Tema 7: Sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa I : Las vocales. Símbolos fonéticos.

Formas fuertes y formas

débiles. Los diptongos. Símbolos fonéticos. Comparación con el sistema fonológico de la lengua o lenguas
oficiales de la Comunidad Autónoma correspondiente.
TOPIC 7: THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE I: THE VOWELS.
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS. THE DIPHTHONGS. COMPARISON WITH THE SPANISH
AND ANDALUSIAN PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM.

EEOOII: Tema 49. El sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa (2): Las vocales. Los diptongos. Las
semivocales. Correspondencia entre sonidos y grafías.

EEOOII : Topic 49 TOPIC 7:

ENGLISH VOWELS.
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS. DIPHTHONGS.
COMPARISON WITH SPANISH.

1. INTRODUCTION : PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY.

1.1 Speech Sounds and Phonemes.
1.2 Vowels and Consonants: Distinction.

2. SPEECH ORGANS
2.1 The Tongue.
2.2 The Lips.

3. VOWELS
3.1 Diagram of Vowel Sounds.
3.2 Description of Vowels.

4. DIPHTHONGS
4.1 The Nature of Diphthongs.
4.2 Description of Diphthongs.
4.3 Triphthongs.

5. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

6. COMPARISON WITH SPANISH
7. CONCLUSION

TEACHING INFERENCE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1. INTRODUCTION: PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY.

PHONETICS studies the sounds of a language in themselves, without

considering the relation they have with a linguistic meaning. It also provides
methods for their description, classification and transcription.

Phonetics as a science may be divided into three branches:

 Articulatory phonetics: It studies the organs of speech and how sounds are
articulated.
 Acoustic phonetics: It studies the way sounds are transmitted; the physical
properties of speech sounds.
 Auditory phonetics: It deals with the way speech sounds are perceived.

PHONOLOGY studies the sounds from the point of view of their working in the
language. It investigates the phonic differences with difference in meaning and the
rules according to which these are combined to form signifiers.

We may distinguish:
 Segmental phonology: It analyses phones.
 Suprasegmental phonology: phenomena that affect two or more phonemes.
(intonation, quantity, tone, word-stress, sentence-stress).

1.1 SPEECH SOUNDS AND PHONEMES.

We have to distinguish between the terms 'speech-sound' and 'phoneme'.
A speech-sound is any unit of sound produced by the speech organs that can be
distinguished from all other units of sound. According to Daniel Jones, a phoneme
may be described as a family of sounds consisting of one important sound of the
language (generally the most frequently used) together with other related sounds
(allophones) which take their place in particular sound sequences or under
particular conditions of length, stress or intonation. It must be remembered that a
phoneme in a given language is defined as 'only in terms of its differences from the
other phonemes in the same language'. For example :
bag beg big bog (ciénaga; etc ) bug (“bicho” etc.)

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tin ten not nought tan ten

These pairs of words differ only in one distinctive sound-feature and we

identify them as phonemes. Opposing such pairs of words is very useful in the
study of phonology. They are known as “minimal pairs”.

1.2 VOWELS AND CONSONANTS: DISTINCTION .

Every speech sound belongs to one or other of the two main classes known
as vowels and consonants.

 A vowel is a voiced sound in which the air stream is continuous through the
pharynx and mouth. In the production of a vowel there is no obstruction and
no narrowing such as would cause audible friction.

 Consonants are sounds formed when we interrupt the passage of air

through the mouth.

2. SPEECH ORGANS.
In all languages we speak with air from the lungs. We draw it into the lungs
quickly and we release it slowly and then interfere with its passage in various ways
and at various places.
In the production of vowel sounds we are dealing mainly with the tongue and
lips, although there may be contact with parts of the teeth.

2.1 THE TONGUE:

The tongue is the most important of the organs of speech because it has the
greatest variety of movement. Although the tongue has no obvious natural divisions
like the palate, it is useful to think of it as divided into four parts as shown in this
figure:
-The back of the tongue lies under the soft palate
when the tongue is at rest.

-The front lies under the hard palate.

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-The tip and blade lie under the alveolar ridge, the tip being the most forward part
of all and the blade between the tip and the front.

The tip and blade are particularly mobile and they can touch the whole of the
lips, the teeth, the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.

The front can be flat on the bottom of the mouth or it can be raised to touch
the hard palate, or it can be raised to any extent between these two extremes.

The back of the tongue can be flat too, or it can be raised to touch the soft
palate, or it can be raised to any position between these two extremes.

The tongue can also change shape in another way. The sides of the tongue
may be either curved upwards to meet the side of the palate or left flat so that they
do not touch the sides of the palate.

2.2 THE LIPS :

Of the movable parts, the lips, whenever the nasal passage is shut off,
constitute the final orifice of the mouth cavity. The shape which they assume
will, therefore, affect very considerably the shape of the total cavity. They may be
shut or held apart in various ways. When they are held tightly shut, they form a
complete obstruction or occlusion to the air stream. If the lips are held apart, the
air stream can pass through them freely.

3. V O W E L S .
As we have said before vowels are voiced sounds in which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
Traditionally a description of vowels sound must note the following
parameters:
 Position of the soft-palate. Raised for oral and lowered for nasal vowels (being
the first the most important in English).
 Lips opening. The kind of aperture formed by the lips (degrees of spreading or
rounding).
 Tongue position. The part of the tongue which is raised and the degree of
raising (front/ centre/ back).

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3.1 DIAGRAM OF VOWEL SOUNDS .

The most satisfactory chart to describe the vowels in English was devised by
Daniel Jones. It is based in physiological concepts and known as Cardinal Vowel
System. It is as follows:

These are the twelve vocalic sounds

or phonemes of special importance for
the foreign learner of English.
We will now describe them following
the features or parameters mentioned
before.

3.2 DESCRIPTION OF VOWELS:

For each of the vowel sounds we will give a short description of the manner of
articulation, followed by a selection of spellings.

/iː/ as in SEA DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: Capilla ; cepillo ; chino.

The front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind
the front close position. The lips are spread and the tongue is tense, its side rims
making a firm contact with the upper molars.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

ee tree cheese e be these

ea tea leaf ey, ei key receive

ie piece field

/I/ as in PIG DESCRIPTION: Approximate to Spanish: mirar ; cursi ; pitar .

A part of the tongue is nearer to centre than to front, raised just above the
half-close position. The lips are loosely spread and the tongue is lax, with the
side rims making a light contact with the upper molars.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

i sit rich e pretty houses

y city symbol a village private

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/e/ for ex. PEN DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: cerro ; ceja ; pleito .

The front of the tongue is raised between the half-close and half-open
positions. The lips are loosely spread and the side rims of the tongue make a light
contact with the upper molars.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

e bed went a many Thames

ea head dead

/æ/ as in BAG DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: llano ; fallo ; ancha .

The front of the tongue is raised to a position midway between open and
half-open, with the side rims making a very slight contact with the back upper
molars. The lips are neutrally open.
Normal Spellings: Other Spellings:

a hand sat ai plaid plait

/Λ/ e.g. SUN DESCRIPTION: Approximate to Spanish: gato ; boca ; jaque .

The lips are neutrally open and there is a considerable separation of the jaws.
The centre of the tongue is raised just above the fully open position, no contact
being made between the tongue and the upper molars.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

u cut sun oo blood flood

o come London ou couple young

/ aː / for ex. CAR DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: paga ; mago ; traga.

The lips are neutrally open and there is a considerable separation of the jaws.
A part of the tongue between the centre and the back is in the fully open position,
no contact being made between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars.
Normal Spellings: Other Spellings

a pass father au aunt laugh

ar card march ear heart hearth

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/ ɔ / as in SOCK DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: loro ; cortar ; cordón .

The jaws are wide open and there is a slight, open lip-rounding. The back of
the tongue is in the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue
and the upper molars.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

o dog gone ou cough sought

a watch swan au sausage because

/ ɔː / e.g. FOUR DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: cooperar ; coordinación.

There is medium lip-rounding. The back of the tongue is raised between

the half-open and half-close positions, no contact being made between the tongue
and the upper molars.
Normal Spellings: Other Spellings:

or horse born ou bought ought

aw saw yawn ore before more

our court four au cause daughter

oor floor door a all war

oar board oar

/ʊ/ as in LOOK DESCRIPTION: Approximate to Spanish: pulso ; culto ; multa .

A part of the tongue is nearer to centre than to back raised just above the
half-close position. The tongue is laxly held, no firm contact being made between
the tongue and the upper molars. The lips are closely but loosely rounded.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

u full sugar ou could courier

oo book good
o wolf woman

/ uː / for ex. MOON DESCRIPTION: Similar to Spanish: nuca ; musa ; puro .

The tongue raising is relaxed from the closest position and is somewhat
advanced from true back. No firm contact is made between the tongue and the
upper molars. The lips tend to be closely rounded.

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Normal Spellings: Other Spellings:

u rude crucial ew chew flew

oo food spoon ue blue true

o move lose
ou group through

/ Зː / as in SIR DESCRIPTION: No similar sound in Spanish.

The centre of the tongue is raised between half-close and half-open, no firm
contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. The lips are
neutrally spread.
Usual Spellings: Other Spellings:

er her serve our journey courtesy

ur turn church or word world

ir first girl
ear earth heard

/ə / as in THE DESCRIPTION: No similar sound in Spanish.

The neutral vowel or 'schwa' has a very high occurrence in unaccented

syllables. It has a neutral lips position. The tongue is raised between half-open
and half-close.
Normal Spellings: It may be spelt with most vowel letters and their combinations.
E.g. i possible e gentle a woman
o oblige u suppose ar particular
er mother or doctor ou famous
our colour ure figure

4. DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPTHONGS .

4.1 THE NATURE OF DIPHTHONGS

The sequence of vocalic elements included under the term 'diphthong' are
those which form a glide within one syllable. They may be said to have a first
element (the starting-point) and a second element (the point in the

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direction of which the glide is made). The following generalisations should be

made:

 Most of the length associated with the glide is concentrated on the first
element, the second element generally being only slightly sounded,
diphthongs of this type are said to be 'falling'.
 They are equivalent in length to the long vowels.
 No diphthong occurs before the velar consonant / ŋ /.

 Glides to /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are closing and may be followed by / ə/, thus forming
tripthongs.
 Glides to / ə / are centring.

4.2 DESCRIPTION OF DIPHTHONGS.

CLOSING DIPHTHONGS:

/ eI / as in SAY DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins from slightly below the half-close front position and moves in
the direction of /I/, there being a slight closing movement of the lower jaw. The
lips are spread.
Normal Spellings: Other spellings:

a late waste ea steak great

ay may day /eɪ/ /əu/

ai waist rain /oɪ/

ei eight weigh
/aɪ/ /au/
/ aI/ e.g. PIE DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins at a point slightly behind the front open position and moves in
the direction of /I/. The lips change from a neutral to a loosely spread position.
Normal Spellings: Other spellings:

i time write igh high light

y cry by ei either neither

ie die tried

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/OI/ for ex. BOY DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins at a point between the half-open and open back positions

and moves in the direction of /I/. The lips are open rounded for the first element,
changing to neutral for the second.

Usual Spellings: oi boil voice

oy toy voyage

/ə u/ as in SO DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins at a central position between half-close and half-open and
moves in the direction of / u /, there being a slight closing movement of the lower
jaw. The lips are neutral for the first element, but have a tendency to round on the
second element.
Normal Spellings: o home both Other spellings:

ow know blow oe toe foe

oa road soap
ou soul though

/ au / for ex. HOUSE DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins at a point between the back and front open positions and
moves in the direction of / u /. The lips change from a neutrally open to a weakly
rounded position.
Normal Spellings: ou house out
ow cow town

CENTRING DIPHTHONGS:

/ iə / for ex. EAR DESCRIPTION:

The glide begins with a tongue position similar to that used for /I/ and
moves in the direction of / ə /. The lips are neutral throughout, with a slight
movement from spread to open.

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Normal Spellings: Other Spellings:

ere here sphere ier fierce eir weird ia Ian

ear tear fear ea idea eu museum /iə/ /uə/

eer deer peer

/ eə / e.g. AIR DESCRIPTION: /ɛə/

The glide begins in the half-open front position and moves in the direction of
/ ə /. The lips are neutrally open throughout.
Usual Spellings: are rare aware
air fair chair
ear bear wear

/ uə / as in TOUR DESCRIPTION:

The glides goes from a tongue position similar to that used for /u/ towards
/ ə /. The lips are weakly rounded at the beginning of the glide, becoming neutrally
spread as the glide progresses.
Normal Spellings: oor poor moor
ure pure sure
ur during curious

4.3 TRIPHTHONGS .
Closing diphthongs may be followed by /ə/ “schwa”, as a result we have the
following triphthongs.

/aɪ/ + /ə/ = /aɪə/ fire ; liar; buyer.

/eɪ/ + /ə/ = /eɪə/ player; layer; greyer.

/ɔɪ/ + /ə/ = /ɔɪə/ employer ; destroyer; joyous.

/ɑʊ/ + /ə/ = /ɑʊə/ shower; flower; towel.

/əʊ/ + /ə/ = /əʊə/ lower; blower; slower.

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5. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS .

Many functional (non-lexical) words, like articles, pronouns, prepositions or
auxiliary verbs have two or more qualitative or quantitative forms according to
whether they are unaccented, as is usual, or accented, in special situations or
when said in isolation. Some examples are:

I'm from /fr ə m/ Manchester. (usual weak form)

Where are you from / from / ? (strong form)

She was /w ə z/ in bed all day. (usual weak form)

Yes, she was /woz/. (strong form)

Functional words are usually divided into three groups:

 Auxiliary and modal verbs.
 Prepositions.
 Other words: Articles, pronouns, possessive adjectives and some
conjunctions.

Some Auxiliary and modal verbs: (Put some more examples. See appendix)

Word Strong form Weak form Word Strong form Weak form

am / æm / / əm / / m / must / mʌst / / məst /

…(choose some mores examples from appendix) ...

AUXILIARY AND MODAL VERBS: Weak pronunciation generally occurs in

normal oral communication. Strong forms are used in the following contexts:
 Short answers and abbreviated sentences:
Yes, I am. / ‟jes ai „æm / Yes, it was. / „jes it „woz /
I think you should. / ai „θiηk ju: „∫ud / If I can. / if ai „kæn /
 Negative forms:
She can’t do it. / ∫i: ka:nt „du: it /
They aren’t coming. / ðei a:nt „kΛmiŋ /
 When emphasis is given to the auxiliary or modal verb:
I can do it. / ai „ka:n „du: it /
 When read in isolation. (mention some examples from the appendix).

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Some Prepositions: (Put some examples. See appendix)

Word Strong form Weak form
At / æt / / ət /
For / fɔː / / fə /

PREPOSTIONS: Strong forms occur in the following contexts:

 At the end of the sentence:
What are you looking for? / fo: /
Who is she listening to? / tu: /
 Within the phrase, when emphasis is given to the preposition:
I’m looking for / fo: / her, not at / æt / her.
 When read in isolation.

Articles, pronouns, possessive adjectives and conjunctions: (examples from appendix)

Word Strong form Weak form Word Strong form Weak form
a and
he (1) some
her (1) than
his (1) there

Generally speaking, the strong forms are only used when emphasis is
given to a word or when read in isolation, but we should also bear in mind the
following notes:
(1) For pronouns and possessive adjectives the strong form is more
frequently used.
(2) Some is pronounced weak when it expresses an indefinite quantity.
(3) ‘That’ is a strong form as a demonstrative, and may be either as a
conjunction.

It is important for learners of English to use weak forms appropriately. Otherwise,

listeners may think they are emphasising a word when this is not the case.

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6. COMPARISON WITH SPANISH .

In general to produce a vowel in English the vocal cords start to vibrate
immediately with the gradual loss of vibration and in Spanish it is just the
opposite. We can represent this:

Strong to Soft Vibration Soft to Strong Vibration

ENGLISH SPANISH

So, in English tension is stronger at the beginning and softer at the end
and in Spanish it is the other way around.

There are only five vowel phonemes in Spanish so there is a total

correspondence between letters and phonemes. However, there is no vowel in
English which is exactly the same as in Spanish, although a number of English
vowels and diphthongs have Spanish equivalents: / e, o, ei, ai , au, oi /.

There is no distinction between short and long vowels in Spanish. All

vowels have approximately the same length as English short vowels and, for this

reason, Spanish students get mixed / ʊː / and / ʊ /, / ɔ / and / ɔː /, / i: / and / ɪ /.

The three phonemes /æ/, /Λ/ and /a:/ are usually confused because they do
not exist in Spanish and are usually replaced by the closed back vowel /a/. The
same happens with the sound “schwa”, which is usually replaced by some vowel
suggested by the spelling.
In the following chart we can appreciate the position of English vowels and its
correspondence with the Spanish ones.

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The RP vowels have a base more open and back than the Spanish vowels
and the degree of labialisation is stronger. Also, the duration produces in RP the
tendency to diphthonging the long vowels, something that exists in Spanish.

In the Andalusian realization of the Spanish vowel system, we have sounds

that may help us to get a better pronunciation of the English vowels.
In everyday speech we have the devoicing of our vowels like something
characteristic of the English central and centralized vowels.

7. CONCLUSION .

These differences between the Spanish and English vowel systems

make it difficult for students to master the English vowels. However, pupils must be
taught to give correct values to the English vowels and avoid pronouncing them like
the Spanish vowels they resemble orthographically.
This can be achieved by drawing attention to those sounds which exist in
English and not in Spanish, and also by pointing out those apparently similar
sounds in both languages which, in fact, are quite different. It is important to
demonstrate how each sound is produced and to give pupils ample opportunity
to practise. Finally, students must realise the importance of accurate
pronunciation. lf they confuse one phoneme with another, they will confuse
different words of the language.

TEACHING INFERENCE

Pronunciation has been an area of major concern in the teaching of second/foreign

languages since the demise of the grammar-translation approach. The insistence
on perfect pronunciation peaked in the decades when the Audio-Lingual Approach
was unrivalled. When it was superseded by the now most popular Communicative
language teaching, pronunciation became relegated to a less important position
since the chief concern was regarded as the communication of meaning, as
opposed to the form (pronunciation) that carries it. However, the issue of
pronunciation has been one major point of dissatisfaction and complaint by many

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learners and users of English, whose number is estimated to have reached one
billion. On the right grounds or not, these users wish to get rid of their accent for
various reasons, at a cost of reducing the focus on, perhaps, more relevant
domains and skills.

A question to ponder over is What is intelligibility? What is the optimum number of

pronunciation features for relatively successful communication between native and
non- native speakers of English?

Intelligibility can be defined as the “capacity for understanding a word or words

when spoken/read in the context of a sentence being spoken/read at natural
speed.” It needs to be emphasized here that contextual cues provide vital support
for intelligibility. It is important to identify the extent to which intelligibility in
interaction between native and non- native speakers can break down at the
phonological level. If certain phonological features are implicated in the breakdown,
they should be part of the pronunciation teaching. Then, the optimum number of
phonological features, which can be called „bilingual phonology,‟ would include
those sounds whose less-than perfect pronunciation (or replacement by features
present in the mother tongue) will not break down natural communication.

Language is basically a means of communication. Differences in sound systems

have a phonological basis: they depend on variation in speech organ positions or
breath control. Teachers must understand the physical aspects of sound
production.

Teachers will not necessarily teach these to students, but this knowledge will
provide a basis for teachers to identify the physical reasons for inaccurate
approximations of foreign language sounds, enabling them to give precise
instructions which will help students correct faulty pronunciation. Unless teachers
understand how students are using their speech organs in producing a native
language sound and what they should be doing to reproduce the foreign language
sound acceptably, teachers will not be able to help students beyond a certain stage
of earnest but inaccurate imitation. Incorrectly articulated consonants will affect the
production of vowels, as vowels will affect consonants. Students therefore require

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steady practice and muscle training. Pronunciation is a motor skill that needs
practice.

BIBLIOGRAPHY .
Alcaraz,E. and Moody, B. Fonética inglesa para españoles. Alcoy: Marfil,1994.
nd
Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language (2 ed.). Cambridge U.P.,1997.
Gimson, A.C.. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. Edward Arnold. London 1978
Jones,D. An Outline of English Phonetics. Cambridge: Heffers, 1960.
Jones,D. The Pronunciation of English. Cambridge University Press. 1973.
Jones, D. English Pronouncing Dictionary. Revised by Gimson. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1989.
Wells, J. C. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. London: Longman, 1990. (New Edition 2000)

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APPENDIX

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