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Linguistics

Notes discussed earlier are plotted in (13); the monophthongs of the two accents are similar enough to
include on a single chart, although the [Z] vowel is bracketed, since it occurs in SSBE but not in GA,
where words like lot have low [Y+] instead.
13. SSBE and GA monophthongs
i+ u+
I 
c f+
ε () α +c

æ v a+
Diphthongs are not really well suited to description in terms of the labels introduced above, since
they are essentially trajectories of articulation starting at one point and moving to another; in this
respect, they are parallel to affricate consonants. Saying that []w] in noise, for instance, is a low-mid
back rounded vowel followed by a high front unrounded vowel would not distinguish it from a
sequence of vowels in different syllables or even different words; but the diphthong in noise is clearly
different from the sequence of independent vowels in law is. Using the vowel quadrilateral, we can
plot the changes in pronunciation involved in the production of a diphthong using arrows, as in (14).
Plotting several diphthongs in this way can lead to a very messy chart, but it is nonetheless helpful in
clarifying exactly how a particular diphthong is composed, and what its starting and stopping points
are; and the notation reminds us that a symbolic representation like []w] is actually short-hand for a
gradual articulatory and auditory movement.

I

14. c

However, plotting vowels on the quadrilateral is only reliable if the person doing the plotting is quite
confident about the quality she is hearing, and this can be difficult to judge without a good deal of
experience, especially if a non-native accent or language is being described. To provide a universal
frame of reference for such situations, phoneticians often work with an idealised set of vowels known
as the Cardinal Vowels. For our purposes, we need introduce only the primary cardinals, which are
conventionally numbered 1-8. Cardinal Vowel 1 is produced by raising and fronting the tongue as
much as possible; any further, and a palatal fricative would result. This vowel is like a very extreme
form of English [i+] in fleece. Its opposite, in a sense, is Cardinal Vowel 5, the lowest, backest vowel
that can be produced without turning into a fricative; this is like a lower, backer version of SSBE [Y+]
in palm. Between these two fixed points, organised equidistantly around the very edges of the vowel
quadrilateral, are the other six primary cardinal vowels, as shown in (15). Cardinal 8 is like English
[u+] in goose, but again higher and backer; similarly, Cardinals 3, 4 and 6 can be compared with the
vowels of English dress, trap and thought, albeit more extreme in articulation. Finally, Cardinals 2 and
7 are, as we shall see in Chapters 7 and 8, like the monophthongal pronunciations of a Scottish
English speaker in words like day, go. The steps between Cardinals 1-4 and 5-8 should be articulatorily
and acoustically equidistant, and lip rounding also increases from Cardinals 6, through 7, to 8.
15. The Primary Cardinal Vowels

1 i u 8

2 e o 7
3 ε c 6
4 æ a 5

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