English Phonetics and Phonology

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English Vowels

1. Vowel classification

There is nonetheless an established three-term classification system for vowels

similar to that for consonants. Rather than manner as such, we talk of vowel height,
determined, like consonantal manner, by the distance between the articulators: the higher
the tongue, the higher the vowel, with the classifications being high, mid and low, with
intermediate terms high-mid and low-mid being available if necessary. (The terms
'close' and 'open', for high and low respectively, are sometimes encountered in older
texts.) The vowels in English 'see', 'set' and 'car' are high, mid and low respectively.
Parallel to consonantal place, vowels are also classified horizontally, as front,
central and back, referring to which part of the tongue is highest, with front being
equivalent to palatal and back equivalent to velar. The vowels in most varieties of
English 'sit’ 'sir' and 'soon' are front, central and back respectively.
The third classification has to do with the attitude of the lips, which are either round
or unround when making vowel sounds. If you look in a mirror, you should be able to
see that when you produce the vowel in English 'see" your lips are unround (or spread),
while for the vowel in 'sue' your lips are rounded.

Figure 3.1. The vowel space

Lip rounding is the only aspect of vowel articulation that is relatively easy to see or
feel for yourself; unlike consonantal manner and place, vowel height and the front/back

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distinctions are much harder to judge without the aid of special equipment. Indeed, when
techniques such as X-ray photography are used, it can be seen that the dimensions we
have been discussing here are not necessarily entirely accurate. This is particularly true
of vowel height; the highest point of the tongue for a 'mid' vowel like / / (as in ‘sort’)
may well be lower than that for a 'low' vowel like / / (as in ‘sat’) (see Figure 3.1).
Despite this, the term vowel height is retained as a 'convenient fiction'.
Vowel sounds can thus be referred to in terms of height, backness and rounding.
The vowel in 'fish' is classified as a high front unround vowel. That in 'horse' is a low-
mid back round vowel.
There are a number of other distinctions which are relevant to the description of
vowels, such as how long the vowel lasts (vowel length), whether the velum is raised or
lowered (nasality), whether or not the tongue remains in the same position during the
production of the vowel (monophthong vs. diphthong); these distinctions will be dealt
with in the following sections.

2. Further classification:
2.1. Monophthongs:
2.1.1. Tongue Position:
Tongue position is described using two criteria: the height (how high is the
tongue) and the part of the tongue involved in the production of the sound.
In English the tongue may either be high, i.e. when the speaker produces e.g. [i:,
u:] in [bi:t, bu:t] beat, boot, intermediate, e.g. [e, :] in [bet, b :t] bet, bought, or low,
e.g. [ , :] in [b t, b :t] bat, Bart.

a) tongue is at the highest b) tongue is at the lowest

Figure 3.2: tongue height. (Thomas 1976:56)

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Depending on the language we can have several intermediate tongue heights.

English has three heights: high, mid and low, whereas French has two intermediate
tongue heights with a total of four tongue heights: high, mid high, mid low and low.
The part of the tongue involved in the production of a vowel can also be
illustrated with the examples above. If you say [i:] and then [u:] just after it, you almost
have the feeling that you are moving your tongue backwards. This is because [i:] is a
front vowel, and [u:] is a back vowel, or in other words, the highest point in the
pronunciation of [i:] is the front of the tongue, whereas the highest point in [u:] is the
back of the tongue. Figure (3.3) gives you two examples of tongue position:
a) is an example of the front of the tongue being at the highest
b) it is the back of the tongue which is nearest to the palate.

Figure 3.3: tongue position

(a) front and (b) back. (Thomas 1976:56)

For example [ ] is front and [ :] is back, and [ ] front, [ :] back. There are also vowels
in between front and back, called central, namely [ ] as in [w :d, , m d]
word, forward, mud. [ :] for instance is between [e] and [ :], as can be seen from
[ ], bed, bird, board.

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To give an accurate account of tongue position one has to combine height of the
tongue and part of the tongue involved
a) height position for front vowels b) height position for back vowels

Figure 3.4: tongue position (Thomas 1976:57)

If you put 3.4 a and 3.4 b together and isolate tongue position, you get the following
diagram

2.1.2. Vowel length:

As you may have seen, there are two types of [i] sound in English placed in two
different positions. However, for the purpose of description, what is relevant is not the
difference of position but that of the perceived length of the vowel. Thus it is said that
[i:] is a long vowel and [ ] is a short one. The same is valid for [u:] / [ ],
[ :]/[ ]. Symbols for long vowels all have a colon.
Phonologically, one can establish the rule such as only long vowels may be the
last sound of a syllable, whereas short vowels are always followed by at least a

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consonant. If we take away the final [t] from court, [k :] is a possible syllable (core)
whereas [k ] could not possibly occur. (Exceptions from this are the three short vowels
that occur in completely unstressed syllables, [s t , nt , swet ] city, into, sweater).
2.1.3. Rounding

Vowels may also be different from each other with respect to rounding. If you
compare [i:] in [ :z] cheese with [u:] in [t u:z] choose, you will see that not only is [i:] a
front vowel and [u:] a back vowel, but [i:] is also unrounded where [u:] is rounded. When
pronouncing [u:] your lips are rounded, but when pronouncing [i:] the corners of the
mouth are much further apart.

no lip rounding lip rounding

Figure 3.5: rounding. (McCarthy 1967:31)

2.1.4. Degree of muscular tension:

Other distinctions have been claimed to occur for vowels, where the terms tense and
lax are often found. Here, tense vowels are claimed to be articulated with greater
muscular effort and consequently to be longer in duration and nearer the periphery of the
vowel area. Lax vowels, on the other hand, are shorter in duration and more likely to be
centralized. Although this distinction may be a helpful generalization, there are of course
many vowels in natural language that fall between these two extremes.

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2.2. Diphthongs

So far, we have only been considering vowels that were constant, i.e. vowels that
were pronounced at one and the same place. Such vowels are called monophthongs, and
English has 12 of them.
English also has 8 diphthongs, which are vowels that change character during
their pronunciation, that is, they begin at one place and move towards another place.
Compare for example the monophthong in car with the diphthong in cow, or the
monophthong in girl with the diphthong in goal. The vowels of cow and goal both begin
at a given place and glide towards another one. In goal the vowel begins as if it was [ ],
but then it moves towards [u]. Therefore, it is written [ u], as in [g ul] goal,
with two symbols, one for how it starts and one for how it ends.

Figure 3.6: table of diphthongs.

The easiest way to remember them is in term of three groups composed as follow:

3. Distribution
Vowels in English have few restrictions in terms of which consonants may precede
or follow them. The major restriction concerns short monophthongs vs. long
monophthongs and diphthongs: short vowels may not occur finally in stressed
monosyllabic words, while long vowels and diphthongs may. So, while /bi:/ and /b I/ are

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well-formed in English, */bI/ or */b / are not (the asterisk indicates a form not found in
the language under discussion). Short vowels can only occur in stressed monosyllables
when these are consonant final, like /bit/ or / /. That is, short vowels restricted to
closed syllables in stressed monosyllabic words, while long vowels diphthongs may
occur in both open (as above) and closed syllables (/bi:t/, /b il/
In summary, vowels can be described in terms of five factors: (1) the height of the
body of the tongue; (2) the front – back position of the tongue and (3) lip rounding (4)
vowel length (5) the degree of muscular tension.

4. Some vowel systems of English

Pulling some of this welter of information together, we can now look at inventories,
or vowel systems, of a number of major English varieties. As should be clear from the
previous sections, the number of vowels in the system, and their distribution among the
lexical items of English, is not the same for all varieties.
4.1. RP (Conservative)
Monophthongs are shown in Figure 3.7

Fig 3.7. RP monophthongs

Diphthongs are as follows:
[eI, aI, a , ]
Example words and their RP pronunciations are:
bee [bi:], bit [bIt], bet [b t], bat [bæt]
cart [k :t], bath [b θ], cot [ ], caught [k :t], cook [k k], shoe [ u:]
cut [k t], curt [k :t], about [a'ba t], butter ['b t ]
bay [beI], bite [baIt], now [na ], boy [b I], go [g ]
beer [bI ], bear [be ], bore [b ], poor [p ]
This gives a total of 21 different vowels sounds for conservative RP; more recent,
less conservative forms may not have / /, / / or /e /, having / :/ for the first two and
/e:/ for the last, giving a total of 19 different vowels.

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4.2 North American English (General American)

Monophthongs are shown in Figure 3.8.

Fig 3.8. North American English Monophthongs

Diphthongs are as follows:
[eI, aI, a , I, o ]
Example words and their GenAm pronunciations are:
bee [bi:], bit [bIt], bet [b t], bat [bæt]
cart [k t], bath [bæθ], cot [k t], caught [k :t], cook [k k], shoe [ u:]
cut [k t], curt [k t], about [ ], butter ['b r ~]
bay [beI], bite [baIt], now [na , boy [b I], go [go ]
beer [bI~], bear [b ~], bore [b ~], poor [p ~]
The main differences here compared to RP are the lack of the monophthong / / and
of the three schwa final diphthongs (due to GenAm being rhotic; these are sequences of
vowel plus ‘r’, realized as rhotacised, or r-coloured, vowels). This gives a total of 16
distinct vowels.
4.3. Northern English English
Monophthongs are shown in Figure 3.9.

Fig 3.9. Northern English English Monophthongs

Diphthongs are as follows: [aI, a , I, I , , ]
Example words and their Northern English English pronunciations are:
bee [bi:], bit [bIt], bet [b t], bat [bat]
cart [k :t], bath [baθ], cot [k t], caught [k :t],cook [ku:k], shoe [ u:]

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cut [k t], curt [k :t], about [ 'ba t], butter ['b t ]

bay [be:], bite [baIt], now [na ], boy [b I], go [go:]
beer [bI ], bear [b :], bore [b ], poor [p ]
This variety of English has a total of 20 distinct vowels. Here the main different rest
with the larger number of long monophthongs (three extra mid long vowels diphthongs
in RP) and the lack of / /. The schwa final diphthongs and / :/ are absent in rhotic
Northern English accents, reducing the total to 16.

4.4. Lowland Scottish English:

Monophthongs are shown in Figure 3.10.

Fig. 3.10 Lowland Scottish English monophthongs

Diphthongs are as follows:

[ae, ( ), ( I)]
Example words and their Lowland Scottish English pronunciations are:
bee [bi:], bit [bIt], bet [b t], bat [bat]
cart [ka t], bath [baθ], cot [ ] ([k t]), caught [k t],cook [k u k], shoe [∫ u ]
cut [k٨t], curt [k٨t], about [ 'b u t], butter ['b٨t ]
bay [be:], bite [baet], now [n u ] ([n ]), boy [bae] ([b I]), go [go:]
beer [bI ], bear [b ], bore [b : ], poor [p u ]
Forms in parentheses are those found in Scottish English varieties closer to RP. This
system is clearly rather different to those looked at so far, with possibly as few as 10
distinctive vowels, and with vowel length behaving in a way not found elsewhere, being
determined by phonetic (and morphological) context; vowels are long before voiced
fricatives and rhotics, as well as word-finally and before a morpheme boundary. Most of
the differences have to do with lack of contrast between words that in other forms of
English are distinct. Thus, for most Scots 'fool' and 'full' may be homophonous [f u ]; for
broader accents 'fool’, 'full' and 'foul' may be homophonous |f u ł] - no distinction
between (RP) /u:/, / / and /a /; 'don' and 'dawn' are both / / - no / / vs. / :/; ‘Sam and
'psalm' are both [sam] - no [a] vs. [ :]. Other differences include fewer diphthongs: as in

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Northern English English, words like 'day' and 'go' have long monophthongs and there
are no schwa final diphthongs, since Scottish English is rhotic.

Exercises

A. Theory:
1. What is monophthong/ diphthong?
2. What are the differences between a monophthong and a diphthong? Give
examples to illustrate your point of view.
3. How are English monophthongs classified? Give examples to illustrate your point
of view.
4. What makes an English front vowel different from its back counterpart? Give
examples to illustrate your point of view.
5. List all the diphthongs. How are they classified into different groups according to
the direction of glide?
6. What are the differences between a vowel and a consonant in the English
language? Give examples to illustrate your point of view.
B. Practice:
1. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions;
then give an English word that contains this sound:
a. high front unround short lax vowel
b. mid front unround short lax vowel
c. low front unround short lax vowel
d. low back slightly round long tense vowel
e. mid back round long tense vowel
f. mid back round short lax vowel
g. mid central neutral short lax vowel.
h. mid central neutral long tense vowel
i. low central neutral short lax vowel
2. Circle the word that:
a. contains a diphthong:
A. peep B. quay C. tie D. grease
b. begins with central vowel:
A. university B. utterance C. Oxford D. eat
c. contains a high vowel:
A. sat B. meet C. got D. much
d. does not contain a diphthong:
A. duration B station C. smooth D. crime
e. contains a central low monophthong

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A. superb B. supper C. stupid D. swear

f. contains a monophthong:
A. twice B. headlight C. funny D. fine
g. contains a round short vowel
A. spoon B. understood C. good D. food

3. Describe the vowels and the consonants in the word “INDUSTRIALIZATION”

4. Place the members of the following vowel inventory in an appropriate place on a
vowel quadrangle: [

References and further readings

Cornelia, H. & Schmitz, C (2005). Phonetics and Phonology: Reader for First Year
English Linguistics. University of Oldenburg
Davenport, M & Hannahs, S.J. (2010). Introducing to Phonetics and Phonology.
London: Arnold, Chapter 4
Ladefoged, P. (2015) A Course in Phonetics. Ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Chapter 2.
Roach, P. (2013). English Phonetics and Phonology. Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

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