The Hierarchical
Structure of English
Vowel Systems
William Labov,
University of Pennsylvania
PLM 2010
The argument for a hierarchical architecture
of subsets of English vowels
1. The binary notation that defines subsets is consistent
with the basic phonotactic condition on all English
vowels.
2. The study of chain shifts in progress shows that the
consequences of changes in the inventory of a subset
are confined to members of that subset.
3. The directions of chain shifting are governed by the
dialect-specific development of peripherality in a
given subset of vowels.
The argument for a hierarchical architecture
of subsets of English vowels
1. The binary notation that defines subsets is consistent
with the basic phonotactic condition on all English
vowels.
2. The study of chain shifts in progress shows that the
consequences of changes in the inventory of a subset
are confined to members of that subset.
3. The directions of chain shifting are governed by the
dialect-specific development of peripherality in a
given subset of vowels.
Representations of English vowels
FLEECE
KIT
FACE
DRESS
TRAP
LOT
THOUG
HT
STRUT
GOAT
FOOT
aia GOOSE
wo PRICE
y MOUTH
CHOICE
iɪ
e
ɛ
æ
ɑ
ɔ
ʌ
o
ʊ
u
Long
Short
Long and
ingliding
Upgliding
Front
upgliding
i
u
iy
e
ʌ
ey
æ
o
Back
upgliding
iw
uw
ih
uh
oy
ow
eh
oh
ay
aw
æh
ah
r-less
The basic phonotactic condition (BPC)
English words cannot end with a stressed vowel
THE PHONOTACTICS OF ENGLISH VOWELS
LONG VOWELS
heat hate height
heed hayed hide
he
hay
high
SHORT VOWELS
pit
pet
pat
bid
bead bad
*[pɪ] *[pɛ] *[pæ]
quote hoot
hoed who’d
hoe
who
pot
putt put
bod
bud
hood
*[po] *[pʌ] *[pʊ]
Hierarchical subsystems of English vowels: length is
defined independently of phonetic realization
English vowels
Short
Long
V
Upgliding
Long and
ingliding
Front
upgliding
Back
upgliding
Vy
Vw
Vh
Phonemes of American English in broad IPA notation.
(Kurath 1977: 18-19)
Checked
Free
Front Back
Front Central Back
/ɪ/
/ʊ/
/i/
/e/
/ʌ/
/e/
/æ/
/ɑ/
/u/
/ɜ˞/
/o/
/ɔ/
Diphthongs
/ai/
/au/
/oi/
Transcribing American English phonemes in broad IPA
notation does not reflect the BPC
Checked
Free
Front Back
Front Central Back
/ɪ/
/ʊ/
/i/
/e/
/ʌ/
/e/
/æ/
/ɑ/
/u/
/ɜ˞/
/o/
see
say
/ɔ/
Diphthongs
/ai/
/au/
/oi/
sigh
sow
soy
(Kurath 1977: 18-19)
sue
so
saw
Binary notation for the word classes of North American English
bit
bet
bat
put
but
pot
KIT
FOOT
DRESS STRUT
THOUGHT
beat
bait quoit
bite
FACE
suit
CHOICE
boot
boat
bout
halve
GOOSE
GOAT
bought
pa,father
The argument for a hierarchical architecture
of subsets of English vowels
1. The binary notation that defines subsets is consistent
with the basic phonotactic condition on all English
vowels.
2. The study of chain shifts in progress shows that the
consequences of changes in the inventory of a subset
are confined to members of that subset.
3. The directions of chain shifting are governed by the
dialect-specific development of peripherality in a
given subset of vowels.
The triggering of chain shifts in North American English dialects
The merger of /o/ in cot, hock, don
with
/oh/ in caught, hawk, dawn
Formation of the /oh/ class
O.E. oht
though, daughter,
brought
wall, wharf, ward, walrus
Mod. E. wal/r
ɔ:
O.E. aw
thaw,straw, claw
O.E. ag
maw,saw, draw
M.E. au
O.E. eah <- ah
fought, taught
Mod.E. o
off, lost, toss, cloth, on,
wrong, song, dog (hog, fog,
moral, coral,long, song,
wrong, strong
O.F. a + u
brawn, pawn
M.E. av
hawk, laundry
O.F. au
applaud, fraud, because
O.F. am, an
lawn, spawn
Minimal pairs contrasting /o/ and /oh/
cot
caught
rot
wrought
hock
hawk
cock
caulk
cod
cawed
odd
awed
Don
dawn
pond
pawned
Sol
Saul
collar
caller
holler
hauler
knotty
naughty
odd ability
audibility
The merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, etc. (ANAE Map 9.1)
Canada
E.N.E.
The West
W. Pa.
Canadian shift in the vowel system of Marsha M., Montreal
The Canadian shift: mean values for ANAE Canadian
subjects [N=29] vs. all others [N=410]
The Canadian shift nested in the low back merger (ANAE Map 11.7)
Low back merger
isogloss
The Canadian Shift
Short
Long ingliding
i
u
e
ʌ
æ
o
iy
ey
oh
æh
ah
iw
uw
oy
ow
ay
aw
Front upgliding
Back upgliding
The Pittsburgh Shift
Short
Long ingliding
i
u
e
ʌ
æ
o
iy
ey
oh
æh
ah
iw
uw
oy
ow
ay
aw
Front upgliding
Back upgliding
The Pittsburgh Shift in the vowel system of Henry K., 64,
61 [1996], TS 544
The Pittsburgh Shift: Mean values of low vowels for 20 dialects.
PI = Pittsburgh
IS = Inland South
WPA = Western Pennsylvania
M = Midland;
CA = Canada
N = Inland North.
PR = Providence;
The Canadian Shift across subsystems
Long and ingliding vowels
Short vowels
/oh/
/e/
/æ/
/o/
The Pittsburgh Shift across subsystems
Long and ingliding vowels
Short vowels
/oh/
/e/
/æ/
/o/
Forks in the road after the low back merger
/i/
/u/
/e/
/ /
/æ/
/o/
/oh/
The shift of /o/ to /oh/ has consequences only for other
members of the short vowel subsystem
Binary notation for the word classes of North American English
bit
bet
bat
put
but
pot
KIT
FOOT
DRESS STRUT
THOUGHT
beat
bait quoit
bite
FACE
suit
CHOICE
boot
boat
bout
halve
GOOSE
GOAT
bought
pa,father
Distinctive features of American English vowels
Short = 1 mora
Long = 2 morae
The argument for a hierarchical architecture
of subsets of English vowels
1. The binary notation that defines subsets is consistent
with the basic phonotactic condition on all English
vowels.
2. The study of chain shifts in progress shows that the
consequences of changes in the inventory of a subset
are confined to members of that subset.
3. The directions of chain shifting are governed by the
dialect-specific development of peripherality in a
given subset of vowels.
General principles of chain shifting
In chain shifts,
I. Long vowels rise.
II. Short nuclei fall.
II. Back nuclei shift to the front.
--Labov, Yaeger & Steiner 1972
Attested Instances of the general Principles of Chain Shifting in Completed Changes
Principle I
Principle II
raising of
(a) lowering of
(b) lowering of
long vowels
short vowels
diphthongal nuclei
English
North Frisian
English
German Vegliote
Yiddish [Central]
Yiddish
Yiddish [Western]
Swedish
Swedish
Frisian
North Frisian
Portuguese
Romansch
Swiss French
Vegliote
Romansh
Czech
Greek
Lettish
Lithuanian
Korean
Old Prussian
Albanian
Lappish
Syriac
Akha
Celtic
Aramaic
Red = non-Indo-European
Principle III
fronting of
back vowels
Yiddish
Swedish
North Frisian
Romansh
French
Lettish
Greek
Albanian
Akha
Celtic
Cross-Dialectal Comprehension Gating Experiment: Birmingham
Word
Phrase
Sentence
1. _________ ________________ ___________________________
2. _________ ________________ ___________________________
3. _________ ________________ ___________________________
4. _________ ________________ ___________________________
5. _________ ________________ ___________________________
6. _________ ________________ ___________________________
7. _________ ________________ ___________________________
8. _________ ________________ ___________________________
9. _________ ________________ ___________________________
10. ________ ________________ ___________________________
The Southern Shift (Southern U. S.)
Short
hit, kids
set, bed
Danny
Long ingliding
i
u
e
ʌ
æ
o
beatin’
iy
grade
ey
oh
oy
ay
æh
ah
iw
uw
ow
Guy
aw
wipin’
Front upgliding
Back upgliding
Notation for the word classes of North American English
without distinctive rounding (PLC 3)
Development of front inglidimg vowels with the Southern Shift
ih
eh
The Southern Shift (So. England, Australia)
Short
Long ingliding
i
u
e
ʌ
æ
o
iy
ey
oh
æh
ah
iw
uw
oy
ow
ay
aw
Front upgliding
Back upgliding
In the Southern Shift, long vowels fall
and short vowels rise
The study of current changes in progress indicate
that the dimension determining the direction of chain
shifts is not length but distance from the outer
envelope of phonological space (peripherality).
Phonological space with peripheral and nonperipheral tracks
no
npe
pe
r ip
r ip
he
he
ra
ra
l
l
no
p
n
i
r
e
e
h
p
r
e
p
l
a
r
i
e
h
p
l
a
r
General principles of chain shifting (2)
In chain shifts,
I. Tense nuclei rise along a peripheral track
II. Lax nuclei fall along a non-peripheral track
General principles of chain shifting (3)
In chain shifts,
I. Peripheral nuclei rise.
II. Nonperipheral nuclei fall.
The Canadian shift
bit
Specification of peripherality for Canada
Short = 1 mora
peripheral
-
-
-
-
-
-
Long = 2 morae
peripheral
++
++ ++ ++ ++
++ ++ ++
+-
+-
+-
Pattern 1 vowel shifting in West Germanic phonological space
(the English Great Vowel shift, Middle High German shift, etc.)
The Southern Shift
hit
kids
beatin’
set
bed
Danny
grade
Guy
wipin’
The Pittsburgh Shift
Mean values of 14 vowels for 21 North American dialects
The peripherality frame for the normalized ANAE data
Insertion of vowel subsystems into West Germanic
phonological space
Tuw
iy
Kuw
ey
oy
u
i
æh
ow
oh
ʌ
e
æ
ay
o
ah
Interpretation of peripherality frame in
Stampe/Donegan dimensions
F2
l
F1
The Southern Shift in the peripherality framework
IS
IS
PI
CA
Automatic vowel measurement of 7,101 vowels over 50 msec in
57 minute interview with Jean M., 60, Philadelphia [2006]
Mean vowels with primary stress of Jean M.
Nonperipheral track defined by mean short vowels and
peripheral track defined by Vh long and ingliding vowels
Back chain shift before /r/ for Jean M.
four
car
/ey/ in checked syllables for Jean M., Philadelphia
/ey/ in final position for Jean M., Philadelphia
31 tokens of SAY spoken by Jean M., Philadelphia
say
say
Three vowels from the Southern Shift of Birmingham
Lowering of /ey/ along the nonperipheral track for 137 tokens
of /ey/ in the Southern Shift of Wendy P., Birmingham
Specification of peripherality for the South
Short = 1 mora
peripheral
peripheral
+ + +
-+
- - Long = 2 morae
-+ ++ ++ ++
++
-+ ++
+-
+ - +-
The hierarchical structure of the English vowel system
as seen through the study of change in progress
All English vowel systems are governed by the basic phonotactic condition,
which distinguishes long vowels from short vowels by the license to occur
in final stressed position.
For the majority of English dialects which have developed diphthongization
of long mid and high vowels. a binary analysis of long vowels is governed
by the generalization that no word ends in a stressed vowel.
The vocalic chain shifts in current North American English have been
initiated by the migration of a member of one subset into another, largely
into the set of long and ingliding vowels.
The chain shifts that follow show the tendency to maximum dispersion
within the subsets defined as short, front upgliding, back upgliding and long
or ingliding vowels.
The different directions of unidirectional chain shifting are determined by
whether the nuclei of a given subsystem are located on the peripheral or
nonperipheral track as defined for high and mid vowels.
The hierarchical structure of the English vowel system as
seen through the study of change in progress (2)
Peripherality does not appear to be defined for low vowels in current West
Germanic vowel space. Some low vowels are differentiated by duration,
though it has been found that duration contrasts are less stable than other
phonetic dimensions (Chen and Wang 1975, Labov and Baranowski 2006)
In the history of English, low vowels show bidirectional movement with
alternate fronting and backing. This may be a precondition for the
development of dialect divergence in vowel systems (PLC3 Ch. 8).
References
Chen, Matthew and William S.-Y. Wang 1975. Sound Change:
actuation and implementation. Language 51:255-81.
Labov, William, Malcah Yaeger & Richard Steiner 1972. A
Quantitative Study of Sound Change in Progress. Philadelphia: U. S.
Regional Survey.
Labov, William and Maciej Baranowski 2006. 50 msec. Language
Variation and Change 18:223-240.
Labov, William 2010. Principles of Linguistic Change, Vol. 3:
Cognitive and cultural factors. Oxford: Wiley/Blackwell.