Lax, back, open(glide is front and closed), rounded diphthong

/  /

▼ ▼

[ ^‾ ] [ ^˅ ]

joy joint

For RP /  / the tongue glide begins at a point between the back half-open and open positions and moves in the direction of /  /, generally not reaching a level closer than [ ë ]. The tongue movement extends from back to centralized front, but the range of closing in the glide is not as great as for /  /; the jaw movement is considerable. The lips are open rounded for the first element, changing to neutral for the second.

boy enjoy moist cloy employ annoy destroy

annoy - anoint joy - joint poise - point spoil - spoilt toil - toilsome void - voice noise – noisome

DRILL 64

LAX, FRONT, HALF-OPEN, UNROUNDED TRIPHTHONG^*

/ e /

▼ ▼

[ e^‾ ] [ e^˅ ]

prayer gaiety

*An English triphthong consists of 3 elements acoustically and graphically. The definition is traditionally given according to the articulatory characteristics of a triphthong nucleus i.e. a starting diphthong. So the descriptions coincide with those given above.

crayon bayonet baobab Graham Mayonnaise Israel mayor (US)

layer* grayer* conveyer* abeyance* player* betrayal* slayer*

DRILL 65

LAX, FRONT, OPEN, UNROUNDED TRIPHTHONG

/  /

▼ ▼

[ ^‾ ] [ ^˅ ]

ire giant

See page 69.

tired pliant lion diamond admire attire pliant shire quiet

client dialect friar* dryer* dyer* pliancy hierarchy higher* choir

*Mind that biphonemic units are pronounced differently(without contraction tendency) than monophonemic units.

DRILL 66

Lax, central, open, unrounded triphthong

/  /

▼ ▼

[ ^‾ ] [ ^˅ ]

hour ourselves

See page 69.

cower flour towel shower scour rowan(US) scour

power – power-point hour - hour-hand flower - flower-pot sour - sour-smell power - power-house coward* scower*

DRILL 67

LAX, CENTRAL, HALF-OPEN, ROUNDED TRIPHTHONG

/  /

▼ ▼

[ ^‾ ] [ ^˅ ]

boa Joachim

* See page 70.

oolite proa oolitic Boer rowan coalition Samoa

thrower* follower* sewer* lower* rower* mower* borrower*

DRILL 68

Bilabial, constrictive, oral sonant

/  /

▼ ▼

[  ] [ ^□ ]

what quash

The allophones of RP /w / are articulated by the tongue assuming the position for a back half-close to close vowel (depending upon the degree of openness of the following sound) and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound; the lips are rounded (more closely when followed by /u,  / or /  / (woo, wood, war) than when preceding a more open or front vowel (what, west, we); the soft palate is raised and the vocal folds vibrate; but when / w / follows a fortis consonant, some devoicing takes place: when / w / follows accented / t, k /, the devoicing is complete; such words as swoop, swoon, are distinguished from soup, soon, not only by the stronger lip action associated with / w / but also by its partially devoiced friction.

wake whistle aware wheel away wing quack quarrel question

ward - awkward wash - backwash woods - backwoods when - twenty wine - twine wick - quick win - twin whist - twist white - quite

DRILL 69