Phonetics Chapter 4
vowel quadrilateral
diagram representing the tongue positions of height and advancement for vowels
onglide
first element of a diphthong
tense vowels
generally longer in duration and require more effort than lax vowels /i, e, u, o, ɔ, ɑ, ɝ/
tongue height
how high or low in the oral cavity the tongue is when producing a particular vowel
ə (schwa)
key word: about tongue height: mid tongue advancement: central tense/lax: lax lips: unrounded - unstressed - entire vocal tract neutral
/ ɝ / Right-Hook Reversed Epsilon
key word: bird tongue height: mid tongue advancement: central tense/lax: tense lips: rounded - only in stressed syllables - only central vowel considered to be tense
/ʌ/ (wedge)
key word: bud tongue height: low-mid tongue advancement: back-central tense/lax: lax lips: unrounded - found in monosyllabic words and stressed syllables - does not usually occur in open syllables - "the" ends in wedge
/ɚ/ (schwar)
key word: butter tongue height: mid tongue advancement: central tense/lax: lax lips: rounded - unstressed - r- colored - formed by constricting the pharnyx and increasing the space in the oral cavity in front of the tongue by either (1) raising the tongue tip and curling it posteriorly toward the alveolar ridge, (2) lower the tongue tip while bunching the tongue body in the region of the palate
/aɪ/
key word: buy tongue height: low central tongue advancement: high front
/oʊ/
key word: coat tongue height: high-mid back tongue advancement: high back
/ɑ/
key word: cod tongue height: low tongue advancement: back tense/lax: tense lips: unrounded - only unrounded back vowel in English - can be r-colored
/aʊ/
key word: cow tongue height: low-back low-central tongue advancement: high back
æ (ash)
key word: had tongue height: low tongue advancement: front tense/lax: lax lips: unrounded - lowest of five front vowels - point vowel - oropharnyx is small because tongue body is in an inferior and posterior position - no monosyllables end with this sound
/eɪ/
key word: hate - stressed and at the ends of words (regardless of stress) tongue height: high-mid front tongue advancement: high front
/i/
key word: key tongue height: high tongue advancement: front tense/lax: tense lips: unrounded - highest and most fronted - point vowel - oropharynx enlarges because the tongue moves superiorly and anteriorly away from the pharynx -
/ɔ/ (open o)
key word: law tongue height: low-mid tongue advancement: back tense/lax: tense lips: rounded - not produced by all American speakers - can be r-colored
/u/
key word: moon tongue height: high tongue advancement: back tense/lax: tense lips: rounded - point vowel - wide pharynx because the tongue root is force to be somewhat advanced - in words like "you", "few", and "music" /u/ is actually preceded by the phoneme /j/. "you" = /ju/
/o/
key word: okay tongue height: high-mid tongue advancement: back tense/lax: tense lips: rounded - unstressed
/e/
key word: rebate tongue height: high-mid tongue advancement: front tense/lax: tense lips: unrounded - unstressed
ɛ (epsilon)
key word: red tongue height: low-mid tongue advancement: front tense/lax: lax lips: unrounded - becomes rhotacized when with r - cannot be placed at the end of a monosyllabic word
/ɔɪ/
key word: toy - when initiating this diphthong the lips are rounded but as the tongue glides upward in the oral cavity toward the offglide position the tongue becomes unrounded tongue height: low-mid back tongue advancement: high front
/ɪ/
key word: win tongue height: high tongue advancement: front tense/lax: lax lips: unrounded - occurs in closed syllables ("listen") - used in final unstressed syllables that end in "y" such as "many" - used in "ing" and becomes nasalized
/ʊ/
key word: wood tongue height: high tongue advancement: back tense/lax: lax lips: rounded - never see open syllables ending with this phoneme - becomes rhotacized with r
lax vowels
never end in a stressed open syllable /ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, ə, ʌ, ɚ/
monothongs
one vowel sound because they have one primary articulatory position in the vocal tract
Derhotacization
partial loss of r coloring from a normally rhotacized vowel (in some dialects)
Vowels
phonemes that are produced without any appreciable constriction or blockage of air flow in the vocal tract
rhotacization
production of a phoneme with an /r/ auditory quality
because all English sounds are oral sounds the velum is generally _________ to prevent air from being directed in the nasal cavity during their production
raised
tongue advancement
relates to how far forward or backward in the mouth the tongue is when producing a particular vowel
the tongue ______ in the oral cavity when moving from the onglide to the offglide position for all of the English diphthongs
rises
most vowels produced in the back of the mouth are...
rounded
offglide
second element of a diphthong
as the tongue changes position for production of the individual vowels..
the size and shape of the pharynx also change
diphthong
two distinct articulatory positions, one for each of the two vowels in the diphthong
the front vowels are all...
unrounded
nasalization
vowels tend to be nasalized when they precede a nasal consonant
all off glides are one of these vowels
/ɪ/ or /ʊ/
r-colored vowels
/ɪr/ = "ear". /ɛr/ = "air". /ʊr/ = "t-our". /ɔr/ = "oar". /ɑr/ = "ar".
unrounded (retracted)
an unrounded lip position during vowel production /i, ɪ, e,ɛ,æ,ɑ,ə,ʌ/
rounded
a rounded lip position during vowel production /u,ʊ,o,ɔ,ɚ,ɝ/
