Neutral vowels

In this class we are going to introduce some new sounds. Let's start with the neutral
(or happy, as it is usually called) /i/ and the neutral /u/. The information below has
been extracted from English Phonetics and Phonology, pages 67 - 68.
Spanish i / English iː ɪ i
http://www.englishpronunciationmadrid.com/vowels/vowels/spanish-i-english-i%cb%
90-%c9%aa/

Spanish has only one type of [i] sound, but English has three: first, the phonemes /iː/
and /ɪ/, which are completely different, and then there is another sound, /i/, which is a
mixture of /iː/ and /ɪ/ and is the same as the Spanish i. Unfortunately for us, it is not
as important as the other two.

Spanish speakers often forget to make the contrast between /iː/ and /ɪ/, but this
distinction is essential for native speakers. Just think of the difference between
saying these and this, leave and live, beach and bitch. The list is endless, as is the
possibility of actually saying something that has very little to do with what you really
mean.

Here are some examples:

● Can’t you see it? /siː/ /ɪt/

● I didn’t mean it. /ˈdɪdnt/ /miːn/ /ɪt/
● I’d like to see him. /siː/ /hɪm/
● Give me a receipt. /gɪv/ /mi/ /rɪˈsiːt/
● Do all types of bee sting? /biː/ /stɪŋ/
● She is slim and lean, with sleek skin. /ʃi/ /ɪs/ /slɪm/ /liːn/ /wɪð/ /sliːk/ /skɪn/

Now, let’s have a look at the three types of English [i] sound one by one.

iː The tongue is tense and high at the front of the mouth. The lips are spread. It’s
similar to a Spanish i, but much, much longer.

● How to do it? Spread your lips and say a long [i] without opening your
mouth too much.
● Spelling. The most frequent spellings are ee (see, need), e (these,
even), ea (leave, mean), ie (piece), ei (receive), ey (key) and i (police).

ɪ Here the mouth is a bit more open and the tongue a bit lower. There is more
relaxation in the tongue and lips than in /iː/. One important point is that this sound is
closer to a Spanish e than to a Spanish i (you might find this surprising, but believe
me, it’s true). It is a short vowel.

● How to do it? Say a short [i] with your mouth a bit more open and your
articulators (tongue, lips) more relaxed. Keep in mind that it must sound
more like a Spanish e than an i.
 ● Spelling. In stressed syllables it almost always corresponds to the
letters i and y (big, this, little, interest, gym, crystal), although there are
a few exceptions (English, pretty). In unstressed syllables is often found
as e (begin, recover), but there are many other spellings as well: i
(outfit), ui (biscuit), age (village, manage), u (lettuce), ei (foreign).

If you find it difficult to recognize or reproduce these two sounds, a very good
exercise is to say /iː/ and /ɪ/ close together. Like this:

● Leave this / Deep river / Keep fit / Thick cream. ǀ liːv ðɪs ǀ ǀ diːp ˈrɪvə ǀ ǀ kiːp fɪt
ǀ ǀ θɪk kriːm ǀ

i Short sound produced high at the front of the mouth. It has the vowel quality of /iː/
and the length of /ɪ/, so it is a mixture of both. It only occurs in unstressed syllables
and it’s exactly like the Spanish i. This sound is usually left out of the vowel chart.

● How to do it? Like /iː/ but short. Just as you do an i in Spanish.

● Spelling. It is usually found at the end or words, mainly as y (city,
pretty) or ey (money, valley), but also ie (auntie), e (acne) or even i
(graffiti). Spelled as e, it is also common in unstressed function words
(she is, he was, the owl, etc.). It also occurs in the middle of words
(malleable), most often when they are compounds (jellyfish, antiseptic)
or there is a prefix (reaction ).

There are many two-syllable words which follow the pattern /ɪ/ + /i/. See if you can
recognize them. Notice how the two vowels have the same length but differ in quality.

City, filthy, tricky, busy. /ˈsɪti/ /ˈfɪlθi/ /ˈtrɪki/ /ˈbɪzi/

And here is a good example of /i/, which appears five times in this short exchange.
Notice how it is always unstressed.

“She wanted you to play Katelyn, apparently”. “She did, yeah, she‘d actually written
Kathleen for me“. (Mark Lawson and Keira Knightley, BBC4).

ǀ ʃiˈwɒntɪd ǀ

ǀ ʃiˈdɪd ǀ

ǀ ʃid ˈækʧəli ˈwrɪtən ˈkæθliːn fə mi ǀ

This example also gives you the opportunity to compare the quality of /i/ with that of
/ɪ/, found in words like wanted, did or written.
To remember: There is a clear parallel between the group /iː/, /ɪ/ and /i/ and the
group /uː/, /ʊ/ and /u/.

● Both /ʊ/ and /ɪ/ are short and stand midway in quality between the long
vowels /i:/ and /uː/ and the schwa, /ə/.
● In both groups there is a third, mixed sound, /i/ and /u/, respectively,
which is not a phoneme and only appears in unstressed position.

This similarity can help you remember its characteristics and produce them
correctly.

Examples

● They’re labeled evil, or a bitch (Glenn Close, BBC4). /iːvl/ /bɪʧ/

● First thing we did when we got this house with the garden was to get a cat
(Judith Kerr, BBC4). /θɪŋ/ /wiː/ /dɪd/ /ðɪs/ /wɪð/
● The meat of the book will lead you to the opening scene (Julian Barnes,
BBC4). /miːt/ /wɪl/ liːd/ /ði/ /siːn/
● There were sources that believed that they had a hand in Philip’s
assassination (Paul Cartledge, BBC4). /bɪˈliːvd/ /ˈfɪlɪps/ /əˌsæsɪˈneɪʃn/

One final warning about length. As said in the introduction to vowel sounds, there
is another element to be taken into account in order to determine the correct length
of a vowel: the voicing of the consonant that follows it. The fact is that voiceless
consonants cut the length of the preceding vowel. Consequently the /iː/ in leave /liːv/
is longer than the /iː/ in leaf /liːf/ because /v/ is voiced whereas /f/ is voiceless. To
have a full description of this phenomenon, plenty of examples, go to the pre-fortis
clipping section.

Spanish u / English uː ʊ u
The case of u is similar to that of i in English. There are two main types of [u] sound: /uː/, which is
long and high, and /ʊ/, which is short and a bit more open. And then there is a third one, /u/,
which is a mixture of the previous two.

Let’s listen to the following examples:

● Blue book. /bluː/ /bʊk/

● It took root. /tʊk/ /ruːt/
● I could do it soon. /kʊd/ /du/ /suːn/
● Look at your wounds and bruises. /lʊk/ /wuːndz/ /bruːzɪz/
● Wolves howl at the full moon. /wʊlvz/ /fʊl/ /muːn/
Now, let’s have a look at them one by one.

uː This is like a Spanish [u] in quality. The tongue is raised high at the back of the mouth and
the lips are closely rounded. It is a very long sound.

● How to do it? Say an u as you do in Spanish, but keep it much longer. Check that
your lips are forward and rounded and your tongue at the back of your mouth.
● Spelling. The main realizations are u (flute, rule) and oo (tool, spoon). Also it
frequently occurs as o (do, who), ou (wound, through), ew (flew), ue (blue), ui
(suit) and oe (shoe).

ʊ This is a short sound, which stands in between /uː/ and /ə/ in quality. The lips are rounded
but in a loosely way. There is more relaxation in the tongue and lips than in /uː/.

● How to do it? Say an /ə/ -that is, the schwa- with your lips rounded and it will
come out as /ʊ/.
● Spelling. It is mainly found as u (put, full, butcher) and oo (took, book, look). Also
as o (woman) and ou (could).

u It has the quality of /uː/ and the length of /ʊ/ (short). It only occurs in unstressed syllables. It
is exactly like the Spanish u. This sound is usually left out of the vowel chart.

● How to do it? Like /uː/ but short. Just as you do an u in Spanish.

● Spelling. It is found as u in the middle of words (situation). In unstressed words is
mainly found as o or ou (Do I have…, to us, looking at you).

To remember: There is a clear parallel between the group /uː/, /ʊ/ and /u/ and the group /iː/, /ɪ/
and /i/. The three sounds included in each group hold the same kinds of relationships among
themselves.

● Both /ʊ/ and /ɪ/ are short and stand midway in quality between the long vowels /uː/
and /i:/ and the schwa, /ə/.
● In both groups there is a third, mixed sound, /u/ and /i/, respectively, which is not a
phoneme and only appears in unstressed position.

Now, let’s listen to some speakers:

● You say, that is a wolfish man (A.S. Byatt, BBC4). /ˈwʊlfɪʃ/

● These are dark, doomy, gloomy places where bad things happen in the corners (Briony
Hanson, BBC4). /ˈduːmi/ /ˈɡluːmi/
● It was a complete fluke that I said that I wanted to be involved with the film at all (Keira
Knightley, BBC4). /fluːk/
● Our warning is what could. And this is what could happen (Michael Caine, BBC4). /kʊd/
● He greets ticket collectors and stationmasters and they return his salute (Julian Barnes,
KUSP). /səˈluːt/
● Very fulfilled as a woman (Ben Kingsley, BBC4) /fʊlˈfɪld/ /ˈwʊmən/
And also see how close to a schwa the phoneme /ʊ/ can be in American English:

● We all wanted to do something very authentic to her book and to be very respectful of the
book (Julia Roberts, BBC4). /bʊk/

One final warning about length. As said in the introduction to vowel sounds, there is another
element to be taken into account in order to determine the correct length of a vowel: the voicing
of the consonant that follows it. The fact is that voiceless consonants cut the length of the
preceding vowel. Consequently the /uː/ in school /skuːl/ is longer than the /uː/ in scoop /skuːp/
because /l/ is voiced whereas /p/ is voiceless. To have a full description of this phenomenon,
plenty of examples, go to the pre-fortis clipping section.

http://www.englishpronunciationmadrid.com/vowels/vowels/spanish-u-english-%ca%
8a-u%cb%90-u/