Structure of Spoken Language CS 551/651: Structure of Spoken Language Spectrogram Reading: Vowels John-Paul Hosom Fall 2010

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Vowels 12 English vowels (not all are phonemic), 8 or 9 phonemic vowels: /iy/ beet (front, high, unrounded, tense) /ih/ bit (front, high, unrounded, lax) /eh/ bet (front, mid, unrounded, lax) /ae/ bat (front, low, unrounded, lax) /ix/* roses (back, high, unrounded, lax) (subst. /ih/) /ux/* suit (back, high, rounded, lax) (subst. /uw/) /ax/ * above (back/central, mid, unrounded, lax) (subst. /ah/) /uw/ boot (back, high, rounded, tense) /uh/ book (back, high, rounded, lax) /ah/ above (back/central, mid, unrounded, lax) /ao/ caught (back, low, rounded, tense) (subst. /aa/) /aa/ father (back, low, unrounded, tense) * these vowels are more centralized and shorter in duration Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Vowels 5 or 6 English diphthongs: /ey/ bay (front, midhigh, unrounded, tense) /ay/ bye (backfront, lowhigh, unrounded, tense) /oy/ boy (backfront, midhigh, roundedunrounded, tense) /aw/ about (back, midhigh, unroundedrounded, tense) /ow/ boat (back, mid, unroundedrounded, tense) /yu/ beauty (frontback, high, unroundedrounded, tense) All diphthongs start or end with a /w/ or /y/ sound. (If /w/, it’s at the end of the diphthong.) Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Vowels Vowel formant frequencies (averages for English, males only): *from Ladefoged, p. 193 Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Diphthongs Diphthongs have characteristic formant movements: /ay/ /oy/ /aw/ /yu/ /ow/ /ei/ Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Techniques Most vowels can be identified by answering four questions: 1. Is the vowel front or back? Front vowels have F2 closer to F3 than to F1 If F1, F2, F3 equally spaced, then probably /ae/ = front vowel. 2. Is the vowel high or low? High vowels have low F1, low vowels have high F1 “high” and “low” F1 values are relative, sometimes difficult 3. Is the vowel tense or lax? Tense vowels have more extreme formants Tense vowels are longer in duration 4. Is the vowel a monophthong (“pure vowel”) or diphthong? Diphthongs are characterized by formant movement. Some diphthongs (/ei/, /ow/) easily confused with monophthongs Diphthongs are longer than monophthongs. Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Techniques Front vowels: iy ih eh ae Back vowels: uw uh ah aa High vowels: iy ih uh uw Low vowels: ae eh ah aa Tense vowels: iy ae uw aa Lax vowels: ih eh uh ah Monophthongs: iy ih eh ae uw uh ah aa Diphthongs: ei aU aI oI oU yu (?) same in height, tenseness same in frontness, tenseness same in frontness, height Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Techniques We can graph the vowel relationships along the F1/F2 axis: high low iy ih eh ae front F2 back ah aa uh lax uw tense F1 Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Vowels Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom

Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom Spectrogram Reading: Diphthongs Structure of Spoken Language : Hosom