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Close Front and Close Back Vowels

In weak syllables of words like "easy" and "busy", the distinction between close front and close back vowels is neutralized. Specifically, the i: and u: vowels in strong syllables become indistinguishable in weak syllables of words in BBC pronunciation. Therefore, both "easy" and "busy" could be transcribed as either i:zi: or i:zɪ to reflect this neutralization of vowel quality in weak syllables.

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Deniise Constante
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2K views4 pages

Close Front and Close Back Vowels

In weak syllables of words like "easy" and "busy", the distinction between close front and close back vowels is neutralized. Specifically, the i: and u: vowels in strong syllables become indistinguishable in weak syllables of words in BBC pronunciation. Therefore, both "easy" and "busy" could be transcribed as either i:zi: or i:zɪ to reflect this neutralization of vowel quality in weak syllables.

Uploaded by

Deniise Constante
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

CLOSE FRONT AND CLOSE BACK VOWELS

In strong syllables it is
one close front (in the
comparatively easy to
general region of i:, I) and the
distinguish i: from I or u: from
other close back rounded (in
u, but in weak syllables the
the general region of u: de ʊ).
difference is not so clear.

EXAMPLES
• “Beat” and “Bit” it is quite easy to decide which vowel is heard in these words
• “Easy” and “busy” it is much less easy to decide which vowel one hears in the second syllable of words.
the two distinctions (i:, u:), which undoubtedly exist within
strong syllables, are neutralised in weak syllables of BBC
pronunciation.

How should we transcribe the


words 'easy' and 'busy'?

“easy”
i:zi:
i:zɪ
“Busy”
ˈbɪzi
bɪzɪ
VOWELS CLOSE FRONT UNROUNDED
ONES
A. In word-final position in words spelt with final 'y' or 'ey' after one or more consonant letters
EXAMPLE:
HAPPY  /hæpi/
in morpheme-final position when such words have suffixes beginning with vowels.
EXAMPLE:
HAPPIER /hæpiər/
B. In a prefix such as those spelt 're','pre','de' if it precedes a vowel and is unstressed
EXAMPLE:
REACT  /riækt/
CREATE  /krieɪt/
C. In the suffixes spelt 'iate', 'ious' when they have two syllables.
EXAMPLES:
APPRECIATE/Əpri:ʃieɪt/
HILARIOUS  /hɪleəriəs/

D. We can assign the vowel to the I phoneme, as in the first, in the middle and the final syllable
of each word.
EXAMPLE:
RESIST /rɪzɪst/
ORCHESTRA  / ɔ:kɪstrə/

CLOSE FRONT AND CLOSE BACK VOWELS one close front (in the general region of i:, I) and the other close back rounded (in t
the two distinctions (i:, u:), which undoubtedly exist within strong syllables, are neutralised in weak syllables of BBC pr
VOWELS CLOSE FRONT UNROUNDED ONES A. In word-final position in words spelt with final 'y' or 'ey' after one or more consona
C. In the suffixes spelt 'iate', 'ious' when they have two syllables. EXAMPLES: APPRECIATE/Əpri:ʃieɪt/ HILARIOUS /hɪleəriəs

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