Phonetics: Vowels

Deny A. KwaryDeny A. Kwary

www.kwary.netwww.kwary.net

Vowel Qualities

The placement of the body of the tongue: Vertical: high – mid – low

Horizontal: front – central – back

The shape of the lips: Rounded – Unrounded

The lowering of the velum: Nasal vowel

The degree of the vocal tract contriction: Tense – Lax

Types of English Vowels

Short Monophthongs

Long Monophthongs

Diphthongs

Short Monophthongs []: high front unrounded

[]: mid front unrounded

[æ]: low front unrounded

[]: low central unrounded

[]: mid central unrounded

[]: high back unrounded

[]: low back rounded

Bit

Ten

Bad

Mud

About

Good

Not

Long Monophthongs [] = high front unrounded

deep, chief [] = low back unrounded

park, father [] = mid back rounded

war, talk [] = high back rounded

rule, move [] = mid central unrounded

herb, turn

Diphthongs [] = lake, day [] = like, try [] = boil, boy [] = go, hope [] = cloud, cow [] = dear, idea [] = care, hair [] = fluent, sure

IPA Vowels

You are the dinosaur. Return to your nest by treading only in those adjecent footprints (horizontally or vertically) where the word contains the [] vowel.

Transcription to Spelling1. Whose2. Calm3. Deaf4. Ache5. Prayer6. Comb7. Shove8. Debt9. Friend

1. [hu:z]2. [k:m]3. [def]4. [ek]5. [pr]6. [km]7. [v]8. [det]9. [frend]

Spelling to Transcription1. Heart

2. Yatch

3. Rhyme

4. Brake

5. Women

6. Plumber

1. [ht]

2. [jt]

3. [ram]

4. [brek]

5. [wmn]

6. [plm]

Write the spelling of the following transcriptionWrite the spelling of the following transcription

More than three hundred and thirty thousand of Britain’s poorest

children will lose their right to free school meals when social security

changes come into effect tomorrow.

Suprasegmental/Prosodic properties

Pitch: Tone: Pitch movement that is related to

differences in word meaning. Intonation: Pitch movement that is not related

to differences in word meaning. Stress:

(an) export vs. (to) export (an) object vs. (to) object

Transcribe the following words.Mark the stress.

1. Assignment

2. Computer

3. Dictionary

4. Exam

5. Grammar

6. Phonetics

1. [sanmnt]

2. [kmpjut]

3. [dknri]

4. [gzm]

5. [grm]

6. [fnetks]

Read this short extract. Mark the words with more than one syllable. Determine the position of the stress.

James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the

sudden disappearance of the island’s Governor and his

assistant. When he arrives, 007 begins to suspect that

the Governor’s absence is in some way linked to Dr No,

the reclusive owner of a remote island which lies

between Cuba and Jamaica.

Stress on 1st syllable: sudden, island, Governor, absence, Dr, owner, Cuba

Stress on 2nd syllable: Jamaica, investigate, assistant,arrives, begins, suspect, reclusive, remote, between,

Stress on 3rd syllable: disappearance, 007

Deny A. KwaryDeny A. Kwary

www.kwary.netwww.kwary.net