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Unit 11: Allophones–Allophonic Variation in English Speech: Difference between Monopthong and Diphthong Glides

(ii) /al/ (this diphthong is spelled as i in bite): This diphthong sound is produced when the Notes
tongue glides towards /I/ from somewhere near the front-open position. /aI/ also like /eI/
appears in both accented and unaccented syllables. Examples of accented /aI/ are: ‘either,
‘trial, etc. And examples of unaccented /aI/ are: idea, qualify, etc.
(iii)/ I/ (It is spelled as oy in boy): For the production of this sound it is necessary for the lips to
be open-rounded and back of the tongue should glide between open and open-rounded
positions. Usually / I/ appears in accented syllables in words like an‘nony, ‘oyster, etc. but
sometimes it may appear in unaccented syllables as well, for example, employee, exploit, etc.

Closing Diphthongs Gliding to /u/
(i)/ υ/ (this diphthong is spelled as oa in boat): During the production of this diphthong, the
e
tongue moves in between half-close and half-open and glides towards /υ/. / υ/ appears in
both accented and unaccented syllables. Examples for accent / υ/ are: be‘low, cor‘rode, etc.
e
e
And examples for unaccented / υ/ are: donate, fellow, etc.
e
(ii)/aυ/ (this is spelled as ow in cow): During the production of this sound tongue glides towards
/υ/ from between back and central-open positions. Usually /aυ/ appears in accented syllables
in words like a‘round, ‘boundary, etc. But vry rarely it may appear in unaccented syllables in
words like anyhow, eyebrow, etc.
Centering Diphthongs of English (R.P)

(i)/I / (spelled as ea in tear): For the production of this diphthong the glide of tongue starts
e
from /I/ and moves toward / /. /I / appears in accented syllables in words like ‘theatre,
‘theorem, etc. It also appears in unaccented syllables in words like curious, impious, etc.
e
e
(ii)/e / (spelled as ea in bear): In the production of this sound the tongue glides towards / /
e
from the front between the half-close and half-open. /e / too appears in both accented and
e
unaccented syllables. Examples of accented /e / are: de‘clare, re‘pair, etc. And examples of
e
unaccented /e / are: hardware, fanfare, etc.
e
e
(iii)/υ / (this sound is spelled as ou in tour): During the production of this sound, tongue
glides from the position of /υ/ and moves towards / /. /υ / also appears in both accented
e
and unaccented syllables. Examples of accented /υ / are: ‘furious, ‘rural, etc. And examples
e
e
of unaccented /υ / are influence, manual, etc.
e
e
Self-Assessment
1. Transcription of words:
You should now be able to recognise all the vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs of English, and
all the plosives. In the next exercise you will hear one-syllable English words composed of these
sounds. Each word will be said twice. You must transcribe these words using the phonemic symbols
that you have learned in the first three chapters. When you hear the word, write it with phonemic
symbols. (1–20).
11.4 Summary
• The term “allophone” was coined by Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s. In doing so, he placed a
cornerstone in consolidating early phoneme theory. The term was popularized by G. L. Trager
and Bernard Bloch in a 1941 paper on English phonology and went on to become part of standard
usage within the American structuralist tradition.
• A tonic allophone is sometimes called an allotone, for example in the neutral tone of Mandarin.
Examples in English vs. other languages
• Since phonemes are abstractions of speech sounds, not the sounds themselves, they have no
direct phonetic transcription. When they are realized without much allophonic variation, a

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