English Vowels in Connected Speech

The articulation of English vowels is adapted to that of consonants only to a very slight extent. To a Russian, they do not seem to change at all in connected speech compared with Russian vowels. This presents an almost insurmountable obstacle to a Russian learner of English.

In Russian, all the vowels receive an [и] fore- or after-glide, depending upon their position in the sequence with a palatalized consonant or [й]. A vowel that follows a palatalized consonant has an [и] fore-glide, a vowel that precedes it has an [и] after-glide. For example, спят, спать are pronounced [сп'^иaт], [спа^ит’]. Vowels between palatalized consonants are closer than between non-palatalized ones. For example, the Russian [e]-phoneme is very close in Петя and comparatively very open in шест.

These phenomena are not characteristic of the English language. However, some cases of adaptation of vowel articulations to consonant articulations can be found in English too. For instance, the [e]-phoneme is more open before [l] in words like tell, smell.

The modifications of vowels in a speech chain are traced in the following directions: they are either quantitative or qualitative or both. These changes of vowels in a speech continuum are determined by a number of factors such as the position of the vowel in the word, accentual structure, tempo of speech, rhythm, etc.

The shortening of the vowel length is known as a quantitative modification of vowels, which may be illustrated as follows:

1. The shortening of the vowel length occurs in unstressed positions, e.g. blackboard [O:], sorrow [зu] (reduction). In these cases reduction affects both the length of the unstressed vowels and their quality.

Form words often demonstrate quantitative reduction in unstressed positions, e.g.

Is →he or ̖she to blame? – [hi:]

But: At →last he has ̖come. – [hI]

2. The length of a vowel depends on its position in a word. It varies in different phonetic environments. English vowels are said to have positional length, e.g. knee – need – neat (accommodation). The vowel [i:] is the longest in the final position, it is obviously shorter before the lenis voiced consonant [d], and it is the shortest before the fortis voiceless consonant [t].

Qualitative modifications of most vowels occur in unstressed positions. Unstressed vowels lose their "colour", their quality, which is illustrated by the examples below:

1. In unstressed syllables vowels of full value are usually subjected to qualitative changes, e.g. man [mæn] – sportsman ['spO:tsmən], conduct ['kQndəkt] – conduct [kən'dVkt]. In such cases the quality of the vowel is reduced to the neutral sound [ə].

These examples illustrate the neutralized (reduced) allophones of the same phonemes as the same morphemes are opposed.

Nearly one sound in ̘five is either [ə] or the un stressed [I]. This high frequency of [ə] is the result of the rhythmic pattern: if unstressed syllables are given only a short duration, the vowel in them which might be otherwise full is reduced. It is common knowledge that English rhythm prefers a pattern in which stressed syllables alternate with unstressed ones. The effect of this can be seen even in single words, where a shift of stress is often accompanied by a change of vowel quality; a full vowel becomes [ə], and [ə] becomes a full vowel. Compare: analyse ['ænəlaiz] – analysis [ə'nælisis].

2. Slight degree of nasalization marks vowels preceded or followed by the nasal consonants [n], [m], e.g. never, no, then, men (accommodation).

The realization of reduction as well as assimilation and accommodation is connected with the style of speech. In rapid colloquial speech reduction may result in vowel elision, the complete omission of the unstressed vowel, which is also known as zero reduction. Zero reduction is likely to occur in a sequence of unstressed syllables, e.g. history, factory, literature, territory. It often occurs in initial unstressed syllables preceding the stressed one, e.g. correct, believe, suppose, perhaps.

The example below illustrates a stage-by-stage reduction (including zero reduction) of a phrase.

Has he done it? [hæz hi·,dVn it]

[həz hI,dVn it]

[əz i,dVn it]

[z i,dVn it]

Very short, close and retracted variant of [@] is used in combination with [k] or [g]. In this case assimilations of both the regressive and the progressive types are made. It is very difficult for Russians, because in similar Russian sound sequences, the phonemes [k] and [г] are frequently pronounced in combination with the following [a]-phoneme, which, in pretonic syllables, is pronounced with very little reduction and is close in quality to the English [V]. Consequently, Russians usually pronounce [V] after [k] or [g] in pretonic syllables in English words too, for example: contain [kVn'tein], goloshes [gV’loòiz].

Vowels may also be modified by their position. Many vowels are more open in final positions.

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