Page 92 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes The vowels in (1) are front. These could, in principle, equally be described as palatal, and this might
be helpful in making phonological rules transparent. The rule palatalising velar /k l/ before front
vowels in kitchen, key, give, geese looked rather perplexing as the relationship between palatal and
front was not obvious. However, calling front vowels palatal would be misleading, since frontness
covers a larger area than [palatal], as we shall see below; and it contrasts with completely different
alternatives, namely central and back, rather than labial, alveolar, dental, velar and so on.
1. Front vowels
SSBE GA
kit w w
dress e e
trap a F
fleece i+ i+
face ew ew
Conversely, back vowels have the back of the tongue raised, towards the soft palate or velum. The
vowels in (2) are back.
2. Back vowels
SSBE GA
lot Z Y+
foot  
palm Y+ Y+
thought ]+ ]+
goat o  o+
goose u+ u+
There is also a class of vowels between front and back: these are known as central vowels, and involve
a raising of the body of the tongue towards the area where the hard and soft palate join. Central
vowels are exemplified in (3). The most common of these in English, [ c ], is known as schwa, and
only appears in unstressed syllables.
3. Central vowels
SSBE GA
about c c
nurse f+ fr
strut • •
The high-low dimension
High vowels have the tongue raised most towards the roof of the mouth; if the raising was significantly
greater, then friction would be produced, making a fricative consonant, not a vowel. The high vowels
from the last section are in (4).
4. High vowels
SSBE GA
kit w w
fleece i+ i+
foot  
goose u+ u+

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