Subsidiary variants of the english vowel phonemes
a) Unchecked and Checked Vowels
Allophonic differences in the vowel system of the English language are conditioned by their distributional characteristics. All of them may occur in initial position»
/i:/ economy /a:/ arc /u:/ Uganda /ei/ eight /ia/ earshot
/i/ image /v/ on /л/' utter /ai/ idea /еэ/ airway
/e/ editor /o:/ all /э:/ earn /au/ hour /иэ/ Urdu!
/ae/ acid /u/ Uruguay /э/ about /oi/ oily /эй/ over
In initial position the vowel is more or less free from the influence of the next consonant phoneme.
Vowels may be nasalized, (a) more — if they precede the'nasal sound and (b) less — when they follow it.
(a) tfia pen hsem b) mi: nset msep
kin ten bom meed nest b
Low vowels are more affected by nasal consonants than mid and high vowels.
| noon | nine |
| noodle | neat |
| moon | clean |
| mar | mean |
| farm | fine |
Allophonic differences in the vowel system are mostly in quantity, or length. The quantity of vowels depends on the following factors:
1. position of a vowel in a word: (1) free; (2) terminated by a
■voiced, or a voiceless consonant;
2. position of a vowel in relation to word stress;
3. position of a vowel in relation to sentence stress and rhythm;
4. there are extralinguistic factors that may affect the length of
■vowels. They are connected with emotional characteristics. For exam
ple, if we compare similar vowels in the following sentences we may
«observe quantitative dependence of vowels on the emotional colour
ing.
The 'Man o? »Property, by iJohn 4Gabworthy (title) "A "Forsyte," reiplied iyoung ,Jolyon, "is 'not an uncommon animal..."
/o:/ in the word Forsyte is longer than /d:/ in the word oats-worthy.
Connection of a vowel with word stress is another characteristic ifeature, peculiar to the English language. A vowel in unstressed position may change not only its quantity but it undergoes qualitative -changes, which may result not only in its reduction but in the occurrence of the neutral vowel /э/.
It should be borne in mind that unstressed vowels in English jnay preserve their quantity. They may be fully long: emission ,/k'mifn/, orchestral /о:'kestrel/, etc.
This is never the case with the Russian language, where all unstressed vowels are reduced, according to their position in the word.
For example, the Russian /a, o/ are reduced to /л/ in the first jpretonic syllable and to /ъ/ in other unaccented syllables: с/л/сна, д/л/ры, гол/ъ/ву, стор/ъ/ну, з/ъ/ горой.
The Russian /e/ is pronounced as /ыг/ after /ж, ш/ in the first pretonic syllable: ж/ые/на, ж/ые/вать. In other pretonic syllables ,/e/ is pronounced as /ъ/: ж/ъ/лтизна.
The Russian /a/ is pronounced as /не/ after the soft /ч, ш/ in •the first pretpnic syllable: ч/ие/сы.
The Russian /e/ is pronounced as /э/ after soft consonants in posttonic position: вын/э/су, оч/э/редь.
The quality oE English vowels of full formation is very stable and definite </i:/ and /u:/ are exceptions).
Articmatory differences of vowel phonemes depend on (1) the place ■of articulation of the adjacent consonant and on (2) the active organ of speech of the adjacent consonant,
"Contextual" and Idiolectal Variants of English Voxels.ar.d Monophthongs in Terms of CV, VC Relations
N-i
The phoneme /k/ may occur in initial and in terminal positions: epoch /ii:puk/, tea /ti:/.
/i:/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pee, be, we
Iabio-dental: feet, veal lingual, forelingual
dental, interdental: theme, the
alveolar: tea, deal, sea, zeal, lee, neat palato-alveolar: she, cheese
post-alveolar, cacuminal: read lingual, medio-Hngual: yield lingual, backlingual: key pharyngal (glottal): he
Iv.l is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: leap, seem
Iabio-dental: leaf lingual, forelingual
dental, interdental: sheath, breathe
alveolar: eat, deed, spleen
palato-alveolar: leash, each
lingual, backlingual: teak, league
It may be diphthongized in open syllables and before lenis and nasal consonants, See above.
Before dark [I] a centring glide may be heard.
RP speakers try to avoid any glide in /i;/ pronunciation as "vulgar". Wide diphthongs are typical of Cockney, Birmingham, Southern USA and other low prestige dialects.
N
The phoneme /i/ occurs in initial and in terminal position». It never occurs finally in a stressed open syllable: enough д1плг/г pity /<piti/.
hi varies with /э/ in unstressed syllables, e. g. helpless, remove. In words with prefixes pre, de, re III is, pronounced, if the prefix i& used to convert a word into a new form, e. g. modify — premcdifyY contaminate — decontaminate, /э/ instead of /i/ tends to be the dominant form, see the latest edition of the English pronouncing dictionary,
hi is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pit, wit
labio-dental: fit, vie lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thin, this
alveolar: tin, din, knit
palato-alveolar: sftip, chin
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rid
lingual, medio-Iingual: yin, yill
lingual, backlingual: kin, give pharyngal: hit
Ы is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: lip, nib
labio-dental: if, live lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: myth
alveolar: it, did, this
palato-alveolar: fish, ridge
lingual, backlingual: pick, big
Final /i/ in modern RP is considerably closer. In Yorkshire and Lancashire a very open vowel, almost like /e/ is found finally, e. g. Ялпе/. /i/ is centralized and lowered before dark lit, e. g. still, silk.
In modern RP /i/ is lower and more centralized than in more old-fashioned speech.
/e/
The phoneme /e/ may occur in initial position, but it never occurs terminally.
/el is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pet, bet
labio-dental: fence, vest äingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: ten, dead
palato-alveolar: shelf, chest
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rest
lingual, medio-lingual: yes
lingual, backlingual: kept pharyngal (glottal): help
Id is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: step, ebb
labio-dental: chef lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: death
alveolar: ate, dead, less
palato-alveolar: fresh, fetch lingual, backlingual: wreck, beg
Some speakers have a more central quality, sometimes with a final /a/ glide.
/e/ is lowered and centralized before dark [II, e, g. tell, felt. Id is closer before velars, e. g. peg, peck.
The phoneme /ae/ may occur in initial position but it never occurs terminally.
/se/ is longer before Ienis and nasals in: bag, mad, man, sad, bad, that (the only example before a fortis).
Sometimes /se/ has a pharyngal constriction — creaky voice quality.
In affected RP some speakers pronounce Ы with a following /a/ element — diphthongization.
/se/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pat, bad
Iabio-dental: fan lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thank, that
alveolar: tan, dad
palato-alveolar: shall, jam
post-alveolar, cacuminal: ran
lingual, medio-Iingual: Yankee
lingual, backlingual: cat pharyngal (glottal): ham
Ы is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: clap, cab
labio-dental: have lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental; hath
alveolar: hat, dad
palato-alveolar: smash, badge
lingual, backlingual: back, bag, sang
A very open /se/ is heard from young speakers.
M
The phoneme /a/ may occur in initial and in terminal positioni army /lami/, far /fa/,
/a/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: palm, bar
labio-dental: far, vast lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: tar, lark
palato-alveolar: shaft, chance, jar
post-alveolar, cacuminal: raft
lingual, medio-lingual; yard
lingual, backlingual: car, garden pharyngal (glottal): harm
/a:/ is followed by consonants characterized ass labial
5-182 I29
bilabial: harp
labiodental: starve lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, Interdental: health
alveolar: heart, hard
palato-alveolar: marsh, targe
lingual, backlmgual: bark
A very back quality of Ы is typical of old-fashioned speech or affected forms.
N
The phoneme hi may occur in initial position but it never occurs in terminal position. The lip rounding is very slight.
hi is preceded by consonants characterized as; labial
bilabial: pot, box
Iabio-dental: fox, fog lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thong
alveolar: top, dog, sock
palato-alveolar: chop, fob
post-alveolar, cacuminal; rob
lingual, medio-Hngual: yonder
lingual, backlingual: cot, got pharyngal (glottal): hot
/d/ is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: hop, mob
1 abio-dental: off, of lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: moth
alveolar: hot, old, was
palato-alveolar: wash
lingual, backlingual: lock, fog, wrong
M
The phoneme /o:/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: orbit /b:bit/, saw /so:/.
/э:/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: port, bought, war
Iabio-dental: for lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thorn
alveolar: talk, door, saw
palato-alveolar: shore, jaw
post-alveolar, cacuminal: raw
lingual, medio-lingual: your
lingual, backlingual: core pharyngal (glottal): horn
/x/ may be followed by consonants characterized as; labial
bilabial: orb
1 abio-dental: cough Singual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: north
alveolar: ought, pause
palato-alveolar: scorch, gorge
Hngual, backlingual: fork
Some speakers pronounce /ээ/ in words with ore, e.g. sore /sds/. It is heard in old-fashioned RP and prevails in dialects.
p:l may be pronounced instead of /иэ/ in: sure /Jo:/, you're /jo:/, poor /po.7. More open varieties of [oil characterize old-fashioned Beech.
/A/
The phoneme /л/ occurs in initial position, but it never occurs terminally. It is the shortest of the checked vowels.
/л/ may be preceded by consonants: labial
bilabial: but, worry
labio-dental: fuss, bulgar lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thunder, thus
alveolar: tub, duck
palato-alveolar: shut, just
post-alveolar, cacuminal: ran
lingual, medio-lingual: young
lingual, backlingual: cut pharyngal (glottal): hut
/л! may be followed J3y the following consonants: labial
bilabial: up, tub
labio-dental: rough, love lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: doth
alveolar: bud, but
palato-alveolar: rush, judge
lingual, backlingual: duck, bug, young
/л/ is retractedjbeforejiark Ш, e.g. dull.
N
The phoneme /u/ occurs initially only in proper names of foreign origin, e.g. Uruguay. .
/u/ may be preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
6* 131
bilabial: put, book
labiodental: foot lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: took, soot
palato-alveolar: should
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rook
lingual, backlingual: cook, good pharyngal (glottal): hook
/u/ may be followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: room lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: put, hood, pull
palalo-alveolar: push, bush, cushion
lingual, backlingual: took, cuckoo
Some speakers pronounce back-advanced M as more central, e.g. good.
/u:/
The phoneme /Ü:/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: ooze /u:z/, undo /'An'du:/,
/u:/ may be preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pool, boot
labio-dental: food lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: two, do, noon
post-alveolar, cacuminal: roof
| f |
iala to-alveolar: shoe, June ingual, medio-Hngual: youth
lingual, backlingual: cool, goose pharyngal (glottal): who
/u:/ may be followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: stoop
labio-dental: hoof lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: tooth
alveolar: booth, choose, moon, fool
palato-alveolar: douch, rouge, pooch
lingual, backlingual: duke
/u:/ may be diphthongized in open syllables and before lenis or nasal consonants. It is a stable vowel before fortis. Similarly to I'vJ diphthongization /u:/ with a glide is considered "vulgar". All speakers pronounce /u/ with a very wide glide after 1)1, e.g. use, new. It is stable after [1].
/з:/
The /з:/ phoneme occurs in initial and in terminal position: early /ia:h/, fur /fa:/, further /^з:бэ/, refer /rife:/.
/з:/ may be preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: purr, burr
labiodental: fir, verge lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thirst
alveolar: term, dirt, sir
post-alveolar (cacuminal): Röntgen
palato-alveolar: shirt
lingual, medio-lingual: year
lingual, backlingual: curb, girl pharyngal (glottal); her
/s:/ may be followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: kerb, worm
labio-dental: turf, serve lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: mirth
alveolar: hurt, bird
palato-alveolar: urge
lingual, backlingual: burg
Very open Ir.l is typical of old-fashioned speakers and affected RP.
The /э/ phoneme occurs in Initial and terminal position: about /31baut/, sofa /Iseufa/.
/э/ may be preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: banana, was
labio-dental: forsake, vocation lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: Thalia
alveolar: tobacco, domination
post-alveolar (cacuminal): racoon
palato-alveolar: Japan
lingual, medio-Iingual: yourself
lingual, backlingual: contain, galloon pharyngal (glottal): habitual
Ы may be followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: wallop
labio-dental: 0/ lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: Plymouth
!3S
alveolar: but, had, London
palato-alveolar: such
lingual, backlingual: bulwark
hi has two distinct allophones: 1) a closer one before velars, e.g. again; 2) an opener allophone in final position, similar to /л/, e.g. doctor, china, bitter, see above.
Idiolectal variations are connected with the degree of openness in terminal positions.
Questions
1. What is the basis for vowel allophonic differences? 2, In what position are vowels free from the influence of other sounds? 3. What vowel distributional characteristics are affected in a greater degree: qualitative or quantitative? 4. In what way are vowels influenced by neighbouring nasal consonants? 5. What are the factors that may affect vowel quantitative characteristics? 6. What is "positional length" of the vowels? 7. How is vowel quantity connected with accent?
8. Is vowel quality connected with the neutral vowel phoneme /э/?
9. Is vowel quantity connected with sentence stress and rhythm?
10. How do extralingu ist ic factors affect thelength <>f vowels? 11. What
is the difference between the English and the Russian unstressed vow
els in terras of their qualitative characteristics? 12, How do adja
cent consonants affect vowels? Which classificatory characteristics
of consonants are the most important in this respect?
Exercises
*1. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional characteristics of the /i:/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and (b) follow it.
(a) we, fever, theme, sea, deal, cheeks, reaches, yield, he, meals,
me, needn't;
(b) grebe, leave, sheath, breathe, eat, feel, leash, each, beak,
league, seem, spleen
*2, Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional characteristics of the kl phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and (b) follow it.
(a) mist, big, fish, thinks, thing, did, sit, lift, giver, rich, kill*
hid;
(b) him, if, live, myth, with, is, bill, tin, ridge, pick, big"]
3. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional characteristics of the /e/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and (b) follow it.
(a) wet, met, vest, then, rest, left, nest, chest, jet, read, yes, get,
help;
(b) ebb, them, chef, death, says, tell, pen, fetch, ledge, lengthy
4. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional charac
teristics of the /je/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
(a) van, that, lamb, gnat, champ, jam, rank, Yankee, gas, ham;
(b) have, hath, match, badge, bag, sang
5. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional character
istics of the /<l7 phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and (b)
follow it.
(a) waft, mar, vast, tsar, lark, nasty, chance, jar, raft, yard, gar
den;
(b) harm, starve, hearth, pass, bars, snarl, march, large
6. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional charac
teristics of the Inl phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
(a) was, mop, vocative, thong, lot, not, chop, job, rob, yonder,
got, god, hot;
(b) mock, bomb, of, moth, was, doll, upon, scotch, dodge, fog,
wrong
7. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional character
istics of the h:l phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and (b)
follow it.
(a) war, more, vortex, thorn, saw, law, nor, chore, jaw, raw, your,
core, gore, horn;
(b) orb, storm, cough, north, horde, horse, all, thorn, gorge,
morgue
8. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional charac
teristics of the /л/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
(a) worry, much, vulgar, thunder, thus, luck, nut, just, rub", young,
gutter, hut;
(b) tub, come, love, doth, buzz, dull, none, much, judge, bug, young
9. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional charac
teristics of the /u/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
(a) wood, foot, soot, hook, July, rook, good, cook;
(b) room, puss, bull, putch, took
10. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional character
istics of the laii phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
(a) woo, food, you, zoom, loop, noon, roof, chew, June, youth,
goose, who, zoo;
(b) broom, groove, booth, goose, choose, moon, stooge, duke, Bug
11. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional character
istics of the /э:/ phoneme. Deline the consonants which (a) precede and
(b) follow it.
. (a) were, murky, virgin, thirst, lurch, nurse, Röntgen, church journey, year, girl, her;
(b) kerb, worm, serve, mirth, earl, burn, urge, quirk, burg 12. Transcribe these words. Use them to illustrate the distributional charac-
дшаi flirt foil и Phoneme. Define the consonants which (a) precede
fa) maroon, vocation, Thalia, lagoon, narrate, racoon, Japan, galloon, habitual;
(b) loathsome, of, Plymouth, jewel, letters, bulwark, agnostik Control Tasks
•I. Describe thOHophonic differences of the vowel phonemes Ik, i, e, аг, в, л,
v, a, u, it, a:, a/ in these words.
No. 1 /i:/
easily, sea, we, meals, cheaper, tree, fever, sleet, speaker, he, teach, keep, sheep
No. 2 hi
in, Ш, big, pit, silly, middle, shilling, thing, rivers, lived, hill
No. 3/e/
5eI5'«iedl ten> ад1(1' pence' weather> eleven, anyway, them, very, d, debt
No. 4 Ы
nOTT4pl£n! sad', ехаЯ1' natural. imagine, shallow, strand, channel, Jack, hats, pal, cab
No. 5 hi
bar, far, started, dancing, large, grass, half, harbour, card, yard
No. 6 hi
| d&bh^hW??' S0Ud> nod^> crop' с , dollar, bomb, John, gone, yonder, hot, pot No. 7 /a/ sorts> shore'reÄ)rd' water> |
' S0Ud> nod^> crop' соиёЫщ, shocked, gon d ht t
No. 8 /u/
good-bye^cook W°Uld' t0°k> l00kedt SOOt' room' should> y
No. 9 /u:/
e!tool' move'food' soon' rujned, cool, hoof, boot, chew, 136
No. 10 /л/
bus, must, nothing, funny, summer, instructor, luck, just, come, chuckle, wonderful, vulgar, thunder, thus, shut
No. И fr.f
bird, turned, girl, sir, heard, Sherlock, workers, Germany, churches, curly, nurse, dirt, year, murky, purr
No. 12 hi
along, about, upon, to see, perhaps, summer, August, London, desolate, condition, consist, speaker, letter, never, anxious, human
2. Transcribe these words. Present the rules for reading the vowel phonemes in bold type. Single out the words which are exceptions from thejules, j
holidays, Maria, forward, sightseeing, mouth, comfort, cafe, billiards, workers, Crusoe, Sherlock, Mathew, Earnest, forehead, pneumonia, detached, bothers, head, varnished, Priestley, puzzling, pieces, asylum, record, Maugham, Friday, woodland, newspaper, taxis, unbelievable, purpose, unfortunately, awful, year, hotel, awkward, coughing, employ I ee
b) Diphthongs
At/
The phoneme /ei/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: aorta /eib:ta/, day /dei/.
/ei/ is preceded by the following consonants: labial
bilabial: pay, bay
labio-dental: fail lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thane
alveolar: tale, day
post-alveolar, cacuminal: ray
palato-alveolar: фаре, chain
lingual, medio-lingual: Yale pharyngal
lingual, backlingual: cake
pharyngal (glottal): hay
/ei/ is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: ape
labio-dental: pave lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: bathe
alveolar: ate, pace, laid, raise, ale, mane
palato-alveolar: age
lingual, backlingual: vague
/ei/, like other fronting diphthongs, is shortened before fortis, it results in the reduction of the first element, compare /lert — leid/.
The glide of /ei/ is obscured or may be of /э/ type.
There is some variation in the openness of the starting point. A more open quality is characteristic of low-prestige dialect forms, e. g. Cockney, Birmingham, Southern United States.
M
The phoneme /ai/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: •idea /atldia/, my /mai/.
/ai/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: "labial
bilabial: pie, by
labio-dental: fight lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thigh
alveolar: tie, die
post-alveolar, cacuminal: right
palato-alveolar: shy, child
lingual, backlingual: kite pharyngal (glottal): high
Ы is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: type, time
labio-dental: life lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: scythe
alveolar: night, ride_
palato-alveolar: oblige
lingual, backlingual: like
For contextual variations see /ei/.
The starting point may vary: a) close starting point, above /да/ characterizes affected speech; b) retracted starting point is found in Cockney and Birmingham.
/au/
The phoneme /au/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: owlish /'auhJV, now /nau/.
/au/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pound,- bound
labio-dental: fowl lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thousand
alveolar: town, down
post-alveolar, cacuminal: round
palato-alveolar: shout
lingual, backlingual: cow pharyngal (glottal): how
138
/au/ is followed by consonants characterized as: lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: mouth
alveolar: rout, crowd
palato-alveolar; pouch
The first element is shorter before fortis, compare: /laut — laud/.
In prestigious old-fashioned speech the nucleus is more back. Very front starting points are found in many dialects.
/01/
The phoneme /01/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: oily /bill/, boy /boi/.
/oi/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: point, boy
labio-dental: foil lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: toy, doily
post-alveolar, cacuminal: roister
lingual, medio-lingual: yoick
lingual, backlingual: coy pharyngal (glottal): hoist
[oil is followed by consonants characterized as: labial
labio-dental: coif lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: adroit, annoyed
palato-alveolar: voyage
lingual, backlingual: hoik
For contextual variations see /ei/,
A very close nucleus may be^heard only in dialects, e. g. Cockney.
M
The phoneme /эй/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: obey /aulbei/, no /пэи/.
/эй/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: poach, bow
labio-dental: foe lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: thole
alveolar: tow, dome
post-alveolar, cacuminal: road
palato-alveolar: show, choke
lingual, backlingual: coal, go pharyngal (glottal): hoe
/эй/ is followed by consonants characterized ast labial
bilabial: hope
labiodental: loaf lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: growth,
alveolar: wrote, rode
palato-alveolar: coach
lingual, backlingual: oak
The first element of the diphthong /эй/ is reduced before foriis consonants, compare: coat — code.
Before dark [I] the second element is sometimes lost, the diph-Jhong reminds /з:/, e. g. coat /кэи!/—>-/кз:1/, saAo/e/haul/—+/Ьз:1/-
M
The phoneme /ю/ may occur in initial and in terminal position! eery /'юн/, idea /aiidia/.
[ю] is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: peer, beer
labio-dental: fear lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: theatre
alveolar: tear, dear
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rear
palato-alveolar: sheer
lingual, medio-lingual: year
lingual, backlingual: Kßary pharyngal (glottal): hear
Ivdl is followed by alveolar consonants and sonorants Im, n, r, 1/: labial
bilabial: museum lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: beard, fierce,^ librarian, centennial
post-alveolar: appearing
The nucleus may begin closer, nearer to hi.
Dialect speakers have very close starting points, as a sequence of I'v.l to /э/.
Very open endings are characteristic of affected speech.
This phoneme is highly variable, because the glide /э/ is more sonorous than the nucleus /i/. Thus /ia/ may be divided morphologically into the nucleus and the glide in unstressed position, e. g. theoretical /Oiairetilral, 01-э-1геиЫ/.
Greater sonority of the glide may lead to the /je/, /ja:/ instead of /ю/ articulation, e, g. frontier /ifrAntra, tfrAntja/.
/1Э/ may turn into /t/ in terminal position: real /rial, nl/.
Jn present day RP year is pronounced as /ja:/.
м
The phoneme /еэ/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: airway /teswei/, air /еэ/.
/еэ/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: pear, bear
labio-dentai: fare lingual, forelingual, apical
dental, interdental: there
alveolar: tear, dare
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rare
palato-alveolar: share
lingual, medio-lingual: Yare
lingual, backlingual: care pharyngal (glottal): hare
/еэ/ is followed by consonants: labial
bilabial: Shairp Üngual, forelingual, apical
alveolar spared, scarce
The chief variation is in the presence or absence of t he/э/off-glide.
The use of the stable nucleus /e:/ is on the increase, e. g. scarce /ske:s/, scares /ske:z/.
M
The phoneme /иэ/ may occur in initial and in terminal position: Urdu /'uadu/, poor /риэ/.
/иэ/ is preceded by consonants characterized as: labial
bilabial: poor, boor lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: tour, dour
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rural
palato-alveolar: sure
lingual, medio-Iingual: your
lingual, backlingual: kursaal pharyngal (glottal): houri
/иэ/ is followed by consonants: labial
bilabial: gourmand lingual, forelingual, apical
alveolar: bourn
post-alveolar, cacuminal: rural
The phoneme /иэ/ is highly variable because the nucleus of this «diphthong is more sonorous than the glide. Its pronunciation may lead to phonological disintegration of /иэ/ into /u/ and /э/: influence /'пШи-эпз/. In this case the morphological division takes place within the diphthong /иэ/.
Hl
The greater sonority of the glide may also lead to the substitution of /w/ for /u/: influence /imfluvrans/.
In an accented syllable /иэ/ may turn into /o:/, e. g. sure, poorr your, you're and other high frequency words.
The phoneme /иэ/ may turn into /u/ before dark [I]: usual
/ljugual/ —у /IJU3U1/. .
The use of /o:/ in such words as tourist, moor, sure, furious, is becoming more and more frequent.
Questions
1. What is the difference between closing and centring diphthongs? 2. What can you say about distributional, contextual and idiolecta! peculiarities of the diphthongs /ei, ai, 01, та, еэ, из, аи, эй/?
Exercises
1. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution
al characteristics of the /ei/ phoneme. State how I til is influenced by the
consonants which (a) precede and (b) follow it.
(a) way, may, veil, they, lay, nay, rate, jail, Yale, gay, hate:
(b) Ьабе, shave, bathe, pace, maize, pain, age, plague
2. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution
al characteristics of the /ai/ phoneme. Define the consonants which^<a}>
[precede and (b) follow it.
(a) why, my, vile, thy, lie, night, ride, jibe, kind, high;
(b) imbibe, time, five, lithe, mice, rise, nine, oblige, Mike
3. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribu
tional characteristics of the /аи/ phoneme. Define the consonants which
(a) precede and (b) follow it.
(a) wow, mouse, vow, thou, loud, now, round, chow, gown, how;
(b) mouth (v), crowd, mouse, owl, down, gouge
4. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate ihe distribution
al characteristics of the /oi/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a)
precede and (b) follow it.
(a) moist, voyage, soil, loiter, roister, joy, yoick, goiter, hoist;
(b) coif, choice, oil, join, voyage, hoik
5. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution
al characteristics of the /эй/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a)
precede and (b) follow it,
(a) woe, mow, vote, though, so, zone, low, no, rope, joke, yolk,
go, hoe, known;
(b) home, rove, loathe, rode, close, pole, own, doge, rogue .
6. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution
al characteristics of the Ы phoneme. Define the consonants which (a)
precede and (b) follow it.
Hi
(a) weir, mere, veer, theatre, sear, zero, lear, near, rear, cheer,
jeer, year, gear, hear;
(b) licentiate, beard, fierce, hear, ideals, antipodean
7. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution
al characteristics of the /еэ/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a)
precede and (b) follow it
(a) ware, mare, variance, there, Zara, lair, Nares, rare, chair,
Yare, garish, hare;
(b) Shairp, theirs, Pitcairn
8. Transcribe these words. Read them. Use them to illustrate the distribution*
at characteristics of the /иэ/ phoneme. Define the consonants which (a)
precede and (b) follow it.
(a) wooer, moot, zoological, luer, rural, chewer, jurist, your, gourd;
'b) gourd, arduous, Boers, annual, bourn
Control Tasks
*1. Sort out these words according to the distributional characteristics of the phonemes /ei, эй, ai, аи, oi, », вэ, иэ/ in relation to the (A) preceding or (B) following consonants. Follow the order of consonant classification: (1) Labial a) bilabial, b) lablo-dental. (2) Lingual, forelingual a) apical, (inter)dental, b) apical alveolar, c) apical palato-alveolar, d) cacuminal post-alveolar. (3) Lingual medio-Iingual. (4) Lingual backlingual. (5) Pharyngal (glottal),
/ei/
stay, pay, game, again, make, lake, lay, pain, case, day, weigh, rain, famous, ray, able, way, ache, late, lain, David, age, waste, pale, sane, taken, Wales, shape, face, gave, paint
/аи/
go, over, hope, boating, hotel, show, hold, only, follow, road, shoulder, poker, foe, gold, don't, old, cold, both, motor, total, bureau, social, though, low, poet, yolk, motive, so, nose, cosy, jokes, noticed
/ai/
why, high, kind, wife, wild, mild, lie, die, nine, while, silence, profile, right, eye, side, like, kindly, isles, eyes, idea, rise, climb, quite, my, bright, Michael, kite
/аи/
how, thousand, south, now, down, round, pound, mouth, drown, out, couch, found, loud, sound
Ы
join, enjoy, boy, point, coin, destroy, soil, employ, noise, joint
/в/
dear, near, year, idea, Crimea, here, severe, museum, accordeon, fear, clear, ears, cheer, theatre, real, realize, appear, period, tear, weary
/sa/
there, parents, anywhere, care, stare, bare', area, various, despair, square, stairs, carefully, pair, Mary, dare, farewell
/из/ ' sure, poor, tour, during, usual, moor, Europe
*2. Transcribe these words. Use them as examples to explain the rules for reading the letters in bold type which represent the diphthongs /ei, эй, ai, аи, э], за, еэ, us/.
south, sincerely, strangely, facilitated, noticeable, winding, poor, following, realize, motor, heighten, potatoes, over night, theatre, jurist, Mary, Michael Angelo, Jane Eyre, enjoyment, typhoid, Europe, dour