Page 217 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 16: Varieties of English Cardinal Vowel System

B. The English diphthongs. Notes
Diphthongs have already been described as sequences of two vowels pronounced together, the two
vocalic elements being members of the same syllable. We have shown that it is often difficult to
distinguish a genuine diphthong from a sequence of a vowel and a semivowel, that we can often
pronounce diphthongs and even long vowels as such sequences and it is often the shorter duration of
the less prominent vowel in the diphthong that transforms it into a semivocalic element. There is, for
instance, a difference, both in quantity and quality between the second vocalic element in the English
diphthong [aww ww w] - that occurs, say, in the word buy, and the semivowel [j] in the Spanish interjection ay!
[aj].
According to the position of the more prominent element in the diphthong we have already divided
diphthongs into falling diphthongs-if the prominant element comes first-and rising diphthongs - if
the less prominent element comes first. All English diphthongs belong to the first category, as it has
already been pointed out. Diphthongs can then be opening diphthongs if the degree of aperture
increases with the glide or closing diphthongs if the less prominent vowel is closer than the first. We
can also differentiate between wide diphthongs - those in which the glide implies a more radical
movement of the speech organs (e.g. [aww ww w]) and narrow diphthongs - if the two vocalic elements occupy
neighbouring positions (e.g. [cw]) on the vowel chart. There are also centring diphthongs-if the glide
is from a marginal vowel in the vowel chart- either back or front - to a central vowel. (See the three
English diphthongs gliding towards schwa; [wc] in dear, [ec] in chair and [ υ c] in moor - to which we
should add []c], no longer met in present-day standard English).
A. The centring diphthongs: [1c], [ec], [ υ c], []c]
a. [w]w] w]w] w]] is a centring, falling, narrow, opening diphthong that starts at about the position of the
short, lax [1] and glides towards schwa. The diphthong is distributed in all three basic
positions: ear, deer, tier. If the first element of the diphthong does not have the normal
prominence and length, it can be reduced to a glide and the diphthong is changed into
[j ]. There are several possible spellings for the diphthong: eer as in deer, peer or career;
ea(r) as in ear, weary, idea, tear (n. “ lacrim㠔), beard, eir as in weird, ier as in fierce or pierce,
e
ere as in here or mere. Exceptionally we can have ia as in media(l), labia(l), genial, eu as in
museum, iu as in delirium; eo as in theory and theology; e as in hero or in the diphthongized
version of [i:]: serious, serial.
b. [e ] is a centring, falling, narrow, in most cases opening diphthong. The degree of openness
of the first element varies, in some dialects of English the sound being quite close to [ae].
e
In the more conservative pronunciations, closer to RP, the articulation of the diphthong
starts somewhere in the vicinity of cardinal vowel 2 [e]. Then follows a glide towards a
variant of the schwa. There are dialects where the glide to [ ] is very short and sometimes
the diphthong is changed into a monophthong, a long, tense vowel [e:]. The diphthong is
e
distributed in all three basic positions: air, scarce, fare. It can be spelt air: air, fair, chair,
dairy, fairy; are: fare, mare, care, care; ear: bear, wear, tear (v.); aer: aerial, aeroplane; ere: there;
eir: their, heir. In words like prayer, layer, mayor, the spelling is ay followed by either or er.
The vowel of Mary and derived words such as Maryland or Maryport is normally
diphthongized to [ec].
c. [ υ c] is a centring, falling, narrow, opening diphthong. If in the case of the two diphthongs
analyzed before the glide was from a front vowel towards the centre of the imaginary
vowel chart, in the case of [ υ c] the articulation starts with a fairly back, close vowel [ υ ].
[ υ c] is distributed only in word-medial: jewel or word-final position: sure: The most
common spellings of the diphthong are: ure and oor - endure, mature, cure, pure (words
where the semivowel [j] is inserted before the diphthong), sure, poor, moor, or ur followed
by other vowels than e: curious, duration. In a number of cases we can have the spelling

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