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Receptive Skills and English Language: Problem of Vowel Sounds
Dr. M. S. Wankhede
Department of English
Dhanwate National College, Nagpur.
Abstract:
Acquiring a language is the mastering of four basic language skills viz. listening, speaking,
reading and writing; of which listening and reading are receptive or passive skills and they contrast with
the productive or active skills – speaking and writing. In India English is taught as a second or foreign
language and learners receive and understand the former two skills, hence they are receptive skills. In the
second language acquisition learners have to face the hindrance of their mother tongue and the way of
mastering the basic language skills of English poses great difficulty for the Indian learners as their organs
of speech have been set for their mother tongue and molding them in the new style or pattern is not that
much easy.
Second language acquisition is more difficult for the learners than learning “the language of their
parents and community in a monolingual setting” (Ng Bee Chin, 2007:40) for, the first language
acquisition begins at a ‘relatively young age’ as compared to the second language acquisition. Language
plays significant role in communication and “communication and language are very closely related but
they are not the same phenomenon” (William Littlewood, 1992:09). Language is not just a means of
communication but “has an important mental functions and affects how we understand and reflect on the
world around us” (ibid.). Non-linguistic communication like ‘barking of dogs’ ‘crying of a child’ or
‘street light’ etc. is also possible but they have their own limitations. It is a language only through which
most complicated emotions, passions, feelings are properly communicated.
Language is made up of Vowels and Consonants. Vowels form the ‘nucleus’ and Consonants the
‘onset.’ RP (Received Pronunciation) system has suggested 5 long vowels, 7 short vowels and 8
diphthongs; and 6 plosives, 2 affricates 9 fricatives, 3 nasals, 1 lateral and 3 approximants; thus in all
there are 20 Vowel sounds and 24 Consonant sounds making together 44 sounds (Daniel Jones, 1993:xii).
The detailed descriptions and interpretations of all the Vowel sounds will be taken in the full text. Indian
learners find much difficulty with the Vowel sounds and not with the Consonant sounds. In traditional
manner we are taught and have accepted only 5 Vowel sounds – a, e, i, o, u – but on functional basis there
are 20 Vowel sounds.
English, being a window on the world and a library language, Indians need to master it for the
practical purposes. We may oppose the literature of England but ought to master English, which is the
medium of instructions in higher education beside the language of medical sciences, life sciences,
economics and information technology. The present paper intends to focus on mastering Vowel sounds.
Introduction:
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Acquiring a language is the mastering of four basic language skills viz. listening, speaking,
reading and writing; of which listening and reading are receptive or passive skills and they contrast with
the productive or active skills – speaking and writing. In India English is taught as a second or foreign
language and learners receive and understand the former two skills, hence they are receptive skills. In the
second language acquisition learners have to face the hindrance of their mother tongue and the way of
mastering the basic language skills of English poses great difficulty for the Indian learners as their organs
of speech have been set for their mother tongue and molding them in the new style or pattern is not that
much easy. English, being a window on the world and a library language, Indians need to master it for the
practical purposes. We may oppose the literature of England but ought to master English, which is the
medium of instructions in higher education beside the language of medical sciences, life sciences,
economics and information technology. The present paper intends to focus on mastering Vowel sounds.
Second language acquisition is more difficult for the learners than learning “the language of their
parents and community in a monolingual setting” (Ng Bee Chin, 2007:40) for, the first language
acquisition begins at a ‘relatively young age’ as compared to the second language acquisition. Language
plays significant role in communication and “communication and language are very closely related but
they are not the same phenomenon” (William Littlewood, 1992:09). Language is not just a means of
communication but “has an important mental functions and affects how we understand and reflect on the
world around us” (ibid.). Non-linguistic communications like ‘barking of dogs’ ‘crying of a child’ or
‘street light’ etc. is also possible but they have their own limitations. It is a language only through which
most complicated emotions, passions, feelings are properly communicated. This is true in case of all the
languages spoken on all parts of globe, having script or not, and not any particular language. It has been
pointed out by Robin Barrow that “…teaching English, whether to ethnic minorities in English-speaking
countries, stands in little need of justification (1990:03).” This statement shows the importance of English
language. He further remarks:
The ability to speak the language of the country in which one lives has obvious
value; but English is also useful for those whose mother tongue it is not, given
that it is the second most widely used language in the world. It has an
unsurpassed richness in terms of vocabulary, and hence in its scope for giving
precise and detailed understanding of the world. (Ibid.)
Here once again it is apparent that English has been widely acclaimed as important language. It is
crystal clear that the native language that is mother tongue is also very important but if we want to have
the wider knowledge and intimacy with the whole world, no one, I hope, would deny the fact that English
is the only language which can be of utmost requirement as the whole world is today being globalize and
is becoming a ‘global village’; not that it is also important for our international affairs. Orientals may
oppose the literature of England but they have to accept the importance of English as language otherwise
we could be isolated and broken from the world affairs resulting in the greatest loss for the country in the
sphere of development and progress.
The role of English teacher in the classroom plays a significant role because it is, as Michael
Byram puts, s/he who is “concerned with teaching the skills of ‘communicative performance’ and
assessing those skills in terms of ‘communicative behaviour’. In its fullest and richest meaning
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communicative competence as opposed to performance includes the notions of insight and positive
attitudes ...” (1990:86). While explaining the importance of English teacher in the classroom Martin
Cortazzi asks the following sorts of questions:







Who speaks most of the time?
Who asks most of the questions?
Who evaluates the answers to the questions?
Who has the right to interpret others?
Who says, whether, when and how others may speak?
Who controls the language of interaction?
Who says what has been learnt, how well and why? (1990:58)
He answers all these questions by saying “the teacher” which makes us understand the role of
English teacher is of great importance. Language is not just simply a means of communication but
something more than that. Robert Lado opines: “Language is intimately tied to man’s feelings and
activity. It is bound up with nationality, religion, and feeling of self. It is used for work, worship, and play
by everyone, be he beggar or banker, savage or civilized” (1986:11). The teacher of English has to use
“scientific” approach.
A scientific approach to language teaching uses scientific information; it is based
on theory and a set of principles which are internally consistent. It measures
results. It is impersonal, so that it can be discussed on objective evidence. And it
is open, permitting cumulative improvement on the basis of new facts and
experience (Robert Lado, 1986:49).
Lado (1986:49) has suggested 17 principles of language teaching, they are as follows:
1. Speech before writing,
2. Basic sentences,
3. Patterns as habits,
4. Sound system for use,
5. Vocabulary control,
6. Teaching the problems,
7. Writing as representation of speech,
8. Graded patterns,
9. Language practice versus translation,
10. Authentic language standards,
11. Practice,
12. Shaping of responses,
13. Speed and style,
14. Immediate reinforcement,
15. Attitude toward target culture,
16. Content and
17. Learning as the crucial outcome.
As the present paper is concerned with the Vowel sounds in English it is not required to explain
and go through all the principles stated here. But the first principle ‘Speech before writing’ is of great
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importance here. The teachers of English should teach his/her students listening and speaking first, which
has been neglected in most of the school curriculum and only the attention is paid to reading and writing,
which is second step, for, “language is most completely expressed in speech. Writing does not represent
intonation, rhythm, stress, and juncture” (1986:50). The learners should be taught to “memorize basic
conversational sentences as accurately as possible (Ibid.)” which is the second principle suggested by
Lado. The learning a language is the formation of habits. The teachers should teach their students to
“establish patterns as habits through pattern practice” (1986:51) because “knowing words, individual
sentences, and/ or rules of grammar does not constitute knowing the language. Talking about the
language is not knowing it” (1986:51). Thus we find that ‘knowing a language’ is different from
‘knowing about a language.’ It is the need of English language teachers to teach their students “the sound
system structurally for use by demonstration, imitation, props, contrast, and practice” (Ibid.). Writing
should be taught as representation of speech so that the mistakes should be avoided. Mostly in Indian
school curriculum language practice is put at bay and translation has been used in most of the English
classrooms. Authentic language standard has to be taught. Language should be taught “as it is and not as
it ought to be” (1986:54).
Language is made up of Vowels and Consonants. Vowels form the ‘nucleus’ and Consonants the
‘onset.’ RP (Received Pronunciation) system has suggested 5 long vowels, 7 short vowels and 8
diphthongs; and 6 plosives, 2 affricates 9 fricatives, 3 nasals, 1 lateral and 3 approximants; thus in all
there are 20 Vowel sounds and 24 Consonant sounds making together 44 sounds (Daniel Jones, 1993:xii).
The detailed descriptions and interpretations of all the Vowel sounds will be taken in the full text. Indian
learners find much difficulty with the Vowel sounds and not with the Consonant sounds. In traditional
manner we are taught and have accepted only 5 Vowel sounds – a, e, i, o, u – but on functional basis there
are 20 Vowel sounds. For the production of speech sounds “the active articulators” and “passive
articulators” are used. “The active articulators are the lower lip and the tongue; these are the articulators
that make contacts with the passive articulators. The passive articulators are the upper lip, the upper teeth,
the roof of the mouth (divisible for the sake of convenience into the teeth-ridge, the hard-palate and the
soft-palate), and the back wall of the throat of pharynx” (Dr. Radhey L Varshney, 2007-08:41). For the
ideal description of speech sounds, we ought to have information related to production, transmission and
reception. In other words it can be cited what Varshney has pointed. According to him the ideal
description of speech sounds “should describe a sound in terms of the movements of the organs of speech,
the nature of the sound which is produced and the features perceived by a listener” (2007-08:42). For the
better communication, all the three stages – production, transmission and reception – are of great
importance.
In addition to phonetic, phonological or orthographic references, the classification of speech
sounds into consonants and vowels is usual. Kenneth Pike divides the speech sounds into vocoids (vowel
sounds), contoids (consonant sounds) and semi-vocoids or semi-contoids (for example /w/ and /j/ in
English) (Dr. Radhey L Varshney, 2007-08:45). The area of the present paper is concerned with the
vowel sounds and hence consonant sounds are not taken into consideration. Moreover it is the vowel
sounds that trouble much to the Indian learners as compared to the consonant sounds. Vowel sounds are
generally classified on the height of the tongue (high, mid, low or close, half-open and open);
advancement of tongue (front, central, back); and lip-rounding (rounded and un-rounded) (Dr. Radhey L
Varshney, 2007-08:54).
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As has already been narrated English teachers in India teach the learners only five vowel sounds
(a, e, i, o, u) in fact there are twelve pure vowels (monophthogs) and eight impure vowels (diphthongs)
which are also called as gliding vowels as they unlike pure vowels or monophthongs continually go on
changing in their quality. “A vowel sound that glides form one quality to another is called a diphthong,
and a vowel sound that glides successively through three qualities is triphthong”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel). The vowel sound in English word hit is a monophthong /I/, the
vowel sound in the English word boy is a diphthong / ɔɪ / and the vowel sounds in the English word
flower /aʊər/, are called as triphthong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel). In English, we have four front
vowels: /ɪI, i:, e, æ/; five back vowels / ɑ:, ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:/; and three central vowels / ə, ɜ:ʳ, ʌ/ making them
twelve in number as pure vowels which occur in English words /sit, seat, set, sat, cart, cot, caught, book,
tool, about, earth and but/ respectively (symbols are copied and modified from
/www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm/). All vowels are voiced and there are five long vowels
and seven short vowels ‘Long’ vowels are comparatively longer than the ‘short’ vowels. Diphthongs are
all long vowels (J. Sethi & P. V. Dhamija, 2000:65). There are eight diphthongs in English of which (i)
three / eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ/ glide towards /ɪ/; (ii) two / aʊ, əʊ/ towards /ʊ/ and (iii) three /ɪəʳ, eəʳ, ʊəʳ / towards /ə/.
The diphthongs grouped under (i) and (ii) glide towards closer position, and those under (iii) towards the
central position. Therefore the diphthongs under groups (i) and (ii) are called as closing diphthongs and
under (iii) as centring diphthongs (J. Sethi & P. V. Dhamija, 2000:77).
J. Sethi and P. V. Dhamija have illustrated, RP (Received Pronunciations) twenty vowel sounds
(12 monopthongs and 8 diphthongs) according to their occurrence in the initial, medial and final positions
as under (examples are taken from the book cited above (2000:64,65) and symbols from
www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm):
Vowel
Initial
Medial
Final
i:
ɪ
e
æ
ɑ:
ɒ
ɔ:
ʊ
u:
ʌ
east
it
end
and
arm
on
all
key
duty
ooze
up
seen
hit
lend
land
harm
cot
caught
put
choose
cup
ɜ:ʳ
ə
earn
ago
turn
police
sir
tailor
eight
straight
stray
Monophthongs
car
saw
shoe
Diphthongs:
eɪ
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əʊ
aɪ
aʊ
ɔɪ
oak
ice
out
oil
joke
mice
shout
boil
slow
my
how
boy
ɪəʳ
ear
beard
clear
eəʳ
ʊəʳ
air
shared
cured
care
poor
(Every blank space in the illustration shows the non-occurrence of vowel in that position).
Illustration of the Vowel sounds (J. Sethi & P. V. Dhamija, 2000:66-88):
Front Vowels: / i:/ as in seat, /ɪ/ as in sit, /e/ as in set, /æ/ as in sat.
/ i:/
In the production of this sound the front part of the tongue is raised to a height just below the close
position; the lips are spread; and the tongue is tense. It is a long vowel and can be labeled as a front close
un-rounded vowel. This vowel occurs for the spelling ay (quay); e (be, these, even, Eden, Peter); ea (beat,
each, lead, sea, tea); ee (eel, seed, keep, free, nee); ei (receive, deceive, conceive, seize); eo (people); ey
(key); i (machine, police, prestige, ski); ie (relief, piece, field, siege). This vowel occurs in all the three
positions – initial, medial and final but it does not occur before the consonant / ŋ /. It occurs more
frequently in accented than in unaccented positions.
/ɪ/
In the production of this vowel sound the rear part of the front of the tongue is raised just below the halfclose position; the lips are loosely spread and the tongue is lax. It is a short vowel and can be labeled as a.
centralized front half-close un-rounded vowel. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (village, private,
baggage, surface); ai (bargain, captain, mountain); ay (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday); e (evoke, pretty,
heated, ticket, system, harmless, horses, extempore, apostrophe); ee (coffee); ei (foreign); ey (monkey,
money, honey); i (it, hill, filth, lift); ia (carriage, marriage); ie (cities, dailies, ladies, lobbies); o (women);
u (busy, minute (n.)); ui (build, guilt); y (rhythm, symbol, city, hilly, easy). It occurs initially, medially
and finally and also occurs in accented and unaccented positions.
/e/
In the production of vowel /e/, the front of the tongue is raised to a point about half-way between the halfopen and half-close positions; the lips are loosely spread and a little wider apart than for /ɪ/; the tongue is
not as lax as for /ɪ/. This vowel can be described as a front un-rounded vowel between half-close and
half-open. It is a short vowel. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (any, many, Thames, ate); ai (said,
again); ay (says); e (end, send, let, get); ea (dead, spread, health, leant, jealous); ei (leisure, Leicester); eo
(leopard, Leonard, Geoffrey); ie (friend); u (bury); ue (guess, guest). It occurs essentially in syllables
carrying the primary accent and occurs initially and medially only.
/æ/
In the production of this sound the front part of the tongue is raised to a little below the half open
position. The lips are in the neutral position and the mouth is more open than for /e/. This vowel can be
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labeled as a front un-rounded vowel just below the half-open position. It is short vowel, but in front of
voiced consonants it becomes as long as the ‘long’ vowels in the similar environments. For example in
bat /bæt/ it is as much shorter than the /i:/ in beat /bi:t/ but in bad /bæd/ it is almost as long as the /i:/ in
bead /bi:d/. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (ass, sat, hand, match); ai (plaid, plaid). It occurs only
initially and medially.
Back Vowels: /ɑ: / as in cart; /ɒ/ as in cot; /ɔ:/as in caught; /ʊ/as in full; /u:/ as in fool.
/ɑ: /
In the production of this vowel sound the jaws are considerably separated; the lips are neutrally open; and
a part of the tongue between the center and the back is in the fully open position. It is long vowel and can
be labeled as a back open un-rounded vowel. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (ask, dance, bath, after,
mama); ah (ah); al (balm, calm, balm, psalm, half); ar (park, part, March, car); au (aunt, laugh); ear
(heart, hearth); er (clerk, Derby, sergeant, Berkeley). It occurs mostly in accented syllables and initially,
medially and finally.
/ɒ/
In the production of this sound the back of the tongue raised slightly above the open position; the jaws are
widely open and the lips are slightly rounded. It is a short vowel and can be called as a back rounded
vowel just above the open position. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (after /w/) (was, what, want,
watch, wash, quality /kwɒlItI); au (because, sausage, Austria, Australia, cauliflower); o (pot, dog, sorry,
gone); ou (cough, trough, Gloucester); ow (knowledge). It occurs in accented syllables and in the initial
and medial positions only.
/ɔ: /
In the articulation of this vowel sound the back of the tongue is raised between the half-open and halfclose positions; the lips are considerably more rounded than for/ɒ/. It is long vowel and can be described
as a back rounded vowel between half-open and half-close. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (all, tall,
wall, talk, chalk, salt, water); ar (warm, towards, quarter, war); au (cause, daughter, fault, slaughter,
caught, caution); aw (awkward, law, raw, saw, straw, flaw, yawn lawn); oa (broad); oar (oar, board); oor
(door, floor); or (or, nor, cord, sword, born, morning); ore (more, store, before); ou (ought, bought,
fought, thought, nought); our (four, court, pour). This vowel occurs more often in accented than in
accented positions and it occurs in all three positions – initial, medial and final.
/ʊ/
This vowel is articulated by raising a part of the tongue nearer to center than to back just above the halfclose position; the lips are closely but loosely rounded. The tongue is lax. It is short vowel and can be
described as a centralized back rounded vowel just above half-close. This vowel occurs for the spelling o
(wolf, woman, bosom); oo (foot, good, book, look, wood, wool); ou (could, bull, would, courier); u (put,
pull, sugar, push, butcher). A note should be taken here that it occurs in the word worsted (a kind of
cloth) /wʊstId/. It occurs in both accented and unaccented syllables. In unaccented syllables its occurrence
can be stressed in manhood, impudence, fulfill, concubine, bedroom. It occurs in the word medial position
only (except in the case of the ‘weak forms’ of to and you where it can occur word-finally) and it does not
occur before / ŋ /.
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/u:/
In the production of /u:/ the back of the tongue is raised to very near the close position. The lips are
closely rounded and the tongue is tense. It is long vowel and can be described as a back close rounded
vowel. It occurs in all three – initial, medial and final – positions but not before / ŋ /. It occurs in both
accented and unaccented syllables. This vowel occurs for the spelling eau (beauty, beautiful)
(pronounced /ju:/); eu (eulogy, eunuch, euphony) (pronounced /ju:/); ew (crew, blew, chew, grew); o (do,
to (strong form), who, tomb, womb, prove); oe (shoe, canoe); oo (moon, room, food, soon, brood, route,
you); u (flute, rude, June); ue (blue, true); ui (juice, fruit); wo (two). In words spelt with u, ue, ui, and ew,
representing /u:/ the semivowel / j / is sometimes inserted before /u:/ as in unit, few. / j / is not inserted
after / tʃ, dʒ, r, l /as in chew, June, rule, blue. / j / is regularly inserted after /p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, f, v, h/ as
in pure, beauty, tutor, duty, curious, argue, mute, few, view, hue. Usage varies after /s, z, θ/. Thus, suit,
presume, enthuse are pronounced with / j / by some, and without / j / by others.
Central Vowels: / ʌ / as in bus; / ɜ:ʳ/ as in learn; / ə / as in ago.
/ʌ/
In the production of this vowel the centre of the tongue is raised to a point nearly half-way between open
and half-open positions. In this position lips are neutrally open and there is considerable separation of the
jaws. It is short vowel and can be described as a central un-rounded vowel between open and half-open.
This vowel occurs for the spelling o (ton, son, one, monkey, colour, onion, oven, tongue, won, thorough);
oe (does); oo (blood, flood); ou (trouble, double, southern, enough, young); u (sun, cut, shut, but). This
vowel occurs essentially in accented syllabus. It occurs in initial and medial positions only and it does not
occur before / ŋ /.
/ ɜ:ʳ/
In the production of this vowel the centre of the tongue is raised between half-close and half-open. The
lips are in the neutral position. It is a long vowel and can be described as a central un-rounded vowel
between half-close and half-open. This vowel occurs for the spelling ear (early, earth, learn, heard); er
(serve, term, perfect, concern); err (err); ir (bird, firm, first, girl, shirt); or (when preceded by w) (word,
world, work, worship); our (journey, adjourn); ur (burn, turn, hurt, murder, surface); urr (purr, currish);
yr (myrtle). It occurs essentially in accented syllables. It occurs in all three positions – initial, medial and
final but it does not occur before / ŋ /.
/ə/
The vowel / ə / has two positions – the non-final and the final. The non-final / ə / is articulated the same
way and at more or less the same place as the vowel / ɜ:ʳ/. In that position it differs from / ɜ:ʳ/ mainly in
respect of length, / ə / being a short vowel. In the articulation of the final / ə / the centre of tongue is raised
just below the half-open position. It is described as a central un-rounded short vowel. In the production of
this sound lips are in the neutral position, in both the cases – non-final and final. It occurs in all the three
positions – initial, medial and final, and in the unaccented syllables only. This vowel occurs for the
spelling a (again, allow, woman, animal, drama, China); ar (particular, beggar, dollar); e (government,
gentlemen, problem, reference); er (bothersome, otherwise, better, mother, singer); i (possible, terrible);
ia (musician, magician, partial); o (consume, obtain, prolong); or (comfort, effort, actor, doctor,
governor); ou (jealous, frivolous, famous); ough (thorough); our (labour, neighbour, colour); re (metre,
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centre); u (succeed, succumb, suspect (v)); ur (surprise, surmise (v), surpass ); ure (treasure, measure,
feature). The teacher of English has to keep the three central vowels – / ʌ /, / ɜ:ʳ/, / ə / o – distinct.
Diphthongs:
Closing diphthongs gliding to [ɪ]: / eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ /
/ eɪ /
In the production of this diphthong the glide begins at a point just below the half-close front position and
moves in the direction of / ɪ /. The movement of the tongue is accompanied by a slight closing movement
of the lower jaw. The lips are spread. This vowel occurs for the spelling a (ace, race, take, bass (in
music)); ai (aim, brain, slain, straight); ay (day, may, pray, say, stay); ea (break, great); ei (veil, eight,
weigh, neighbour); ey (they, grey). This vowel occurs in all the three positions, initial, medial and final,
and in both accented and unaccented syllables.
/ aɪ /
In the articulation of the vowel / aɪ /, the glide starts from a point slightly behind the front open position
and moves in the direction of / ɪ/. The movement of the tongue is accompanied by an appreciable closing
movement of the lower jaw. The lips are neutral in the beginning but they change to a loosely spread
position. It occurs initially, medially and finally, and in the accented and unaccented syllables. This vowel
occurs for the spelling ai (aisle); ei (either, Einstein); eye (eye); i (die, lie, cried, tried); uy (buy, guy); y
(try, my, shy, fry, type); ye (bye, dye).
/ɔɪ/
This vowel begins at a point between half-open and open positions and moves in the direction of /ɪ/. The
jaw movement is not as considerable as for the diphthong / aɪ /. At the beginning the lips are open
rounded and they change to neutral towards the end. It occurs in all the three positions – initial, medial
and final. It generally occurs in accented syllables and in very few unaccented syllables: exploit (n) and
employee. This vowel occurs for the spelling oi (oil, boil, toil, voice, noise, join); oy (toy, boy, annoy,
employ). It should be noted /ɔɪ/ in buoy and is pronounced like boy /ɔɪ/.
Closing diphthongs gliding to [ʊ]:/ aʊ, əʊ/
/aʊ/
This vowel begins at a point between back and front open positions and moves towards / ʊ /. The starting
point may be almost half-way between the back and the front, often nearer the back than the front. The
lips are neutral at the beginning of the glide but become rounded towards the end. The jaw movement is
as extensive as for the diphthong / aɪ /. This vowel has a symmetrical relationship with / aɪ /. It occurs
initially, medially and finally and only in accented syllables. It’s occurrence in unaccented syllables is
confined to compounds formed by the affixation out- and –how. This vowel occurs for the spelling ou
(out, round, doubt, sound, mouth); ow (how, cow, town, allow, now).
/əʊ/
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The glide for the vowel / əʊ / begins at a central position almost midway between half-close and half-open
and moves in the direction of /ʊ/. The jaw movement is very slight. The lips are neutral at the beginning
and become rounded towards the end. It occurs initially, medially and finally and in both accented and
unaccented syllables. This vowel occurs for the spelling o (old, open, bold, home, go, no, don’t, won’t);
oa (oak, oaf, boat, road, goal, boast); oe (tow, doe, foe, hoe); ou (though, mould, soul, smoulder); ow
(own, bowl, blow, slow).
Centring diphthongs gliding to [ə]: / ɪəʳ, eəʳ, ʊəʳ/
/ɪəʳ/
The glide for the vowel sound / ɪəʳ/ begins at approximately the half-close centralized front vowel / ɪ/
and moves in the direction of the opener variety / ə /, when / ɪəʳ/ is final in the word (as in fear, clear),
and towards the less open variety of / ə /, when it is nit final in the word (as in feared, clears). The lips
remain neutral throughout the process. This vowel occurs for the spelling e (zero, serious, period); ea
(idea, theatre, real); ear (dear, clear, fear); eer (deer, cheer, beer, sheer); eir (weird); ere (here, mere,
severe); eo (theory, theorem, theological); eu (museum); ia (Ian, India); ier (fierce, bier, tastier); io
(period); iou (serious, impious). Although it its occurrence in the initial position is highly restricted, it
occurs initially, medially and finally. It occurs in both accented and unaccented syllables. In the vowel /
ɪəʳ/, the first element / ɪ / is more prominent than the second element / ɪəʳ/ when the vowel occurs in an
accented syllable as in theory / θɪərɪ / and idea /aɪdɪə /. In such cases the diphthong is called a falling
diphthong. When the diphthong occurs in an unaccented syllable, the second element / ə / is more
prominent than the first element / ɪəʳ/ as in idiom / ɪdɪəm / and theoretical / θɪəretɪkl /. In such cases the
diphthong is called a rising diphthong.
/ eəʳ/
The glide for the vowel / eəʳ/ begins in the front, above the half-open position, and moves in the direction
of / ə /. The glide is in the direction of the opener variety of / ə / if it occurs word-finally (care, stare) and
in the direction of the less open variety of / ə / if it occurs non-finally in a word (airy, compared). The lips
remain neutrally open throughout the process. It occurs in both accented and unaccented syllables with a
strong tendency to occur in accented syllables and it occurs initially, medially and finally. This vowel
occurs for the spelling a (various, hilarious, aquarium, Mary); air (air, chair, fair, despair); ar (scare); are
(care, share, stare, beware); ear (bear, pear, wear, tear); eir (their, heir); ere (there, where, ere, compere).
/ʊəʳ/
/ʊəʳ/ begins its glide from the tongue position for / ʊ/ and moves in the direction of / ə /. Its glide is
towards the opener variety / ə / if the diphthong occurs word-finally (poor, sure) and it is towards the less
open variety of / ə / (dual, steward). The lips are loosely rounded at the beginning of the glide and neutral
at the end. It is falling diphthong when it occurs in an accented syllable (fluency and injurious). Here the
first element is more prominent than the second. When it occurs in an unaccented syllable (influence and
individual) is rising diphthong and it can often be replaced by [wə]. It occurs in both accented and
unaccented syllables and in the medial and final positions only. This vowel occurs for the spelling oor
(poor, moor); our (tour, gourd, gourmet); u (jury, rural, mural, luxurius); ua (manual, truant, casual); ue
(fluent, influence, fuel); uou (torturous); ure (sure, pure, cure).
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To conclude all the twenty vowels of RP are oral, each representing in the writing system by
different letters and their combinations. Twelve are monophthongs or pure vowels and eight are
diphthongs or impure vowels. All the diphthongs are ‘long’. The five pure vowels /i:, ɑ:, ɔ:, u:, ɜ:, / are
‘long’. Monophthongs are divided into front, central and back. Of the five back vowels only four / ɒ, ɔ:,
ʊ, u:/ are rounded vowels and all other are un-rounded. The lip-rounding increases as the height of the
tongue increases when it is the matter of the rounded vowels. /ʊ/ occurs only medially; / e, æ, ɒ, ʌ /
initially and medially; and remaining seven occur in all the three positions. The diphthongs are grouped
into two categories: closing and centring diphthongs. Of the eight diphthongs, three glide towards [ɪ]; two
towards [ʊ] and the remaining three towards [ə]. It is the vowel sounds that trouble to the second language
learners form India and other places. The enough oral practice has to be given to the learners and it
becomes the responsibility of the English teacher as there is no other way to train the learners in the
practice of second language acquisition. But in the Indian school curriculum the ‘ear training’ is lacking.
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Appendix:
The following chart shows the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabets) for Vowel and Consonant sounds
in English (www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm):
Vowel Sounds
IPA examples
Consonant Sounds
IPA examples
ʌ
cup, luck
b
bad, lab
ɑ:
arm, father
d
did, lady
æ
cat, black
f
find, if
e
met, bed
g
give, flag
ə
away, cinema
h
how, hello
ɜ:ʳ
turn, learn
j
yes, yellow
ɪ
hit, sitting
k
cat, back
l
leg, little
i:
see, heat
ɒ
m
man, lemon
hot, rock
n
no, ten
ɔ:
call, four
ŋ
sing, finger
p
pet, map
r
red, try
s
sun, miss
ʃ
she, crash
t
tea, getting
ʊ
put, could
u:
blue, food
aɪ
five, eye
aʊ
now, out
eɪ
say, eight
əʊ
go, home
tʃ
check, church
ɔɪ
boy, join
θ
think, both
eəʳ
where, air
ð
this, mother
ɪəʳ near, here
v
voice, five
w
wet, window
ʊəʳ pure, tourist
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z
zoo, lazy
ʒ
pleasure, vision
dʒ
just, large
Works Cited:
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1. Balsubramanian, T. A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students. Delhi: Macmillan,
2001, Reprint
2. Chin, Ng Bee & Gillian Wigglesworth. Bilingualism. London & New York: Routledge, 2007
3. Gleason, H. A., Jr. An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics. New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta:
Oxford & IBH, 1968, Revised Edition
4. Harrison, Brian (ed.). Culture and the Language Classroom. Hong Kong: Modern English
Publications, 1990
5. Jones, Daniel. English Pronouncing Dictionary. New Delhi: Universal Book Stall, 1993, 14th
Edition
6. Jones, Daniel. An Outline English Phonetics. Ludhiana, New Delhi: Kalyani Publishers, 1990, 9th
Edition
7. Lado, Robert. Language Teaching: A Scientific Approach. Bombay, New Delhi: Tata McGraw
Hill, 1986, Seventh Edition
8. Littlewood, William. Teaching Oral Communication. Oxford UK and Cambridge USA:
Blackwell, 1992
9. Sethi, J. & P. V. Dhamija. A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English. New Delhi: Prentice Hall,
2000, Second Edition
10. Varshney, Dr. Radhey L. An Introductory Textbook of Linguistics & Phonetics. Bareilly: Student
Store, 2007-08, Sixteenth Reprint
11. www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel
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