Pronunciation of close vowel

Guest   Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:22 pm GMT
Is it /kloz vaUl/ or /klos vaUl/
Skippy   Sun Nov 04, 2007 3:36 am GMT
In the South it's pronounced similarly to the name "Val" as in Valerie.
Skippy   Sun Nov 04, 2007 3:37 am GMT
Before everyone attacks me for saying that, I said "similarly" not "the same as." I know there's a hint of rounding there at the end...
Travis   Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:51 am GMT
Just how do you pronounce "vowel" exactly? The reason why I ask is that at least around here, "Val" is pronounced ["vE_^{:M_^] and "Valerie" is pronounced ["vE_^{:M\R=:i:]. I myself would be somewhat surprised if you pronounced "vowel" with a reflex of historical [{].
Same Guest   Sun Nov 04, 2007 2:53 pm GMT
Hmm. I think "vowel" is one syllable. But I'm really bad at transcribing things. I might have done it incorrectly. Here's a link to me saying vowel and Valerie and Val:
spqr.byethost4.com/2759293/3.wav
(copy and paste it)

You can judge for yourself whether or not I have a Southern accent and transcribe my speech.
Same Guest   Mon Nov 05, 2007 12:29 am GMT
>> Just how do you pronounce "vowel" exactly? The reason why I ask is that at least around here, "Val" is pronounced ["vE_^{:M_^] and "Valerie" is pronounced ["vE_^{:M\R=:i:]. I myself would be somewhat surprised if you pronounced "vowel" with a reflex of historical [{]. <<

How do you pronounce "vowel" then?
Travis   Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:40 am GMT
I pronounce "vowel" as ["va:o_^M:] or ["vA:Q_^M:].
Same Guest   Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:32 pm GMT
>> I pronounce "vowel" as ["va:o_^M:] or ["vA:Q_^M:]. <<

Hmm. Is that l-vocalization? Do I have l-vocalization too? What would your transcription look like without the l-vocalization?
Guest   Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:31 pm GMT
I pronounce it as one syllable too, like "foul"
Guest   Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:31 am GMT
How is it supposed to be pronounced?
Travis   Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:50 am GMT
>>Hmm. Is that l-vocalization? Do I have l-vocalization too? What would your transcription look like without the l-vocalization?<<

Yes, I do have l-vocalization. The matter is that my dialect always has l-vocalization in that particular case - and even when it does not have overt l-vocalization, my /l/ is still a semivowel. Hence I really speak of what said transcription would look like without l-vocalization. However, the closest dialects to mine without l-vocalization would have [5] in such a position, which would result in ["va:o_^5=:] or ["vA:Q_^5=:].
Guest   Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:22 pm GMT
What is the phonemic transcription look like for "vowel", if it is not /vaUl/? And what phonetic transcription should I use for myself? (link: spqr.byethost4.com/2759293/3.wav
Guest   Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:27 pm GMT
I pronounce it to rhyme with "foul", "towel", "dowel", "cowl", "howl", etc. It's hard to say whether these have one or two syllables.
Travis   Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:57 pm GMT
>>I pronounce it to rhyme with "foul", "towel", "dowel", "cowl", "howl", etc. It's hard to say whether these have one or two syllables.<<

In isolation all of those words rhyme with "vowel" for me as well and are disyllabic. However, these words do not all behave the same here when an postfix or postclitic is attached to them which starts with a vowel - "foul", "cowl", and "howl" are monosyllabic in such cases, whereas "towel", "dowel", and "vowel" are disyllabic in such cases in the dialect here.
Lo   Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:35 am GMT
All the words Guest said are bisyllabic to me too. I seem to break the aU diphthong and end up saying something like [vA U@l]