Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| N-close | ɪ | |
| Mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | ɑ |
/ɪ/ may be classified as retracted high-mid front vowel or lowered retracted high front vowel; /ɔ/ is middle vowel, /ɑ/ backness is classified as advanced back.
Several commonly used native and assimilated loanwords have free variation between /i/ and /ɪ/ and word-initial position. In some morphemes /i/ is somewhat lowered, explained that underlying morphoneme /ɪ/ is raised under influence of a preceding soft consonant. This creates minimum acoustic contrasts between several grammar forms of adjectives of soft group, which are considered identical in phonology and orthography.
Ukrainian has no phonemic distinction between long and short vowels, however unstressed vowels are somewhat reduced in time, and as a result, in quality. Changes to /i u ɑ/ are considered not perceptible. Unstressed /ɔ/ is raised, however in many cases it is raised considerably more before syllables with high vowels /i u/, making it sound similar to /u/ ("weak o"). Such strong and weak o's are commonly differentiated in broad transcriptions, for visual distinction is used here for stressed and strong unstressed o, and for weak unstressed o. Unstressed /ɪ/ is lowered, while unstressed /ɛ/ is raised, as a result in many unstressed positions these phonemes may be pronounced identically, with actual sound being dependant on vowel of the following syllable. Unstressed /ɛ/ is additionally raised when neighboured by soft consonant, preceding palatal consonant together with following palatalized consonant may raise it as high as near-close.
Read more about this topic: Ukrainian Phonology
Famous quotes containing the word vowels:
“Playing “bop” is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)
“As no one can tell what was the Roman pronunciation, each nation makes the Latin conform, for the most part, to the rules of its own language; so that with us of the vowels only A has a peculiar sound.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)