Topic 7
INGLÉS SECUNDARIA
SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA I: LAS VOCALES.
SÍMBOLOS FONÉTICOS. FORMAS FUERTES Y FORMAS DÉBILES. LOS
DIPTONGOS. SÍMBOLOS FONÉTICOS. COMPARACIÓN CON EL SISTEMA
FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA O LENGUAS OFICIALES DE LA COMUNIDAD
AUTÓNOMA CORRESPONDIENTE.
0. INTRODUCTION
1. BASIC CONCEPTS
- Phonetics and phonology
- Typology of segmental sounds: vowels and consonants
2. THE ENGLISH VOWEL SYSTEM
- Features
- Phonetic variations in vowel phonemes
3. BRITISH ENGLISH
- Vowel phonemes
- Features
- BBC English diphthongs and triphthongs
4. GEN AMERICAN ENGLISH VOWELS
- Phonetic and distributional differences with BBC English
5. TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEMS
- Strong and weak forms
6. ENGLISH SPELLING
7. ENGLISH VS SPANISH VOWEL SYSTEMS
- Differences
8. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
9. CONCLUSION
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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0. INTRODUCTION
This topic deals with the vocalic phonological system being this important part of the
teaching learning process of English.
Always taking into account this academic knowledge is linked to the… (insert law,
please)
Phonetics helps students recognise and produce the correct sounds of English, while
phonology helps them understand how these sounds function in patterns and systems.
Thus, our task is to provide students with this essential information in contextualised
situations, so they can develop key competences such as: linguistic communication
competence, personal, social and learning to learn competence and cultural awareness
and expression competence.
Finally, we have divided this unit in the following sections…
1. BASIC CONCEPTS
- Phonetics and phonology
Phonetics and phonology are closely related areas within linguistics; however, they
address on different aspects of speech sounds. Phonetics is the linguistic science which
studies how speech sounds are physically produced, transmitted, and perceived.
In contrast, phonology focuses on how these speech sounds work within a particular
language and also studies how these sounds are organised into systems, patterns, and
rules. Phonology identifies phonemes and analyses how these phonemes vary and
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combine to form syllables, words, and intonation patterns. Additionally, phonology
examines the common sound patterns shared across different varieties of English, such
as British and American English.
In summary, as Kenneth Pike aptly put it, "phonetics gathers the raw material;
phonology cooks it."
In English, there are only small differences in the basic set of sounds (phonemes) used
by standard English speakers. There are two major "standard", widely accepted
pronunciations:
1. BBC English (Received Pronunciation) – This is the accent used by professional
BBC speakers on TV and radio in the UK. It is not based on any one region but is
used as a model for clear speech.
2. General American (GenAm) – This is a common way of speaking in the U.S. It
represents a neutral, widely accepted American accent.
- Typology of segmental sounds: vowels and consonants
Once we have introduced a basic framework for analysing phonemes, we can now
move on to describing vowel sounds.
Every linguistic utterance can be broken down into sound segments, which come from
a limited set. Each sound in this set is called a phoneme. The concept of the phoneme
is very useful because it provides an abstract way to describe the sound contrasts in a
language.
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For example, the difference between the words ship /ʃɪp/ and “sheep” /ʃiːp/ is the
vowel sound:
- /ɪ/ in ship
- /iː/ in sheep
Although the difference is just in vowel length and quality, it changes the meaning
completely, showing that /ɪ/ and /iː/ are two different phonemes, because they create
contrastive pairs (also called minimal pairs).
These sound segments are divided into vowels and consonants.
From a phonetic perspective, a vowel is a sound made without any noticeable
blockage or friction as the air flows from the lungs through the mouth.
From a phonemic perspective, a vowel is the central part of a syllable.
In most cases, the phonetic and phonemic definitions of vowels agree. However, there
are some exceptions:
1. Semi-vowels like /w, r, j/ are produced without audible friction, so phonetically
they resemble vowels. But since they are not the central part of a syllable, they
are considered consonants from a phonological point of view. The sound /r/ is
sometimes classified as a frictionless continuant or approximant.
2. Some consonants, although classified phonetically as such, can function as
syllabic sounds under certain conditions. For example, the /l/ in bottle acts as
the centre of the syllable. Other examples include syllabic /m, n, ŋ/.
2. THE ENGLISH VOWEL SYSTEM
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- FEATURES
The vowel system in English can be determined by three features:
1. Tongue height: this refers to how high or low the tongue is in the mouth.
Vowels can be open (low) or close (high).
2. Tongue position: vowels are classified as front, central, or back, depending on
whether the tongue is towards the front, middle, or back of the mouth.
3. Vowel complexity – This refers to the quality (how the vowel sounds) and
quantity (how long the vowel is). Vowels can be simple (short) or complex (long
or diphthongs).
- PHONETIC VARIATIONS IN VOWEL PHONEMES
Vowel length in English can vary and affect pronunciation, even if it does not change
the meaning of the word.
Long vowels can have different lengths depending on their position in a word:
1. Fully long vowels occur:
- When the vowel is stressed and in an open syllable (no consonant after the
vowel)
e.g., see /siː/
go /ɡəʊ/
- When followed by a lenis consonant.
e.g., seed /siːd/ → long vowel + lenis consonant /d/
2. Half-long vowels occur:
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- When the vowel is stressed and followed by a fortis consonant.
e.g., seat /siːt/ → long vowel + fortis /t/
- When followed by an unstressed syllable in the same word.
e.g., harder /ˈhɑː.də/ → first syllable stressed, second unstressed
3. BRITISH ENGLISH
- VOWEL PHONEMES
British English (BBC accent) is generally described as having:
Seven short vowels
These vowels are quick and short in sound.
Vowel Sound Example Word
/ɪ/ sit
/e/ set
/æ/ sat
/ʌ/ putt
/ɒ/ pot
/ʊ/ put
/ə/ another
Five long vowels
These vowels are held longer when spoken.
Vowel Sound Example Word
/iː/ bean
/ɑː/ car
/ɔː/ born
/uː/ boom
/ɜː/ bird
Vowels can be described by:
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1. Tongue Position (front, central, back)
2. Height (close, mid, open)
3. Lip Shape (rounded or unrounded)
4. Length (short or long)
Thus, vowels can be described as follows:
- /iː/ Front, between closed and half-closed, unrounded, long
- /ɪ/ Front, half-close, unrounded, short
- /e/ Front, mid, unrounded, short
- /æ/ Front, between half-open and open, unrounded, normally short
- /ʌ/ Central, between half-open and open, unrounded, short
- /ə/ Central, mid, unrounded, short (unstressed)
- /ɜː/ Central, mid, unrounded, long
- /ɑː/ Back, open, unrounded, long
- /ɒ/ Back, open, slightly rounded, short
- /ɔː/ Back, mid, rounded, long
- /ʊ/ Back, between close and half-close, rounded, short
- /uː/ Back, close, rounded, long
Eight diphthongs
Diphthongs are vowel combinations that glide from one sound to another.
Sound Example Word
/eɪ/ wait
/aɪ/ my
/ɔɪ/ boy
/ɪə/ peer
/eə/ hair
/ʊə/ poor
/əʊ/ show
/aʊ/ cow
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- BBC English diphthongs and triphthongs
In English, vowel sounds can be divided into two main types:
1. Pure vowels: the sound quality stays the same throughout the vowel.
2. Gliding vowels: the sound changes during pronunciation. These are called
diphthongs (two-part sounds) and triphthongs (three-part sounds).
- DIPHTHONGS
All English diphthongs are falling, meaning the first part is more prominent, and the
second part is weaker.
Sometimes, rising diphthongs can appear in fast or reduced speech, such as in words
like influence or genuine, but these are exceptions.
Falling diphthongs can be grouped by how the mouth moves:
- Closing diphthongs: the mouth closes (moves towards a higher position)
during the sound. Examples: /eɪ/ (as in day), /aɪ/ (my), /ɔɪ/ (boy), /əʊ/
(go), /aʊ/ (now)
- Centring diphthongs: the sound moves towards the central vowel /ə/.
Examples: /ɪə/ (near), /eə/ (hair), /ʊə/ (pure)
- TRIPHTHONGS
A third vocalic element /ə/ is added to a closing diphthong, creating a triphthong:
Examples:
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- payer → /eɪə/
- lower → /əʊə/
- fire → /aɪə/
- sour → /aʊə/
- employer → /ɔɪə/
In normal everyday conversation, especially in BBC English, people often do not
pronounce all three sounds clearly. This is due to a process called levelling, where the
middle sound gets weakened or even dropped. For example: player might sound like
just /pleə/ instead of a full triphthong.
4. GEN AMERICAN ENGLISH VOWELS
General American English has some unique features when it comes to vowels:
1. Lax Vowels
These vowels are lower and produced with less tension in the mouth.
They usually do not occur at the end of syllables.
Examples: /ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ /ə/
2. Tense Vowels
The vowels /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ are considered tense vowels. The following vowels
are also considered to be tense vowels: /ɑː/ /iː/ /ɔː/ /ɜː/
3. Wide Diphthongs
Diphthongs with a wide glide such as:
/ɑʊ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/
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4. Retroflexed (R-Coloured) Vowels
Some vowels in GenAm have an "r" sound added to them.
For example: /ɝ/, /ɚ/
In General American, vowel length is not as important as in BBC English. Instead, the
length of a vowel depends on the sounds around it (its phonological environment).
- Phonetic and distributional differences with BBC English
1. /æ/
In GenAm, the vowel /æ/ is closer (higher) than in BBC English.
It is used in the same words as BBC /æ/ (e.g., cat).
It also replaces the BBC /ɑː/ in many words that do not contain the letter "r"
(e.g., glass, class).In addition, it often replaces the BBC short /ɒ/ in words like
hot, top, and bother.
2. /ɔː/
The GenAm /ɔː/ is more open than the BBC /ɔː/.
It is used where BBC English uses /ɔː/ and also replaces the BBC short /ɒ/ in
words like long and dog.
3. /uː/
GenAm /uː/ is similar to the BBC version, but with a key difference:
It is used instead of BBC /juː/ after alveolar consonants (like /t/, /d/, /n/).
- For example: new is /nuː/ in GenAm, but /njuː/ in BBC.
- duty becomes /ˈduːti/ in GenAm, versus /ˈdjuːti/ in BBC.
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General American does not use centring diphthongs like /ɪə/, /eə/, or /ʊə/.
Instead, these are pronounced as simple sequences:
/ɪr/, /ɛr/, and / ʊr/
- Examples: here, care, and sure
5. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
We cannot avoid making reference to the process of gradation. When we analyze the
phonemic structure of polysyllabic words, we see that around 80% of the unstressed
syllables contain either a central vowel (like /ə/) or no vowel at all. Many of these
syllables once had full, strong vowels, which were gradually weakened or removed
over time. This change is called gradation.
E.g., instrument → /ˈɪnstrəmənt/
Gradation is also seen in compounds:
- man /mæn/ → gentleman /ˈdʒentlmən/
- board /bɔːd/ → cupboard /ˈkʌbəd/
This process also affects about 50 structural words (like prepositions, articles,
pronouns). However, gradation works differently for these words.
- In content words, once gradation occurs, the weak form stays the same,
even when the word is stressed.
- In structural words, the form changes depending on stress or position in
the sentence. These words have got a strong form (when the word is
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stressed or emphasized) or one or more weak forms (when the word is
unstressed)
Weak forms often involve changing the vowel to a central one (like /ə/) or even
dropping a vowel or consonant.
The following section explains how some structural words can have a strong form
(used when the word is stressed or emphasized) and a weak form (used when the
word is unstressed in a sentence)
1. PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES
Strong Weak
Word Notes
Form Form(s)
The weak form /s/ is only used in phrases like “let’s
Us ʌs s
go”.
We wiː wi
Me miː mi
Weak form /ɪm/ is common in speech: “I saw him”
Him hɪm ɪm
→ /aɪ sɔː ɪm/
2. ARTICLES
Word Strong Form Weak Form(s) Notes
A ei ə Used before consonants sounds and semivowels.
An æ ən
The ðiː ðə /ðə/ used before consonants and /w/
3. ANOMALOUS FINITES
Word Strong Form Weak Form(s) Notes
Am æm əm
Is iz z
Was wɒz wəz
Have hæv həv
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4. CONJUCTIONS
Word Strong Form Weak Form(s) Notes
And ænd ənd
But bʌt bət
Than ðæn ðæn
5. PREPOSITIONS
Word Strong Form Weak Form(s) Notes
At æt ət
To tu: tə
from from fræm
When a preposition (like to, with, for, etc.) comes at the end of a sentence or clause, it
usually uses its strong form. This can also happen when the preposition is followed by
a weak, unstressed pronoun (like me, him, her).
Examples: "He's the man I was talking to."
"to" is at the end → strong form /tuː/
"He read it to me."
"me" is unstressed → strong form /tuː/
6. ENGLISH SPELLING
As regards the relationship sound-grapheme, English spelling is often seen as
confusing since one sound (a phoneme) can be spelled in many different ways. English
spelling is supposed to follow the sounds of the language (a phonemic system), but it is
not perfect owing to factors such as:
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- Old spellings that have not changed. E.g., blood (pronunciation has
changed, but the spelling stayed the same.)
- Etymology. E.g., subtle and doubt (the b is from Latin but is not
pronounced.)
- Foreign words. E.g., entrepreneur (French), sauerkraut (German). Their
spelling reflects their origin.
- SHORT VOWELS AND LONG VOWELS
As we saw above, there are seven short vowels. To spell a short vowel sound, only one
letter is needed.
E.g., pot → /pɒt/
Likewise, there are five long vowels. To spell a long vowel sound in English, you usually
need to add a second vowel. E.g., boot → /buːt/
There are two common patterns for spelling long vowels:
- VVC pattern = vowel + vowel + consonant
E.g., boat, maid
- VCV pattern = vowel + consonant + vowel
E.g., made, tide
However, if the second vowel is too far away, like in the VCCV pattern (vowel +
consonant + consonant + vowel), then the first vowel stays short. This happens
because the double consonants block the second vowel from influencing the first one.
E.g., madder
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- TENDENCIES IN SPELLING
People have tried to reform English spelling, but it has not changed much overall. Still,
two major trends are noticeable:
1. Especially in American English and advertising, people simplify spellings:
Traditional Popular Spelling
doughnut donut
nightlight nitelite
In General American (GenAm) spelling, some changes have become standard,
simplifying thus spelling rules:
British American
colour color
centre center
2. Sometimes, people change how they pronounce a word to match how it is
spelled. These are called "spelling pronunciations."
Word Traditional pronunciation New spelling pronunciation
forehead /ˈfɒrɪd/ /ˈfɔːrˌhɛd/
often /ˈɒfn/ /ˈɒftən/
7. ENGLISH VS SPANISH VOWEL SYSTEMS
We shall devote the last part of this essay to the comparison between the English and
Spanish vowel systems.
1. Number of Vowels
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While English has got 12 pure vowels while Spanish only has got 5 pure vowels.
However, with diphthongs, it's the opposite: while English has got 8 diphthongs,
Spanish has got 13 diphthongs.
2. Central Vowels
English uses many central vowels (like /ə/, /ɜː/), which Spanish doesn’t. Spanish vowels
are clearer and more open. However, no Spanish vowel is exactly the same as any
English vowel. This means Spanish speakers often substitute English vowels with
similar-sounding Spanish ones, which can lead to mispronunciations.
5. Vowel Length
In both languages, vowel length can change (short vs. long), but in Spanish, length does
not change meaning while in English, it can (e.g., ship /ɪ/ vs. sheep /iː/).
In both languages, vowels can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of words and
syllables, both stressed and unstressed. But there are some differences:
In English:
- /ə/ is not stressed.
- /e, æ, o/ never appear at the end of a word.
- Sounds like /ʊ/, /ʊə/ almost never begin a word.
In Spanish:
- /ei/ usually does not start a word.
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- Diphthongs like /ei, ai, oi, au/ do not appear at the end in unstressed
syllables.
4. Common Problem Areas for Spanish Speakers
English Sound Common Mistake
/ɪ/ vs /iː/ Often replaced with just /iː/
/æ, ʌ, ɑː/ Replaced with /a/
/ɑː/+r Mispronounced as /ar/
/ɔː/+r Mispronounced as /or/
/ɜː/ Mispronounced as /er/
8. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
As we have mentioned, pronunciation is essential for effective communication.
Therefore, we have created the following activity to help students practice vowel
pronunciation.
For this activity, students are given a list of minimal pairs containing vowel contrasts
(e.g., /ɪ/ vs /i:/ in ship vs sheep). The teacher plays audio recordings. As they listen,
students indicate which word they heard.
9. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is undeniable the importance of understanding the basic concepts of
phonetics and phonology for teaching English pronunciation effectively. Understanding
how the phonetic system works helps teachers notice the probs that arise in classroom
when dealing with pronunciation and explain how to correct those mistakes. To
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achieve this, it is important to provide students with good pronunciation examples so
that teachers can help them develop their spoken English.
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jones, C. (2016). A history of English phonology. Routledge.
Roach P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology. (4th edition). Cambridge University
Press.
Baker, A. (2006). Tree or Three? (2nd edition). Cambridge: C.U.P
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