Vowels

To adequately define a vowel, we need to look at it in articulatory, acoustic, and

functional terms:

 In articulatory terms, vowels are sounds articulated with no –– obstruction of

the air stream, that is, with open articulation. There is lack of central closure of
the air stream, though the tongue may come into contact with the teeth on the
sides.

 In acoustic terms, vowels are sounds that vary in pitch, which –– is determined
by the quality of the sound wave. Pitch is modified by changing the shape of the
resonating chamber (the oral and, sometimes, the nasal tracts) by changing the
position and shape of tongue and lips and by lowering or raising the velum.

 In functional terms, vowels constitute the nucleus, or necessary, part of the

syllable.
English vowels
 12 vowels + 8 diphthongs + schwa (UNSTRESSED)
 versus
 7 basic vowels in Italian
Classification of English vowels
 For consonants, we must consider four criteria: voicing,
orality/nasality, place, and manner of articulation. For vowels, we
need to consider only one criterion: place of articulation.
 All vowels are voiced and oral.
 In terms of their manner of articulation, all vowels are produced with
open approximation.
 Instead of determining which articulators are used and where
stricture occurs, we determine where the highest point of the
tongue is during the production of the vowel sound. The position
and tensity of the tongue alters the quality of the sound produced.
 Another determinig factor is the shape of the lips, which can be
more or less spread (smiling) or more or less rounded (kissing).
Practice
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
grammar/pron/sounds/

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
Long and short vowels
 It depends on whether the vowel is in a stressed or
unstressed syllable.
 There are short and long vowel pairs such as /ɪ/ and /i:/
 English vowels are tenser than Italian ones.
The schwa /ə/
 The most central vowel.
 The lips are neither rounded nor spread, the sound is
neither open nor closed, neither front nor back, high
or low, so all articulators involved are in a relaxed or
neutral position.
 In Neapolitan /jammə/.
Diphthongs: vowel sounds made up of two
phonemes
https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/c_pronuncia
tion/pronunciation02?cc=it&selLanguage=it
Listen to the words and decide wh
ether they have the sound /æ/or /ʌ
/
01
Jam bun onion honey
Apple mushroom cabbage carrot
Ham butter salad cucumber

10
Listen to the words and decide
whether they have the sound
/æ/or /ʌ/ 01
Jam bun onion honey
Apple mushroom cabbage carrot
Ham butter salad cucumber

/ʌ/
bun onion honey mushroom
butter cucumber
/æ/
Jam apple cabbage carrot
Ham salad
11
Listen to the verbs and write the symbol fo
r the vowel sound
02 0:20
1. Speak
2. Spell
3. Give
4. Visit
5. Eat
6. Read
7. Drink
8. Leave
9. Cook
10. swim

12
Listen to the verbs and write the symbol
for the vowel sound 02 0:20
1. Speak 1. Speak /i:/
2. Spell 2. Spell /e/
3. Give 3. Give /ɪ/
4. Visit 4. Visit /ɪ/ /ɪ/
5. Eat 5. Eat /i:/
6. Read 6. Read /i:/
7. Drink 7. Drink /ɪ/
8. Leave 8. Leave /i:/
9. Cook 9. Cook /ʊ/
10. swim 10.Swim /ɪ/

13
Write the symbol for the vowel yo
u hear in each word
03 1:33

1. Ban 6. put
2. hub 7. come
3. fill 8. mid
4. moss 9. bomb
5. led 10.sell

14
Write the symbol for the vowel
you hear in each word – KEY

1. /æ/ /bæn/ ban 6. /ʊ/ /pʊt/ put

2. /ʌ/ /hʌb/ hub 7. /ʌ/ /kʌm/ come
3. /ɪ/ /fɪl/ fill 8. /ɪ/ /mɪd/ mid
4. /ɒ/ mɒs/ moss 9. /ɒ/ /bɒm/ bomb
5. /e/ /led/ led
10./e/ /sel/ sell

15
English long vowels
frontcentral back
Close i: u:
Half-close ɜ:
Half-open ɔ:
Open ɑ:

16
English long vowels 04 0:10
/i:/ beat bead been beef
/ɑ:/ heart hard harm hearth
/ɔ:/ caught cord corn course
/u:/ root rude room roof
/ɜ:/ hurt heard earn earth

Charlie bit me

17
Long - short vowels contrasts 04 2.50

/i:/ and /ɪ/

feel fill
bead bid
steel still
reed rid
bean bin

18
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 3:18

/ɑ:/ and /ʌ/

calm come
cart cut
half huff
lark luck
mast must

19
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 3:40

/ɑ:/ and /æ/

part pat
lard lad
calm Cam
heart hat
harms hams

20
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 4:00

/ɔ:/ and /ɒ/

caught cot
stork stock
short shot
cord cod
port pot

21
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 4:25

/u:/ and /ʊ/

pool pull
suit soot
Luke look
wooed wood
fool full

22
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 4:47

/ɜ:/ and /ʌ/

hurt hut
turn ton
curt cut
girl gull
bird bud

23
Long - short vowels contrasts
04 5:10

/ɑ:/ and /ɒ/

dark dock
part pot
lark lock

24
Write the symbol for the vowel you hear in
each word
04 1:58

1. seat 6. food
2. dark 7. curt
3. bird 8. park
4. fought 9. need
5. part 10.horse

25
Write the symbol for the vowel you hear in
each word 04 1:58

1. /i:/ /si:t/ 6. /u:/ /fu:d/ food

seat 7. /ɜ:/ /kɜ:t/ curt
2. /ɑ:/ /dɑ:k/ 8. /ɑ:/ /pɑ:k/ park
dark 9. /i:/ /ni:d/ need
3. /ɜ:/ /bɜ:d/ 10./ɔ:/ /hɔ:s/ horse
bird
4. /ɔ:/ /fɔ:t/
fought
5. /ɑ:/ /pɑ:t/
part 26
 http://davidbrett.uniss.it/
 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/
research/speech
 http://www.unc.edu/~jlsmith/pht-url.html


 Esl listening quizzes > Randall’s


27
Short vowels
frontcentral back
Close ɪ ʊ
Half-close eə
Half-open ʌ
Open æ ɒ

ə is a central vowel. It is the sound

contained in the words
character /kærəktəʳ/
intimate /ɪntɪmət/
Attend /ətend/ 28
Listen and mark the sound /ə/ 05
Hamburger mineral water
Pizza Coca-cola salads

29
Listen and mark the sound /ə/ 05 - KEY
Hamburger mineral water
Pizza Coca-cola salads

30
Transcribe in spelling
1. /hu: neʊz weðəʳ ðə weðəʳ wɪl ʧeɪnʤ/
2. /ɔːl ðə stjuːdənts paːst ðɪ ɪgzæm laːst wi:k/
3. /jestərdeɪ ɑɪ reʊt tu: letəʳz/

31
Transcribe in spelling – KEY
1. /hu: neʊz weðəʳ ðə weðəʳ wɪl ʧeɪnʤ/
2. /ɔːl ðə stjuːdənts paːst ðɪ ɪgzæm laːst wi:k/
3. /jestərdeɪ ɑɪ rəʊt tu: letəʳz/

1. Who knows whether the weather will change …

2. All the students passed the exam last week
3. Yesterday I wrote two letters

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Write the symbol for the vowel (long or sh
ort) you hear in each words
04 5:25
1. <heard>
2. <song>
3. <saw>
4. <come>
5. <March>
6. <full>
7. <part>
8. <doll>
9. <love>
10.<burn>
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Write the symbol for the vowel (long or
short) you hear in each words 04 5:25
1. /ɜ:/ /hɜ:d/ <heard>
2. /ɒ/ /sɒŋ/ <song>
3. /ɔ:/ /sɔ:/ <saw>
4. /ʌ/ /kʌm/ <come>
5. /ɑ:/ /mɑ:ʧ/ <March>
6. /ʊ/ /fʊl/ <full>
7. /ɑ:/ /pɑ:t/ <part>
8. /ɒ/ /dɒl/ <doll>
9. /ʌ/ /lʌv/ <love>
10./ɜ:/ /bɜ:n/ <burn>
34
Listen and cross out the word which does not
contain the vowel sound on the left
06
a. /e/ breadwoman eggs many
b. /ʌ/ enough brother sugar much
c. /ɒ/ onion coffee lot what
d. /ɜː/ shirt pork worlduniversity
e. /i:/ cheese tea wine magazines
f. /ɑː/ car carrots half aren’t
g. /ɪ/ buildings little birds milk
h. /uː/ shampoo look fruit two

35
Listen and cross out the word which does not
contain the vowel sound on the left
06 – KEY
a. /e/ breadwoman /ə/ eggs many
b. /ʌ/ enough brother sugar /ʊ/much
c. /ɒ/ onion /ʌ/ coffee lot what
d. /ɜː/ shirt pork /ɔː/ worlduniversity
e. /i:/ cheese tea wine /ɑɪ/ magazines
f. /ɑː/ car carrots /æ/ half aren’t
g. /ɪ/ buildings little birds /ɜː/ milk
h. /uː/ shampoo look /ʊ/ fruit two

36
Listen and choose the symbol that matches
the sound of the underlined letter 07
1. Bus /ʊ/ /uː/ /ʌ/
2. Tall /ɑː/ /ɔː//æ/
3. Word /ɜː//ɔː/ /ɒ/
4. Good /uː/ /ʊ/ /ɔː/
5. Park /æ/ /ɑː/ /ɜː/
6. Shop /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ɔː/
7. Apples /æ/ /ə/ /ɒ/
8. Blue /ʊ//uː/
9. Cigarette /ʌ/ /ə/ / ɑː/

37
Listen and choose the symbol that matches
the sound of the underlined letter 07 – KEY
1. Bus /ʊ/ /uː/ /ʌ/
2. Tall /ɑː/ /ɔː/ /æ/
3. Word /ɜː/ /ɔː/ /ɒ/
4. Good /uː/ /ʊ/ /ɔː/
5. Park /æ/ /ɑː/ /ɜː/
6. Shop /ʌ/ /ɒ//ɔː/
7. Apples /æ/ /ə//ɒ/
8. Blue /ʊ//uː/
9. Cigarette /ʌ/ /ə// ɑː/
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DIPHTONGS
Listen and repeat Roach 04 6’20”)
/eɪ/
Mate /meɪt/ made /meɪd/ main /meɪn/ mace /meɪs/

/ɑɪ/
Right/rɑɪt/ ride /rɑɪd/ rhyme/rɑɪm/ rice /rɑɪs/

/ɔɪ/
Quoit/kɔɪt/ buoyed /bɔɪd/ Boyne/bɔɪn/ Royce
/rɔɪs/

/eʊ/
Coat /keʊt/ code /keʊd/ cone /keʊn/ close /kleʊs/
39
/ɑʊ/
Listen and repeat Roach 04 6’20”)

/ɪe/
feared /fɪed/ Ian /ɪen/ fierce/fɪes/

//
cared /keəd/ cairn /keən/ scarce /skeəs/

/ʊə/
moored /mʊəd/ fuel /fiʊəl/

40
Write the symbols of the diphtongs
a. tone b. way c. hair
d. style e. beer f. why
g. out h. coil i. they

41
Assimilation
 The most common assimilation form involves the
movement of place of articulation of the alveolar
stops /t/, /d/ and /n/ to a position closer to that of
the following sound. For instance, in the phrase
ten cars, the /n/ will usually be articulated in a
velar position /ˈteŋ ˈkɑ: z/ so that the organs
of speech are ready to produce the following
velar sound /k/.
Similarly, in ten boys the /n/ will be produced in a
bilabial position, /ˈtem ˈbɔɪz/ to prepare for the
articulation of the bilabial /b/.
 Progressive : “read these” /rɪ:d’dɪ:z/ instead of /rɪ:d/ /ðɪ:z/
(/ð/ is deleted),
42
 Regressive: “move to” /mu:ftə/ instead of /mu:vtə/ (/v/
examples
/t/ > /p/ before /m/ /b/ or /p/
basket maker, mixed bag, cigarette paper
/d/ > /b/ before /m/ /b/ or /p/
bad pain, blood bank, good morning
/n/ changes to /m/ before /m/ /b/ or /p/
iron man, American plan, brown bear
/t/ > /k/ before /k/ /g/
short cut, credit card, that cake
/d/ > /g/ before /k/ /g/
bad girl, closed game, hard copy
/s/ > /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ /j/
bus shelter, nice shoes, nice yacht
43
Coalescence
Type of assimilation that creates new sounds
Example /t / and / d/ followed by /j/.
Results are /ʧ/ and /ʤ/.
/t+j/ = /ʧ/ what you will /waʧu’wil/
/d+j/ = /ʤ/ would you mind /wʊʤ u’maind/

44