yeast and east, woo and ooze

[KevinXu]

Hi.

According to this website, "there is very little real difference between and [j]. Both can be made with the tongue in the same position". "Essentially, [j] is simply an that is acting as a consonant instead of a vowel". "There is a similar relationship between the vowel and the consonant [w]". "A [w] is essentially an that is acting as a consonant rather a vowel."

If this is true, then how should I pronounce "yeast" and "woo"? Would it be correct if I just pronounce "yea" in "yeast" as a longer [iː] (longer than the "ea" sound in "east") and "woo" as a longer [uː] (longer than the "oo" sound in "ooze"? Thank you very much.

 

[SoothingDave]

There is very little real difference, if any. I make the same sound for "yeast" or "east."

 

[5jj]

Hi.

According to this website, "there is very little real difference between * and [j]. Both can be made with the tongue in the same position". "Essentially, [j] is simply an 8 that is acting as a consonant instead of a vowel". "There is a similar relationship between the vowel and the consonant [w]". "A [w] is essentially an * that is acting as a consonant rather a vowel."

Ther are some symbols missing in the passage above. I have marked them with an asterisk, and replaced them in the version beeloe

... there is very little real difference between [i ] and [j]. Both can be made with the tongue in the same position. ... . Essentially, [j] is simply an [i[ that is acting as a consonant instead of a vowel.

There is a similar relationship between the vowel and the consonant [w]. The high back position of puts it directly under the soft palate, where you would expct to find the velar half of a [w]. A [w] is essentially an [u[ that is acting as a consonant rather than a vowel.

 

[5jj]

There is very little real difference, if any. I make the same sound for "yeast" or "east."

I, a speaker of BrE use the same vowel, /iː/, in both words, but the onset of each is different.

EAST

If I am asked what the opposite of west is, I say /ʔiːst/, beginning the word uttered in isolation with a glottal stop. There is no trace of /iː/ or /j/.

In normal conversation I say:

/iːst/ after a consononant sound, as in north-east. Again, there is no trace of /iː/ or /j/.

/j*iːst/ after /iː/ or /ɪ/, as in see east or by east. The j* stands for a subscript j, which I can't reproduce here. It represents the glide between the final vowel of the first word and the following /iː/.

/w*iːst/ after /uː/ or /ʊ/, as in due east or go east. The w* stands for a subscript w, which I can't reproduce here. It represents the glide between the final vowel of the first word and the following /iː/

YEAST

For yeast, as a word in isolation or following any other word, I always say /jiːst/.

Would it be correct if I just pronounce "yea" in "yeast" as a longer [iː] (longer than the "ea" sound in "east") and "woo" as a longer [uː] (longer than the "oo" sound in "ooze"? Thank you very much.

No.

 

[KevinXu]

Thank you, 5jj.

That website says /j/ and /i/, /w/ and /u/ are basically the same sound, do you agree with them? If you don't, could you please tell me what is the difference between /j/ and /i/, /w/ and /u/? How should I place and move my tongue and lips when pronouncing "yeast" and "woo"? Thank you.

 

[5jj]

That website says /j/ and /i/, /w/ and /u/ are basically the same sound, do you agree with them?

No. If they were, we would hear no difference between yeast and east or woos and ooze. The organs of speech are in a very similar position - so much so that if you tried to say a long /j/, you would produce an /i:/. and if you tried to say a long /w/, you would produce an /u:/. However, you would have produced a different sound: /i:/ is not /j/ and /u:/ is not /w/. is not /

If you don't, could you please tell me what is the difference between /j/ and /i/, /w/ and /u/?

The primary difference is the length; /j/ and /w/ are very short glides from one vowel sound to another. The other two are 'pure' vowels, that can be lengthened without changing their quality.

How should I place and move my tongue and lips when pronouncing "yeast" and "woo"?

The tongue is pressed slightly more firmly against the upper teeth for / j/ than for /i:/; the lips are more rounded and tense for /w/ than for /u:/

 

[BobK]

/j/ and /w/, as @5jj said, are glides. The phonemes /j/ and /i:/ start with the tongue in the same position, as do /w/ and /u:/ (but with lip-rounding). But then the glide takes over. In each case ( /j/ and /w// the lower jaw moves downwards. In BE there is a clear/audible difference between 'east' and 'yeast' but if you try to say them with clenched teeth (that is, without dropping your lower jaw for the /j/) the difference is hard to make (and the stricter you are in enforcing the immobility of the jaw the closer hard gets to impossible ;-) )

 

[KevinXu]

/j/ and /w/, as @5jj said, are glides. The phonemes /j/ and /i:/ start with the tongue in the same position, as do /w/ and /u:/ (but with lip-rounding). But then the glide takes over. In each case ( /j/ and /w// the lower jaw moves downwards. In BE there is a clear/audible difference between 'east' and 'yeast' but if you try to say them with clenched teeth (that is, without dropping your lower jaw for the /j/) the difference is hard to make (and the stricter you are in enforcing the immobility of the jaw the closer hard gets to impossible ;-) )

Thank you, Bobk.

To pronounce 'yeast', first I place my tongue very close to the palate to produce /j/, then I drop my lower jaw a little bit to produce /i:/. To pronounce 'woo', first I raise the back of my tongue very close to the soft palate to produce /w/, then I drop my lower jaw a little bit to produce /u:/. Did I get it right?