Lecture 5: Chapter 4: The sounds of language Lecturer: Haifa Alroqi Introduction to Linguistics - LANE 321

What is a vowel? produced with a relatively free flow of air Vowels are all voiced

Describing Vowels How do we describe/ classify consonants? Voicing POA MOA How do we describe/ classify vowels? How high is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth? How front or back is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth? Are the lips rounded or unrounded?

Describing Vowels How high is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth? High Mid Low How front or back is the highest part of the tongue in the mouth? Front Central Back

High Mid Low [i] [ɛ] [æ] eat/ key/ see dead, pet, said ban, laugh, sat Vowel Height High Mid Low [i] eat/ key/ see [ɛ] dead, pet, said [æ] ban, laugh, sat

Vowel Height Upper High [i], [u] e.g. eat/ key/ see [i] (front) e.g. eat/ key/ see [u] (back) e. g. move/ two/ too

Vowel Height Lower High [ɪ], [ʊ] [ɪ] e.g. hit, myth, women [ʊ] e.g. could, foot, put

Vowel Height Upper Mid [e], [ə], [o] [e] e.g. great, tail, weight [ə] e.g. above, sofa, support [o] e.g. no, road, toe

Vowel Height Lower Mid [ɛ], [ʌ], [ɔ] [ɛ] e.g. dead, pet, said [ʌ] e.g. blood, putt, tough [ɔ] e.g. ball, caught, raw

Vowel Height Upper Low e.g. ban, laugh, sat e.g. Tom, hot, got (UK) [æ] e.g. ban, laugh, sat [ɒ] e.g. Tom, hot, got (UK)

Vowel Height Lower Low e.g. bomb, swan (American) [a] [ɑ] e.g. spa, طويل, father

Front and back vowels He /hi/ Who /hu/

Lip roundedness Rounded [u], [ʊ], [o], [ɔ], [ɒ] [u] e.g. noon Unrounded [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ], [ə], [a], [ʌ] [i] e.g. heat

Diphthongs A combination of two sounds begins with a vowel & ends with the glides [w] or [j] vowel + glide [aw] cow, down, loud, doubt [ɔy] or [ɔj] boy, toy, noise, void [ay] or [aj] ride, high, bye, eye, my

Activity: identifying diphthongs Call top Fright joy Top Haste Avoid Proud Hide Fright [ay] Joy [ɔy] Avoid [ɔy] Proud [aw] hide [ay]

Vowels’ full description Can be classified according to three parameters: height, backness, and lip rounding Examples: [i] high front unrounded vowel [u] high back rounded vowel

Phonetic Transcription The best-known system: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) IPA has been developing since 1888. The system represents each sound of human speech with a single symbol. The symbol is enclosed in brackets [ ] or / /.

Phonetic Transcription We can use IPA transcription across languages, there is one symbol for EVERY possible human sound There is a 1-1 correspondence of sound to symbol Cat [kæt] Cell [sɛl]

Transcription Practice Transcribe the following words Kick Boot She The Thin [kIk] [but] [ʃi] [ðə] [θɪn]

Important terms Articulatory phonetics articulators Consonants and vowels Places of articulation Manner of articulation Voicing Parameters for describing vowels Phonetic transcription

Plz read chapter 5: The sound patterns of language   Thank you    Next class: Plz read chapter 5: The sound patterns of language