3 Long vowels, diphthongs and English long vowels In Chapter 2 the short yowels were introduced, In this types of English vowel sound. The first to be introduced here these are the vowels which tend to be longer than the short vo It is necessary to say “in similar contexts” because, as we shall all English vowel sounds varies very much according to their of sound that follows them) and the presence or absence of these vowels tend to be long, the symbols consist of ane. ‘mark made of two dots :. Thus we have on, ot us, We will these long vowels individually. ‘The five long vowels are different from the six short vowel 2, not only in length but also in quality. If we compare some s short vowels, for example 1 with is, or 0 with us, or with us, ferences In quality (resulting from differences in tongue position) as well as in length. For this reason, all the long are different from those of short vowels; you can see that the long ols would still all be different from each other even if we o it is important to remember that the length mark is used not ‘because it helps learners to remember the length difference, @ long and a short vowel are closely similar in quality is that of »¢ cial case —as we shall see later, 3a Fig. 6 English long vowels 16long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs. 17 {example words:"beat, ‘mean; peace’) This vowel is nearer to cardinal vowel no. 1 [i] (/e. itis doserand more front) than is the short vowel of bid pin} fish described in Chapter 2. Although the tongue shape is not much different from ‘eardinal yowel no. 1, the lips are only slightly spread and this results in @ rather Aifferent vowel quality. “2: (example words: ‘bird, fern} ‘purse!) This is a mid-central vowel which is used in ‘most English accentsas 2 hesitation sound (written er’), but which many learners find difficult to copy. The lip position is neutral ‘a: (example words: ‘card; ‘half, ‘pass’) This is an open vowel in the region of cardi- nal vowel no. 5 [u}, but not as back as this. The lip position is neutral +9: (example words: ‘board ‘torn ‘horse’) The tongue height for this vowel is between cardinal vowel no. 6 [>] and no.7 fo], and doser to the latter. This ‘owel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding, “us (example words: ‘food’ soon, loose’) The nearest cardinal vowel to this is no. & [u, but BBC ui is much less back and less close, while the lips are only moderately rounded. Diphthongs Oau3, Bs 6&7 ‘BBC pronunciation has a large number of diphthongs ~ sounds which consist of @ yent or glide from one vowel to another. A vowel which remains constant and does ‘is called a pure vowel, In terms of length, diphthongs are similar to the long vowels described above, Perhaps ‘important thing to remember aboutall the diphthongsis that the first part is much and stronger than the second part; for example, most of the diphthong ai (as in the “eye' I) consists of the a vowel, and only in about the last quarter of the diphthong the glide to 1 become noticeable. As the glide to 1 happens, the loudness of the sound eases. As a result, the | part is shorter and quieter. Foreign learners should, therefore, remember that the last part of English diphthongs must not be made too strongly. ‘The total number of diphthongs is eight (though >is increasingly rare). The easiest ‘to remember them is in terms of three groups divided as in this diagram (Fig. 7): DIPHETUONG contin, nding xing in18 _ English Phonetics and Phonology ‘The centring diphthongs glide towards the > (schiwa) vowel, as the s 19 (example words: ‘heard; ‘weird; fierce) isa litle closer than | in ‘bit, “bin, © (example words: aired: ‘cairn: ‘scarce’) begins with a vowel sound that is mo of et) ‘men have this diphthong, this has a. Fig.8 Ceniring diphthongs __in‘put;‘pullt Many speakers prono The closing diphthongs have the characteristic that they all e ‘more open towards a relatively closer vowel is produced. ‘Three of the diphthongs glide towards 1, as described below: ct (example words. ‘paid; pain, face!) The. the same as the eof get, ‘men’ at (example words: ‘tide; ‘time, with an open vowel which is bet quite similar to the 4 of the words ‘e 9) (@ample words: ‘void ‘loin, ‘voice’) diphthong is slightly were vpen Fig.9 Closing diphthongs. ‘Two diphthongs glide towards v, so that as the tongue moves ‘mouth there is at the same time a rounding movement of the ‘of this is the same as for the “schwa” vowel 2, as found in the word ‘about! The lips may be slightly rounded in. towards 0, for which there is quite noticeable lip-row av (example words: ‘loud ‘gown; ‘house’) This diphthon similar to «1. Since this is an open vowel, a glide to u- ‘movement, and the tongue often does not reach ‘slight lip-rounding. 3.3. Tiphthongs ‘The most complex English sounds of the vowel type are the rather difficult to pronounce, and very difficult to recognise.3. Long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs 19 -yowelto another and then toa third, all produced rapidly and without interruption. For mple, a careful pronunciation of the word ‘hour begins with a vowel quality similar to a <2 0n to/aglide towards the back close rounded area (for which we use the oymbol u},then I-central vowel (schwa, 2). We use the symbol 19 to represent the pronun- sion of ‘hour, but this is not always an accurate representation of the pronunciation, ‘The triphthongs can be looked on as being composed of the five closing diphthongs escribed in the last section, with added on the end. Thus we get: eto 19 art oma arto ‘principal cause of difficulty for the foreign learner is that in present-day English the used as much as the others ~ many English speakers use ot in’ ‘tour However, | feel that itis important for foreign learners to be: because of the distinctiveness of words in pairs like ‘moor’ and ‘ ‘many speakers. The other diphthong that requires comment is 2 be specially sensitive to the quality of this diphthong, particular happens that foreign learners, having understood that the first aback vowel, exaggerate this by using a yowe! that is too front, prod ‘ev, Unfortunately, this gives the impression of someone tryi class accent: €0 for 90 is noticeable in the speech of the Royal Written exercises 1 On the vowel diegram provided, indicate the glides for the diphthongs tn the following words: a) fright’) dear b) home d) cow3 Long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs 21 2 Write the symbols for the long vowels in the following words: a) broad) learn. g) err b) ward e) cool h) seal ) calf 6) team 4) cul Write the symbols for the diphthongs in the following words: a) tone @) way g) hair b) style ©) beer h) why <) out ) col i) prey