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2013 The vowel

system in
English
Mustafa Abdulsahib Abdulkareem
The Vowel System in English
A Graduation-Research Paper submitted to the Department of
English/College of Arts/University of Basra in Partial
fulfillment for the Requirement of B.A. Degree in English
Language and Literature.

Written by

Mustafa Abdulsahib Abdulkareem

2013 A.D.
This research is for

My mother
Acknowledgements

My thanks and appreciation are mainly due to my


friend, who was extremely supportive of this research,
encouragement all over the period of writing this
research.

A huge debt is owed to whomever gave me a hand in


performing this modest study and to them I present my
great gratitude especially those who are mentioned in the
following lines.

I would like to thank the principal and staff members in


Department for providing me with a wonderful sources
and important information and for creating an excellent
working to write this research.

I am also grateful to my family who supported me so


much during the study and the writing of my research.
Therefore, I am very thankful to them because they are
cooperating with whom I have discussed issues of the
research.
Keys to pronunciation

Below is a table of the standard set of phonemic


symbols for British English phonemes (RP) adopted from
(Roach, 2002:2).

Vowels Transcription Consonants Transcription


1 I pit /pɪt/ 21 p pin /pɪn/
2 ℮ pet /p℮t/ 22 b bin /bIn/
3 æ Pat /pæt/ 23 t tin /tIn/
4 Ʌ putt /pɅt/ 24 d din /dIn/
5 ɒ pot /pɒt/ 25 k kin /kIn/
6 Ʊ put /pʊt/ 26 g gum /gɅm/
7 ǝ another /ǝnɅðǝ(r)/ 27 tʃ chain /t∫ eɪn/
8 i: bean /bi:n/ 28 dɜ Jane /dɜeIn/
9 ɑ: barn /bɑ:n/ 29 f fine /faIn/
10 ɔ: born /bɔ:n/ 30 v vine /vaIn/
11 u: boon /bu:n/ 31 ᶿ think /θIŋk/
12 з: burn /b3:n/ 32 ð this /ðIs/
Diphthongs 33 s seal /si:l/
13 eI bay /beI/ 34 z zeal /zi:l/
14 aI buy /baI/ 35 ᶴ sheep /ᶴi:p/
15 ɔI boy /bɔI/ 36 ᶾ measure /meɜǝ(r)/
16 ǝʊ no /nǝʊ/ 37 h how /haʊ/
17 aʊ now /naʊ/ 38 m sum /sɅm/
18 Iǝ peer /pIǝ(r)/ 39 n sun /sɅn/
19 eǝ pair /peǝ(r)/ 40 ŋ sung /sɅŋ/
20 ʊǝ poor /pʊǝ(r)/ 41 l light /laIt/
42 r right /raIt/
43 w wet /wet/
44 j yet /jet/

Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Keys to pronunciation
Table of Content
Section one
1.Introduction
Section two
2.Basic Information of Vowel Sounds in English
2.1.Definitions of Vowel Sounds
2.2.Bases of Describing Vowel Sounds
2.3.Sorts of Vowel Sounds
2.3.1.Simple Vowel Sounds
2.3.2.Diphthong Vowel Sounds
2.3.3.Triphthong Vowel Sounds
Section three
3.Distribution, Spelling and other Phonological
Aspects Related to Vowel Sounds in English

3.1Distribution of Vowel Sound within a word


3.2Spelling and Vowel Sound
3.3Vowel Changes
4. Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The classification of English Vowel is a complex and


controversial matter. We can make statements about
vowels that will help to show their nature, vowels are oral
sounds, they are voiced, they are also characterized by a
free flow of air through the oral cavity, and the
distinguishing features of the different vowels are
determined largely by tongue position. English has twenty
plus five vowels. The researcher will discuss all these
vowel sounds in general through this research. However,
it is important to indicate that the study focuses Received
Pronunciation (R.P) English, which is also known as the
Standard English, or Oxford English. It is a neutral accent
in British English, historically deriving from the presage
speech of the court and public schools.

It is used by educated native speakers in south-east


English, and used in national and international
broadcasting channel. However, the study is divided into
four section.

Section one is a general introduction of the study.


Section two presents basic information of vowel
sounds in English, definitions of vowels, Bases of
describing vowel sounds, sorts of vowel sounds.

Whereas section three presents distribution, spelling and


other phonological Aspects Related to vowel sounds in
English, distribution of vowel sound within a word
spelling and vowel sound and vowel changes. Section tour
stands at the main conclusions the study arrived at.
2. Basic Information of Vowel Sounds in English

2.1. Definitions of Vowel Sounds

Vowel sounds are the sounds produced when the vocal


cards vibrate and the air escapes from the mouth without
being stopped (Praninskas, 1975: 10). On his part,
O'Connor, (1980: 79) defines vowels as those sound that
are made by voiced air passing through different mouth –
shapes, the differences in the shape of the mouth are
caused by different positions of the tongue and of the lips.
Stageberge (1981:12) shows vowels as a complex and
controversial matter. To him, it is even difficult to define a
vowel with precision. Vowels are sounds in which there is
no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the
larynx to the lips, (Roach, 1991: 10). Yule (1996: 48)
explains vowel sounds as those sounds that ate produced
with a relatively free flow of air, they are all typically
voiced.

Roach (2009:98) adds that vowels are the class of


sounds which makes the least abstraction to the flow of
air, they are almost always found at the center of a syllable
and it is rare to find any sound other than a vowel which is
able to stand alone as a whole syllable. Nordquist
(2012:35) defines vowels, speech sounds that are created
by the relatively free passage of breath though the larynx
oral cavity. Therefore, the researcher defines vowels as
sounds where air coming from the lungs is not blocked by
the mouth, this means that they are produced when the air
escapes from the mouth without being stopped.
2.2. Bases of Describing Vowel Sounds

English vowel sounds are usually described depending


on four main bases. They are:

1- Tongue – Height: The vertical distance between the


surface of the tongue and the roof of the mouth is usually
referred to as tongue – height (Roach, 1991:12). Birjandi
(2005:58) shows tongue height as is a factor considered
in the articulatory classification of a vowel, tongue
depends directly upon the mouth, that is, upon the
distance between the palate and the tongue's highest
point, arbitrarily, three digress of a per tune are
distinguished, from the most closed to the open.

Hence classification of vowel depending on tongue –height


can be seen as follow:

A) Close vowels: Here, the tongue is raised as close to the


roof of the mouth as is possible without producing
fricative noise, (Roach, 2002;13). Crystal, (2008:81)
defines close vowels as a vowel made with the tongue in
the highest position possible without causing audible
friction, as in the articulation of /i:/ and /u:/ the closest
vowels in English are in word like "seat" /si:t/ and
"shoot" /ᶴu:t/.
B) Open vowels: are ones in which the tongue is low in the
mouth and the jaw lowered, the term "low" is
sometimes used instead of "open", (Roach, 2002: 53).
Crystal (2008: 340) shows that open vowels as are
vowels that are made with the tongue in the lowest
possible position, i.e., the mouth as wide open as
possible, as in /ai/ and /æ/, the most open cat /kᴂt/.
C) Mid vowels: Mcmahon, (2002;71) and crystal (2008:
305) explain mid vowels is a term used in the three fold
phonetic classification of vertical tongue moment in
vowel sound. This base can further be sub classified as
high mid or low mid defending or whether they are
hearer the high end of the scale, or nearer the low end.

2- Shape of tongue: is determined by the general position of


the tongue in the mouth (Birjandi, 2005: 57). Roach
(2009: 90) explains shape of tongue as is usually sub
divided for the purposes of description, the furthest
forward section is the lip and behind this is the blade, the
widest part of the tongue is called the front, behind
which is the back. It also shows that shape of the
tongue+ related to which part of the tongue is raised
highest, his beginning, middle or end. So vowels
depending on tongue –shape, it is divided into three
types.
A) Front vowels: Here, the tongue front and middle are
humped high in the mouth, leaving a narrow passage
for the flow of air between the hard palate and the
surface of the tongue (Stageberg, 1981:13). Mcmahon
(2002: 69) defines front vowels as these vowels that
are produced with the front of the tongue raised
towards the hard palate. Front vowel is one of the
most important articulatory features of a vowel is
determined by which part of the tongue is raised
nearest to the palate if it is the front of the tongue, the
vowel is classed as a front vowel (Roach,2002:31).
B) Central vowels: Here, the vowel is produced with the
central part of the tongue raised, all descriptions of
vowel quality recognize a vowel that is both central
and close either rounded or unrounded or open mid to
open unrounded, but the use of these is rather
variable, (Roach, 2002:12). Mcmahon, (2002: 70)
explains central vowels as involve arising of the body
of the tongue towards the area where the hard and soft
palate join, the most common of these in English, /ð/ is
known as "schwa".
C) Back vowels: usually charging a vowel in which the
back of the tongue is the highest point is called a back
vowel, (Roach, 1991:12). Mcmahon, (2002:7) shows
back vowels as those vowels in which the back of the
tongue raised towards the soft palate or velum as /ʊ/
in foot /fʊt/.

Figure (1) below reflects both tongue – height and tong –


shape.

Tongue - shape

Front Centr Back


al
/i/(peat) /u:/(pooh)

/I/(pit) /Ʊ/(put)
HIGH
Tongue /D/(Poe)
Mid /e/(pate)
-
Low /ɔ:/(paw)
height

/a/(pat) /a:/(par)

Fig (1) Tongue-Shape and Tongue-height


(From, Pyles, 1971:40)
3- : Lip-rounding:

Is usually added as a third variable, but in British


English, front and central vowels are automatically
unrounded, and back vowels (except /u:/ are
automatically rounded), (Aitchision, 1999:236). The lips
are founded so that their shape becomes circular, this
phenomenon is called lip rounding, and it is a useful
defining feature in the classification of vowels (Birjande,
2005: 47). Crystal (2008: 420) explains it as a term used
in the classification lip position in phonetics referring to
the visual appearance of the lips when they assume round
shape as in the close rounding of [u] and the none open
rounding of [ɔ].

Lip- rounding are usually describing depending on


three main bases, they are:

1) Rounding: Here the corners of the lips are brought


forwards each other and the lips pushed forwards,
(Roach, 1988:14). He, (2002: 67) adds that rounded
may be produced with different amount of lip round,
the lips are rounded by muscles that act rather like a
draw, string round the neck of a bag, bring the edges of
the lips towards each other.
2) Spread: Here the corners of the lips moved away from
each other, as for a smile, (Roach, 1988:14). He (2002:
72) adds that spread is the quality of many sound can
be modified by changing the shape of the lips, lip-
spreading produced by pulling the corners of the mouth
away from each other as in a smile.
3) Neutral: the lips are not noticeably rounded or spread,
the noise most English people make when they are
hesitating (written: r) has neutral lip position, (Roach,
1988: 15). Crystal (2008: 326) shows neutral as a term
used in the classification of lip position in phonetics,
referring to the visual appearance of the lips when they
are held in a relaxed position, with no lip – rounding,
and a medium lowering of the jaw, as in the vowels of
pet or bird.
Figure (1) can sow the five different shapes of the lips in
producing vowels.

Fig (2): Illustrates tongue and mouth shifts for vowel


sounds (From Gilbert,2008:25)
4) Length: a term used in phonetics to refer to the
physical duration of a sound or utterance, and in
phonology to refer to the relative durations of sounds and
syllables when these are linguistically contrastive also
referred to as quantity, sometimes the term is restricted to
phonological contexts the phonetic dimension being
referred to as duration, phonologically long and short
values are conventionally recognized, (crystal, 2008: 273).
Roach (2009: 50) defines length as the most interesting.
Example of length differences comes from Estonia which
has traditionally been said to have a three-way destination
between short, long vowels.

According length vowels are divided into two types

1) Short vowels: are only relatively short as one con see


later, vowels can have quite different length in different
contexts (Roach, 1988: 15). Birjandi, (2005: 62) shows
short vowels as are formed is a much shorter time than
long vowels, in other words short vowels lack the
length feature.
2) Long vowels: these are the vowels which tend to be
longer than the short vowels in similar contexts,
(Roach, 1988: 17). Bitjandi, (2005: 62) discusses long
vowels as are usually distinguished from short vowels
in that the duration of time that speakers spend in
articulating them is somewhat longer than the time
spent for the articulation of short vowels.
2.3. Short of vowel sounds

Vowels in English are usually divided into three types.


Depending on whether there is a change in tongue, and
lips shape and movements, these types are:

2.3.1 Simple vowel sounds

1- Simple vowel sounds: crystal (2008: 397) defines as a


term is used in phonetics referring to a vowel sound
with no perceived change in quality during a syllable.
Also, it can be seen is a term that is used to refer to a
vowel in which there is no delectable change in quality
from beginning to end, an alternative name is
monopthong, and these are contrasted with vowels
containing a movement such as the glide in a diphthong
(Roach, 2002: 63).

English has a large number of simple vowel sounds: the


first ones to be examined are short vowels, the symbols
for these seven short vowels are / ɪ,e,æ,Ʌ,ɒ,ʊ,ǝ/. Each one
of in previous section, as follow:

/ɪ/ can be described as close, front, spread and short.

e.g.: "bit" /bɪt/, "pin" / pɪn/. (Birjandi, 2005: 62)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.


Fig 3 /ɪ/ sound (from Roach, 1991: 15)

/e/ can be described as close. Front, spread and short.


e.g. "men" /men/, "yes" /jes/ (Davies and Elder, 2004: 28).

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 4 /e/ sound (from Roach, 1991: 15)


/æ/ can be described as open, front, spread and short
e.g. "man" /mæn/ "gas" /gæs/ (O'Connor, 1980: 80)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 5 /æ/ sound (from Stageberg, 1981: 18)

/Ʌ/ can be described as central, open, neutral and


short e.g. "but" /bɅt/. "rush" /rɅs/. (Birjandi, 2005: 63)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 6 /Ʌ/ sound (from Stageberg, 1981: 18)


/ɒ/ can be described as back, between half. Open and
open (mid), rounded and short.

e.g. "pot" /pɒt/. "cross" /krɒs/. (Ylitalo, 2008: 20)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 7 /ɒ/ sound (from Roach, 1981: 16)

/ʊ/can be described as open, back, rounded and short


e.g. "put" /pʊt/, "pull" /pʊl/. (O'Connor, 1980; 81).

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 8 /ʊ/ sound (Davies and Elder, 2004: 28)


/ǝ/ Can be described as central, between open and half.
Open and short. e.g. "up" /ǝp/, "again" /ǝgen/. (Birjande,
2005: 61).

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig9 /ǝ/ sound (from Stageberg, 1981: 18)

The second groups of simple vowels to be examined


are long vowels,: English has five long vowels, the symbols
for these long vowels are: /i: , ɜ:, ɑ:, ɔ:, u:/. They can also
be described depending on the same criteria are as bellow:

/i:/ Can be described as close, front, spread and long


vowel. e.g. "beat" /bi:t/, "mean" /mi:n/ (Mcmahon, 2002:
72).
This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 10 /i:/ sound (from Roach, 1991: 17)

/ɜ:/ Can be described as central, between close and


half-close, neutral and long vowel.

e.g. "bird" /bɜ:d/, "her" /hɜ:/ (O'Connor, 1980: 82)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 11 /ɜ:/ sound (Kreidler, 2004: 51)

/ɑ:/ Can be described as open, back, neutral and long


vowel. e.g. "pass" /pɑ:s/, "Card" /kɑ:d/ (Roach, 1991: 18).
This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 12/ɑ:/ sound (Mcmahon, 2002: 75)

/ɔ:/ Can be described as back, between open and half.


Open, rounded and long vowel.

e.g. "cord" /kɔ:d/, "ward" /wɔ:d/. (Birjandi, 2005: 62)

This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig13 /ɔ:/ sound (Ylitalo, 2008: 21)

/u:/ Can be described as back, close, rounded and long


vowel. e.g. "food" /fu:d/ , soon /su:n/ (O'Connor, 1980:
81).
This sound can be shown in this diagram.

Fig14 /u:/ sound (from Roach, 1991: 18)


2.3.2. Diphthongs

Diphthongs are those vowels in which the glide from


one vowel position to another, the whole glide acting like
one of the long and simple vowels (O'Conner, 1980: 84).
Stage berg (1981: 21) defines diphthong as sounds consist
of a vowel plus a glide that occur in the same tillable, the
tongue moving smoothly from one position to the other
without hiatus as in "sigh" /saɪ/, the two sounds together
represent the peak of sonority, though one always has
greater prominence than the other. So Diphthong sounds
consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another
(Roach, 1991: 19). Davies and Elder (2004: 28) explains
diphthong as vowels in which the tongue starts in one
position and moves to another. They ate very common in
English.

Their total number is eight. The easiest way to


remember them is in terms of three groups divided as in
this diagram:
Diphthongs

Centerin Closing
g

Ending in ǝ Ending in ɪ Ending in ʊ

ɪǝ eǝ ʊǝ eɪ aɪ ɔɪ ǝʊ aʊ
Fig 15 types of diphthongs (from Roach, 1991:19)

The centering diphthongs glide towards the /ǝ/ vowel,

as the second symbols indicate.

/ɪǝ/ The starting point is a little closer than I as in


"beard" /bɪǝd/, "fierce" /fɪǝs/ the (O'Conner, 1980: 86).

The glide of this vowel can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 16 /ɪǝ/ diphthong (from Roach, 1991: 20)


/eǝ/ this diphthong begins with the same vowel sound
(Birjandi, 2005: 63) as in "airy" /eǝri/, "scarce" /skeǝs/.

The glide of this vowel can be shown in this diagram.

Fig 17 /eǝ/ diphthong (from Mcmahon, 2002: 76)

/ʊǝ/ this has a starting point slightly closer then /ʊ/ as


in "moor" /mʊǝ/, "tour" /tʊǝ/ (from Roach, 1991: 20).

The glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this


diagram.

Fig 18 / ʊǝ / diphthong (from Stageberg, 1981: 22)


There of the diphthongs glide towards /ɪ/ i.e., from
open or half open to more close.

/eɪ/ the starting point is the same as the e. as in "paid"


/peɪd/, "pain" /peɪn/ (Birjandi, 2005: 63).

He glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this


diagram.

Fig 19 /𝐞ɪ/ diphthong (from Mcmahon, 2002: 76)

/aɪ/ this diphthong beging with an open vowel which


is between front and back, an in "tide" /taɪ/, "time" /taɪm/
(Davies and Elder, 2004: 29).
The glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this
diagram.

Fig 20 /aɪ/ diphthong (from Roach, 1991: 20)

/ɔɪ/ The first part of this diphthong has the same


quality as ɔ: , as in "void" /vɔɪd/, "loin" /lɔɪn/, (Stageberg,
1984: 22).

The glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this


diagram.

Fig 21 /ɔɪ/ diphthong (from Ashby, 2011: 109)


Two diphthongs glide towards /ʊ/. Here again from
opening to move closing.

/ǝʊ/ the vowel position for the beginning of this is the


same as for the vowel 𝜕. The lips may be slightly rounded
in anticipation of the glide towards /ʊ/. As in "load"
/lǝʊd/, "home" /hǝʊm/ (Birjandi, 2005: 63).

The glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this


diagram.

Fig 22 /𝝏Ʊ/ diphthong (from McMahon, 2002: 76)

/aʊ/ This diphthong begins with a vowel similar to /a:/


but a little more front, an in "loud" /laʊd/, "gown" /gaʊn/
(O'Connor, 1980: 86).
The glide of this vowel sound can be shown in this
diagram.

Fig 23 /aʊ/ diphthong (from McMahon, 2002: 76)

It may important to notice that the second part of the


diphthong is usually shorter and weaker than the first part
which is longer and stronger (Roach, 1991: 19).
2.3.3. Triphthongs

Trip thongs are vowel sounds that have a glide from


one vowel to another and then to a third, they can be
rather difficult to pronounce and very difficult to
recognize (Roach, 1991: 22). Roach adds (2002: 83) that
trip thongs are vowels glide with three distinguishable
vowel qualities, in other words it is similar to a diphthong
but comprising three rather than two vowel qualities, in
English there are said to be five trip thongs formed by
adding /ǝ/ to the diphthongs: they are: /eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, ǝʊ, aʊ/.
Thus, Trip thongs is a term sometimes used for a
combination of three vowels (Richard, 2002: 565).
Birjandi: (2005: 63) explains triphthongs as those sounds
that consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to
another and then into a third, they are very similar to
diphthongs, but have an extra "schwa" on the end of the
diphthongs, there are said to be only five triphthongs but
there are number of occasions when diphthongs meet
other vowels over word edge boundaries.

The principal cause of difficulty in triphthongs for the


foreign learner is that in present day English the extent of
the vowel movement is very small, except in very careful
pronunciation. Because of this, the middle of three vowel
qualities of the triphthong can hardly be heard and the
resulting sound is difficult to distinguish from some of the
diphthongs and long vowels.

There is no need to go through a detailed description of


each triphthongs this is partly because there is so much
variation in the amount of vowel movement according to
how slow and careful the pronunciation is, and also
because the "careful" pronunciation can be found by
looking at the description of the corresponding diphthong
and adding /ǝ/ to the end. However, to help identify these
triphthongs, some example words are given below:
(Roach, 1991: 22).

/ǝʊǝ/_ "thrower"/𝜃𝑟ǝʊǝ/, _"lower" /lǝʊǝ/,

/aʊǝ/ _ "power" /paʊǝ/ , _ "tower" /taʊǝ/

/ɔɪǝ/ _ "royal" /rɔɪǝl/, _ "employer /ɪmplᴐɪǝ/

/eɪǝ/ _ "player" /pleɪǝ(r)/, _ "greyer" /greɪǝ(r)/,

/aɪǝ/ "flyer" /flaɪǝ(r)/, _ "fire" /faɪǝ(𝑟)/


3. Distribution, Spelling and other phonological Aspects
Related to vowel sound in English.

Spelling system and pronunciation system: is a way of


pronouncing a word which is based on its spelling and
which may differ from the way the word is generally
pronounced. For example a non-native speaker of British
English might pronounce "Yacht" as /jɑkt/ instead of
/jɑt/. Native speakers also sometimes use spelling
pronunciation, and some have become acceptable ways of
pronouncing words, such as /ɑftǝn. For "often" rather
than /ɑfǝn/ (Richards, 2002: 504).

Consequently, English is far from the ideal writing


system, as anyone with spelling difficulties is well aware.
In fact, English doesn't contain a single instance of a two-
way one to one correspondence – letter to sound and
sound to letter. The first letter of the alphabet "a"
represents at least eight phonemes, as shown by this
series: "dame" /e/, "any" …etc. if we go the other way from
sound to letter, we find that nearly all phonemes have
from two to over a dozen spellings. In this respect the
vowel phonemes are worse offenders that the consonant
(Stageberg, 1981: 36).
Here are some examples that show how each vowel
letter can be pronounced in a number of different ways:

/ɪ/ women /wɪmɪn/

/ǝ/ purpose /pɜ:pǝs/

/Ʌ/ won /wɅn/

1- /o/ /u:/ too /tu:/

/ɑʊ/ go /gɑʊ/

/ʊ/ wolf /wʊlf/

/ɑ/ dot /dɑt/

/u:/ rule /ru:l/

/w/ linguistics /lɪƞ'gwɪstɪks/

2-/u/ /e/ bury /beri/

/ǝ/ supply /sǝ'plƌɪ/

/ǝʊ/ rural /rʊǝrǝl/

/ɜ:/ curdle /kɜ:dl/


/i:/ be /bi:/

/a:/clerk /kla:k/

/i/create /kri'eɪt/

3-/e / /e/ very /veri/

/ɪǝ/clear /klɪǝ(r)/

/eɪ/café /keɪf/

/ɜ:/ were /wɜ:(r)/

/ǝ/ taken /teɪkǝn/

/ɪ/ bit /bɪt/

/ǝ/ pencil /pensǝl/

/i:/ field /fi:ld/

4-/i/ /ɜ:/ bird /bɜ:d/

/aɪ/ pint /paɪnt/

/ᴂ/ meringue /mǝ'rᴂƞ/

/ɪǝ/ menhir /menhɪǝ(r)/


/ǝ/ banana /bǝ'na:nǝ/

/i/ karaoke /kᴂriǝʊki/

/a:/ father /fa:δǝ(r)/

/ɪ/ damage /dᴂmɪdɜ/

/e/ ordinary /ᴐ:dǝnerɪ/

5-/a/ /ᴐ:/ warning /wᴐ:nɪƞ/

/eɪ/ bass /beɪs/

/ᴂ/ cat /kᴂt/

/ɑ/ yacht /jɑt/

From that all one can see clearly the non-phonetic name
of English language, i.e. n that E is fat from one-to-one
letter to sound correspondence.
3.1. Distribution of vowel sounds within a word.

Distribution is a very important aspect in the study of


the phonology of a language. It is an examining to the
contexts and position in which each particular phoneme
can occur (Roach, 2002: 22). Richards (2002: 67) defines
distribution as the range of position a phoneme or a word,
can occur: in the initial, middle or final.

So the distribution of vowel sounds as discussed and


shown by phoneticians and philologists can be shown as
follow:
A) Simple vowel sounds:

/ɪ/ can be found in all word position (O'Connor, 1980:


89) ex: "ignorant" /ɪgnǝrǝnt/ "sit" /sɪt/ "obey" /abeɪ/.

/e/ can be found in initial and medial but not final word
position (Ibid).

Ex: "entertain" /entǝteɪn/ "ten" /ten/.

/æ/ can be found in initial and medial but not final word
position. (Yule, 1996: 49).

Ex: "amateur" /æmǝtɜ:/ "tan" /tæn/.

/Ʌ/it can be occurred only in initial and middle


position. (Birjandi: ,2005: 62).

Ex: "understand" /Ʌndǝstænd/ "duck" /dɅk/.

/ɑ/ can be found on initial and medial but not final


word position. (O'Connor, 1980: 81).

Ex: "opt" / ɑpt/ "Cop" /kɑp/.

/ʊ/It never occurs in initial or final position, it occurs


only in medial position (Ibid).

Ex: "would" /wʊd/.

/ǝ / can be found in all word positions (MCmahon,


2002: 70).
Ex: "agree" /ǝgri/ "dinners" /dɪnǝz/ "peppr"
/pepǝ(r)/.

/i:/ Can be found in all word positions (Yule: 1996: 49).

Ex: "eat" /i:t/ "neat" /ni:t/ "see" /si:/.

/ɜ:/ Can be found in all word positions (Ibid).

Ex: "Urge" /3:dɜ/"purse" /pɜ:s/ "fur" /fɜ:(r)/.

/ɔ:/ It can be occurred in initial, middle and final


position (Birjandi, 2005: 62).

Ex: "office" /ɔ:fIs/ "cord" /kɔ:d/ "saw" /sɔ:/.

/u:/ Can be found in all word positions. (O'Conner,


1980:81).

Ex: "pool" /pu:l/ "too" /tu:/.

/ɑ:/ It can be occurred in initial. Middle and final


positions (MCmahon. 2002: 73).

Ex: "art" /ɑ:t/ "pass" /pɑ:s/ "car" /kɑ:(r)/.


B) Diphthongs

/ǝʊ/can be found in all word positions (Birjandi, 2005:


63).

Ex: "over" /ǝʊvǝ(r)/ "close" /klǝʊz/ "low" /lǝʊ/.

/ɪǝ/ can be found in all word positions (O'Connor,


1980: 86).

Ex: "ear" /ɪǝ(r)/ "real" /rɪǝl/ "clear" /klɪǝ(r)/.

/ʊǝ/ can be found in medial and find but not initial


word position (Ibid).

Ex: "furious" /fjʊǝrɪas/ "poor" /pʊǝ/.

/ɔɪ/ can be found in initial, medial and final position


(Ashby, 2011: 109).

Ex: "oil" /ɔɪl/ "boil" /bɔɪl/ "boy" /bɔɪ/.

/eɪ/ can be found in all word position. (Birjandi, 2005:


63).

Ex: "eight" /eɪt/ "late" /leɪt/ "pay" /peɪ/.

/eǝ/ it can be occurred in initial, middle and final position


(Ibid).

Ex: "airs" /eǝz/ "wary" /weǝrI/ "hair" /heǝ/.


/aʊ/ can be found in all word position. (O'Connor, 1980:
86).

Ex: "loud" /laʊd/ now /naʊ/.


C) Triphthongs

/eɪǝ/ can be found only in medial and final but not


initial word position (Birjandi, 2005: 62).

Ex: "betrayal" /bitreɪǝl/ "player" /pleɪǝ(r)/.

/aɪǝ/ can be found in all word positions. (O'Connor,


1980: 87).

Ex: "iron" /aɪǝn/ "trial" /traɪǝl/ "tyre" /taɪǝ/.

/ɔɪǝ/ can be found only in medial and final but not initial
word position (Ibid).

Ex: "royal" /rɔɪǝl/ "employer" /Implɔɪǝ/.

/ǝʊǝ/ can be found only in medial and final but not


initial word position (Ibid).

Ex: "followers" /folǝʊǝz/ "thrower /𝜃rǝʊǝ/.

/aʊǝ/ can be found in all word position. (Roach,


1991:22)

Ex: "ours" /aʊǝz/ "powerful" /paʊǝfʊl/ "bower"


/baʊǝ/.
3.2 spelling and vowel sound

Pronunciation: can be defined as the way in which a


certain sound or sounds are produced. Unlike articulation,
which refers to the actual production of speech sounds in
the mouth, pronunciation stresses more the way sounds
are perceived by the hearer (Richards, 2002:429) . Roach
(2002:61) shows that pronunciation is the act of
producing the sounds of a language. The things that
concern most people are standards of pronunciation. In
the case of principal factor is the choice of modern accent.
The best known example of this is the way people
complain about "bad" pronunciation in an "official"
speaker of the BBC, but similar complaints are made about
the way children pronounce their native language in
school. Pronunciation has traditionally been taught with a
goal of "speaking like a native speaker" but this is not
practical. In fact, for students (Gilbert,2008:42) .

Spelling: from another side spelling means you writing


words in normal way orthography. It is almost the same
technique as transcribing them because particular letters
of the alphabet or specific groups of letters always refer to
the same sound. Once one has learnt the spelling-to-sound
rules. He can often say words out loud and sound quite
authentic even without knowing the language itself. Every
distinctive sound has its own orthographic representation.
However, a language like English is a learner's nightmare
and this is true both to the native-speaker at school
learning to spell and read or a non-native speaker learning
to read, write and pronounce the language. The vagaries of
English spelling were encapsulated once and for all by the
spelling reformer and playwright to read the English word
"women" which followed by an /ɪ/ sound
(Corbett,2011:3) .
3.3 Vowel Changes

Vowel Harmony: a modification of the pronunciation of vowel


in a word so that one agrees or "harmonizes" with another one.
The vowel of the suffix must be either a front vowel or a back
vowel, depending on the vowel that precedes it, (Richards,
20002:584). Crystal (2008:224) explains vowel harmony as a term
used in phonology to refer to the way the articulation of one
phonological unit is influenced by another unit in the same word
or phrase. An analogous notion is that of assimilation or elision.

Elision of vowel sounds.

The process of dropping or deleting of a sound or sounds


either in the body of the word or in a junction of word is described
as elision (Jones, 1972:230; O'Connor, 1980:103). Crystal
(2003:158) points out that the effect of elision does not stop at
vowel sound, e.g. camera /kaemr/ but exceeds to consonant
sounds, e.g. probably /prbǝbli/ and at times to whole syllables as
well, e.g. February /febri/. The elision of these segments or
syllables is bound up with both the phonetic context in which they
occur and to the rate and style of speaking.
4. Conclusion

The study arrived at the following conclusions:

After the finish of research, we reach to conclusion that vowels


are voiced, where air coming from the lungs is not blocked by the
mouth, this means that they are produced when the air escapes
from the mouth without being stopped. Therefore , we have twenty
plus five vowel sounds in English , the sounds are divided into
several types , so vowels are divided into three sorts which are
simple vowel sounds have twelve sounds , diphthongs have eight
and triphthongs five . After that, a distribution is made for all
vowel sounds, there are sounds that can be found in all word
position such as /ɪ, i: /, while there are sounds lack some position
in initial, medial or final. Finally, there are some vowel sounds like
/o, e , u , ɪ , and a / give other sounds different from their shapes .
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