Page 229 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 16: Varieties of English Cardinal Vowel System

been calling long vowels). The quality of the first element of the diphthongs/long vowels is Notes
modified by some phonological rules, while other rules supply the second element automatically.
This is set out in Chomsky and Halle. There is a valuable discussion of the interpretation of the
English vowel system with reference to several different accents in Giegerich, followed by an
explanation of the distinctive feature analysis of the English vowel system and the consonant
system. A more wide-ranging discussion of distinctive features is given in Clark et al.
• The idea that c is an allophone of many English vowels is not a new one. In generative
phonology, c results from vowel reduction in vowels which have never received stress in the
process of the application of stress rules. This is explained - in rather difficult terms - in Chomsky
and Halle (1968: 110-26). A clearer treatment of the schwa problem is in Giegerich (1992: 68-9
and 285-7).
• Since this is a theoretical unit it is difficult to provide practical work. I do not feel that it is
helpful for students to do exercises on using different ways of transcribing English phonemes
- just learning one set of conventions is difficult enough. Some books on phonology give exercises
on the phonemic analysis of other languages (e.g. Katamba, 1989; Roca and Johnson, 1999), but
although these are useful, I do not feel that it would be appropriate in this book to divert attention
from English. The exercises given below therefore concentrate on bits of phonetically transcribed
English which involve problems when a phonemic representation is required.
16.10 Key-Words

1. The respiratory system : Respiration is achieved through the mouth, nose, trachea, lungs, and
diaphragm. Oxygen enters the respiratory system through the mouth
and the nose. The oxygen then passes through the larynx (where
speech sounds are produced) and the trachea which is a tube that
enters the chest cavity. In the chest cavity, the trachea splits into two
smaller tubes called the bronchi. Each bronchus then divides again
forming the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes lead directly into
the lungs where they divide into many smaller tubes which connect
to tiny sacs called alveoli.
2. The phonatory system : The phonatory system is the source of the production of voiced sound.
This system gives way to phonation which means the production of
voiced sounds. Phonation is accomplished with the larynx which is
attached to the top of the trachea, and is the outlet of the respiratory
pump into the upper airway. The larynx is the structure at the entrance
to the trachea that functions as a valve biologically and as the source
of voice for speech. The larynx contains a pair of muscular band called
vocal cords. Vocal cords can attain a number of position for the
production of sounds.
16.11 Review Questions

All the following exercises involve different ways of looking at the phonemic interpretation of English
sounds. We use square brackets here to indicate when symbols are phonetic rather than phonemic.
1. In this exercise you must look at phonetically transcribed material from an English accent different
from BBC pronunciation and decide on the best way to interpret and transcribe it phonemically.

(i) ‘thing’ [θ gwõ ] (ii) ‘think’ [θ kwõ ]

w
(iii) ‘thinking’ [θ kgwõõ ] (iv) ‘finger [fgwõ ] c
w
(v) ‘singer’ [sgwõ ] c (vi) ‘singing’ [sg gwõõ ]

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