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Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 7: Vowels and Its Phonetic Transcription

Unit 7: Vowels and Its Phonetic Transcription Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
7.1 Vowels versus Consonants
7.2 The Anatomy of a Vowel
7.3 Vowel Classification
7.4 Summary
7.5 Key-Words
7.6 Review Questions
7.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to Aristotle
• Understand Vowels and Its Phonetic Transcription
• Discuss Vowes versus Consonants.
Introduction

Vowels are made by opening your mouth and letting air come out while your vocal cords vibrate.
They’re voiced by definition. They are the sounds that you sing; listen particularly to opera singers
and you will notice that they just suggest consonants while moving from one vowel (one note) to
another.
We classify vowels according to a grid of two characteristics: whether the lips are more nearly close
or open, and whether the tongue is more nearly front, central, or back in the mouth as the vowel is
being produced.
The front vowels are, going from close to open, the vowels in lead (as in “a horse”), lid, laid, lead (as in
pencil), lad, and lod (if that were a word ... it would rhyme with how most Americans pronounce prod,
sod, God).
The central vowels, both of which are middle vowels, are the second vowel of bullet and the first
vowel of Luddite. The second vowel of bullet, the mid-central vowel, is often “reduced,” and the
symbol for it is called schwa. The first vowel of Luddite is more heavily stressed.
The back vowels, again going from close to open, are the vowels of lewd, look, load, laud, and Lawd (as
pronounced in a rich stage dialect). The vowel of Lawd is close to what your doctor makes you say to
get a look at the back of your throat, because to make that sound you open your mouth and depress
your tongue as far as possible.
Many vowel sounds in English are diphthongs, vowels that begin in one vowel position and move
toward another as the vowel is articulated. The vowel in laid is actually a diphthong, beginning with
the “long a” sound and ending a bit closer. Starting with the vowel of prod and going up much closer
gives the diphthong in lied. Starting with the back vowel of laud and then moving front and near-
close yields the diphthong in Lloyd. Starting way back and open and moving up to a back near-close
sound gives the diphthong of loud. The English “long” vowels are usually pronounced as diphthongs:
the vowels of lead, load, and lewd are actually pure vowels followed by a semivowel “off-glide.”
Note, however, that the distinction between “long” and “short” vowels, so often made in elementary
teaching, is really not a distinction between long and short versions of the same sound. For instance,

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