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Introduction. In final syllables, speakers of Canadian French produce predictable variants for high vowels: high vowels are tense before specific coda consonants (“lengthening consonants”, /v z ʒ r vr/) and in open syllables, otherwise high vowels are lax (Poliquin 2006), as in (1). In non-final syllables, however, laxness is highly variable.
Tense vowels (/i, y, u/) are realized as their lax ([ɪ, ʏ, ʊ]) equivalents when the vowels are both short (not before /ʁ/, /ʒ/, /z/ and /v/, but the vowel /y/ is pronounced [ʏː] before /ʁ/) and only in closed syllables.
Tense vowels are made with greater tension in the muscles of the vocal tract than lax vowels. To feel this difference, say the two words sheep and ship . And now make just the vowel sounds, [i], [ɪ].
- Catherine Anderson
- 2018
In final syllables, speakers of Canadian French produce predictable variants for high vowels: high vowels are tense before specific coda consonants (“lengthening consonants”, /v z ʒ r vr/) and in open syllables, otherwise high vowels are lax (Poliquin 2006), as in (1).
- Jeffrey Lamontagne
Here are some pairs of French words that vary between tense and lax vowels: tout / touche, petit / petite, and truquer / truc. You already know these first two pairs of vowels: [u ʊ] high back rounded tense and lax, [i ɪ] high front unrounded tense and lax.
- Catherine Anderson
- 2018
In Canadian French, the front tense vowels [y] and [i] become the lax vowels [ʏ] and [ɪ] in certain environments. Is it likely to be easy or difficult for a native speaker of Canadian French to learn the English contrast between /i/ and /ɪ/ (as in sleep and slip )?
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Which French words vary between tense and lax vowels?
Are high vowels tense or lax?
Can tense and lax vowels appear in the same environment?
Do all words have tense and lax vowels?
Does onset predict tense and lax vowels?
Do tense and lax words exist in English?
Tense vowels are higher and often less centralized compared to their lax counterparts. Independent of height, vowels can differ in relative frontness of the tongue. The vowel [i] is produced with a front tongue position, whereas [u] is produced with a back tongue position.
