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Kooyeen Posted 19 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
vowel length distinction before voiced or unv. consonants
0 Hi, 02 br
00 Americans use different intonation for vowel sounds in one-syllable words, according to the final consonant (whether it is voiced or unvoiced). Examples: 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 Bit - Bid 02 b 00 (the vowel in "bid" sounds different, it is on two levels of intonation) 02 br
01 b 00 niece - knees 02 b 00 (the vowel in "knees" is on two levels) 02 br
01 b 00 cot - cod 02 b 00 (the vowel in "cod" is on two levels) 02 br
01 b 00 boot - mood 02 b 00 (the vowel in "mood" is on two levels) 02 br
00 ...and so on 02 br
02 br
00 1) Do all Americans do that? Most of them? Are there dialects that don't do that? What about other dialects (UK, etc.)? 02 br
00 2) Does that only happen in one-syllable words? I think it applies to every stressed syllable, but not only in one-syllable words. 02 br
02 br
00 Thanks 05 0 010id 1
00 Americans use different intonation for vowel sounds in one-syllable words, according to the final consonant (whether it is voiced or unvoiced). Examples: 02 br
02 br
01 b 00 Bit - Bid 02 b 00 (the vowel in "bid" sounds different, it is on two levels of intonation) 02 br
01 b 00 niece - knees 02 b 00 (the vowel in "knees" is on two levels) 02 br
01 b 00 cot - cod 02 b 00 (the vowel in "cod" is on two levels) 02 br
01 b 00 boot - mood 02 b 00 (the vowel in "mood" is on two levels) 02 br
00 ...and so on 02 br
02 br
00 1) Do all Americans do that? Most of them? Are there dialects that don't do that? What about other dialects (UK, etc.)? 02 br
00 2) Does that only happen in one-syllable words? I think it applies to every stressed syllable, but not only in one-syllable words. 02 br
02 br
00 Thanks 05 0 010id 1
Top answer
0 I don't think it's called intonation. It's allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as longer vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. This is found in all dialects of American English.
- 0 I don't think it's called intonation.
- It's allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as longer vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable.
- This is found in all dialects of American English.
- Some American dialects have some phonemic vowel distinctions as well, but this is less common.
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11 Answers
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0 I don't think it's called intonation. It's allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as longer vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. This is found in all dialects of American English. Some American dialects have some phonemic vowel distinctions as well, but this is less common. Australian English has a distinctive phonemic vowel length: pai
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0 Hi Marvin, 02 br
00 thanks. Yeah, maybe I should call it "vowel length". It's just that those vowels are on two different levels of intonation (=pitch), so... 02 br
02 br
00 But I tend to use long vowels where I shouldn't use them. I don't think I tend to use short vowels instead of long vowels, but I I think I tend to do the other way around. In other words, I tend t
00 thanks. Yeah, maybe I should call it "vowel length". It's just that those vowels are on two different levels of intonation (=pitch), so... 02 br
02 br
00 But I tend to use long vowels where I shouldn't use them. I don't think I tend to use short vowels instead of long vowels, but I I think I tend to do the other way around. In other words, I tend t
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0 >> It's just that those vowels are on two different levels of intonation (=pitch) << 02 br
02 br
00 ?? How so? 02 br
02 br
00 >> But I tend to use long vowels where I shouldn't use them. << 02 br
00 Well, since it's allophonic, it really makes no difference. It might add to the impression of a foreign accent, but incorrect vowel
02 br
00 ?? How so? 02 br
02 br
00 >> But I tend to use long vowels where I shouldn't use them. << 02 br
00 Well, since it's allophonic, it really makes no difference. It might add to the impression of a foreign accent, but incorrect vowel
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Marvin A.As long as you get the tense-lax distinctions down, then all's well.Do you mean, as long as I don't merge "did" and "deed", "bad" and "bad", like Italians do?
Marvin A.>> It's just that those vowels are on two different levels of intonation (=pitch) <<
?? How so?
It is diffucult to e
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I have newly joined this forum, just to give a reply to you.
I know what you were expressing,
and in fact a voiced consonant always sounds lower pitch than the vowels (also unv. consonant, unv. consonant always seems to have a high pitch though it doesn't voiced).
But in terms of pronunciation the pitches may not be the difference.
The pitch of voiced consonant is lo
I know what you were expressing,
and in fact a voiced consonant always sounds lower pitch than the vowels (also unv. consonant, unv. consonant always seems to have a high pitch though it doesn't voiced).
But in terms of pronunciation the pitches may not be the difference.
The pitch of voiced consonant is lo
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KooyeenDo all Americans do that?Frankly, I can't picture mentally exactly what you're talking about.
If I say the vowel in bid any differently than the vowel in bit, I am not aware of it. (That doesn't mean I don't say them differently.)
CJ
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I think the terms you are looking for are called 'vowel length' and 'vowel duration'. As it has been mentioned, vowels before fortis sounds tend to be shorter because the fortis sound needs more power, that is, it is aspirated. Now, vowel length is a phenomenon in which different vowels are placed in the same phonetic environment (minimal pairs: /pit/ vs. /pi:t/), whereas vowel duration refers to
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Hi Kooyeen,
I think I know what you mean and I am also interested in the answer. Are you referring to the staircase intonation mentioned in Ann Cook's AAT?
My mother tongue is a tonal langauge (a different tone stands for a different word) and there's no difficulty for me to notice the change of tone (or pitch) in the long vowels in English. I read from another book that English is an int
I think I know what you mean and I am also interested in the answer. Are you referring to the staircase intonation mentioned in Ann Cook's AAT?
My mother tongue is a tonal langauge (a different tone stands for a different word) and there's no difficulty for me to notice the change of tone (or pitch) in the long vowels in English. I read from another book that English is an int
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Oops, I didn't really mean "long vowels". I should have said when the vowels are spoken with a longer duration before a voiced consonant.
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Uh... guys, I stated this thread a year and a half ago, so it's pretty old, LOL. 
What I know now is that it's not that simp
What I know now is that it's not that simp
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