/j/

Status
Not open for further replies.

devonpham1998

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Vietnamese
Home Country
Vietnam
Current Location
Vietnam
I have a question. Why the /j/ in "university" /ju:nɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/ is pronunced "J" but the /j/ in "onion" /'ʌnjən/ is pronunced "i"? Why "onion" is not /'ʌnɪən/?
 
What do you mean by "J" and "i"? What is the difference?
 
"j" and "i" are totally different!
Well, no, not totally different.In English /j/ is a glide from from an approximate position of /i:))/ to the following vowel.

As regards your first question: "I have a question. Why the /j/ in "university" /ju:nɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/ is pronunced "J" but the /j/ in "onion" /'ʌnjən/ is pronunced "i"? Why "onion" is not /'ʌnɪən/?"
/'ʌnjən/ represents the way we pronounce it, with two syllables, and a /j/ sound; /'ʌnɪən/ would have three syllables and there would be a /j/ glide between /i/ and /.
 
Last edited:
"j" and "i" are totally different!
The letters "j" and "i" are different. The phonemes /j/ and /i/ are different too.

Did you mean the phonemes?

Why did you capitalize "J"?

Do you really mean the phoneme /i/ or do you mean /ɪ/?

Do you think the sounds in "university" and in "onion" are different or do you think they're the same?
 
I have a question. Why the /j/ in "university" /ju:nɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/ is pronunced "J" but the /j/ in "onion" /'ʌnjən/ is pronunced "i"? Why "onion" is not /'ʌnɪən/?
The symbol /j/ is pronounced like the letter <y> as is in yellow. The symbol /j/ could also be represented as /y/;e.g., [y]university, on[y]ion.
 
The vowel /ɪ/, when followed by another vowel is usually written as /j/ (to better indicate that there is no pause between the two vowels)

/ənɪən/ = /ənjən/ (onion)
/loɪɚ/ = /lojɚ/ (lawyer)
/ˈneɪˌseɪɚ/= /ˈneɪˌsejɚ/ (naysayer)
 
The vowel /ɪ/, when followed by another vowel is usually written as /j/ (to better indicate that there is no pause between the two vowels)

/ənɪən/ = /ənjən/ (onion)
No.
The semi-vowel /j/ is considered a distinct phoneme, as are the vowels /i:))/ and /I/
/[FONT=&quot]ʌ[/FONT]nɪən/ is not the same as /[FONT=&quot]ʌ[/FONT]njən/
 
But what is the difference between /i/ and /I/?
 
/i:/ (long /i/) is the sound that you hear in "feet".

/I/ is the sound that you hear in "fit".
 
No.
The semi-vowel /j/ is considered a distinct phoneme, as are the vowels /i:))/ and /I/
/[FONT=&quot]ʌ[/FONT]nɪən/ is not the same as /[FONT=&quot]ʌ[/FONT]njən/

/j/ technically is a not a vowel, so in words like onion it is basically a /ɪ/ followed by a vowel.
 
I have a question. Why the /j/ in "university" /ju:nɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/ is pronunced "J" but the /j/ in "onion" /'ʌnjən/ is pronunced "i"? Why "onion" is not /'ʌnɪən/?

Not sure if you had people answer you clearly.

/j/ is a semi-vowel. It's produced from the tip of the tongue, but it has the characteristic of a consonant.

/i/ is exactly a full vowel--giving an extra syllable.

When you pronounce /ju:nɪ'vɜ:sətɪ/, the tip of the tongue slides from /i/ position to /u/ position.

Some old dictionary used to give the pronunciation with /'ʌnjən/ because of the blend of /i/ and /ə/. However, if you give the pronunciation of /'ʌnɪən/, the word is divided into 3 syllables, rather than 2.

Hope that helps.
 
But what is the difference between /i/ and /I/?

If you study the RP, you will find out that some speakers distinguish the /i/, /I/ and /i:/.

The IPA uses /i/ in diphthongs, such as /iә/ or /aiә/. I can't recall most of the excerpt from those books, but you might want to search publications by Oxford or Cambridge, esp. those older than 1990s.

Nowadays many RP speakers only pronounce /i:/ and /I/.

Oh, and I forget. Words in plural, such as cases or passes, are used to be represented as /'keisIz/ and /'pɑ:sIz/ for the RP, but for Americans, they use the /'keisәz/ and /'pæ:sәz/
 
It seems to be hard to distinguish the vowels. I will try to find out more about it. Anyway, thank to all of you! :)

D
 
The IPA uses /i/ in diphthongs, such as /iә/ or /aiә/.
Did you mean that IPA uses /ɪ/ in those positions?
ə/ as in 'here', /aɪə/ as in 'fire', etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top