Close front and close back vowels

Two other vowels are commonly found in weak syllables, one close front (in the general region of i:, I) and the other close back rounded (in the general region of u:, ʊ). In strong syllables it is comparatively easy to distinguish i: from I or u: from u, but in weak syllables the difference is not so clear. For example, although it is easy enough to decide which vowel one hears in 'beat' or 'bit', it is much less easy to decide which vowel one hears in the second syllable of words such as 'easy' or 'busy'. There are accents of English (e.g. Welsh accents) in which the second syllable sounds most like the i: in the first syllable of 'easy', and others (e.g. Yorkshire accents) in which it sounds more like the I in the first syllable of 'busy'. In present-day BBC pronunciation, however, the matter is not so clear. There is uncertainty, too, about the corresponding close back rounded vowels. If we look at the words 'good to eat' and 'food to eat', we must ask if the word 'to' is pronounced with the u vowel phoneme of 'good' or the u: phoneme of 'food'. Again, which vowel comes in 'to' in 'I want to'?

One common feature is that the vowels in question are more like i: or u: when they precede another vowel, less so when they precede a consonant or pause. You should notice one further thing: with the exception of one or two very artificial examples, there is really no possibility in these contexts of a phonemic contrast between i: and ɪ, or between u: and ʊ. Effectively, then, the two distinctions, which undoubtedly exist within strong syllables, are neutralized in weak syllables of BBC pronunciation. How should we transcribe the words 'easy' and 'busy'? We will use the close front unrounded case as an example, since it is more straightforward. The possibilities, using our phoneme symbols, are the following:

‘easy’       ‘busy’

i) i:zi:         bɪzi:

ii) i:zɪ         bɪzɪ

Few speakers with a BBC accent seem to feel satisfied with any of these transcriptions. There is a possible solution to this problem, but it goes against standard phoneme theory. We can symbolize this weak vowel as i - that is, using the symbol for the vowel in 'beat' but without the length mark. Thus:

i:zi   bɪzi

The i vowel is neither the i: of 'beat' nor the ɪ of 'bit', and is not in contrast with them. We can set up a corresponding vowel u that is neither the u: of 'shoe' nor the ʊ of 'book' but a weak vowel that shares the characteristics of both. If we use i, u in our transcription as well as i:, ɪ, u:, ʊ, it is no longer a true phonemic transcription in the traditional sense. However, this need not be too serious an objection, and the fact that native speakers seem to think that this transcription fits better with their feelings about the language is a good argument in its favor.

Let us now look at where these vowels are found, beginning with close front unrounded ones. We find i occurring:

a. In word-final position in words spelt with final 'y' or 'ey' after one or more consonant letters (e.g. 'happy' h{pi, 'valley' v{li) and in morpheme-final position when such words have suffixes beginning with vowels (e.g. 'happier' hæpiə, 'easiest' i:ziəst, 'hurrying' hΛriɪŋ.

b. In a prefix such as those spelt 're','pre','de' if it precedes a vowel and is unstressed (e.g. in 'react' riækt, 'create' krieɪt, 'deodorant' diəʊdərənt).

c. In the suffixes spelt 'iate', 'ious' when they have two syllables (e.g. in 'appreciate' əpri:ʃiəɪt, 'hilarious' hileəriəs).

d. In the following words when unstressed: 'he', 'she', 'we', me', 'be' and the word 'the' when it precedes a vowel.

In most other cases of syllables containing a short close front unrounded vowel we can assign the vowel to the ɪ phoneme, as in the first syllable of 'resist' rɪzɪst, 'inane' ɪneɪn, 'enough' ɪnΛf, the middle syllable of 'incident' msɪdənt, 'orchestra' ɔ:kɪstrə, 'artichoke' ɑ:tɪtʃəʊk, and the final syllable of 'swimming' swɪmiŋ, 'liquid' lɪkwɪd, 'optic' ɒptɪk. It can be seen that this vowel is most often represented in spelling by the letters 'i' and 'e'.

Weak syllables with close back rounded vowels are not so commonly found. We find u most frequently in the words 'you', 'to', 'into', 'do', when they are unstressed and are not immediately preceding a consonant, and 'through', 'who' in all positions when they are unstressed. This vowel is also found before another vowel within a word, as in 'evacuation' Iv{kjueISn, 'influenza' influenza.