Page 94 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes leap- lip, Luke-look, fool -full. This distinction is usually made in terms of vowel length: in SSBE and
GA, the vowels in (8) are consistently produced as longer than those in (9).
8. Long vowels
SSBE GA
fleece i+ i+
goose u+ u+
goat o+
thought ]+ ]+
palm Y+ Y+
lot Y+
nurse f+ fr
9. Short vowels
SSBE GA
kit w w
dress e e
trap a F
lot Z
foot • •
about c c
strut • •
This is not to say, however, that the only difference between [i+] and [w], or [u+] and [• ], is one of
length: the quantity difference goes along with a difference in quality, [i+] is higher and fronter than
[w]; [u+] is higher and backer than [• ]; and similarly, [Y+] in palm is lower and backer than the
corresponding short [a] in trap. In general, long vowels in English are more peripheral, or articulated
in a more extreme and definite way, than their short counterparts. Some phonologists use a feature
[ ± tense] rather than length to express this difference, with the long, more peripheral vowels being
[+tense], and the short, more centralised ones being [—tense], or lax.

Monophthongs and diphthongs
Most of the vowels we have considered so far have been monophthongs, in which the quality of the
vowel stays fairly consistent from the beginning of its production to the end. However, there are also
several diphthongs in English. Diphthongs change in quality during their production, and are typically
transcribed with one starting point, and a quite different end point; as might be expected from this
description, diphthongs are typically long vowels. In English, all diphthongs have the first element
as longer and more prominent than the second, and are known as falling diphthongs. Three diphthongs
are found very generally in accents of English, and are shown in (10).
10. Diphthongs (i)
SSBE GA
price aw aw
mouth a• a•
choice ]w ]w
The long high-mid front and back vowels in face and goat are also characteristically diphthongal in
SSBE and GA, as shown in (11).
11. Diphthongs (ii)
SSBE GA
face ew ew
goat o• o+

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