North vs South

This example looks at the differences between the vowels in words such as ‘ti’ (you) and ‘tŷ’ (house) in north Wales, as can be seen from the speaker on the right who comes from north-west Wales. In south Wales on the other hand, it is normal for the vowels of these words to sound the same, as is demonstrated by the speaker on the left from south-east Wales. This shows that northern varieties of Welsh have an extra vowel which is not present in English, namely /ɨː/ (the close central vowel).  

For all the vowels used by the two speakers, the tongue tip is below the front teeth and lips and the tongue body is shaped like a dome.

In the speech of the northerner (on the right/bottom), the main difference in the two vowels is in the position of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth. For the vowels in ‘ti’, ‘mil’ and ‘sir’ the tongue is very close to the roof of the mouth. For the vowels in ‘tŷ’, ‘mul’ and ‘sur’, the tongue is less close and the mouth is more open. On the other hand, in the language of the southern speaker (on the left/top), the tongue is very close to the roof of the mouth in every word since it is the front vowel /iː/ that is always used.

After you finish drawing comparisons between <i> and <u>/ <ŷ> in the speech of the northern speaker, how about comparing the way in which the southerner (on the left) and the northerner (on the right) pronounce the words ‘tŷ’, ‘mul’, and ‘sur’ differently to each other? Are you able to observe the difference in the position of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth?