7. SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA I: LAS VOCALES.

SÍMBOLOS FONÉTICO. FORMAS FUERTES Y DÉBILES. LOS

DIPTONGOS. COMPARACIÓN CON LOS SISTEMAS FONOLÓGICOS DE

LAS LENGUAS DE LA CCAA.

This is a vast subject, for the study of the English vocalic system is

of the outmost importance in order to develop a good command of the

English language and being able to communicate with it. However, as time is

limited I will only focus on its most outstanding features. In order to do it

in an orderly and accurate way, I have divided the topic as follows:

1-INTRODUCTION

1.1-Phonetics and Phonology

1.2-The speech organs

1.3-Segmental and suprasegmantal features

2-THE ENGLISH VOWEL SYSTEM

2.1-English pure vowels

2.2-Strong and weak forms

2.3-English diphthongs

2.4-English trphthongs

3-THE ENGLISH VS. THE SPANISH AND VALENCIAN

COMMUNITY SYSTEMS

3.1-Introduction

3.2-Vowels

3.3-Diphthongs

3.4-Triphthongs

4-CONCLUSION

5-BIBLIOGRAPHY
 In order to introduce this topic, I would just like to say that every

language is based on a finite number of sounds selected from all the

possible sounds man can articulate. These sounds are called phonemes.

Sounds and phonemes are studied by two different, but at the same

time related sciences, that is, Phonetics and Phonology.

Phonetics is the science concerned with the study of sounds, of

speech processes, from both accoustic and physiological points of view, but

excluding linguistic considerations. By contrast, the main aim of Phonology

is to discover the rules which organize sounds into a language system.

The key to understanding sounds lies in the Speech Organs and how

they function. We use air from the lungs to speak, mainly when we breathe

out. Once the air has been expelled, the resonators produce the sound.

These are the pharynx, mouth and nose. Finally, the articulators give the

sound its final shape. These are the tongue, the palate, the teeth, the lips

and the vocal cords.

Thus, vowels and consonants are distinguished by their articulation.

In the production of vowels, air coming through the mouth does not meet

obstruction, whereas with consonants, air may meet obstruction.

Vowles and consonants are segmental features of language, but at

the same time we find suprasegmental features, such as stress, rhythm and

intonation. This topic deals with the segmental element and within it, with

the English Vowel System, including pure vowels, weak and strong forms,

diphthongs and triphthongs. As well as a comparison with the Spanish and

Valencian Community systems.

Regarding the English Vowel System linguist designed a chart in

which vowels are classified depending on the height of the tongue, the

part of the tongue raised and the position of the lips.

 PART OF THE TONGUE

Front/palatal Central Beck/velar

HEIGHT Closed i: u:
OF
THE - Half-closed i e: u
TONGUE
-Half-open e  o:

-Open ae  a: / 

According to the height of the tongue we distinguish among:

 Closed vowels, in which the tongue is raised as high as possible
without touching the roof of the mouth. Eg: /i:/ or /u:/ .
 Half-closed vowels are those where the tongue is not held as
high as it occurs with close vowels. Eg: /i/ or /u/.
 Half-open vowels are those where the tongue is near the
bottom of the mouth as in /ae/ or //.
 Open vowels are those where the tongue is held as low as
possible as in /a:/ or / /.

According to the part of the tongue raised, we find the following

division:
 Front/palatal vowels, where the front of the tongue moves
towards the hard palate as in /i:/ or /i/.
 Central vowels, where the central part of the tongue is
raised towards the hard palate as in /e:/ or //.
 Back or velar, where the back of the tongue moves towards
the soft palate as in /u:/ or /o:/

Lip position refers to the fact that, in some vowel production, lips
can be protruded and accompanied by rounding. In this case we find
rounded vowels such as /u:/, /u/, /o:/ and /o/, produced with the lips
pushed fordward. Unrounded vowels keep lips spread or in neutral
position as in /ae/ or /e/.
In order to analyse the English vowel system, I have used the
standard English or R.P., which stands for Received Pronunciation.
This is a variety of the language that is received through the mass
media, and which originally referred to the neutral accent sound at
the Court and in Public schools. Nowadays, however, this accent is not
as important as it was, but all sounds in the phonological system are
based on it.
Thus, the pure vowels in English are as follows: (Note that I
have followed the previous classification, and I will deal with vowels
according to the height and part of the tongue raised).

1-/i:/: Closed, front, long, unrounded

Main spellings: -ee-, -ea-, -ei-/-ey-,-e-, -ie-, -i-
2-/i/:Half-closed, front, short, unrounded
Main spellings: -i-, -y-,- e-, -ie-, -ate, -age
3-/e/: Half-open, front, short, unrounded.
Main spellings: -e-, -ea-, -a-
4-/ae/: Open, front, short, unrounded
Main spelling: -a- as in bad.
5-/e:/: Half-closed, central, long, unrounded.
Main spellings: -er as in her, -ur, -our, -ir, yr, -or as in
wolrd, -ear.
6-//: The schwa is the central vowel which can represent all
the vowels of the alphabet and many of its combinations when they
occur in an unstressed position. It is also very common in
grammatical, rather than in content words.
7-//: Half-open, central, short, unrounded.
Main spellings: -u as in bus, -ou, -oo, -o as in come or –oe.
8-/u:/: Closed, back, long, rounded.
Main spellings:-oo, -u, -ui as in juice, o, -ew, -oe as in
shoe, -ou or –ue as in blue.
9-/u/ Half-closed, back, short, rounded.
Main spellings: -u as in put,- oo, -o as in woman or –ou.
10-/o:/: Half-open, back, long, rounded.
Spellings: -or, -au as in cause, -oor, -oar, -our as in four,
-aw, -a as in all, -ou or –ore as in before.
11-/a:/: Open, back, long, unrounded.
Spellings: -as, -ar, -al as in half, -au, -ear, or –er as in
clerk.
12-//: Open, back, short, rounded.
Main spellings: -o as in dock, -ow, -a as in was or –au.
 As for strong and weak forms, these are the stressed or lenis
representatins of the same word. Weak forms of vowels are found in
unstressed position and they arise naturally from the rhythm of
English which is based on stress-timing in connected speech.
Many of the most common English words, including both,
content and structural, can appear in a strong or weak position.
Generally the strong forms are used when directly quoting, when
they are being contrasted or if they appear at the end of a sentence.
Therefore, the pronunciation of a weak form can be so different in
isolation that it is context which makes it understandable.
It is possible to use only strong forms, as some non-native
speakers do. However it sounds unnatural to a native speaker since
shows a pour command of the English language.

On the subject of diphthongs just saying that these are

sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to
another . The movement by the tongue is an intentional glide between
its positions into two separate vowels, but it is performed in a single
impulse of breath an in a single syllable.
One imoportant feature of the English diphthongs is that the
glide is not usually completed and also that all English diphthongs are
falling, that is to say, that the first element is louder than the
second one.
There are 8 diphthongs in English, classified as follows:

 Centring diphthongs: ending in //: /i/, /e/ and /u/

 Closing diphthongs:
 Ending in /i/: /ei/, /ai/ and /oi/
 Ending in /u/: /u/ and /au/
The centring diphthongs receive this name because the movement of
the tongue is towards the centre.
1-/i/ can be found in near, beer or here.
2-/e/ in chair or heir.
3-/u/ in tour or sure.
The closing diphthongs occur when the tongue moves from a more
open to a more closed position, the terminal point being either /i/
or /u/. The closing diphthongs ending in /i/ are as follows:
1-/ei/: as in paid or they
2-/ai/: as in time or dye
3-/oi/: as in boy or bouy.
The closing diphthongs ending in /u/ are as follows:
1-/u/ as in go or soul.
2-/au/ as in owl.

Besides of diphthongs, the English system also includes triphthongs

which are those sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one
vowel to another, and then to a third one, all produced rapidly and
without interruption. Triphthongs can be looked on as beeing
composed of the five closing diphthongs with the schwa, //, added
to the end. Thus we obtain:
1- /ei/ as in player
2- /ai/ as in fire
3- /oi/ as in royal
4- /u/ as in lower
5- /au/ as in power

If sounds in a foreign language are physically similar to those in the

native language, and they combine and are distributed similarly, then
the learner will face no problems,; but that rarely occurs. Therefore,
in order for us to find the sounds that might be a problem, we need
to compare the English to the Spanish and Catalan/Valencian
systems. Thus, the first striking different is that there are 12 vowel
sounds in English, whereas 7 in C/V and only 5 in S.
Regarding the palatal/front phonemes , Spanish and
Catalan/Valencian speakers may find it difficult when dealing with
/i:/ and /i/for we do not have the first sound. Due to this fact
S/V/C speakers at their first stages of learning assimilate E sounds
into their own not making the difference between “this” and “these”,
for example. As regards as to /ae/, this is a rather complicated
phoneme.Thus, S speakerss have to be asked to keep their mouth as
if they were to pronounce /e/ and eventually move it as if to
pronounce /a/.
In S there are no central phonemes, and they have little
reference in V/C, just the //, for example in zones where they
pronounce “pare” as /pr/. Not having these central phonemes may
create a difficulty when pronouncing. Therefore, it is advisable for
the ss to know in which words they may appear in order for them to
pronounce correctly.
The back or velar phonemes are easier to pronounce for V/C
speakers, for they are more used to the concept half-closed and
half-open. As for example: “peu vs. tren”, or “dona vs. dòna”.
 Concerning diphthongs, V/C and S differenciate between rising
and falling, whereas E, only has falling ones.
 The rising diphthongs are considered semi-vocalic in E,
as for example in “queen or which”. Semi-vowels are a
sort of mixture of vowel and consonant, since they
function as consonants, but they come from vowels.:j/ as
in yes or /w/ as in wood
In C/V we have: /wa/ as in “enguany”
/we/ as in “següent”
/w/ as in “freqüència”
/wi/ as in “lingüística”
/wo/ as in “aiguós”
/w/ as in “quota”.
 The falling diphthongs have their equivalent , not
creating thus a problem. For instance: /ai/ in “desmai” or
“mine”, or /au/ in “faula” and “house”, or /ei/ in “plate or
peix”.

Triphthongs, do not coincide at all, therefor special

attention must be paid when teaching them. Being in C/V: /uai/ as in
“aguaiteu”, /ueu/ as in “poueu” and /uiu/ as in “conduiu”.

In order to solve these problems, once we know where

the differences lay, we should aim our pupils to practice pronunciation
wth specific exercises that improve the speakers confidence.

To conclude with this topic I would just like to say

that speech is not only inv¡dividual sounds , but a continuum of
connected ones, which change their shape according to the sounds
around them. Sounds, or syllables may change or even dissappear in
connected speech. Thus, our students of E need to be able to at least
perceive, if not duplicate these variations. Certainly, in order to be
intelligible, the ss should be able to approximate the sounds and
rhythm of the foreign language as they are in connecte speech rather
than sounds in isolation. To this end, in my opinion, Phonetics and
Phonology are the best tools in order to become a real E speaker.
Finally, as far as bibliography is concerned, I have
mainly used the following sources:
 CRYSTAL, D.: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
English Language.CUP
 FINCH & ORTIZ: A Course in English Phonetics for
Spanish Speakers. Heineman. London, 1982.
 JONES: An Outline of English Phonetics. Heffer.
1967.
 MOTT: A Course in Phonetics and Phonology for
Spanish Learners of English.PPU. 1991.
 ROACH: English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical
Course.CUP. Cambridge, 1983.
 IPA: International Phoneticas Association at
www.ipa.org