Questions tagged [vowels]
Those speech sounds made with open, unrestricted vocal tracts, in contrast to consonants.
157
questions
11
votes
2answers
800 views
Is there such a thing as an L colored vowel?
I am wondering about vowels with approximant sounds. I am talking about a variant of a r colored vowel. An r colored vowel is found in words like earth. But, I want to take this a step further. Is ...
-2
votes
0answers
40 views
Substituting /ə/ with /ɦ/? [duplicate]
I really want to know about the similarity between the schwa and the voiced glottal fricative. I am specifically thinking about how similar the voiced glottal fricative and schwa are to the human ear. ...
2
votes
3answers
110 views
Similarity between voiced glottal fricative and schwa sound?
I remember trying to whisper a schwa sound (mid central vowel). I thought that it sounded like an H sound. So, I tried to voice the h. It sounded a lot like the schwa. I wonder why. Is there a link ...
6
votes
1answer
103 views
Can Semitic (Hebrew & Arabic) roots have vowels?
To the best of my knowledge, roots in Semitic, both Arabic & Hebrew, do not contain vowels. They are purely consonantal at the base. I read this a couple of years ago about Hebrew in Levin & ...
0
votes
2answers
74 views
Unvoiced schwa?
I read about a the schwa being the laziest sound in all of human speech. This is because it just needs vocal cords and, poof, there's a uuuh sound. But, what happens if you take the vocal cords out? (...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
Why is the vowel speech sound (called “ash”) in “Tank” and “Cat” considered the same?
The vowel in "Tank" sounds more like ɛ to me, yet the IPA spelling for "Tank" (as pronounced in General American English) employs the ash [æ] to represent the vowel. The same for the word "thank" in ...
1
vote
1answer
25 views
Praat - window size larger than vowel
I'm doing an acoustic-phonetic analysis of read-speech in an American English corpus.
If we want to set a window/frame size (25 - 30 ms) to cover the majority of vowels in the corpus, but some vowels (...
1
vote
2answers
101 views
Why is the diphthong in 'say' and 'fate' /eɪ/ rather than /ɛi/?
When I say the word 'day,' I say /dɛi/, or perhaps /dɛj/. However, when I look at any dictionary that uses IPA, they always write the diphthong as /eɪ/. Why is this? Maybe my dialect of English (UK ...
4
votes
0answers
55 views
Does California vowel shift occur in bilingual Spanish speakers?
I know that recently there has been a lot of research done on the California vowel shift being a key part of a California accent for younger kids who have grown up there.
Knowing that there is a ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
Voice pitch changing between languages
I speak English natively, but I have learned Spanish to a high level of proficiency and speak Latvian (still learning) with my wife who speaks Latvian natively and English with native proficiency (...
-2
votes
2answers
100 views
Could the Ancient Egyptian Ka be pronounced Ki?
I am looking at the word /ki/ such as this 𓎡𓇋. However, I noticed there are some words/sounds like /ka/ (𓂓) which is one symbol. Typically you see the word for the "sun god of egypt" as Ra, but ...
4
votes
4answers
236 views
GVS similarity in cognate words other Germanic Languages
I am no professional Linguist (nor have I ever studied it) so there might be a straightforward explanation to this which I could't find searching in ordinary places.
I was analysing a few words from ...
6
votes
3answers
166 views
Is there good evidence for five vowel phonemes in Hittite?
The Hittite writing system generally distinguishes three, sometimes four vowels: /a i u/ and sometimes /e/.
However, I've seen it suggested that the language actually had five vowel phonemes, ...
0
votes
0answers
41 views
Mandarin tone contours along diphthongs
I'd like to know how tone contours are orally distributed along Mandarin rhyme diphthongs.
I've tried to find a graphic with variables such as time, volume of speech, pitch levels, etc. to no avail.
8
votes
2answers
365 views
If Hebrew is written without vowels can there be multiple interpretations?
This may be a silly question though I am unsure of this is the case for Hebrew.
I know often the vowels are not shown in Hebrew in writing. Curious if it changes the words can be interpreted many ...
0
votes
1answer
843 views
vowels (unrounded or rounded)
i have a problem with vowels (which are rounded or unrounded vowels). Can you explain how to make a decide which is vowels? And which are tense or lax vowels?
Maybe have some rules or instruction or ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
help with the sounds of words [closed]
when we concentrate on articulars sounds we don't think about how people listening to those sounds. How to decide are rounded or unrounded vowels and which are tense or lax vowels? and what clues are ...
4
votes
0answers
551 views
Does pre-fortis clipping only operate within a syllable? If not, what is its actual scope?
English is known to have a phenomenon of "pre-fortis clipping": in certain contexts, vowel and sonorant phonemes before a fortis/voiceless consonant are realized with shorter duration than the same ...
4
votes
1answer
190 views
How to measure auditory distances between vowels
(Followup to this question, also related to this answer.)
The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (1999: 11–2) defines the values of cardinal vowels as follows:
[T]wo fully front ...
5
votes
1answer
169 views
Why were the formants of high and back vowels difficult to obtain? And why not anymore?
I was reading the second chapter of Three Areas of Experimental Phonetics by Peter Ladefoged (1967), in which he summarizes the studies he conducted in the 1950s and 1960s which demonstrated practical ...
1
vote
1answer
159 views
How Thai Vowels Work
I am trying to put together a worksheet to understand how the Thai script works. I am looking here and here. The wiki page seems to suggest that there are two types of symbols: combining characters ...
1
vote
1answer
806 views
How Hebrew Vowels Work [closed]
I am trying to find a document that clearly explains how to apply Hebrew vowels (and what all the combining characters are for Hebrew vowels), but I haven't been able to find anything after a few ...
6
votes
2answers
933 views
Why is vowel phonology represented in a trapezoid instead of a square?
Given that the internal area of the human mouth is approximately a square, why the vowels pronunciation chart is usually represented by a trapezoid?
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Which language has the most vowel phonemes?
Which language has the largest number of vowels with minimal pairs?
0
votes
1answer
167 views
The TRAP vowel: a or ä?
If my mouth is open and my tongue is completely relaxed, do I make an [a] or an [ä]?
Which one is more common for the TRAP vowel in British English?
-1
votes
1answer
426 views
The German vowel “a” changes to the English “i”
What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g.
Macht -> might;
Nacht -> night
1
vote
1answer
77 views
Interpreting formant intensity
I was wondering whether there is any practical way to tell whether differences in formant intensity are due to different harmonics in the source or different formants in the filter. Is there any data ...
2
votes
1answer
133 views
Formants - beyond F2
I have read that for front vowels, the cavity behind the lips (I think this must correspond to the space between the lips and the hump of the tongue) is F3, whereas for back vowels it is F2.
In that ...
-1
votes
1answer
144 views
What is the maximum number of IPA diacritics that can be added on a vowel?
What would the symbol look like, and how would it sound like? E.g. a long rhotacized nasalized vowel with tone?
2
votes
2answers
187 views
Given both a word and the corresponding IPA, how to match/map the letters together?
Given both the word and the corresponding IPA equivalent, is there any stable algorithm for mapping the letter of each word to the IPA letter?
For example, given close-quote and IPA kloʊzkwoʊt -- I'd ...
6
votes
2answers
178 views
Dataset/Database similar to WALS in Vowel/Phonology
I am wondering if there is any database similar to The World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS)(https://wals.info/). In the case that it is specifically more geared towards phonological aspects of ...
1
vote
2answers
183 views
If there is really an /ə/ between /dəɹ/ in “quandary”
In considering words with -er ending like "quandary" /ˈkwɑːn.dəɹɪ/, it seems like to me there is no difference between that IPA /ˈkwɑːn.dəɹɪ/ and /ˈkwɑːn.d.ɹɪ/, or "quand-ree". The [r] is like "rrrr" ...
0
votes
1answer
106 views
How to annotate the difference between blended vowels and non-blended vowels
Similar to this question about consonants, I'm wondering how you annotate with IPA (or any other system if IPA doesn't support it) the difference between blending vowels together (morphing between ...
3
votes
1answer
368 views
Is Daniel Jones' cardinal vowel system auditorily or articulatorily based?
Two of my textbooks said it was the former, while one pointed it was both. No further details about the truthfulness of these affirmatives were given. I personally think is auditorily and ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Why have we come up with symbols for secondary articulation?
I've just noted that [tja] and [tʲa] sound exactly the same. It seems that [ʲ] would only be relevant in classrooms when having isolated pronunciations such as [tʲ], [kʲ], [dʲ] due to the fact we don'...
2
votes
3answers
392 views
Are There Any Monophthong [o] Words in English?
Whenever I look up a transcription for a word containing [o], it's either an [oɪ] diphthong or an [oʊ] diphthong. Is it not possible to pronounce [o] without gliding through [ʊ] too? Is it possible, ...
4
votes
3answers
142 views
Why are vowels said to be segments produced with no obstruction whatsoever?
It's clear that in the production of many vowels air isn't free to go to every available space in the oral cavity once it leaves the pharynx. Our tongue even touches the molars in [i]. That's just an ...
5
votes
3answers
940 views
Is a vowel only writing system possible?
An abjad is a writing system in which only consonants are normally written, is the opposite possible?
I've recently discovered that English actually has far more vowel-sounds than we have vowel ...
3
votes
2answers
600 views
Why r, h, and w aren't vowels
The r sound I can create (a) without moving my tongue (after it is put into place), and (b), without closing the mouth cavity entirely. Like rrrr.... To me then it seems like a vowel.
For h, it is ...
0
votes
2answers
467 views
The breakdown of the word “strength” or “cheap” or “sheep”
So it turns out that sometimes consonants in a sequence can be called single consonants (e.g. d͡z), or consonant "clusters". But the main reason for calling d͡z a single consonant is because it "...
0
votes
1answer
59 views
Audio library for all IPA vowels and consonants
Wikipedia has a pretty good intro to the IPA sounds, even some of the "click" sounds:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio
https://en....
16
votes
3answers
4k views
Why vowels sound different from each other
This might be a basic question but I am confused about how mouth shapes for vowels, at a deeper level, are producing different sounds. Wanted to see if one could demonstrate with another instrument ...
0
votes
1answer
83 views
Why long vowels are considered vowels and not 2 vowels
Wondering why long vowels are not treated as simply two letters, for example. So eː becomes ee.
1
vote
1answer
177 views
What exactly is the Japanese 'u' sound?
I've mostly heard that its a ɯ sound. But I've also heard that its an 'endo-labial close back rounded vowel'. By 'endo-labial', I mean that its a rounded vowel that's pronounced without protruding the ...
3
votes
0answers
87 views
How many different vowels can be reliable annotated?
This question is similar to How many different vowels are there? but with a different twist: here I am not interested in the minimal difference between two vowels that can be heard, but in reliable ...
6
votes
1answer
170 views
Is there a universal basis for consonants vs vowels?
Is this unique to certain families of language or all verbal human language?
6
votes
2answers
319 views
How many different vowels are there?
There are generally accepted estimates on how many shades of grey (far less than 50!) or how many colours the human eye can distinguish.
How many different vowels can the human ear distinguish? To ...
2
votes
2answers
907 views
Are there any minimal pairs for German lax/tense vowels?
As we know, most German vowels have a 'tense' (or long) pronunciation and a 'lax' (or short) pronunciation.
Most of the time, which pronunciation should be used can be determined by the context that ...
1
vote
1answer
216 views
What were the Proto-Bantu -ATR vowels?
It seems to be widely accepted that Proto-Niger-Congo had ten vowels, with ATR harmony: /i-ɪ e-ɛ ə-a o-ɔ u-ʊ/. Similarly, it seems widely accepted that Proto-Bantu lost three of these vowels and ...
1
vote
1answer
380 views
When plotting vowel space, why does using F2-F1 better resemble the idealized vowel chart than using F1?
When plotting the chart of the acoustic space of AmE vowels, we can represent F1 values on the y-axis and F2 values on the x-axis, like a chart on this site: http://sail.usc.edu/~lgoldste/...
