Vowel Model v1
Last updated
Pronunciation Mastery
Last updated
Vowel Model v1 is the model that I am currently using to teach English pronunciation.
My first "alternative" vowel model is related to information I learnt from Geoff Lindsay's CUBE project.
From this information, I discovered that vowels can be classed much better than the overtly simple "long vowel", "short vowel", "diphthong" system.
As with probably every language, the vowel classification system is slightly different for each accent. Thus, the classification I demonstrate here might not make any sense for your accent at all. However, the underlying concepts, I think, are the same throughout most or all dialects and accents of English.
In each class section are several columns.
The first column, with light grey text, shows the traditional, standard IPA symbol. This is so that you know which sound we are describing.
The third column, with black text, shows the updated IPA symbol in use by CUBE and myself.
The fourth column shows a word that exemplifies the vowel in question.
In this table are three primary classes: short vowels, long vowels, closing diphthongs.
Each of these classes have certain features.
Short vowels are all monophthongs; they are relaxed; they are checked — they can only exist when followed by a consonant.
Long vowels are all monophthongs; they are more tense; they are unchecked, meaning that they can exist with or without a consonant after them; they are R‑triggering, meaning that if there is another vowel immediately after them, an R sound will be automatically inserted.
Closing diphthongs all end in either the palatal position of /j/ or the position of /w/.
As you can see by comparing the first and third columns of each class, several of the vowel symbols have been updated.
The a vowel of trap and mouth now match — as they should.
uː and iː have been upgraded to the class of diphthongs.
the centring diphthongs ɪə, eə and ʊə have been transferred to the R-triggering monophthongs.
The centring diphthongs — diphthong-type vowels which end in the schwa /ə/ position — are always R‑triggering, thus they can fit into this class just fine.
Moreover, many accents actually simplify the pronunciation of these diphthongs into long monophthongs. In such cases, the simplified forms are still R‑triggering, so the class type is not broken.
Interestingly, all the other vowels in this class are usually spelled in combination with the letter R. However, some are not always spelled with an R, which seems to be the effect of a few vowel shifts over the generations — one such is the Trap-Bath splitter, in which a bunch of a's as /aː/ were transformed into /ɑː/. Apparently the reason for this is not fully known. This also has some side-effects, such as the pronunciation of ⟨aw⟩ becoming /oː/ and thus becoming R‑triggering, resulting in peculiar R‑insertions such as in drawing, /ʤɹoː.ɹɪŋ/, law, paw, raw, awe, etc.
Vowel Model v1
Vowel Model v2
Vowel Model v3 (latest)
