UNIT 7

THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM 1:

VOWELS. PHONETIC SYMBOLS. STRONG AND
WEAK FORMS. DIPHTONGS. PHONETIC
SYMBOLS. COMPARISON WITH SPANISH OR THE
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

0. INTRODUCTION
1. THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM
1.1. Definition of Phonetics and Phonology
1.2. The mechanisms of speech
1.2.1. Speech sounds
1.2.2. Speech organs
1.3. Classification of speech sounds
2. VOWELS
2.1. Description of vowels
2.2. Strong and Weak Forms
3. DIPHTHONGS
4. TRIPHTHONGS
5. COMPARISON WITH SPANISH
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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0. INTRODUCTION
A language may be said to be a method by which a person expresses his thoughts and
feelings in such a way that they can be understood by others. Language is, as we say, a
means of communication. When we speak, we produce a succession of sounds arranged in
groups, which we call words, and each word has a definite meaning in the minds of the
persons using that language. But to somebody who does not know that language, the words
convey no meaning; every language on earth has its own particular set of words, most of
which are quite different from those of any other language. Just as each language has its
own set of words, different from those of other languages, so each language has its own set
of sounds, different from the set used in any other language. In fact, if we draw up a list of
all the different sounds used in that language, we shall get what is called its sound system. It
should be understood that the sound system of a language is peculiar to that language, and
that no other language has the same system.
The English phonological system is a rather complex topic since it entails many different
aspects, which differ from the Spanish language to a large extent. For this reason, this issue
will be dealt with from two different scopes, that of theory and that of didactics. The first
part will examine the English phonological system: to begin with, a distinction between
phonetics and phonology will be established; then, a brief analysis of the speech organs and
the mechanisms of speech will be provided since they are of fundamental importance in the
utterance of sounds. Finally, a thorough analysis of the English vowels and diphthongs will
be carried out. It is important to note that a contrastive analysis with Spanish will be done in
a parallel way.
In general, this study will be carried out from the perspective of relevant and influential
phoneticians, such as Daniel Jones or O'Connor who have provided a general but exhaustive
framework of the English phonological system.

1. THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM

1.1. Definition of Phonology and Phonetics

To begin with, a brief distinction between phonetics and phonology should be set forth in
order to determine which area of spoken English corresponds to each of branch.
Phonology deals with the study of the phonemes in a language system. Phonology studies
the phonic differences with difference in meaning and the rules according to which these
are combined to form significants. Its minimal unit, the phoneme, is represented between
slashes /.../. This, the phoneme, is an abstract representation in the speaker's mind
(internal), which is physically realized by one or more allophones, represented in turn
between square brackets [ ].
Example: [l]: clear l
/l/ <
[1]: dark l
Phonetics is concerned with how speech sounds are produced in a given language. They are,
in fact, the concrete sounds or speech sounds of a language. Phonetics do not take into
account the relation they have with linguistic meaning, thus, phonetic differences are
phonologically irrelevant, if they have no effect on meaning.

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 1.2. The mechanisms of speech
It is important to note that when learning a foreign language, one should be conscious of the
point and manner of articulation of the sounds of that particular language, since they hardly
ever coincide with one's own language. Take, for example, the vowels of some different
languages. Spanish has five distinct vowel sounds, whereas English or French have twelve.
The learner of a new language must, therefore, realize that he is dealing with quite new
sounds; he must not be satisfied to continue to use any of the sounds of his own language
unless he is certain in each case that his own sound is exactly the same as that in the new
language, and he must not rest content until he has completely mastered all the new
sounds. What is more, it should be pointed out that learning a new set of sounds means
forming a number of new habits. In this sense, students will have to put their speech organs
into positions which are not used in speaking their own language.

1.2.1. Speech Sounds: How are speech sounds made?

We use our tongue and lips, of course, but what is it that gives rise to the actual sound?
However much we may change the position and shape of our tongue, lips ... , that is not in
itself sufficient to produce any audible sound. Clearly, something else is needed. What
happens in most cases when we speak is that a stream of air is breathed out from the lungs,
and this stream of air, when passing through the narrow spaces in the human throat and
mouth, makes a sound in the same way as a strong wind blowing through a house will
produce a rushing or howling noise. Now the noise of the wind is not always the same: the
wind sounds different when blowing through a narrow crack and when blowing through a
wider opening. In the same way, by modifying the shape of the passage through which the
air passes when we speak, we can make a number of different sounds, in fact a surprising
number. We can produce a new and distinct sound merely by varying the passage slightly at
one particular point, for instance, at the teeth or at the lips, and there are a number of such
points at which the course of the air stream may be varied. Together, the organs situated at
these points constitute the speech organs, which shall be developed in greater detail later
on.
This process whereby speech sounds are produced can be divided into three different
physical stages:
- INITIATION: breathe in the air to produce the sound.
- PHONATION: the quality of the sound is made.
- ARTICULATION: the shaping of the sound is given.

1.2.2. Speech organs

Speech organs can be classified according to whether they are movable or fixed. While the
vocal cords, the soft palate, the tongue and the lips are movable, the other organs of speech
are fixed. The movable organs of speech can act independently of each other and their
movements can be combined in different ways. Consequently, it is possible to make a very
large number of different speech sounds. In any one language, however, the number of
combinations is not very large.
Each organ of speech contributes to the formation of speech sounds:

1- nasal cavity
2- lips
3- teeth

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4- aveolar ridge
5- hard palate
6- velum (soft palate)
7- uvula
8- apex (tip) of tongue
9- blade (front) of tongue
10- dorsum (back) of tongue
11- oral cavity
12- pharynx
13- epiglottis
14- larynx
15- vocal cords
16- trachea
17- esophagus

• Lungs are like two bags, which can be enlarged and compressed by the muscles of the
chest. This happens regularly when we breathe, and as a result, the air is drawn in and
forced out through the tube known as the windpipe. It is this stream of air used when we
speak. Normally, it is only the outgoing stream that is used, and consequently we have at
times to stop and catch our breath.
• Larynx: the first point where it is possible to modify the air stream is at the top of the
windpipe, which ends in the larynx. Inside the larynx we can find the so-called vocal cords,
which can be brought together and place edge to edge in the middle of the air passage, or
be drawn apart leaving a wide opening between them. This opening is termed the glottis.
Therefore, the vocal cords can take up several positions, and in this way affect speech
sounds:
o Breath voiceless: the vocal lips can be apart, leaving space for the breath to pass
through without any obstruction of any kind. This is the position for voiceless
sounds.
o Voiced: the vocal lips can be brought together in such a way that the air, forcing its
way through them in rhythmical puffs, opens and closes them regularly and very
rapidly. This is the position for voiced sounds.

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 o Whisper: the position of the vocal cords take a position which gives rise to
whisper.
o Glottal stop: the vocal lips can be brought into complete contact so that the air is
entirely stopped for a moment. The glottal stop is a common speech sound in many
varieties of English pronunciation. It sounds as a little cough.
• Soft palate: the soft palate can take up two positions; when the passage to the nose is
open, the soft palate is raised to touch the back wall of the pharynx. When the palate is
raised, all the air from the windpipe escapes through the mouth, giving rise to oral sounds;
when the palate is lowered and the passage to the nose is open, the air can escape either
entirely through the nose (if the mouth passage is closed), or through the nose and mouth.
The lowering of the soft palate gives rise to nasal or nasalized sounds. Its function,
therefore, is to close or open the passage to the nose, to close it for the production of those
sounds, which are not nasal, and to open it for the nasal sounds.
• The tongue is capable of making many movements, and consequently of modifying the
breath stream in numerous ways. It plays the chief part in the formation of vowel sounds,
when its different positions alter the shape of the resonating chamber of the mouth and give
rise to vowel sounds of various acoustic qualities. It is used in the articulation of many of the
consonants, when it either blocks the air passage through the mouth at some point or other,
or narrows it so that friction is heard.
• The lips can articulate sounds themselves, and their movement can be combined with that
of other organs of speech in the formation of both consonants and vowels. They can take up
four positions:
o They can be wide open, as in the sounds /a/ of /h/.
o They can be brought into contact so that the air is completely stopped for a
moment and then released. This gives the sound /p/. o They can be brought close
together, so that the air pushes itself through, making friction. This is the sound
made in blowing out. o They can be made to vibrate.

1.3. Classification of speech sounds

Speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants, the main difference being one of
sonority; vowels are those sounds which have most carrying power.
Vowel is a voiced sound in the pronunciation of which the air passes through the mouth in a
continuous stream, there being no obstruction and no narrowing such as would produce
audible friction. All other sounds are consonants.
Consonant is a sound accompanied or unaccompanied by voice, in which there is either a
complete or a partial obstruction, which prevents the air from issuing freely from the
mouth.
For the purpose of recording speech sounds, without fear of ambiguity, it is necessary to
make use of a phonetic alphabet, that is to say, an alphabet based on the principle of one
letter per phoneme. Without such an alphabet, an accurate description and record of
speech usages would be clumsy and awkward, and liable to misinterpretation. It should be
remembered, however, that a phonetic alphabet is not phonetics, nor does it teach sounds.
It is a most useful, in fact, almost indispensable accompaniment of phonetics, in that by
means of it, a ready way is found of writing down the pronunciation of individual words, and
of showing with fair accuracy and without ambiguity how sounds are used in connected
speech.

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Various phonetic alphabetic notations are in use. Yet, the most widely accepted alphabet is
the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. As a matter of fact, over the course of this unit,
this alphabet will be used for the record of vowels.

2. VOWELS
For the sake of describing and identifying vowels, two criteria will be mentioned:
- Part of the tongue raised: according to this criteria, vowels can be front, back and central.
- Degree of raising which takes place: this criteria classifies vowels as close, half-close, open
and half-open.
Thus /i/ in <see> is a front close vowel, /ae/ as in <man> is a front half-open vowel, /a:/ as in
<half> is a back open vowel, /o/ as in <all> is a back half-open vowel, /u/ as in <book> is a
close back vowel, and /3:/ as in <bird> is a central half-open vowel.
CLOSE

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Part and height of the tongue raised are the most common criteria used in the classification
of vowels. However, they can also be categorized according to the following criteria:
Tense and lax: it has to do with the degree of tension in the muscles.
Vowel length: this criterion classifies vowels according to QUANTITY. In this sense, they can
be LONG or SHORT.
Vowel strength: it classifies vowels according to QUALITY. In this sense, vowels can be
WEAK or STRONG. Generally, when they are in an unstressed position, the weak form is
used. This, in turn, tends to reduce to /a/.
Lip position: It refers to whether the lips are ROUNDED or UNROUNDED.
Nasalization: it has to do with whether the velum is raised or lowered. When it is raised the
vowel is ORAL. On the contrary, when it is lowered, the vowel is NASAL.

2.1. Description of vowels

English, unlike Spanish, has 12 vocalic sounds. For the sake of clarity and economy, they will
be referred to with numbers. We can compile the following list of English vowels:

Vowel number 1, /i:/, the sound of sea, feel, read.

• We use this vowel, for instance, in the word bee. As inferred from the figure shown above,
it is a close front vowel (front of tongue raised towards hard palate; tongue raised almost to
close position); lips spread to neutral. Its length is the most important feature to remember
about this vowel.
• It corresponds to different spellings, such as i (sit, fit), y (city, whisky), e (pretty) or ie
(cities, studies). Other spellings include: ee or ea, ei, and ey. Here are some examples of

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different words containing /i:/: eel, bleed, meet, deal, knead, eve, machine; field, chief,
niece, receive, deceit; key, people..
Vowel n. 2, /i/. This is the vowel used, for example, in the word bit. Like n.1, it is a front
vowel pronounced with spread lips; but it differs from this in two respects. In the first place,
it is not so close; it is much nearer the half-close than the close position. Secondly, it is a
short vowel. In trying to get the right pronunciation of the English vowels /i:/ and /i/, you
may find it useful to know that vowel n.1 is the so-called tense vowel, but n.2 is lax. In
ordinary English orthography vowel n.2 is usually written i in the middle of a word and y at
the end, as in pity. Occasionally, however, we find y in the middle of a word, as in hymn or
lyric. Several other spellings are used: sieve, foreign, coffee, women. Endings, such as -age, -
ate and -est, are commonly or often pronounced with vowel n.2.
Vowel n.3, /e/: this is the vowel used in words like pen and let. It is a front vowel
pronounced with spread lips. The tongue is about midway between the half-close and the
half-open position. This vowel is short. This vowel is most often spelt e, though in a good
many words it is written ea, as in dead, lead, heaven and feather. In any and many it is spelt
a. Other occasional spellings are illustrated by friend, leopard, says, said, bury.
Vowel n.4, /a/: this is the vowel used in words like pan and back. It is a front vowel
pronounced with spread lips, but the mouth is a good deal more open than for any of the
other three vowels. The tongue position is roughly midway between half-open and open.
The vowel is short. The spelling of n.4 is simple; it is nearly always written a. In a very few
words, such as plaid and plait, we find the vowel /ae/ represented by ai.
Vowel n.5, /a:/: examples of words containing this vowel are ask and farm. Unlike the first
four vowels, n.5 is not a front vowel; neither is it truly a back vowel, but its tongue position
is much nearer the back than the front. Since the mouth is wide open, the lips cannot be
spread, but neither are they rounded; we call their shape neutral. The vowel is long. The
spelling of English vowel n.5 varies a good deal. It is most often written ar (but the r is not
sounded). An a without an r will generally indicate either vowel n.4 or a diphthong /ei/,
except before f,s, th, or an n followed by a consonant, where a alone in many cases indicates
/a:/: arm, dark. Other less common spellings are seen in are /a:/, calf, palm, laugh, aunt,
clerk, heart, moustache.
Vowel n.6, /o/: this is the vowel used, for example, in the words box and hot. The tongue
position is close to that for n.5, though somewhat further back. In fact, the vowel is almost
as far back and as open as it can be. The lips are rounded. The vowel is short. The
commonest spelling of English n.6 is o, but after a w we find a, as in wander, wasp, swan,
quality, quarrel and squander; also in what. The combination au is sometimes pronounced
/o/, as in austere, because, cauliflower and sausage. Other occasional spellings are seen in
cough, trough and yacht.
Vowel n.7, /o:/: this vowel is found, for example, in lord and fall. It is a half-open back
vowel, pronounced with rounded lips. It is a long vowel. There are many different spellings
for the vowel /o:/. Many words have or as in stork, sport and sword, or oar as in soar, board
and hoarse. In the word broad the sound is spelt oa. The spelling our is found in pour, course
and court, and oor in door and floor. The letter a for /o:/ is found in some words in which the
vowel is followed by l as in all, fall, and alban; while in a few words in which the letters alk
occur together, the spelling al stands for /o:/ as in talk and walk. Ar for /o:/ appears in a
series of words in which the vowel occurs after a w as in warm, warp, swarm. Very common
spellings are aw, as in law, draw and pawn, and au, as in haul, and fauna. Less common

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spellings are illustrated by ought, bought, brought, fought, sought; and aught, as in caught,
fraught and taught.
Vowel n.8, /u/: this is the vowel that we use, for example, in the word good. It is a half-close
back vowel, pronounced with rounded lips. It is a short vowel. The vowel /u/ is commonly
spelt oo, although this spelling is also used to represent other sounds such as /o:/ and /u:/. A
good rule is that oo stands four /u/ in most cases where it comes before a k as in brook and
took, as well as in the words foot, soot, good, hood, stood, wood and wool. The vowel is
spelt u in a few words, namely in put, pull, bull, full, fulsome, puss, push, bush, cushion,
sugar, pulpit and cuckoo. The spelling oul is used in could, should and would. In the word
wolf and in the first syllables of bosom and woman the vowel is spelt o.
Vowel n.9, /u:/: this is the vowel found, for example, in soon, food and too. It is a close back
vowel. Like all true back vowels in English, it is rounded. It is a long vowel. The commonest
spelling of vowel n.9 is oo, but other spellings occur; here are some examples: group, soup,
you, through, shoe, canoe, do, who, two, crude, rude, rule, blue, clue, true, fruit, juice, sleuth,
blew, chew, view or beauty.
A
Vowel n.10, / /: this and the next two vowels are termed central vowels, because in
pronouncing them it is the middle or central part of the tongue, which is closest to the roof
of the mouth. Yet, this vowel is less central than the other two vowels. N.10 is the vowel
used, for example, in the words hut and bud. The tongue is just below the half-open position
a little behind the central area. The lip position is neutral, and the vowel is short. It is
generally spelt u, but in o and ou also respond to this sound: son, cover, won, come, one,
rough, tough enough, touch, double, trouble, country.
Vowel n. 11, /3:/: this is the vowel used, for example in herb, bird and church. The tongue
position is exactly central, a little below the half-close division. The lip position is neutral,
and the vowel is long. It has three main spellings, er, ir, and ur, as in mercy, shirt, and burn. It
is spelt ere in were. After w it is most often spelt or, as in word, work, world. The spelling or
is also used in the word attorney. The spelling ear for this sound is found in a number of
words such as earn, learn, yearn, heard, earl, pearl, earth or rehearse. The spelling yr occurs
in a few words such as myrrh and myrtle; our is found in courteous, journal and journey.
Vowel n. 12, /a/: the transcription shows this to be a short version of n. 11. Nevertheless, it
differs not only in quantity, but also in quality. But, the difference lies in stress. Vowel n.12 is
an unstressed / weak vowel. A major feature is that it is placed only in unstressed syllables.
Other vowels, too, may be used in unstressed syllables, such as /i/ in coffee and /o:/ in the
noun import; but these two vowels are also frequently used in stressed syllables, while /a/
never occurs with stress. This sound is very short; it is a central or neutral vowel; and it is lax,
that is, it is said without any tension of the muscles. Hence it is a rather vowel and obscure
sound. It can occur at the beginning, central and final position: subdue [sab'dju:], miracle
['mirekl] or doctor ['dokta].

2.2. Strong and Weak Forms

The pronunciation of words uttered in isolation differs from that in speech chains, which
also implies a variation in the phonetic symbols. In speech, form words, such as prepositions,
conjunctions, articles, pronouns and auxiliary verbs are usually pronounced with a weak
sound because they do not normally carry the stress in the sentence. However, they can
have a strong pattern depending in the context, for example, for emphasis: You MUST do it.
Here we have some examples contrasting strong (words in isolation) and weak (words in
speech) forms:

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3. DIPHTHONG
A diphthong is a vowel, which changes its quality in the course of its production; it begins as
one vowel and ends as another. There are 9 falling diphthongs in English, the first element
being louder than the second. This glide is not usually completed, unlike Spanish. Hence, a
diphthong is a gliding sound: the tongue starts in one vowel position and glides towards
another vowel position by the most direct route. A diphthong is made by one impulse of the
breath, i.e, there is no diminuendo-crescendo of breath force.
English diphthongs, like those of most languages, are of the falling type, i.e. they have their
greater prominence at the beginning; they are decrescendo diphthongs. English diphthongs
are usually written phonetically with two letters, the first representing the starting point of
the tongue, and the second the direction in which it moves. In the diphthong /ai/, for
example, the tongue starts at the position of /a/, and moves towards, but does not actually
reach, the /i/ position.
Diphthongs can also be CLOSING or CENTRING, depending on the final movement of the
glide:
• Closing: /ai, ei, oi, au, au/
• Centring: /ia, ea, ua, oa/

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Following the same criteria established above, the English diphthongs will be given a
number:

• Diphthong n. 13, /ei/ is the sound of lady or make. The tongue starts in the position below
vowel n.2, and moves towards the position of /i/. As the movement is through a very small
distance, this diphthong is said to be narrow. Its commonest spelling is a as in slate, safe,
same and bathe. Further examples of this spelling of this diphthong are: face, flame, pale,
waste and change. Other spellings are illustrated by day, pay, fail, wait. Note that /ei/ is
spelt ea in break, steak and great. In certain words of French origin the ending -et, in
imitation of French usage, is pronounced /ei/, as in ballet and bouquet.
• Dipththong n.14, /ou/: this is the diphthong that we use, for example in the word home. It
begins with a sound approximately midway between the half-close and the half-open
positions of the tongue, and it moves from there towards the position for vowel n. 8, /u/.
Like vowel n.8, the first element of this diphthong is rather centralized; it is somewhat in
advance of the true back vowels and is on or near the boundary between back and central
vowels. The lip position during the fist part of the diphthong is neutral; there is some slight
rounding as the sound proceeds and the tongue gets near to vowel n.8. The spelling of this
diphthong varies. It may consist of o alone, as in go, and so, or of oe, as in foe. In a number
of words, like hole, rose, hope and note, there is a final mute e serving a similar purpose to
that of the e in safe and same. Other spellings of the diphthong are seen in oat, load, own,
poultry, and dough, though. French spellings are seen in beau, mauve and depot where the
diphthong is used in imitation of the French pronunciation.
• Diphthong n. 15, /ai/: this is the diphthong that we use, for example, in the word high. It
begins with an open vowel, somewhere between n.4 and n.5, and it moves towards n.2. It is
unrounded. It is most commonly spelt i, ie, or y, as in child, bind, kind, die, lie, tie and by, shy
or try. Another common spelling is igh, as in high, sigh, right, tight and alight. Less common
spellings are seen in height, sleight, eye, buy and guy.
• Diphthong n.16, /au/: this is the diphthong used, for example, in house and cow. It starts
as an open vowel at a point a little in advance of English vowel n.5 /a:/ and roughly half-way
between n.4 and n.5, and it moves from there in the direction of English vowel n.8, /u/. The
lips to begin with are neutral, but become somewhat rounded as the sound proceeds. The
chief spelling of /au/ are ow and ou, as in town, crowd, allow, brown, how, now; and mouse,
sound, fountain, lud, out, thou. In a few words, we have ough, as in bough, plough and
drought.
• Diphthong n.17, /oi/: this diphthong is found, for example, in boy and noise. It starts at a
point about midway, or a little above midway, between vowel n.5 and n.6, and it moves
from there towards the position of vowel n.2. The lips are rounded at the very beginning,
but quickly move towards the spread position. It is spelt oi or oy, as in choice, rejoice, coin,
spoil; and joy, destroy, employ. An exceptional spelling is found in buoy, which is
pronounced exactly like boy.

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• Diphthong n.18, /ia/: examples of words with this diphthong are cheer and here. The glide
starts in vowel n.2 and moves to vowel n.12. It is unrounded. It is spelt in various ways. A
common spelling is ier, which is found, for example, in pier, brigadier and frontier. Two other
common spellings are seen in beer, queer, steer and engineer, and in here, mere and severe.
The diphthong is also sometimes spelt ea, as in idea, real, ant, theatre; and in a number of
words it is spelt ear, as in ear, hear, clear, gear and beard. Very rare spellings are seen in
weird and museum. Notice that here and hear are pronounced alike, and so are beer and
bier, deer and dear, and peer and pier.
• Diphthong n. 19, /sa/: this is the diphthong found in bare and hair. It begins with a half-
open front vowel n.3, and moves from there to n.12 /a/. It is unrounded. The commonest
spellings of the diphthong are are, air, as in care, mare, share, and air, chair, fair. Less
common spellings are seen in ere, there; heir, their; scarce; and aerodrome. In four words,
bear, pear, wear and swear, the spelling ear (which normally represents /ia/) stands for
/ea/.
• Diphthong n.20, /ua/: this is the diphthong is boor and tour. It starts at vowel n.8 and
moves from there to n.12, /a/. The lips at first are rounded, but soon move to the neutral
position. This diphthong is spelt oor, as in boor, moor and poor, or our, as in tour, your and
gourd.
But the commonest spelling is ur(e); in most words with this spelling the diphthong is
preceded by the consonant /j/, and ur (e) may thus be said to stand for /jua/. Examples of
this spelling are: cure, pure, endure, fury, curious, purity and endurance; and without /j/
rural and plural.
• Diphthong n.21, /oa/: the tongue starts a little below /o/ position and moves towards the
neutral /a/. It is the sound in pure or your. The tongue starts from the /u/ position and
moves to /a/.

4. TRIPHTHONGS
The group of vowel sounds /aia/ and /aua/, as in certain pronunciations of the words fire
and power are often considered triphthongs. They are not, however true triphthongs, for
the first and last sounds in each group are more sonorous than the middle one, that is, they
belong to different syllables, having a diminution of prominence between them. They often
strike the ear, however, as one syllable, and are treated as such in poetry. Nevertheless, it
should be pointed out that they tend to reduce to diphthongs and even vowels. These are
the English triphthongs:

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5. COMPARISON WITH SPANISH
Several differences have already been put forward along this study. Yet, a deeper
contrastive analysis will help Spanish native speakers understand the English phonological
system better. Here we shall briefly examine the most striking phonological distinctions
between both languages.
As for the vowels, Spanish has a smaller range of vowels phonetically speaking (5 vowels,
whereas English has 12). Moreover, there are no half-close / open vowels. But, most
important of all, Spanish vowels lack quantity; there are no long or short vowels in our
language. Regarding diphthongs, one major difference has already been put forward:
Spanish diphthongs can be falling or rising, and the glide is completed. On the contrary,
English diphthongs are falling and the glide is not completed.
As for the consonants, these differ, to a great extent, in the point and manner of
articulation. These are the most common differences:
- Plosive consonants are aspirated in English.
- /b, d, g/ are not fricative in English.
- In English, there are voiced and voiceless /s/.
- /h/ is aspirated in English.
From a prosodic point of view, the major difference lies in the fact that English is a stress-
timed language, whereas Spanish is a syllable-timed language.

5.1. Comparison with Catalan

Closed i u
Half-closed e o
Half-open
Open A
Palatal Middle Velar
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There are seven vowels in Catalan but they will not help much with the student of English
when facing the twelve English vowels. There may be some advantage in learning the
English vowels and /-D/ since the Catalan vowels lol and / o / have some resemblance with
them. The vowels /a/ is very frequent in unstressed position in Catalan, which will help
greatly when learning its English equivalent.

6. CONCLUSION
Over the course of this unit the main features of the English phonological system, regarding
vowels, have been pointed out, paying special attention to diphthongs and triphthongs too.
Over the years, phonology has played many different roles in the English language-teaching
classroom, from a virtually non-existent role in the traditional grammar translation method
to being the focus of the audio-lingual method through its emphasis on minimal pairs,
phonemes, drills and dialogue work. Yet, the current emphasis on pronunciation teaching is
on the broader phonological aspects of connected speech, and their link to meaning on
discourse level, and has resulted in renewed interest in the place of pronunciation in
communicative language teaching. It is this holistic, integrated approach to pronunciation
teaching, through focus on the suprasegmental aspects of phonology that linguists and
teachers find particularly interesting.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABERCROMBIE, D. Elements of General Phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1980.
BALL, M.J.- RAHILLY, J. Phonetics: The Science of Speech. London: Arnold Publishers,
1999.
JONES, D. An Outline of English Phonetics. London: Heffer, 1967.
O' CONNOR, J.D. Phonetics. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books (Pelican), 1997, 1982.
ROGERS, H. The Sounds of Language. An Introduction to Phonetics. London: Longman
(Learning about Language), 2000.
DICTIONARIES
CRYSTAL, D. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers (The
Language Library), 4th Edition, 5th Edition, 2002. INTERNET RESOURCES
http://www.celt.stir.ac.uk/staff/HIGDOX/STEPHEN/PHONO/PHONOLG.HTM
http: //www. ompersonal.com.ar/omphonetics/contenidotematico.htm
http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/ipa.html (IPA webpage)

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 APPENDIX

Vocal Cords

Short Vowels

Long Vowels

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