LG204 background.pdf
LG204 background.pdf
LG204 background.pdf
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>LG204</strong>-5-FY ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY Background<br />
We can now start to plot in the English set against these cardinal vowels. I shall start<br />
with the four corners of the chart and then go on to fill in the sides. Finally, we can<br />
go into uncharted territory and consider the vowels that are more centralised than<br />
those in the cardinal sets. The vowel we represent by the symbol [i] in English is<br />
somewhat lower than the cardinal, say [i]. Compare the sound in sea with the French<br />
si (or indeed the Scottish vowel, which is close to the French one). In most dialects of<br />
Southern British English (SBE), the equivalent to cardinal 4, is almost exactly that.<br />
Traditionally, the ash symbol [] was used for the vowel in hat and, if you examine<br />
the IPA chart, you’ll find that it’s a somewhat raised vowel relative to cardinal 4 (for<br />
which they use [a]). True cardinal 4 was found in Northern accents. However, the<br />
raised pronunciation of [] sounds very old-fashioned these days and most speakers<br />
use 4.<br />
The SBE equivalent of cardinal 5 – [] as in heart isn’t quite so far back as 5, it’s a<br />
little more centralised []. The truly back vowel is, however, found in South African<br />
English.<br />
Cardinal 8 [u] is slightly lowered in SBE and other similar dialects, including GA, and<br />
is centralised somewhat to [] in Scotland and Northern Ireland.<br />
Cardinal 2 [e] exists in its pure form in Scottish and close to this, although slightly<br />
lower, in Yorkshire. It’s diphthongised in SBE, as we shall see in due course.<br />
Cardinal 3 [] occurs in words like let in Yorkshire and Scotland but is raised slightly<br />
in SBE, keeping a distance from [] and [e].<br />
Cardinal 7 [o] is roughly this in Scotland and a bit lower (almost a raised []) but still<br />
a monophthong in Yorkshire. Again in SBE it is diphthongised (see later).<br />
Cardinal 6 [] is raised both in both SBE and Scots. It’s more rounded and higher in<br />
SBE – similar to the Spanish vowel in loco but with more rounding and tenser.<br />
The nearest English equivalent to cardinal 13 [] is slightly raised.<br />
The vowel in hit [] doesn’t have an equivalent in the cardinal set. This vowel is<br />
shorter and laxer than [i]. The tenseness of [i] tends to increase the tongue height and<br />
push the vowel further to the front. Thus, [] is lower and more retracted than its<br />
counterpart. In Scots it’s centralised to [], as indeed it is in NZ English.<br />
At the back the vowel [u] has a partner [] which shares the same relationship with it<br />
as [] to [i]. That is to say that it’s more centralised and a bit lower, as well as being<br />
lax. It’s even more centralised in Scotland and Northern Ireland (barred [] – I don’t<br />
have the symbol for this).<br />
The English equivalent to cardinal 14 [] is more central in GA, Irish and Scots [].<br />
In SBE the vowel in hut is considerably further forward []. This vowel doesn’t occur<br />
at all in northern dialects of English where there is no contrast between could and cud<br />
both being pronounced with [].<br />
14