Vowel length in English

When ether we mention it, we mean phonetic and historic length. There are historically long and historically short vowels, and also phonetically short and long.

Phonetically long differ in various positions. There are many attempts to give a phonological interpretation of the conception of quantity with respect to the English vocalic system.

The primary purpose of any kind of a phonological analysis is to propose clear-cut functional boundaries between relevant and irrelevant features. Relevant in the meaning of distinctive or differential features and irrelevant in the meaning of _______________________________.

Relevant features are important for a language functioning in the society. But it is not enough to know only relevant features when it comes to teaching the language. For practical purposes we have to know irrelevant features as well.

Is vowel length relevant in present day English?

Many people say a definite “no”, it is not relevant. It has not been relevant for 4 hundred years. Diachronic study the lines testifies (свидетельствовать) to the fact. The scholars of the last century took it for granted that vowel length in English is relevant. And no one ever attempted to question it. They acknowledged 3 degrees of vowel length or 3 types of vowels with respect to their length:

1. long [sɔ:,pɔ:,ka:,ba:]

2. half-long [pi:k,pa:t]

3. short [pın,pɒt]

later on 4 degrees wore introduced because i: in [di:d] is much longer than in [di:p]

by the degrees of length, not the historical, but rather the position of a vowel in a word was taken into account. Thus vowels were grouped into the following patterns

1. an open syllable – the longest vowel [pɔ:]

2. before sonorant – shorter but long enough [si:n, di:n, ri:l, ɔ:l]

3. before voiced consonants [di:d, si:d]

4. before voiceless consonants [si:t], [sit] no matter historically shorter or long

there were many attempts to measure vowel length acoustically (instrumentally)

the first meaningful attempt was made by a German linguist Meyer in 1903. he came to the following conclusion: there are as many degrees of vowel length as there are positions which a vowel occurs in a word.

They are innumerable but not formed. T was a far reaching conclusion because it was the 1^st meaningful experimental substantiated conclusion. It was an attempt to consider the vowel length as a disputable question and not to take it for granted. But no matter how accurate these attempts are. It doesn’t follow that vowel length is redundant (чрезмерный) characteristic feature. There is not yet enough prove because this difference in vowel length may be explicable in terms of allophonic variations. Another justification for the statement that vowel length is not relevant must be found.

In teaching phonetics we know from the experience that vowels differ not only in length. That is quantity, it is also the quality that makes them different. For example, traditional pair of short and long counterparts: i: I, ɔ:ɒ, ɑ:ʌ, u:ʊ, ɜ:ǝ

if we think that the difference is in length, it is wrong. They are different in the matter of quality. I: is a diphthong not a monophthong . it is more accurate to make is “ij”

so they are qualitatively different vowels.

Another pair is u: ʊ. There is no opposition as they belong to different groups.

ɜ: ǝ (шуа occurs only and exclusively in unstressed positions, другой almost never loses much of its quality)

they never occur in the same position. Thus this opposition doesn’t work either. They are sounds of different planes.

ɑ:ʌ it is very arbitrary (случайно) kind of opposition. It is more relevant hidtorically and phonologically to appose ɑ: to æ. More over [ʌ] and more over occurs as [шуа]

ɔ:ɒ it is the only pair that may seem to be right. But it does not work either because perceptual phonetic findings show that if we reduce the degree of length in ɔ: it will be perceived by the natives of the English as ʊ.

Consequently this opposition with the reference to the length does npt worl. They are different because their quality is different.

About 40 years ago Vassiliev with the approval of the international phonetic associations proposed to change some of the symbols to show that the vowels are different not only in the length but also in quality. His symbols u на ʊ, ɔ на ɒ, ǝ: на ɜ:

Some people used to say that the difference in length is nothing else but the manifestation of differences in the degree of tenseness. Long vowels are tense and short vowels are lax. And the main feature for length difference is the difference in the degree of tenseness.

In fact this hardly the case in English. British phoneticians supply examples to prove that English vowels are very flexible in the matter of prolongation (продолжение). And it was a wrong idea that tenseness brings length _______________________vice versa.

A more sound approached to the problem is to regard it into the context of syllable structure. If the vowel is regarded as a constituent (компонент) of a syllable it depends on a kind of a contiguity (близость, примыкание) of a consonant which adjoins it.

According to the theory vowels can be checked and unchecked. In the course of its historical development vowel quantitative correlation changed into the so-called checked-unchecked syllabic correlation. Thus from this stand point that vowel length is a redundant (чрезмерный) characteristic, it is not relevant.

But we must not assume that this is the end point in the development of the English vocalic system.

We know that the pronunciation of a language is subject to a constant change. It is less stable than grammar and the vocabulary. Thus since quantity of a vowel is not relevant, it is preferable to avoid using the terms long short length. It is better to speak about duration, because it implies the idea of oppositional length.

Thus the 2 main constituencies of English vowels are vowel quality and vowel quantity. Among them only vowel quality is relevant. Prove it: pıt - pi:t ʃıp - ʃi:p.

It is vowel quality which differentiates the meaning. In the position before voiceless consonants historical long and short vowels are of equal length. [bi:d-bıd,sıd-si:d]

Here the vowels are before voiced consonants. Before voiceless consonants historically long vowels become shorter. But the quality is stable.

Vowel quality and vowel length differentiate the meaning.

Vowel length is affected by the position of the vowel in a word or a sentence. The vowel is longest in the final position. It is short before the voiceless consonants. It is longer in a nucleolus syllable.

In teaching it is necessary to provide exercises to train because there is a connection between the vowel length and the type of the syllable. That is why it is important to teach syllabication.

In modern English there is a new tendency to which vowel length become relevant again someday [lætǝ - lædǝ] latter-ladder

The problem is connected with the pronunciation of consonants in their vocalic positions. There is a tendency to make the consonants voiced, that is why these consonants seemed to become homonyms: [æ] in latter remains short [æ] in ladder is long. It may cause relevance of vowel length in future.

Moot points in the system of English phonemes

1. consonants

7. [w] – [ʍ] wh

Some linguists say that there are 2 consonant phonemes in English when we have “wh” in spelling. If we oppose them, we can see that this opposition differentiates the meaning. Our linguists consider them to be one and the same phoneme.

[ʍ] it is mainly used in literary style. Most English speakers pronounce only [ʍ]

According to Jones’ dictionary [ʍ] is used in all variants

7. [ʧ-ʤ]

According to our textbooks there are 2 affricates in English. Affricate is a phoneme consisting of 2 consonant elements. According to British linguists there are 6 affricates [ʧ,ʤ,ʦ,ʣ,tr,dr]

When must sound combination be treated as uniphonemic?

1. they must stand a whole in a phoneme opposition

2. belong to the same morpheme and syllable

3. the articulation must be shifting

[ʧ,ʤ] [ʦein-mein-sein] - ʧ stands as a whole and belongs to the same syllable.

There are cases when similar combinations consist of 2 phonemes [kɔ:t ʃɪp] – different syllables, articulation is not shifting.

[ʦ-ʣ] not quite clear

[kæʦ-beʣ] – may be either the plural form. Belong to different morphemes (s,z - endings), but the syllable is the same.

There are no affricates like them in English

There is no [y] in Russian, the Greek word [zɑ:]. If there were such an affricate, it would be pronounced as [ʦɑ:]

[tr, dr] can easily fall apart in the phonological opposition. The opposition is [krai-trai-drai]

Here it belongs to the same syllable, but the articulation is not shifting. Thus it is difficult to decide if these are the combination of the phoneme or they are separate phonemes.

Vowels

1. some linguists say that there are no diphthongs, they are combinations of 2 sounds

[bei-bai-bi:-bɔ:]

The combination stands as a whole in this opposition, they belong to the same syllable and morpheme

[`pʊəlrə] – the sound combination [ʊə] belongs to 1 syllable and morpheme even when add an extra morpheme [rə], [ʊə] doesn’t fall apart, the articulation is shifting. There are similar combinations when these vowels fall apart and belong to different syllables and morphemes

[fju: - fju:] [influənts - influənt∫l] there are 2 morphemes and two different syllables

2. a neutral vowel

is a neutral sound a phoneme or is it an unstressed allophone of some other phoneme?

If we approach from the point of view of the phonological Moscow school, there are two cases:

1. when the neutral vowel can be opposed to some other morpheme

[`ɑ:mi-`ɑ:mə] (armour) the morphemes are different, the meaning is different, that is why the neutral vowel is the separate phoneme

2. [`ɒbʤɪkt - əb`ʤekt] the morpheme is the same, here [ə] – is an unstressed allophone of [ɒ]

According to the Leningrad school, [ə] is always an independent phoneme, because it sounds different

New tendencies of pronunciation

5 groups of changes in present day English:

1. a change may consist simply in the replacement of one phoneme by another. In Northern English they pronounce [mʌndeɪ]

according to the British norm they used to pronounce [mʌndɪ], in dictionary [mʌndeɪ] is the first variant

2. a phoneme may disappear from a word completely, or it may disappear regularly from certain position: knight, knee

3. a phoneme or the member of the phoneme can change in quality

ME i: > NE ai life

ME u > NE ʌ dull

4. there may be changes in the whole phonemic structure. New phonemes may appear, other may disappear

OE [θ,ð] one allophones of the phoneme

ME they are separate: thing – thy

5. prosodic changes (in stress and intonation). In present century a number of two-syllabic words have had the stress moved from the second syllable to the first: adult, ally (друг, союзник)

vowel changes

1. isolated changes

they take place in respective (соответствующий) of the phoneme position, occupied by the phoneme. The quality of some sounds changes:

[ʌ]

In 1932 Jones characterized the sound as half-open rather retracting (продвинутый назад). In 1964 Charles Barbar considered this phoneme to be more retracted, opened, central, forward, lower

kʌp - bʌtə

[ɔ:] [lɔ:t - ʃɔ:t]

used to be retracted and rather opened, it became less open, and the tongue is much higher

[ai]

For Jones it was a frank diphthong. Barbar considers the phoneme more retracted, where the element [a] is a back element

The centripetal tendency

[e] develops towards the position of [ə]

[ʊ] loses lip rounding and moves to [ə], as [ʌ]

[bout] – [bəʊt]

2. combinative changes

take place in certain phonetic contexts

[ə:] > [ɒ] before voiceless [t, s. θ] – soft, often, cloth

In early ME these words had a short [ɒ]. In the 17^th century it became lengthened before [t, s. θ], the long forms were fashionable in the 18 century. Now the original form is becoming predominant

[ju:] > [u:] preceded by [ʧ,ʤ,r,l]

This change has been going on since the 17^th century. There is an intermediate group though both forms are heard.

After [s] [su:t – sju:t]

[ə`sju:m – su:m]

[kən`sju:m – su:m]

After [θ] [in`θju:ziæzm - `θu:]

After [z] [ri`zju:m – `zu:m]

Initial [l] [,lu:k`wɔ:m]

[`lu:nətik – `lju:]

Medial [l] [,æbsə`lu:t – `lju:t]

This process is more advanced in American English

Dubious - сомнительный AE [`du:biəs – `dju:]

BE [dju:biəs]

3. Diphthongization [i:], [u:]

Jones thought them to be pure vowels (organs not more). As a pure vowel [u:] has a closer lip-rounding and a narrower jaw-opening. Barbar says that this sound is diphthongized, speech organs change their position:

[u+u] > [ʊ+u] > [ə+u] – a substandard variant

In the course of diphthongization the lip-rounding is tightened , jaw-opening is narrowed.

In the pronouncing of the sound [i:] the organs of speech move from:

[i+i] > [i+j] > [ə+j] – a substandard variant

4. monophthongization – the process of smoothing of diphthong. They become more like pure vowel, the glide is slight

[ei] – say, play [e.i+i]

[ai, aʊ] – tend to be smoothed when followed by [ə] the central element is lost:

[taʊə - taə - ta:]

[faiə - faə - fa:]

5. fial [i] > [i:], [ə] – pronounced closer and longer

[`priti – `priti:, `pritə]

RP speaker tend to make final [i] into an open sound. Occasionally [i] is replaced in other positions

[bi`twi:n – bi:`twi:n] [i`levn – i:`levn] substandard [əi]

5. [iə] > [i+ə]

[ʊə] > [ʊ+ə]

Nausea [`nɔ:siə] [`nɔ:si+ə] – spelling pronunciation

7. the influence of dark [l] in [ɒlt,ɒlv,ɔ:lt]

[ɒ], [ɔ:] > [əʊ]

Salt [sɔ:lt, sɒlt]

7. the spread of [ə] in unstressed syllables. Alternative forms of vowels in unstressed syllables:

system [`sistəm - tim]

corridor [`kɒridɔ:] [`kɒrədə]

boxes BE [`bɒksiz] – AE [`bɒksəz]

ended BE[`endid] - AE [`endəd]

3. In vowel length

[i] – big, his

[ʊ] – good

[ʌ] – come lengthening

[e] – bed

[æ] – man

Length is frequent in monosyllabic words which a voiced consonant.

Jones: all adjectives ending in “ad” are long. He suggests that this is the first stage of a large scale change in the language. The present difference between vowel quality and length give a way to a difference based on quality only as the language is a system of interrelated parts there must be a certain pattern in all these various vowel changes. There are 2 consistent trends:

1. the short vowels all seem to be becoming more central and lengthened

2. 2 front close vowels [i:] [u] are both being diphthong. It is paralleled to what happened in the great vowel shift when [i] and [ʊ] became diphthongs [ai] [aʊ]

Consonants changes

1. Assimilation – a process by which a sound is altered through the influence of a neighboring sound. The sound which is influenced becomes phonetically more like the sound exerting the influence. There are various miscellaneous (смешанный) sources of _____________________ changes.

1. historical assimilation

took place earlier, [æ] changed under the influence of [w]

2. devoicing

[z] – [s] news – newspaper

[d] – [t] amidst [ə`midst - `midst]

3. in compound words

tenpence [`tenpənts - `tempənts]

football - not registered

4. in rapid familiar speech

give me [`gimmi]

5. coalescing _____

[dj - ʤ] due

[tj - ʧ] Tuesday, tube

[sj - ʃ] issue [i ʃu: - isju:]

2. new weak forms

many English words have forms which occur in unstressed position, rapid speech

that’s right [srait]

that’s funny [s`fʌni]

what does he want [`wɒts hi ,wɒnt]

3. weakening and loss of consonants

1. final alveolar (t,d,n)

fourtee(n) men – articulated weakly or disappear

ol(d) man

half pas(t) five

2. loss of plosives [p,b,k,g]

1. a closer is formed

2. the closer is ______ while pressure is built behind it

3. the stop is realized by the __________

the final phrase is omitted

knocked, bed-time

the stop is not realized, sometimes the 1^st plosive disappears: castle

3. simplification (упрощение) of double consonants: a good deal

Upside down

Lamp past

3. initial combinations: psychic [saikik]

where [hwere]

3. loss of [h] in the beginning: he gave him his breakfast

3. devoicing the consonants [b, d, g] feed [fi:d], rogue [rəʊɡ]

3. voicing of consonants (intervocalic position) letter AE, vulgar RE [ledə], British [bridiʃ]

3. intrusive (навязчивые) consonants – inserted into the words where they does not exist

1. [ns] > [nts]

Once [wʌnts], fancy [fæntsi]

2. [p], [k]

Warmth [wɔ:mpθ], length [lenkθ]

3. intrusive [r] – affect of analogy

here and there [hiər ən ðƐə]

idea(r)and reality

Dialect Mixing

The group of popular pronunciation. It involves the substitution of a long vowel of a diphthong by a short vowel.

Stabilized [`steibilaizd] – [`stæ…]

Reproduce [ri:prə`dju:s] – [`re]

South – Easter dialect

Monday, necklace [`mʌndi],[`neklis]

Changes of Stress

In words of more than 2 syllables the popular forms are the forms with the main stress on the second syllable: communal [`ju:], hospitable [`i:]

In 2 syllabic words the tendency goes the other way, the stress is moved to the 1^st:

`garage, adult [`ædʌlt][ǝ`dʌlt]

Spelling Pronunciation

Forehead [`fɔ:hed-`fɒrid]

Often [ɒfn- ɒftn]

Toward [tǝwɔ:d, twɔ:d, tɔ:d] especially common for newly invented words

Continental Pronunciation

Tendency for foreign-looking words

Gala [geil- gɑ:lǝ]

Faustus [`fɔ:stǝs - `faʊ-]

The word which has undergone normal historical processes of English sound-change is made to confirm more closely to the real or imagined pronunciation, its foreign origin. Latin words received new pronunciation. Latin plural endings which are normally anglicized and now relatinized: nuclei [nju:klii:] – [nju:kliei]

Lecture № 4

Classification of sounds