Write full descriptions for the consonant and vowel sounds represented by the following phonetic symbols:
consonants: / θ, ɡ, ŋ, ʤ, j, v / vowels: / ɜː, e, uː, æ /
Answer/discussion
/θ/
voiceless dental fricative
/ɡ/
voiced velar plosive
/ŋ/
voiced velar nasal
/ʤ/
voiced palato-alveolar affricate
/j/
voiced palatal approximant
/v/
voiced labio-dental fricative
/ɜː/
half-open central unrounded (monophthong)
/e/
half-close front unrounded (monophthong)
/uː/
close back rounded (monophthong)
/æ/
open front unrounded (monophthong)
Question 2 (Explore)
Vowels are described partly according to whether the lips are rounded or unrounded. Identify which RP vowels are articulated with rounded lips. Do these vowels have anything in common which might be linked to lip-rounding?
Answer/discussion
/ɒ/
open back rounded
/ɔː/
half-open back rounded
/ʊ/
half-close back rounded
/uː/
close back rounded
The feature shared by all four vowels is that they are articulated with the tongue raised to some degree or another at the back of the mouth. However, lip-rounding is most marked in /ʊ/ and /uː/, reflecting the greater physiological ease in rounding the lips when the tongue is close to the soft palate. This is also reflected in the bilabial approximant /w/, where the lips are rounded and there is a secondary articulation with the back of the tongue rising towards the velum. (Phonologists have commented on a present-day tendency for /ʊ/ and /uː/ to be less round, which could indicate a change taking place in the pronunciation of RP.)
