiend ei: seizing i: machine ey: key ay: quay eo: people oe: Oedipus eau: Beauchamp /w/   more retracted, front, short, lax, unrounded   initial, medial and final: ink, kill, aptly   i: ill, tick y: syntax, party u: minute a: private o: women ay: Friday (a reduced unstressed vowel) /e/   front, short, lax, unrounded   initial or medial: end, tell   e: elf, fell ea: lead (n. = plumb), head or bread a: ate (the past tense of eat), many, any, Thames or Pall Mall /æ/   lowest, front, short, lax, unrounded initial or medial: ant, cat a: act, fat ai: plait, plaid

English central vowels     
There are three central vowel phonemes in English: /ž/, /∂/, /f:/

/ž/   a central halfopen, short, lax, unrounded vowel   word-initial and medial position: utter, subtle. It never occurs in word or syllablefinal position. u: under, but o: come, front, honey ou: courage, southern, rough, tough oo: blood, flood oe: does /∂/       a central, mid, lax, unrounded vowel     freely occurring in all basic positions, but only in unstressed syllables: aside, collide, rather   The reduced form of any simple vowel or even diphthong (see fatality, above) in English and can consequently be rendered in writing by any vowel letter with the exception of y which only represents the semivowel j or the vowel i. /f:/   central, mid, long, tense central vowel in all three basic positions, very often in monosyllabic words: err, first, curtain, fur, refer ir: bird ur: burn er: fern yr: myrtle ear: learn our: journey, journal, scourge

English back vowels     
There are five back vowel phonemes in standard English: //, /u:/, /Y:/, /Z/, /]:/

/Y:/   a more advanced, low, long, tense, unrounded vowel   initial, medial and final: are, cart, far   ar: jar, carpet al: palm, calm, balm af (ff): after, staff ass: pass, class ath: path, bath as or an followed by another consonant: past, demand Exceptionally, other letters: aunt, Berkeley, hearth, father, sergeant, memoir , barrage /Z/   short, lax, open and slightly rounded   initial or medial: on, pot o: hot, lot ou: cough a: want au: laurel /]:/     a long, tense vowel, more rounded than /Z/. It is the degree of aperture being between open and half-open. initial, medial and final: awful, caught, flaw   aw: awl, drawn, thaw au: August, taught or: for, sore, port oor: floor, door oa: board, broad, coarse, hoard ough: (n)ought, sought, wrought ou: course, source a: water, wrath //   short, lax, rounded vowel which is considerably closer than /]:/, its degree of aperture being a little bit higher than the cardinal half-close. Being restricted to medial position; never occurring in initial position and only exceptionally in final position.   u: push, cushion, pull, put o: wolf, Worcester oo: look, book, foot ou: would, could, should   /u:/   the highest back vowel of English. It is a long, tense, rounded vowel. initial, medial and final: oom, oomph, ooze, ugh, uhlan; rude, baboon, crew, chew, tatoo u: rule, music, mutiny, deluge ui: suit, fruit o: to, who, ado oo: root, taboo ou: route, through, routine, douche oe: shoe, canoe, manoeuvre eau: beauty eu: feu

English Diphthongs Classification of diphthongs

 

     Diphthongs are described as sequences of two vowels pronounced together, the two vocalic elements being members of the same syllable. The most important feature of a diphthong is that it contains a glide from one vowel quality to another one. According to the position of the more prominent element in the diphthong we can divide diphthongs into falling diphthongs – if the prominent element comes first – and rising diphthongs – if the less prominent element comes first. All English diphthongs belong to the first category. Diphthongs can then be opening if the degree of aperture increases with the glide or closing if the less prominent vowel is closer than the first. We can also differentiate between wide diphthongs – those in which the glide implies a more radical movement of the speech organs and narrow diphthongs – if the two vocalic elements occupy neighbouring positions on the vowel chart. There are also centring diphthongs – if the glide is from a marginal vowel in the vowel chart – either back or front - to a central vowel. To make it simple, we can say that there are three diphthongs ending in /w/ (/ew/, /aw/, /]w/), two ending in /∂/ (/w∂/, /∂/, /ε∂/) and three ending in // (/∂/, /a/).     
The easiest way to remember them is in terms of three groups divided as in this diagram:

The descriptions of English diphthongs

The centring diphthongs: /w∂/, /*/, /**/

Sound  Description Distribution Spelling /ε∂/   a centring, falling, narrow, in most cases opening diphthong  initial, medial and final: air, scarce, fare   air: air, fair, chair, dairy, fairy are: fare, mare, care, care ear: bear, wear, tear (v.) aer: aerial, aeroplane ere: there eir: their, heir ay: prayer, layer, mayor /∂/   a centring, falling, narrow, opening diphthong only in word medial: jewel or word-final position: sure ure: endure, mature, cure, pure oor: poor, moor ou: gourd, bourse /w∂/   a centring, falling, narrow, opening diphthong   initial, medial and final: ear, deer, tier   eer: deer, peer b: ear, weary, idea, tear, beard eir: weird ier: fierce, pierce ere: here, mere ia: media(l), labia(l), genial eu: museum iu: delirium eo: theory, theology e: hero, serious, serial

The diphthongs to /w/: /ew/, /aw/, /]w/

/aw/   a falling, wide, closing diphthong   initial, medial and final: isle, bite, cry   i: ice, dime, loci y: dyke, fly ie: die, lie, pie ye: dye, fye ei: height, either, neither uy: in buy, guy Note also the pronunciation of ay(e) /aı/, eye /aı/ and aisle /aıl/. /]w/   a falling, wide, closing diphthong initial, medial and final: ointment, boil, toy oi: oil, toil oy: oyster, Boyle, coy /ew/   a falling, narrow, closing diphthong   initial, medial and final: eight, plate, play   a: ace, lace ai: aid, maid ay: aye, clay ei: eight, reign ey: they, grey, ea: break, steak et or é: ballet, bouquet, chalet, café, fiancé, attaché, resumé Exceptionally, there are spellings like gaol, bass, gauge, halfpenny .

The diphthongs to //: /*/, /a/

/∂/   a falling, narrow, closing diphthong   initial, medial and final: old, gold, flow   o: old, sold, no oa: oak, roast oe: toe ow: own, known, row ou: poultry, dough eau: beau, bureau au: gauche oo: brooch ew: sew oh: oh /a/   a falling, wide, closing diphthong   initial, medial and final: ouch, loud, bough ou: oust, doubt, plough ow: owl, howl, how eo: MacLeod