Lecture 3: English vowel phonemes: inventory, articulation & classification (GA and RP compared): English vowel / / vs / / (RP), vs / / (GA)

Phoneme: The smallest segmental sound unit that can bring about a change in meaning.

Consonants: articulated with some obstruction of the air from the lungs: stops, fricatives, nasals, lateral, open approximants Distinctive features: manner of articulation, place of articulation, force of articulation. Same inventory for GA and RP.

Vowels: articulated with free passage for the air from the lungs (no obstruction): distinctive features: place of articulation, i.e. tongue position, lip rounding. Slightly different inventories for RP and GA. (Number, exact pronunciation of phonemes, distribution)

Vowels: RP: 20: , , , , | , , , , , , | , , , , , , , GA 16: , , , , | , , , , , | , , , , o (GA: same as RP minus diphthongs , , and monophthong . far (N: far) beat (N: skip)

 boot (N: bot?) bought (N: bt) girl (cp. N: sl) set (N: sett) cat (N: her) sit (N: sitt) book (N: bukk) lock GA /lk/ (N: lokk) cut (N: katt) mother (N: kake)

fine say (cp. jeg) boy sound (cp. sau) /o no (cp. sau) dear (GA dr) dare (GA der) r) sure (GA

(note: RP // sometimes corresponds to AE //, particularly before f, s, : half, class, bath and nd, nt, ns, nt, mp: demand, aunt, dance, branch, example)

Monophthongs vs. diphthongs Monophthong: Tongue in (relatively) stable position throughout the articulation of the vowel. Long: , , , , Short: , , , (,) , , Differences in length phonetic quality (place of articulation) distribution Minimal pairs with short/long vowels: sheep beach fool ship bitch full Diphthong: Tongue moves during the articulation of the vowel (glides from one position to another). Lip rounding may also change (e.g. : neutral to rounded) Front-closing: Tongue going to a position that is closer (higher) and further front (towards ) Back-closing: tongue going to a position that is closer (higher) and further back (towards ) Centring: tongue going to a more central position (towards )