VOWELS
 VOWELS... are sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the
lips.
 VOWELS VS CONSONANTS
 Some English consonants do not obstruct the air more than some vowels, e.g. „hay, way”
 /w,j/ - phonetically like vowels, phonologically like consonants: an apple, a way
the apple, the way
 Different languages have different ways of dividing their sounds into vowels and consonants, e.g. in some
dialects of Chinese „r” is treated as a vowel
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Bi /bI/+ ?
 H+ ? W+?
 Hen, hurry, way, (+consonant?) | big, binge, bit (+vowel?)
 Vowels and consonants have different patterns of distribution, often: c+v; v+c
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CRITERIA FOR VOWEL CLASSIFICATION
How do vowels differ from each other?
First, consider the vertical position of the tongue: the distance between the upper surface of the tongue and
the palate, ie.tongue height, e.g. /i:/ and /æ/
i: is a close / high vowel, æ is an open / low vowel
Second, consider which part of the tongue (front or back?) is raised the highest.
In /i:/ or /æ/ the front part of the tongue is raised, therefore these vowels are front.
In /u:/ or /α:/ the back part of the tongue is raised, therefore these vowels are back.
Cardinal vowels
A standard reference system – the range of vowels that human vocal apparatus can make; extremes of vowel
quality (like edges of a map); traditionally placed on a quadrilateral
Lip rounding – positions of the lips:
rounded – corners of the lips are brought towards each other and the lips are pushed forwards, e.g. /u:/
spread – corners of the lips moved away form each other, as for a smile, e.g. /e, i:/
neutral – lips are not noticeably rounded or spread, e.g. the shwa.
Nasalisation - A vowel can be influenced by a following consonant: vowels can be nasalized before nasal
consonants. Think how you produce the word „ban” – say it slowly. In a word like „ban” the soft palate
lowers for the nasal considerably before the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge. As a result, much of the
vowel is nasalized.
 REDUCED VOWEL QUALITY
 Vowels near the outside of the vowel chart are more distinct from one another than those near the center. The
„shwa” may designate many mid-central vowels that have a reduced vowel quality.
 Final notes...
 Vowel length in „bee, bead, beat” (?) - a given vowel is the longest in an open syllable, next longest in a
syllable closed by a voiced consonant, and shortest in a syllable closed by a voiceless consonant.
 Vowels are longer in stressed syllables e.g. imp′licit vs.sim′plistic
 Vowel length in „speed, speedy, speedily” (?) - vowels are the longest in monosyllabic words, next longest in
words with 2 syllables, and shortest in words with more than 2 syllables.
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ENGLISH VS. POLISH VOWELS
There are about twice as many English vowels (12) as there are Polish ones (6 [8])
Polish vowels are characteristically between English ones, and vice versa
There are no Polish vowels in the mid-central vowel space
The length of Polish vowels is not affected by following consonants
The shwa
 appears in reduced syllables – there are no reduced syllables in Polish
 „shwa” can be substituted by Poles with a full vowel (e.g. problem, opera, terminology)
English vs. Polish vowels (detailed description, unnecessary for the exam  )
/Λ/ - a very lax, relatively indistinct central vowel; the American version similar to shwa. British /Λ/ is
lower and slightly more central than American /Λ/
 /Λ/ in quality is close to and can be (wrongly!) substituted by Poles by P/a/ (numer, but), or /o/ (govern, front,
above, among)
 P/a/ is more back, lower and a bit longer than /Λ/
 P/o/ is more back, higher (esp. compared with British /Λ/), and rounded
 /æ/ - a front mid-low vowel, halfway between P/ε/ (higher, more front & lax) and P/a/ (lower, more back &
lax, less spread)
 /e/ - a front mid-high vowel, similar to Polish /ε/, which is lower and much more relaxed than E/e/
 /o: „horse”/ (BrE)- a mid-back, rounded vowel; P/o/ is much more open, lax and shorter
 /o „pot”/ (BrE) – similar to P/o/ - a mid-open, slightly less back &less tense vowel than P/o/
 /”o”/ (AmE) – mid-open, back, rounded vowel, between the P/o/ and P/a/. It is lower and longer than P/o/,
and more back and open than P/a/. It is more open than BrE short /o/
 /υ as in „good”/ - is a mid-close back vowel, but less back (or more central) than /u/ - the most extreme high
back vowel. The Polish/u/ is similar to E/u/, but slightly more lax, shorter, slightly lower and less back – E/u/
is like an exaggeration of P/u/
 /α as in „car”/ - is the most extreme low back vowel in English. The Polish /a/ is less open, less back, less
tense, and shorter; it is more similar to E/Λ/
 /i:/ - a high front tense vowel, compared with Polish /i/ it is more peripheral (higher, more front), more tense,
and longer
 /I/ - also high and front, but more mid-central compared with /i:/; no „equivalent” in Polish