PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Segmental Aspects

As mentioned above, when pronouncing English vowels, the articulators take 12 different positions, which corresponds to 12 different transcription symbols reflecting the differences in both the vowel quality and the vowel quantity. The Slovak short and long monophthongs, on the other hand, do not differ in quality, therefore six symbols cover all the positions of the articulatory organs when the Slovak vowels are pronounced. Five of the Slovak vowel-symbols use a double-dot symbol after them or a length mark above them to mark their quantity. Kráľ, a prominent Slovak phonetician, prefers a length mark in long vowels in his Príručný slovník slovenskej výslovnosti (1982).

Analysing the aspects of quantity in monophthongs, they are pronounced as short and long owing to the phonological principle. Physiologically, this depends on the length of vibration of the vocal folds.

There is another principle, the phonetic principle, reflecting the quantity of the English vowels as they are actually pronounced by English-speakers in real-life situations in casual speech. This is related to the fact that the vowel quantity in English is influenced by the position of a particular vowel and by the quality of the sound following it. Generally, voiceless consonants shorten the quantity of the preceding vowel.

Jones explains this theory when he says that “the length of long vowels and diphthongs is very much reduced when they occur in syllables closed by the consonants /p t k ʧ f θ s ʃ/. Thus /i:/ in beat has only about half the length of /i:/ in bead or bee” (Jones, 2003, p. ix). Jones also speaks about the vowel /æ/ quantity and its long pronunciation before the voiced consonants /b d g ʤ m n/, e.g. /æ/ is longer in bag than in back (Jones, 2003).

Bázlik and Miškovičová write that both short and long vowels are the longest in pronunciation when they occur word-finally, e.g. happy or me. Their quantity is a bit reduced when the following consonant is voiced, e.g. kid or lead, and they are the shortest in pronunciation when the following consonant is voiceless, e.g. sit or meat (Bázlik, Miškovičová, 2012).

Pavlík, presenting the phonetic principle (which takes into consideration the actual oral manifestation of vowels, i.e. how they are pronounced by a person as an individual), in conclusion states that “in English, we have four phonetic lengths, but only two phonological lengths” (Pavlík, 2000, p. 256).

• voiceless consonants decrease the length of short vowels – half-short vowel in bit
• voiced consonants do not influence the length of short vowels – short vowel in bid
• voiceless consonants decrease the length of long vowels – half-long vowel in beat
• voiced consonants do not influence the length of long vowels – long vowel in bead

(Pavlík, 2000, p. 66)

Jones describes vowel length in American English as “conditioned by phonological environment, so the long/ short distinction described for BBC English is not usually present” (Jones, 2003, p. ix). Transcription symbols used for the American monophthongs are rarely used with a following double-dot marking quantity.

In English and in Slovak, vowels function as so-called peaks of sonority in syllables (i.e. in the position in the centre of syllables). According to stress-placement, English syllables are classified as either strong or weak. Short schwa /ə/ never functions as a centre of strong syllables, while long schwa, on the contrary, is always found in stressed syllables. As for /ɪ/, /i/ or /i:/ and /ʋ/ or /u:/, there is a tendency to find them functioning as peaks of sonority in unstressed weak syllables. These vowels are defined as weak vowels. The rest of the English vowels form centres of stressed syllables, and they are considered strong vowels.