Central Vowels Flashcards
Central Vowel Characteristics
Tongue body is in center of mouth on back-front continuum
Most at mid height as well
Stress placed on syllable is a factor in differentiating central vowels
Further /f ɝ ð ɚ/
Above /ə b ʌ v/
Central Vowel /ʌ/
Tub, fun, up
Tongue - low-mid, back-central (only central vowel to be low-mid rather than mid)
Lips: unrounded
CAROT or “stressed schwa” is always in a stressed syllable (primary or secondary)
UNDER (first syllable)
OTHER (first syllable)
ABUT (second syllable)
ABDUCT (second syllable)
Transcription /4/ or /ʌ/
Rough /r ʌ f/
Nut /n ʌ t/
Above /ə b ʌ v/
Enough /ə n ʌ f/ or /i n ʌ f/??
Sun /s ʌ n/
Trust /t r ʌ s t/
Supper /s ʌ p ɚ/
Number /n ʌ m b ɚ/
Custom /k ʌ s t ə m/
Budding /B ʌ d i ŋ/
Once /w ʌ n s/
Bucket /b ʌ k ɪ t/
Central Vowel /ə/
“I want to be a schwa…it’s never stressed”
“Schwa”
This is the unstressed counterpart of the last vowel
/ə/ (schwa) is the MOST-frequently occurring speech sound in the English language
- Many vowels when neutralized go to /ə/
- /ə/ is always in unstressed syllables
Transcription of /ə/
enough /ə n ʌ f/
again /ə g ɛ n/
abut /ə b ʌ t/
ruckus /r ʌ k ə s/
telephone /t ɛ l ə f o n/
await /ə w ēī t/
imitate /ɪ m ə t e t/
radium /r ēī d i ə m/ ?? wants to use I not i
purpose /p ɝ p ə s/
religion /r ɪ l ɪ ʤ ə n/
alone /ə l ōʊ n/
customer /k ʌ s t ə m ɚ/
What is stress?
Stress affects the pronunciation of the word!
We stress syllables by increasing our:
- Breath force during vowel production
- Loudness of the vowel
- Length of the vowel
- Pitch of the vowel
The speaker can FEEL STRESS
- Speaker is pushing more air out of the lungs in one syllable than another
- Listeners perceive the vowel in the syllable as:
- longer in duration
- higher in pitch
- greater in intensity
IPA + Stress
We can choose one symbol over another because of a perceived difference in stress
Ex. Above and Abut
- transcribed as /əbʌv/ and /əbʌt/
- the first vowel is perceived to have less stress than the second. You have 2 syllables and the second syllable has the primary stress.
3 or more syllables
For words with three or more syllables, stress is described as primary (main stress), secondary (less stress), or tertiary (unstressed)
Example: consequence
- First syllable (Con) - primary stress
- Second syllable (se) - unstressed
- Third syllables (quence) - secondary stress
Two syllable words
Compound words (or spondee words) have EQUAL STRESS on each syllable
Words with two syllables that are not compound words, one syllable will have the primary stress
Examples of these are words that can act as a noun or a verb: produce, conflict, and record. Stress changes the meaning of the word
**As a general rule, affixes (prefix and suffix) do not carry primary stress**
Spondee Words (Compound words)
Sidewalk
Birthday
Cupcake
Airplane
Railroad
Baseball
Playground
cowboy
Sunset
Hotdog
Outside
Scarecrow
Rainbow
Toothbrush
Bathtub
Jackknife
Ice Cream
Schoolroom
Backyard
How to decide which syllable has stress
Monosyllabic words - vowel is stressed
Two syllable:
- Most (but not all) the first syllable is stressed
- Listen for the syllable with the tense vowel, it usually has the primary stress, diphthongs tend to be in syllable with primary or secondary stress
- prefixes and suffixes are not stressed
- two syllable word with -er on the end, primary stress is at the beginning typically and the second syllable unstressed e.g. Teacher
- (a) at the beginning of the word will not have primary stress and will be a schwa
Vowel /ɝ/
Bird, turn, word, birthday
Tongue - mid-central, tense (bunched or retroflexed)
Lips - rounded
- Described as r-colored, rhotic vowel, rhotacized
- Rhotic monophthong
- “stressed schwar”
- this vowel is ALWAYS stressed
When “ER” is in a stressed syllable, it is represented by the stressed “ER” symbol /ɝ/
Transcription of /ɝ/
Sir /s ɝ/
Learn /l ɝ n/
Church /ʧ ɝ ʧ/
Irk /ɝ k/
Fur /f ɝ/
Turpentine /t ɝ p ɪ n t āī n/
Inert /ɪ n ɝ t/
return /r ɪ t ɝ n/
burned /b ɝ n d/
assert /ə s ɝ t/
worker /w ɝ k ɚ/
purged /p ɝ ʤ d/
divert /d āī v ɝ t/
perks /p ɝ k s/
Vowel /ɚ/
Final sound in father, offer
Sometimes called schwar
Tongue - mid central, lax, usually bunched in palatal area
Lips: usually rounded
Unstressed: Does not occur in single syllables
- ER at the end o a multisyllabic word is always /5/ or /ɚ/
Allophonic variations of /ɚ/ might be /ə/ in other languages
Eastern pronunciation of butter, brother, sister
