[
ɔ
] : law, caught keep short [
o
] : the first vowel of go [
u
] : true keep short
3.4. Vowels of RP Received Pronunciation
There are twenty vowels in RP. They occur in the initials, medial, and final positions. A blank space in each list of position shows that a vowel does not
occur in that position. The phonetic symbols used for the vowels are those of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, third edition revised
and updated. Vowel
Position Monophthongs
Initial Medial
Final
i:
east been
key
ɪ
it hit
duty
e
end melt
æ
and land
ɑ:
arm harm
car
ɒ
on cot
ɔ
: all
caught saw
ʊ put
u:
ooze choose
shoe
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Λ up
cup
ɜ:
earn learn
sir
ə
ago police
tailor Diphthongs
ei
eight straight
stray
ə
ʊ oat
joke low
ai
ice mice
my
a
ʊ out
loud how
ɔɪ
oil soil
toy
ɪə
ear beard
clear e_
air shared
bare ʊ
ə
cured poor
From the twelve monophthongs, 7 are short : i, e, æ, ɒ,
ʊ, Λ,
ə and 5 are long : i:,
ɑ :, ɔ :, u:, ɜ: . And all diphthongs are long vowels. The long vowels are only comparatively longer than the short vowels, it means that the long
vowels are always longer than the short vowels in identical phonetic environments. For example, i: like in word beat bi:t is always longer than i in
a word like bit bit. Besides, each vowel has different degrees of length, depending on the phonetic environment in which it occurs.
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Generally speaking, a vowel is longer when it is followed by a voiced consonant or when it occurs finally in a word than when followed by voiceless
consonant. For example, the vowel u: like in word persued or persue is longer than
u: in word suit, the vowel ei in made and may is longer than ei in word
make. Furthermore, a distinction in the relative length of a vowel can be made. A vowel is slightly longer when it occurs finally in a word than when it is followed
by even a voiced consonant. Thus, from the above examples, the vowel u: in sue is longer than u
:
in sued; the vowel ei in may is longer than ei in made; and so on. So, the length is one dimension along which the varieties of a vowel may
occur. Outside the length, there is another dimension which varies the vowel, it is
the relative height of the tongue. A vowel is usually lower when it occurs finally in a word than otherwise. For example, the word-final vowel
ə like in word data ’de
ɪtə is lower than in datum ’deɪtəm. The varieties of vowels from the dimension of length and height of the
tongue are its positional varieties in that they are determined by the position of that vowel in certain word.
A Short Description of Each of the Vowels of RP a. Monophthongs
Of the 12 monophthongs, four are front vowels: i:, i, e, æ, five are back vowels:
ɑ :, ɒ, ɔ : ,
ʊ
, u: , and the 3 rests are central vowels:
ʌ
, ɜ :, ə .
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Front Vowels i:, i, e, æ
Examples for front vowels are: i: : seat
i: sit e: set
æ: sat
Description of i: i: is a long front vowel. When producing it, the lips are spread, and the front of
the tongue is raised just below the close position. More detailed examples of i: are:
initial medial
final eat i:t
sheet ʃi:t
sea si: east i:st
please pli:s tree tri:
Description of i i is short front vowel. To produce i, the rear part of the front of the tongue is
raised just above the half close position, the lips are loosely spread, but the tongue is lax.
initial medial
final if if
mix miks volley v
ɒli
Description of e
e is short front vowel. In the production of e, the front of the tongue is raised to a point about a half-way between the half-open and half-close positions, the lips
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are loosely spread and a little wider apart than for i, and the tongue is not as lax as for i. The vowels e occurs in initial and medial position.
Initial medial
End end friend frend
Description of æ
æ is produced by raising the front of the tongue to a little below the half position, the lips are in a neutral position and the mouth is more open than for e. Like e,
it also occurs only in initial and medial position. Here are the examples:
Initial medial
Add æd sad sæd
Back vowel:
ɑ :
,
ɒ
,
ɔ :
, ʊ,
u:
Examples of back vowels are:
ɑ :
as cart
ɒ
as in cot
ɔ :
as in caught ʊ as in full
u:
as in fool
Description of
ɑ :
To produce this vowel, the jaws are kept considerably separated; the lips are neutrally open; and a part of the tongue between the center and the back is in the
fully open position. [
ɑ :] is a long back vowel.
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Initial medial
final Arm
ɑ :rm charm t
ʃ ɑ :rm car k
ɑ :r
Description of
ɒ
During the articulation of this vowel, the back of the tongue is raised slightly above the open position; the jaws are widely open and the lips are slightly
rounded. It is a short vowel. It occurs only in the initial and medial position: Initial
medial Obvious
ɒbvɪ əs probable prɒbəbl
Description of
ɔ:
ɔ: is a long vowel. In producing it, the back of the tongue is raised between the half-open and half-close position, the lips are considerably more rounded than for
ɒ.
Initial medial
final Aweful
ɔ:fl sword sw
ɔ:d tore t
ɔ:
Description of ʊ
The vowel ʊ is articulated by raising a part of the tongue nearer to center than to
back just above the half-close position; the lips are closely but loosely rounded, and the tongue is lax. It is a short back vowel. All of it occurs in the word-medial
position only except in the case of the ‘weak form’ of to and you, where it can occur word-finally . It does not occur before final
ŋ.
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Description of u:
To produce u:, the back of the tongue is raised to very near the close position; the lips are closely rounded and the tongue in tense. It is long vowel. u: occurs in
all position except before ŋ:
Initial medial
final Ooze u:z
student stju:dnt sue su:
Central vowels :
ʌ, ɜ :, ə
Description of ʌ
To articulate the vowel
ʌ
, the center of the tongue is raised to a point nearly half- way between open and half-open position, with the lips neutrally open and with a
considerable separation of the jaws. It is a short vowel. It occurs in the initial and medial positions only:
initial medial
Under
ʌndər
suffer s
ʌ f
ər
Description of
ɜ
:
To produce the vowel ɜ :, the center of the tongue is raise between half-close
and half-open and the lips are in the neutral position. It is a long vowel. It occurs in all the three position, but it does not occur before
ŋ. Initial
medial final
Earl ɜ :l
curlk ɜ :l
prefer pr ɪf ɜ :
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Description of ə
The vowel ə has at least two positions– the non-final and the final position. The
non-final one is articulated exactly the same way and at more or less the same place as vowel
ɜ:. In that position, it differs from ɜ: mainly in respect of length, ə is being a short vowel. Whereas the final one, is produced with the center of
the tongue raised just below the half-way position. The lips are in the neutral position in both positions. It occurs in all the three positions:
Initial Medial
final Alert
əlɜ :t towards t
əwɔ :dz rector rekt
ər
b. Diphthongs
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