General Characteristics of Vowel Pronunciation in Romance-Germanic Languages
Which Romance languages are mentioned in the text?
Italian, Spanish, and French.
From which vowels do Romance vowels descend?
The five classical Latin vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/.
Which German word shows the contrast of vowel length /eː/ vs. /ɛ/?
Beet /beːt/ vs. Bett /bɛt/.
How many vowels does Spanish have?
Only five vowels.
How many vowel sounds does English have?
Around 20 vowel sounds.
What happened to Latin /u/ in Italian?
It remained unchanged in words like luna.
How does English show vowel length distinction?
/iː/ (sheep) and /ɪ/ (ship).
Which American English vowel change is mentioned?
The Northern Cities Shift.
What special feature does French have in its vowel system?
Nasal vowels (e.g., bon /bɔ̃/, vin /vɛ̃/).
Which important process fronted back vowels in Germanic languages?
The i-Umlaut (i-mutation).
Which Romance language focuses on quality rather than length?
Italian (open vs. closed vowels).
What is happening to nasal vowels in French among younger generations?
They often reduce nasal vowels, leading to mergers between /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/.
What is the main feature of Spanish vowel pronunciation?
A simple five-vowel system /a, e, i, o, u/ without significant length distinctions.
What was one result of the Great Vowel Shift in English?
Middle English /iː/ in time became the diphthong /aɪ/.
Which Romance languages have nasal vowels?
French and Portuguese.
What modern trend is observed in Italian vowel pronunciation?
Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables is becoming more common.
What do Scandinavian languages rely heavily on?
Vowel length contrasts.
How did Spanish change the Latin diphthong au?
Aurum → oro.
What difficulty do Romance learners of English face?
Struggle with minimal pairs such as ship vs. sheep.
According to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), what continues to influence Romance-Germanic vowel systems?
Globalization, migration, and media.