The English Vowel System

The phonemes of a language are mutually dependent and form a system which is determined by phonetic and phonological cause. Each phoneme possesses specific features which distinguish it from any other phoneme of the same language. These specific features cause phonemes to form group–correlations (e.g. long and short vowels). The system of phonemes becomes stabilized in accordance with the linguistic role of the phonemes of which it is composed. The following conditions are very important:

1) the role of phonemes in phoneme alternations;

2) the phoneme distribution in words;

3) the role of phonemes in syllable formation.

The English vowel system consists of 20 vowel phonemes. The analysis of the articulatory constituents of the quality of vowels allowed phoneticians to suggest the criteria which are conceived to be of great importance in classificatory description. First to be concerned here are the following criteria termed:

1. stability of articulation;

2. tongue position;

3. lip position;

4. character of the vowel end;

5. length;

6. tenseness.

Stability of articulation specifies the actual position of the articulating organ in the process of the articulation of a vowel. There are two possible varieties: a) the tongue position is stable; b) it changes, that is the tongue moves from one position to another. In the first case the articulated vowel is relatively pure, in the second case a vowel consists of two clearly perceptible elements. There exists in addition a third variety, an intermediate case, when the change in the tongue position is fairly weak. So according to this principle the English vowels are subdivided into:

1. monophthongs (12): /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /e/, /ʌ/, /æ/, /ɒ/, /ə/, /i:/, /u:/, /ɜː/, /ɔː/, /ɑː/ (see Table 2);

2. diphthongs (8): /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /əʊ/, /aʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/;

3. diphthongoids.

Another principle we should consider from phonological point of view is the position of the tongue. For the sake of convenience the position of the tongue in the mouth cavity is characterized from two aspects, that is the horizontal and vertical movement.

According to the horizontal movement Russian phoneticians distinguish five classes of English vowels. They are:

1. front: [i:], [e], [ei], [æ], [ε(ə)];

2. front-retracted: [I], [I(ə)];

3. central: [V] [з:] [ə], [з(u)], [ε(ə)];

4. back [ɒ], [ɔ:], [u:], [a:];

5. back-advanced: [u], [u(ə)].

British phoneticians do not single out the classes of front-retracted and back-advanced vowels. So both [i:] and [i] vowels are classed as front, and both [u:] and [u] vowels are classed as back.

As to the tongue position in its vertical movement British scholars distinguish three classes of vowels: high (or close), mid (or half-open), and low (or open) vowels. Ukrainian and Russian phoneticians made the classification more detailed distinguishing two subclasses in each class, i.e. broad and narrow variations of the three vertical positions of the tongue. Thus the following six groups of vowels are distinguished:

1. close a) narrow: [i:] [u:];

b) broad: [i], [u], [i(ə)], [u(ə)];

2. mid a) narrow: [e], [з:], [ə], [e(i)], [з(u)];

b) broad: [ə], [V];

3. open a) narrow: [ε(ə)], [ɔ:], [ɒ (i)];

b) broad: [æ], [a(i, u)], [ɒ], [a:]

Another feature of English vowels which is sometimes included into the principles of classification is lip rounding. Traditionally three lip positions are distinguished, that is spread, neutral and rounded. For the purpose of classification it is sufficient to distinguish between two lip positions: rounded and unrounded, or neutral. The fact is that any back vowel in English is produced with rounded lips.

Another property of English vowel sounds – checkness depends on the character of the articulatory transition from a vowel to a consonant. This kind of transition (VC) is very close in English unlike Ukrainian. As a result all English short vowels are checked when stressed. The degree of checkness may vary and depends on the following consonant. Before fortis voiceless consonant it is more perceptible than before a lenis voiced consonant or sonorant. All long vowels are free.

The English monophthongs are traditionally divided into two varieties according to their length:

a) short vowels: [i], [e], [æ], [ɒ], [u], [V], [ə];

b) long vowels: [i:], [a:], [ɔ:], [з:], [u:].

A vowel like any sound has physical duration – time which is required for its production (articulation). When sounds are used in connected speech they cannot help being influenced by one another. Duration is one of the characteristics of a vowel which is modified by and depends on the following factors:

1. its own length,

2. the accent of the syllable in which it occurs,

3. phonetic context,

4. the position of the sound in a syllable,

5. the position in a rhythmic structure,

6. the position in a tone group,

7. the position in a phrase,

8. the tempo of the whole utterance,

9. the type of pronunciation,

10. the style of pronunciation.

The problem the analysts are concerned with is whether variations in quantity or length are meaningful (relevant), that is whether vowel length can be treated as a relevant feature of English vowel system.

Different scholars attach varying significance to vowel quantity.

The approach of D. Jones, an outstanding British phonetician, extends the principle, underlying phonological relevance of vow el quantity. That means that words in such pairs as [bid] – [bi:d], [sit] – [si:t], [ful] – [fu:d], [′fɒ:wə:d] (foreword) – [′fɔ:wəd] (forward) are distinguished from one another by the opposition of different length, which D. Jones calls chronemes. The difference in quantity is considered to be decisive and the difference in quality (the position of the active organ of speech) is considered to be subordinate to the difference in quantity. According to the point of view of V.A. Vassilyev, English is not a language in which chronemes as separate prosodic phonological units can exist.

One more articulatory characteristic needs our attention. That is tenseness. It characterizes the state of the organs of speech at the moment of production of a vowel. Special instrumental analysis shows that historically long vowels are tense while historically short vowels are lax.

Table 2

Monophthongs	Front	Central	Back
long	short	long	short	long	short
Close	i:	ɪ			u:	ʊ
Mid		e (ɛ)	ɜː	ə	ɔː
Open		æ		ʌ	ɑː	ɒ

Not all the vowel phonemes are equally free in their distribution. It has already been pointed out that [ə] can only appear in unstressed syllables; while all the other vowels may be used both in stressed and in unstressed positions.

The principle of duration is clearly expressed in the monophthongs where it is phonemic: long and short vowels form a correlation. The duration of vowels may vary considerably under the influence of some factors (given above); however, long vowels and short vowels (which differ in quality as well) always have a difference in length in the same phonetic context.

Short vowels are limited in their distribution: they are used in close syllables only, while long monophthongs and diphthongs may be used both in close and in open syllables.

All the English vowels can be met in many alternation series which have various functions in the language, e.g.

1) They distinguish the forms of verbs:

e // əu to sell – sold; to rise – rose

2) They distinguish parts of speech in words of the same root.

broad – breadth

nation –national

The [3:] phoneme stands apart from all the other vowels, for it does not take part in alternations except in one case: in you – your where the alternation is used to change the form of words. However the word “ your” has variant pronunciations.

The [æ] phoneme does not take part in historical vowel alternation that have grammatical functions; however, it frequently occurs as a member of alternation series that are used to distinguish different parts of speech, e.g. contrast ['kOntrast] – to contrast [kənt'ræst].

The [ə] phoneme is widely used in phonetic alternations, for example, to distinguish strong forms (form) weak forms of form words in English: from [frOm] – from [frəm]. This peculiarity in the function of [ə] evidently indicates that this phoneme is comparatively “young”.

Summarizing we could say that phonological analysis of articulatory features of English vowels allows to consider functionally relevant the following two characteristics:

a) stability of articulation,

b) tongue position.

The rest of the features mentioned above, that is lip position, character of vowel end, length, and tenseness are indispensable constituents of vowel quality. Though they have no phonological value they are considerably important in teaching English phonetics.

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