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6 Mid Back Rounded Vowel [
ᴐ:]
This sound is articulated with medium lip-rounding; the back of the tongue is raised between the half-open and half-close positions, no contact being made
between the tongue and the upper molars Indriani, 2005, p. 68. For example, cord [k
ᴐ:d], horse [hᴐ:s], and corn [kᴐ:n].
7 High Back Rounded Vowels [ʊ] and [
u:]
High back rounded vowels are [ʊ] and [u:]. [ʊ] sound is produced with a
part of the tongue nearer to centre than to back raised just above the half-close position; the tongue is laxly held, no firm contact being made between the tongue
and the upper molars Indriani 2005, p. 69. For example, put [pʊt], full [fʊl], and sugar [ʃʊg
ə]. Therefore, [u:] sound is pronounced when the tongue raising is
relaxed from the closest position and is somewhat advanced from true back; the articulation of [u:] being tense though no firm contact is made between the tongue
and the upper molars; the lips tend to be closely rounded Indriani 2005, p. 71.
For example, food [fu:d], soon [su:n], and moon [mu:n]. 8
Central Mid Unrounded Vowels [ :] and [
ə]
Central mid unrounded vowels are [ :] and [
ə]. [ :] sound is articulated
with the centre of the tongue raised between half-close and half-open, no firm contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars; the lips are
neutrally spread Indriani 2005, p. 73. For example, first [f :st], girl [g :l], and bird [b :d]. Meanwhile, [
ə] sound has a very high frequency of occurrence in
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unaccented syllables. Its quality is that of a central vowel with neutral lip position, having in non-final positions a tongue-raising between half-open and half-close
Indriani 2005, p. 74. For example, ago [
əgəʊ], permit [pəmɪt], and adore [ədᴐ:].
c. Diphthong
Diphthong is a sequence of two sounds, vowel and glide Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003, p. 255. Diphthong is the sequences of vocalic
elements which form a glide within one syllable Indriani 2005, p. 76. Figure 2.1
shows the English diphthong sounds which consist of eight sounds.
Fig 2.3 English Diphthong Indriani 2001, p. 77
Indriani 2001 states that the Received Pronunciation RP diphthongs have as their first element sounds in the general region of [ɪ, e, a,
ə, ʊ] and for their second element [ɪ,ʊ,
ə]; these elements may be treated as separate phonemic
ʊ
ə
ᴐɪ ʊ
ɪ ə
əʊ I
ə
e ɪ
FRONT CENTRAL
BACK Close
HIGH Half close
MID Half open
LOW open
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entities p. 76. In the following part, it will be presented the description of each dipthong.
1 Centring Diphthongs [ɪ
ə], [ ə], [ʊə]
