Spoken language phonetics Vowel articulation transcription LING 200

Spoken language phonetics: Vowel articulation, transcription LING 200 Spring 2006

Homework #2 • Due Thurs. Apr 13 at the beginning of section • Ch. 6 problems – (5) a-g, j – (6)-(7) – (9) – (10) a, c, e – (11)-(12)

Announcements • Quiz on Ch. 6 extended to 2: 30 pm today (**just this once**) • Quiz on Ch. 7 (minus first section, ‘The Pronunciation of Morphemes’) opens Sunday (4 -9) 10 am, closes Wed (4 -12) noon • Clickers should be in book store today – extra credit?

A FAQ • Which phonetic symbols do we have to memorize in this class? • Answer: those used for English

Manner of articulation (degree of occlusion) • How close are lower and upper articulator? – Relatively close: consonants – Relatively far apart: vowels

Vowels Some dimensions of vowel systems • Height: high, mid, low • Backness: front, central, back • Labiality (lip rounding): rounded, unrounded

Vowel backness x height

The Human Language Evolves. “With and Without Words” • Clip on vowel systems

A five vowel inventory e. g. Spanish (place of articulation) front central back vowel height high i u mid e o low

Spanish vowels front high mid low central [mis ] ‘Mass’ [mes ] ‘table’ back [mus ] ‘muse’ [mosk ] ‘housefly’ [m s ] ‘dough’

Lip rounding (place of articulation) vowel height (degree of occlusion) front central back unrounded high i u mid low e o

Phonetic description of vowels • • • (height – backness – rounding) [i] = high front unrounded vowel [e] = mid front unrounded vowel [o] = mid back rounded vowel [u] = high back rounded vowel [ ] = low central (-back) unrounded vowel – cf. [a] = low front unrounded vowel

IPA vowel chart

Another five vowel inventory Mandarin (Chinese) [y] = high front rounded vowel [ ] = mid back unrounded vowel high front unrnd i rnd y back unrnd mid low rnd u

Mandarin vowel quality front unrnd high [l ] ‘advantage’ back rnd unrnd [ly ] [lû] ‘green’ ‘road’ mid low [l ] ‘happy’ [l ] ‘spicy’ [ ] = high falling tone

Long vs. short vowels • Vowel “quality” – height: high vs. mid vs. low – backness: front vs. central vs. back – rounding: rounded vs. unrounded • Vowel “quantity”: long vs. short

Danish front vowel qualities

Danish vowel length contrasts

English vowels • English, a Germanic language Proto-Germanic West North East Faroese Icelandic Norwegian Swedish Danish German Afrikaans Dutch Frisian English Gothic

Proto-Germanic Vowels i i: e e: u u: o:

Middle English vowels < The English Language

Middle English long and short vowels minus the diphthongs i: u: e: E: o: E : a :

Modern English • Historical length > ‘tense’/ ‘lax’ contrast – Long vowels > ‘tense’ – Short vowels > ‘lax’

Western North America Basic set of contrasts in stressed syllables high lower-high mid higher-mid low front central back unrounded i e E u o

Western North America contrasts in stressed syllables front central unrounded high lower-high mid higher-mid low heed hid hayed head had back rounded who’d hood hoed HUD hod, hawed

Acoustic plot of vowel quality a female speaker from southern California

Further east in North America contrasts in stressed syllables high lower-high mid higher-mid low front central back unrounded i e E u o

Further east in North America contrasts in stressed syllables high lower-high mid higher-mid low front central back unrounded heed hid hayed head had HUD who’d hood hoed hawed hod

[ ] vs. [ ] A female speaker from New York City • • • cot Polly Don coffee body vs. vs. vs. caught Paulie dawn cough bawdy

Acoustic plot of vowel quality a male speaker from southern New Jersey

[ ] in Western N. America In Western North America, [ ] only before [r]: • [m r] more • [mor ] mower • [m r] mar ([r ] = syllabic [r])

English vowels: rhotic nuclei A basic set of [Vr] combinations in North American English front central back [ur ] high [ r] mid [Er] low [ r] = [r ] [ r]

English vowels: rhotic nuclei A basic set of [Vr] combinations in North American English front central high back boor beer mid bear low burr bore bar some varieties have more vowel quality distinctions before [r]: Mary [e], merry [E], marry [ ]

More on [r ] • Continuation of clip from The Human Language Evolves. “With and Without Words”

Diphthongs • 2 vowel qualities – [ w]/[ w] = [ ]: [h wd] how’d – [ j] = [ ]: [h jd] hide – [ j] = [ ]: [t jd] toyed • For many native speakers of English, [e], [o] are diphthongs – [ej] = [e ] [hed] ([hejd]) hayed – [ow] = [o ] [hod] ([howd]) hoed

Unstressed vowels • Stressed and unstressed syllables – verbs: nouns: – to [ri E kt] a [rí Ekt] reject – to [prot. E st] a [prót. Est] protest to [prót. Est] (‘stage a protest’)

English unstressed vowels [ ] only occurs in unstressed syllables unstressed [ ] cf. stressed [ ] hiccup [h k p] cup [k p] wicked [w k d] cud [k d] racket [r k t] cut [k t]

English unstressed vowels • [ ] + nasals, liquids • For many speakers, – [r ] – [ l] = [l ] – [ n] = [n ] – [ m] = [m ] [p kr ] picker [p k l] [p kl pickle [T k n] [T kn ] thicken [r D m] [r Dm ] rhythm [ ] = syllabic

Transcription practice • • • scrimmage schism asthma azalea mayonnaise

Transcription practice • • • scrimmage schism asthma azalea mayonnaise [skr m ] [sk z m] [ zm ] [ zelj ] [m nez]

More transcription practice • • • kook cucumber mortgage grammar language

• kook • cucumber • mortgage [kuk] [kjuk mbr ] [m rg ] • grammar • language [græmr ] [le. Ngw ]