spoken language phonetics: vowel articulation, transcription
DESCRIPTION
Spoken language phonetics: Vowel articulation, transcription. LING 200 Spring 2006. Homework #2. Due Thurs. Apr 13 at the beginning of section Ch. 6 problems (5) a-g, j (6)-(7) (9) (10) a, c, e (11)-(12). Announcements. Quiz on Ch. 6 extended to 2:30 pm today (**just this once**) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Spoken language phonetics:Vowel articulation, transcription
LING 200
Spring 2006
Homework #2
• Due Thurs. Apr 13 at the beginning of section
• Ch. 6 problems– (5) a-g, j– (6)-(7)– (9)– (10) a, c, e– (11)-(12)
Announcements
• Quiz on Ch. 6 extended to 2:30 pm today (**just this once**)
• Quiz on Ch. 7 (minus first section, ‘The Pronunciation of Morphemes’) opens Sunday (4-9) 10 am, closes Wed (4-12) noon
• Clickers should be in book store today
– extra credit?
A FAQ
• Which phonetic symbols do we have to memorize in this class?
• Answer: those used for English
Manner of articulation (degree of occlusion)
• How close are lower and upper articulator?
– Relatively close: consonants
– Relatively far apart: vowels
Vowels
• Height: high, mid, low• Backness: front, central, back• Labiality (lip rounding): rounded,
unrounded
Some dimensions of vowel systems
Vowel backness x height
The Human Language Evolves. “With and Without Words”
• Clip on vowel systems
A five vowel inventorye.g. Spanish
(place of articulation)
front central back
vowel height
high i u
mid e o
low
Spanish vowels
front central back
high [mis] ‘Mass’
[mus] ‘muse’
mid [mes] ‘table’
[mosk] ‘housefly’
low [ms] ‘dough’
Lip rounding
(place of articulation)
front
unrounded
central
unrounded
back
rounded
vowel height (degree of
occlusion)
high i u
mid e o
low
Phonetic description of vowels
• (height – backness – rounding)• [i] = high front unrounded vowel• [e] = mid front unrounded vowel• [o] = mid back rounded vowel• [u] = high back rounded vowel• [] = low central (-back) unrounded
vowel– cf. [a] = low front unrounded vowel
IPA vowel chart
Another five vowel inventoryMandarin (Chinese)
[y] = high front rounded vowel
[] = mid back unrounded vowel
front
unrnd rnd
back
unrnd rnd
high i y u
mid
low
Mandarin vowel quality
[ ] = high falling tone
front back
unrnd rnd unrnd rnd
high [l] ‘advantage’
[ly] ‘green’
[lû] ‘road’
mid [l] ‘happy’
low ‘spicy’
Long vs. short vowels
• Vowel “quality”
– height: high vs. mid vs. low
– backness: front vs. central vs. back
– rounding: rounded vs. unrounded
• Vowel “quantity”: long vs. short
Danish front vowel qualities
Danish vowel length contrasts
English vowels
• English, a Germanic language
Proto-Germanic West North East Faroese Icelandic Norwegian Swedish Danish Gothic
German Afrikaans Dutch Frisian English
Proto-Germanic Vowels
i i: u u:
e e: o:
Middle English vowels
< The English Language
Middle English long and short vowels
i: u:
e: o:
: :
a :
minus the diphthongs
Modern English
• Historical length > ‘tense’/ ‘lax’ contrast
– Long vowels > ‘tense’
– Short vowels > ‘lax’
Western North America
front central backunrounded unrounded rounded
high i u
lower-high mid higher-mid e o
lower-mid low
Basic set of contrasts in stressed syllables
Western North America
front central backunrounded unrounded rounded
high heed who’d
lower-high hid hood
mid higher-mid hayed hoed
lower-mid HUD
low had
contrasts in stressed syllables
Acoustic plot of vowel quality
a female speaker from southern California
Further east in North America
front central backunrounded unrounded rounded
high i u
lower-high mid higher-mid e o
lower-mid low
contrasts in stressed syllables
Further east in North America
front central backunrounded unrounded rounded
high heed who’d
lower-high hid hood
mid higher-mid hayed hoed
lower-mid HUD low had
contrasts in stressed syllables
[] vs. []
• cot vs. caught
• Polly vs. Paulie
• Don vs. dawn
• coffee vs. cough
• body vs. bawdy
A female speaker from New York City
Acoustic plot of vowel quality
a male speaker from southern New Jersey
[] in Western N. America
In Western North America, [] only before [r]:
•[mr] more
•[mor] mower ([r] = syllabic [r])
•[mr] mar
A basic set of [Vr] combinations in North American English
front central back
high [ur]
[r]
mid
[r] = [r] [r]
low
English vowels: rhotic nuclei
front central back
high boor
beer
mid
burr bore
low
English vowels: rhotic nuclei
some varieties have more vowel quality distinctions before [r]: Mary [e], merry [], marry []
A basic set of [Vr] combinations in North American English
More on [r]
• Continuation of clip from The Human Language Evolves. “With and Without Words”
Diphthongs
• 2 vowel qualities
– [w]/[w] = []: [hwd] how’d
– [j] = []: [hjd] hide
– [j] = []: [tjd] toyed
• For many native speakers of English, [e], [o] are diphthongs
– [ej] = [e] [hed] ([hejd]) hayed
– [ow] = [o] [hod] ([howd]) hoed
Unstressed vowels
• Stressed and unstressed syllables
– verbs: nouns:
– to [rikt] a [ríkt] reject
– to [protst] a [prótst] protest to [prótst] (‘stage a protest’)
English unstressed vowels
[] only occurs in unstressed syllables
unstressed [] cf. stressed []
hiccup [hkp] cup [kp]
wicked [wkd] cud [kd]
racket [rkt] cut [kt]
English unstressed vowels
• [] + nasals, liquids• For many speakers,
– [r] [pkr] picker
–[l] = [l] [pkl] [pkl pickle
– [n] = [n] [kn] [kn] thicken
– [m] = [m] [rm] [rm] rhythm [ ] = syllabic
Transcription practice
• scrimmage
• schism
• asthma
• azalea
• mayonnaise
Transcription practice
• scrimmage [skrm]• schism [skzm]
• asthma [zm]• azalea [zelj]• mayonnaise [mnez]
More transcription practice
• kook
• cucumber
• mortgage
• grammar
• language
• kook [kuk]
• cucumber[kjukmbr]• mortgage [mrg]• grammar [græmr]• language [legw]