Lecture 5: Chapter 4: The sounds of language Lecturer: Haifa Alroqi

1
Lecture 5 Chapter 4 The sounds of
languageLecturer Haifa Alroqi
Introduction to Linguistics - LANE 321
2
What is a vowel?

• produced with a relatively free flow of air
• Vowels are all voiced

3
Describing Vowels

• How do we describe/ classify consonants?
• Voicing
• POA
• MOA
• How do we describe/ classify vowels?
• How high is the highest part of the tongue in the
  mouth?
• How front or back is the highest part of the
  tongue in the mouth?
• Are the lips rounded or unrounded?

4
Describing Vowels

• How high is the highest part of the tongue in the
  mouth?
• High
• Mid
• Low
• How front or back is the highest part of the
  tongue in the mouth?
• Front
• Central
• Back

5
(No Transcript)
6
Vowel Height
High
Mid
Low
i eat/ key/ see
? dead, pet, said
æ ban, laugh, sat
7
Vowel Height

• Upper High i, u
• i (front)
• e.g. eat/ key/ see
• u (back)
• e. g. move/ two/ too

8
Vowel Height

• Lower High ?, ?
• ?
• e.g. hit, myth, women
• ?
• e.g. could, foot, put

9
Vowel Height

• Upper Mid e, ?, o
• e
• e.g. great, tail, weight
• ?
• e.g. above, sofa, support
• o
• e.g. no, road, toe

10
Vowel Height

• Lower Mid ?, ?, ?
• ?
• e.g. dead, pet, said
• ?
• e.g. blood, putt, tough
• ?
• e.g. ball, caught, raw

11
Vowel Height

• Upper Low
• æ
• e.g. ban, laugh, sat
• ?
• e.g. Tom, hot, got (UK)

12
Vowel Height

• Lower Low
• a
• e.g. bomb, swan (American)
• ?
• e.g. spa, ????, father

13
(No Transcript)
14
Front and back vowels

• Who /hu/

• He /hi/

15
Lip roundedness

• Rounded u, ?, o, ?, ?
• u e.g. noon
• Unrounded i, ?, e, ?, æ, ?, a, ?
• i e.g. heat

16
Diphthongs

• A combination of two sounds
• begins with a vowel ends with the glides w or
  j
• vowel glide
• aw
• cow, down, loud, doubt
• ?y or ?j
• boy, toy, noise, void
• ay or aj
• ride, high, bye, eye, my

17
Activity identifying diphthongs

• Call top Fright joy
• Top Haste Avoid Proud Hide
• Fright ay
• Joy ?y
• Avoid ?y
• Proud aw
• hide ay

18
Vowels full description

• Can be classified according to three parameters
  height, backness, and lip rounding
• Examples
• i
• high front unrounded vowel
• u
• high back rounded vowel

19
Phonetic Transcription

• The best-known system
• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• IPA has been developing since 1888.
• The system represents each sound of human speech
  with a single symbol.
• The symbol is enclosed in brackets or / /.

20
Phonetic Transcription

• We can use IPA transcription across languages,
  there is one symbol for EVERY possible human
  sound
• There is a 1-1 correspondence of sound to symbol
• Cat kæt
• Cell s?l

21
Transcription Practice

• Transcribe the following words
• Kick
• Boot
• She
• The
• Thin
• kIk
• but
• ?i
• ð?
• ??n

22
Important terms

• Articulatory phonetics
• articulators
• Consonants and vowels
• Places of articulation
• Manner of articulation
• Voicing
• Parameters for describing vowels
• Phonetic transcription

23

• ? ? Thank you ? ? ?
• Next class
• Plz read chapter 5 The sound patterns of
  language