Post on 01-Jan-2016
NAE Vowels-Part 1NAE Vowels-Part 1
• Think about the vowel
phonemes as you say the
vowels that occur in the middle
of these words: beat, bit, bait,
bet, bat, but, pot, bought, boat,
put, boot, bite, boy, bough
Study guide #2Study guide #2
• Why are Vs more
difficult to classify
according to their
articulation than
consonants?
Features of a vowelFeatures of a vowel
• Sound made with
continual vibration of
the vocal cords
• And an unobstructed
vocal tract
Features of a vowelFeatures of a vowel
• Lack of obstruction
makes it difficult to
describe the
articulation precisely.
Study guide #3Study guide #3
• Describe the vowel phonemes.
• Know the relative V positions (the
quadrant) for simple Vs & diphthongs,
tenseness, & lip rounding.
Vowel classificationsVowel classifications
• High, mid, low
• Front, central, back
• Tense, lax
• Rounded, spread
• Simple, glide, diphthong
NAE Vowels--tongue positionsNAE Vowels--tongue positions
beat
bit
bait
bet
bat pot bought
boat
put
boot
Ə
but
NAE vowels--tense & laxNAE vowels--tense & lax
• Tense: includes all the glides,
outer limits of quadrant
• Can occur in open syllables: be,
bay, pa, law, bow, view
• Similar to pure vowels in Spanish &
Japanese, etc.--/a, i, e, o, u/
NAE vowels--tense & laxNAE vowels--tense & lax
• Lax: if stressed or in single-
syllable words, only in closed
syllables
• For example: pit, pet, pat, putt,
put
• / ɪ, ɛ, æ, ə, ʊ /
Study guide #6 & #7Study guide #6 & #7
• Lax Vs: usually most difficult for
NNSs (marked)
• Common, but not a good, ELL
strategy: shorten duration (of a
tense counterpart)
Rounded Vs = back VsRounded Vs = back Vs
• Sagittal diagram of /uw/: most rounded vowel
• Other rounded vowels: /ʊ, ow, ɔ/
Spread Vs = front VsSpread Vs = front Vs
• Sagittal diagram of /iy/: the most spread vowel
• Other spread Vs: /ɪ, ey, ɛ, æ/
Study guide #8Study guide #8
• Explain how the
cardinal vowels in
English differ from
their pure vowel
counterparts.
Cardinal v.s. pure vowelsCardinal v.s. pure vowels
• Cardinal vowels: / iy, ey, ɑ,
ow, uw /--English
• Pure vowels: / i, e, ɑ, o,
u /--Japanese & Spanish
Study guide #9Study guide #9
• Be able to predict which Vs
sounds might be easily
confused, substituted for one
another.
VowelsVowels
• What gets substituted for a
difficult vowel is quite
predictable: a sound with
features in common with the
target phoneme
Study guide #10Study guide #10
• Why might it not
be the best use of
your time to focus
on teaching / ɔ/
to a learner of
NAE?
/ ɔ /
VowelsVowels
• The /ɑ/ /ɔ/ contrast--??
• In pairs, divide the following
words into /ɑ/ /ɔ/ categories:
arm, box, car, corn, cost, dog,
fall, god, heart, law, not, off, stop,
strong, talk, war, warm, watch
VowelsVowels
Dictionary answer:
• /ɑ/ group: arm, box, car, god,
heart, not, stop, watch
• /ɔ/ group: corn, fall, law, off,
strong, talk, war, warm, dog
• Either way: cost
Study guide #11Study guide #11
• Explain the
difference
between a glide
and a diphthong
in CMBG’s
system.
Diphthongs: /ay, aw, ɔy/
Diphthongs: /ay, aw, ɔy/
• As in buy, bow, boy
• Distinguishing feature:
pronounced tongue movement
(from bottom upward)
Glides v.s. diphthongs Glides v.s. diphthongs
• Glides move much less--/iy, ey/
very little, /ow, uw/ more
• Diphthongs are quite easy for
NNSs because nothing similar, so
no confusion
Main characteristics of NAE VsMain characteristics of NAE Vs
• Classified as high, mid, low
• Classified as front, central, back
• Classified as tense or lax (based
on muscle tension resulting from
location in quadrant & gliding)