Notes on English Vowels

It is generally said that there are 12 vowel phonemes in RP. In order to determine
the number of vowel phonemes in a language objectively, the process called
commutation is usually employed. It consists in the substitution of one vowel,
keeping the phonetic environment unchanged. Thus, we can state that in Spanish
we have five vowels after having carried out the following commutations, all of
which results in different words:

1. ‘misa’ [ˈmisa] ‘pipa’ [ˈpipa] ‘tiza’ [ˈtisa]

2. ‘mesa’ [ˈmesa] ‘pepa’ [ˈpepa] ‘tesa’ [ˈtesa]
3. ‘masa [ˈmasa] ‘papa’ [ˈpapa] ‘taza’/‘tasa’ [ˈtasa]
4. ‘moza’ [ˈmosa] ‘popa’ [ˈpopa] ‘tosa’ [ˈtosa]
5. ‘musa’ [ˈmusa] ‘pupa’ [ˈpupa] ‘tusa’ [ˈtusa]

We can try the same procedure applying it to English:

1. ‘leek’/ ‘leak’ [liːk] ‘peat’ [piːt] ‘bead’ [biːd]

2. ‘lick’ [lɪk] ‘pit’ [pɪt] ‘bid’ [bɪd]
3. --- --- ‘pet’ [pet] ‘bed’ [bed]
4. ‘lack’ [læk] ‘pat’ [pæt] ‘bad’ [bæd]
5. ‘lark’ [lɑːk] ‘part’ [pɑːt] ‘bard’ [bɑːd]
6. ‘lock’ [lɒk] ‘pot’ [pɒt] ‘bod’ [bɒd]
7. --- --- ‘port’ [pɔːt] ‘board’ [bɔːd]
8. ‘look’ [lʊk] ‘put’ [pʊt] --- ---
9. ‘Luke’ [luːk] --- --- ‘booed’ [buːd]
10. ‘luck’ [lʌk] ‘putt’ [pʌt] ‘bud’ [bʌd]
11. ‘lurk’ [lɜːk] ‘pert’ [pɜːt] ‘bird’ [bɜːd]

We can observe that there are no examples with vowel [ə], or schwa. The
explanation is simple: all the examples listed are monosyllabic and, consequently,
stressed. We must remember that vowel [ə] occurs in unstressed position, only.

It is not easy to consider schwa a phoneme, as it can be an allophone of practically

any of the eleven vowel phonemes listed above, as the following examples show.

‘am’ æ >ə ‘for’ ɔː >ə ‘the’ iː>ə ‘could’ ʊ>ə

‘are’ ɑː > ə ‘Sir’ ɜː>ə ‘but’ ʌ>ə ‘of’ ɒ>ə

On the other hand, there are minimal pairs that show phonological contrast
between ə and other vowels:

‘foreword’ - ‘forward’ ɜː - ə ‘except’ - ‘accept’ ɪ-ə

‘commerce’ - ‘commas’ ɜː - ə ‘city’ - ‘sitter’ ɪ -ə
Description of Vowels

Vowels are more difficult to describe and classify than consonants. Nearly all the
consonantal segments are made with a type of stricture involving contact of
relatively large areas of both active and passive articulators at a point that can be
determined with relative accuracy This is a fairly solid basis on which we can
establish a convenient classification. Thus, it will not be difficult to state that [m] is
articulated with the two lips in such a close contact that a complete closure is
produced.

Vocalic segments, on the other hand, are articulated with an open approximation of
the articulators, i.e. the contact of the articulators is practically non-existent. This is
why it is so difficult so establish the place of the approximation with some degree of
accuracy. X rays have to be used to be more precise.

The distinctive quality of the vowels results from the different shape of the vocal
tract, determined mainly by the position of the tongue and the shape of the lips.

Position of the tongue. The tongue adopts a large number of different shapes to
produce different vowels. In all of them its upper surface is convex. Following
Abercrombie 1967 (:56) we can say that it makes a ‘hump’ in the mouth, narrowing
the tract at a given point. In order to place that point with some certainty we have to
consider two dimensions: the height of the tongue and the advancement of the
tongue.

Height of the tongue. The tongue may be resting on the ‘floor’ of the mouth with the
consequent lowering of the jaw, in such a position as the one required to
pronounce [ɑː]. As the mouth is wide open, vowels pronounced in such a way are
called open vowels. If the tongue is raised, approaching the ‘roof’ of the mouth,
vowels such as [iː] and [uː] will be articulated. They are called close vowels. If the
tongue is partially raised, a vowel such as [e] will occur. I is said to be in a place
between half-close and half-open, i.e., in a mid position.

Advancement of the tongue. In all these cases, it is a given part of the tongue the
one that is raised towards the roof of the mouth. It may be the tip or the front of the
tongue, as in the case of [iː], [uː] or [e]. Due to physiological considerations, the
front of the tongue will naturally move towards the hard a palate, the corresponding
section of the palate which is exactly above the front of the tongue. For this reason,
those vowels are called front or palatal vowels. Those which are pronounced by
means of an approximation of the back part of the tongue towards the hard palate
or velum, such as [uː] or [ɔː], will be called back or velar vowels. In English there
are some vowels pronounced with the central part of the tongue, such as [ʌ], [ə]
and [ɜː].They are called central vowels.
These two dimensions, height and advancement of the tongue are traditionally
presented in a schematic form like the following:

The height and advancement of the tongue make it possible to classify vowels
according to these two dimensions. For example, [iː] can be described as a front
close vowel, [e] as a front mid vowel and [ə] as a central mid vowel. This way of
classifying vowels may satisfactory for some vocalic systems, but inadequate for
others, such as the French or the German ones. A third dimension will have to be
used: the lip-shape.

The shape of the lips varies considerably when we pronounce vowels sounds.
When we articulate [iː] the lips are extended or spread, adopting a shape similar to
the one they have when we smile. Their shape will be very different when
pronounce [uː] for instance. In this case, the lips will be rounded. When
pronouncing [ɑː] they will be neutral.

There are languages like French and German in which the shape of the lips has a very significant
role. In these languages we find vowel sounds which are identical in terms of the advancement and
the height of the tongue, but which differ in the shape the lips have during their articulation. In
French, for instance, there are two close front vowels that are distinguished only by the different lip
shape with which they are pronounced. They are [i], a front close vowel pronounced with spread
lips, and [y], a front close vowel pronounced with rounded lips. Their opposition is demonstrated
with minimal pairs like ‘vie’ [vi] (= ’vida’) and ‘vue’ [vy] (= ‘seen’).
 /iː/

Description: The front of the tongue is raised to a height slightly below and behind
the close front position; the lips are spread; the tongue is tense, with the side rims
making a firm contact with the upper molars. / iː/ does not normally occur in a
syllable closed by /ŋ/.

Spelling:

“ee” green meet bee tree cheese “e” eve these even complete
“ea” mean deal beat east leaf “ie” chief niece field piece
“i” machine police visa ski “ei, ey” receive ceiling seize key

Note: people quay anæmia Cæsar fo(e)tus phoenix

Plurals of nouns ending in “-is”: analysis [ɪs] analysis [iːz]
basis bases
thesis theses

/ɪ/

Description: /ɪ/ is pronounced with a part of the tongue nearer to centre than to
front raised just above the half-close position; theirs are loosely spread; the tongue
is lax, with the side rims making a light contact with the upper molars. /ɪ/ may occur
in all positions in a word.

Spelling:

“i” bit knit sit fifth with “y” city beauty symbol rhythm
“ie” hippie mischief sieve movies “a” village spinach orange character

Prefixes: be-, ex-, in- and re- (when it does not mean repetition: cf. re/ɪ/turn and
re/iː/-turn), suffixes -es, -ed, -less, -ness. Examples: become explain insane remain
buses wanted careless goodness.
Unstressed -ate in nouns and adjectives, as in: estimate, separate (notice that the
corresponding verbs end in /eɪt/).

Note: toffee Yankee committee coffee breeches

fountain mountain bargain captain
foreign sovereign forfeit
pretty minute lettuce women holiday England Sunday, Monday, etc.

In the unaccented- syllables of certain words there is in RP free variation

between [ɪ] and [ə]: possible interesting believe waited matches. These examples
could make us assume that they are allophones. Nevertheless, there are minimal
pairs such as effect - affect, accept - except, razors - raises, waiter - weighty, sitter
- city, allusion - illusion, Rosa - rosy, better - Betty, corner - corny, harder - Hardy,
which show the opposition existing between [ɪ] and [ə].

/e/

Description: The front of the tongue is raised between the half-close and the half-
open positions; the lips are loosely spread and are slightly wider apart than for /ɪ/;
the tongue may have more tension than in the case of /ɪ/, the side rims making a
light contact with the upper molars. /e/ does not occur in final, open syllables.

Spelling:

“e” send let met red bet get end “a” any many Pall Mall (also /pæl mæl/)
“ea” heaven lead (metal) feather breath

Note: says bury Leicester heifer Geoffrey friend leopard Leonard; ate and again
(also /eɪ/).

/æ/

Description: The mouth is slightly more open than for /e/; the front of the tongue is
raised just below the half-open position; with the side rims making a very slight
contact with the back upper molars; the lips are neutrally open. This traditionally
short vowel appears to be lengthened in RP especially before the lenis consonants
/ b d g dʒ m n/ (cab bad badge jam man). Its length is equivalent in quantity to
the longest varieties of /iː ɑː ɔː uː ɜː/.

Spellings:

“a” cat rat mad hand

“ai” plait plaid

Note: salmon (/ˈsæmən/) Pall Mall (also /pel mel/) balcony alphabet shall scalp
 /ɑː/

Description: This normally long vowel is articulated with a considerable separation

of the jaws and the lips neutrally open; a part of the tongue between the centre and
back is in the fully open position, no contact being made between the rims of the
tongue and the upper molars. /ɑː/ does not normally occur before /ŋ/.

Spelling:

“a” last grass staff plant father bath “ar” part car March
banana /bəˈnɑːnə/ cinema/ˈsɪnɪmɑː/ “ear” heart hearth
“er” clerk Derby sergeant Berkshire /ˈbɑːkʃ(ɪ)ə/ “al” calm palm half balm calf
Hertford /ˈhɑːfəd/ Berkeley /ˈbɑːklɪ/ (USA /ˈbɜː-/) “au” aunt laugh draught

Note: vase /vɑːz/ memoir /ˈmemwɑː/ reservoir /ˈrezəvwaː/

There are many cases of indecision between /æ/ and /ɑː/ in words where the vowel
is followed by /f θ ð s/ or by nasal consonant + consonant: ‘lather’ ‘elastic’ ‘plastic’.

Note:

/aː/ in: pass glass can’t grant chance dance demand slander caster aghast
/æ/ in: passage ass cant finance romance expand random gas

/ɒ/

Description: This short vowel is articulated with wide open jaws and sight lip
rounding; the back of the tongue is in fully open position, no contact being made
between the rims of the tongue and the upper molars. /ɒ/ does not normally occur
in a final, open syllable.

Spelling:

“o” box hot dot cot off “a” wander want swan what
“ou”, “ow” cough trough Gloucester knowledge was watch quarrel quality
“au” because sausage laurel Australia
Austria cauliflower

Note: yacht /jɒt/ shone / ʃɒn/ gone /gɒn/

Many words containing /ɒ/ + /f θ s/ have an alternative pronunciation with /ɔː/. In

general, /ɒ/ is commoner in the speech of the younger generation. This fact is
reflected in the following review of some pronouncing dictionaries:
 /ɔː/

Description: This relatively long RP vowel is articulated with wide medium lip
rounding; the back of the tongue is raised between the half open and half-close
position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. /ɔː/
does not normally occur before /ŋ/.

Spelling:

“or” port sort nor sword “oar” soar oar board hoarse
“aw” law saw jaw yawn dra “ou” bought ought fought sought
“au” daughter fault cause taught “a” all fall water wrath salt
“al” talk walk “ar” warm swarm quart
“ore” before more folklore “oa” broad abroad
“oor” door floor “our” court four pour course

/ɔː/ increasingly replaces /ɔə/. /ɔə/ is retained in conservation RP and in many

regional dialects.

Note: [ʊə > ɔə > ɔː] in ‘sure’, ‘you’re’, ‘your’ and occasionally ‘poor’.

/ʊ/

Description: The short RP vowel /ʊ/ is pronounced with a part of the tongue
nearer to centre than to back raised just above the half-close position. (It has,
therefore, a symmetrical back relationship with the front vowel /ɪ/.) The tongue is
laxly held (compared with the tenser /uː/.) No firm contact being made between the
tongue and the upper molars. The lips are closely but loosely rounded. /ʊ/ occurs
in both accented and unaccented syllables, being present in the accented syllable
of a relatively small number of words, though some of these are of common
occurrence ( ‘put’, ‘good’, ‘look’, ‘would’). /ʊ/ does not occur in word initial positions
nor before final /ŋ/ and finally only in the unaccented form of ‘to’ /tʊ/.

Spellings:

“u” push pull butcher pulpit bush “oo” + ‘k’ (except in spook) look book took
cushion full bull “oo” wool good foot stood soot
“o” wolf bosom /ˈbʊzəm/ woman “ou” could should would
courier /ˈkʊrɪə/ bouquet /ˈbʊkeɪ/

Note: Worcester/ˈwʊstə/ worsted /ˈwʊstɪd/ suffix ‘-hood’, as in childhood /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd/. Some

words used to be pronounced with /ʊ/ are now pronounced with /uː/.
e.g. broom, groom, soon.