Short /I/ pronunciation

[MrSchossow]

Hi there,

I've got a problem while i was listening to some words.
There are some words that contain short /I/ sound in his pronunciation, the fact is the following:

I listen to this sound a little bit different in words like zinc, ticket, wicket, Thisbe, knowledge... seem to be for me those I's sound different. sometimes it sounds like a long i...

My question is: does this short /I/ sound the same everywhere it is? are there variations in some words?

Thanks a lot.

[5jj]

All pronunciations of /ɪ/ are infinitessimally different from each other; the /ɪ/ in bin, for example is generally longer than that in bit, though the vowel in my bit may be longer than that in your bin. However, the various realisations of the sound represented by the symbol /ɪ/ are closer to a 'core' /ɪ/ than they are to a 'core' /i:/.

[MrSchossow]

All pronunciations of /ɪ/ are infinitessimally different from each other; the /ɪ/ in bin, for example is generally longer than that in bit, though the vowel in my bit may be longer than that in your bin. However, the various realisations of the sound represented by the symbol /ɪ/ are closer to a 'core' /ɪ/ than they are to a 'core' /i:/.

Thank you guys for your answers...

But, I really can't understand why those pronunciation variations happen... is this because of the adjacent consonants?

Check the word wicket on forvo if you can...

are there some rules or something helpful to understand this sound?

Thanks a lot!

[5jj]

But, I really can't understand why those pronunciation variations happen... is this because of the adjacent consonants?

Phonemes immediately preceding or following any phoneme will affect the sound to some degree, as will the age of the speaker, the force and volume of the delivery, whether or not the speaker has a cold, and many other factors. Even in identical circumstances, the same speaker will never utter a phoneme in exactly the same way twice.

The sounds represented by the IPA symbols come close to absolutes, but it may be that nobody in the world utters any one of them naturally.

Think of a person's height. If we say "Fred is 1m 80 tall", we accept that it is highly unlikely that he is 1m 80.0000000000 tall. And even if he is exactly that tall at eight o'clock in the morning, he will not be at midday. "Im 80" is a central idea around which float a number of tiny variations. For some of us, "1m 79.6" may still be in the 1m 80 zone; for others it may be in the 1m 79.5 zone.

It's the same with phonemes. /ɪ/ represents a 'zone' or range of sounds in the language which native speakers think of as being the same.

[MrSchossow]

Phonemes immediately preceding or following any phoneme will affect the sound to some degree, as will the age of the speaker, the force and volume of the delivery, whether or not the speaker has a cold, and many other factors. Even in identical circumstances, the same speaker will never utter a phoneme in exactly the same way twice.

The sounds represented by the IPA symbols come close to absolutes, but it may be that nobody in the world utters any one of them naturally.

Think of a person's height. If we say "Fred is 1m 80 tall", we accept that it is highly unlikely that he is 1m 80.0000000000 tall. And even if he is exactly that tall at eight o'clock in the morning, he will not be at midday. "Im 80" is a central idea around which float a number of tiny variations. For some of us, "1m 79.6" may still be in the 1m 80 zone; for others it may be in the 1m 79.5 zone.

It's the same with phonemes. /ɪ/ represents a 'zone' or range of sounds in the language which native speakers think of as being the same.

I see, interesting explanation.
Many thanks! (: