Phonetics : The sounds of language
“Vowels”
Presented by :
Wini Martika
Nelli
Rizky Alfadina
Phonology course
Mr. Yose Rianugraha
Vowels
• Vowel is a speech sound produced with
vibrating vocal cords and a continous
unrestricted flow of air coming from the
mouth.
• The most well-known vowels in english are :
AEIOU
(adapted from : English Pronunciation by paulette Dale and Lilian Poms)
Simple Vowels and Diphtongs
• English vowels are divided into two major
types, simple vowels and Diphtongs.
• Simple vowels do not show a noticeable
change in quality during their articulation, for
example the vowels of : pit, set, cat, dog,but,
put.
• Simple vowel : pit (ɪ), set (ɛ)
• Diphtongs are vowels that exhibit a change in
quality a single syllable.
• Example : say, buy, cow, ice, lout, go and boy.
• Diphtong : say (ei), boy (oi)
Basic Parameters for Describing
Vowels
• The American English vowel sounds are described in terms
of (front, central, back); height (open, mid, close); lip
position (spread, unrounded, rounded); length (short,
long); jaw-dropping, and tenseness (tense, lax).
• 1- HEIGHT: Tongue Position in the mouth:
High (/i:/, /ɪ/, /ɚ/, /u:/, /ʊ/) eg : heat, sue.
Middle (/eɪ/, /ɛ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /oʊ/)
Low (/æ/, /ɑ:/, /ɔ/)
(taken from : ingles-americano.blogspot.com/2011/07/vowel/sounds.html)
2- BACKNESS: Far front or back the tongue is in the
mouth:
Front (/i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/)
Central (/ɚ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/)
Back. (/u:/, /ʊ/, /oʊ/, /ɔ/)
3- LIP POSITION: Whether the lips are rounded (Oshape) or spread (no rounding) when the sound is
being made:
Unrounded (/i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɚ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/
Rounded (/u:/, /ʊ/, /oʊ/, /ɔ/)
• 4- LENGTH: Represents vowel sound has one or two
parts:
Short (/ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/)
Long (/i:/, /eɪ/, /ju/, /oʊ/, and the diphthong /aɪ/)
Complex (/u:/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/, and the diphthongs /aʊ/, /oɪ/)
5- TENSENESS: Refers to the amount of muscular
tension around the mouth when creating vowel
sounds:
Lax ( /i/ and /u/ *, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/, /ʊ/)
Tense (/i:/, /eɪ/, /ɚ/, /u:/, /ɔ/, /oʊ/, and the diphthongs
/aɪ/, /aʊ/, /oɪ/)
*/i/ and /u/ weak sound
Tense and Lax Vowels
• Tense vowels are produced with a placement
of the tongue that results in greater vocal
tract constriction than that of non-tense
vowels.
• Lax vowels are produced as the same way with
tense vowels, but with a less constricted
articulation.
Phonetic Transcription of American
English Consonants and Vowels
Let’s practice it
together
Suprasegmentals
Suprasegmentals or prosodic properties refers
to properties of an utterance that apply to groups of
segments, rather than to individual segments.
Pitch
• Pitch is the auditory properties of a sound that
enables us to place it on a scale that ranges from
how to high.
• Pitch : tone and intonation.
• Tone is the general sound of what somebody says.
For example, being angry, upset or happy can affect
the tone of what we say.
• Intonation is the pattern of rising and falling pitch
over an utterance.
For example :
He found it on the street?
[hiː ˈfaʊnd ɪt | ɒn ðə ↗ˈstriːt]
Yes, he found it on the street
[↘ˈjɛs hi ˈfaʊnd ɪt | ɒn ðə ↘ˈstriːt ]
How did you ever escape?
[↗ˈˈhaʊ dɪdjuː | ˈɛvɚ | ə↘ˈskeɪp]
Thank You For Your Attention
Regards, WND