Vowel Sounds: Diphthongs – JSS3 English Lesson Note (Third Term)

REVISION

Speech work

Topic: vowel sounds 

Sub-topic: diphthongs

 The diphthongs or impure vowels are eight. A diphthong represents a sound that consists of a movement or glide from one vowel quality to another. It has been observed that during the glide, the first vowel sound is given more prominence than the vowel sound. Thus in pronouncing vowel 13, /ei/ for example, there is more prominence on /e/ than on /i/. 

The diphthongs can be categorized into three groups namely;

1.     Front closing diphthongs (/ei, ai, ɔi/)
2.     Back closing diphthongs (/au, əu/)
3.     Centering diphthongs (iə, eə, uə/)

Vowel 13 /ei/: – this sound is produced by starting from the position of /e/ or /ɛ/ and gliding towards the position of /i/. So, the glide results in progressively closing the mouth from the beginning to the end. Examples – day, lady, eight, rake, etc. 

Vowel 14 /ou/or/əu/: – The sound starts somewhere from the central position towards the upper back position. The glide from /o/ to /u/ is easier among Nigerians. Examples – go, know, coat, etc. 

Vowel 15 /ai/: This sound is produced with the tongue starting somewhere near the position of /a/ and moving towards the position of /i/. Examples are eyes, ice, and my, time. Etc 

Vowel 16 /au/: This is a sound starting from the position of the /a/ sound and moving towards the /u/ position. Examples: now, how, round, town, etc.

Vowel 17 /ɔi/: The position of the tongue is slightly high in the initial part of the glide and then the movement is towards the /i/ position. Examples – boy, oil, soil, etc. 

Vowel 18 /iə/: This is the first of the centering vowels i.e. those which glide toward the central part of the mouth. The tongue starts in the position of the vowel 2, and there is a glade towards the central vowel /iə/. Examples: – here, hear, rear, idea, etc.

Vowel 19 /eə/: The tongue starts from the position of the cardinal vowel/e/, and there is a glide towards the central vowel sound. Examples: – bear, fear, scarce, there, etc.

Vowel 20 /uə/: The tongue begins the glide from the /u/ position and moves towards the central position for the /ə/ sound. Examples: – Pure, tour, fuel, duel, etc

 LITERATURE

Topic: literary terms

Plot: The plot is the arrangement of the story of the play. The summary of the storyline of the play is expected to be arranged orderly to avoid confusion – a storyline is expected to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

Theme: This is also called subject matter. It is the central idea of the drama. All drama (whether tragedy, comedy, or tragic–comedy) have messages they are passing across to the audience. 

Character: These are the members of the cast in drama actions; mood and dialogue are portrayed by the character. These are two types of characters in a play. They are: – major characters and minor characters. They can also be called round characters and flat characters. 

Dialogue: This is also called language or diction. It is the major medium through which characters express their thought in words. 

Setting: This refers to the place where the actions of a play take place. Examples of settings are;

1. Physical Setting: market, village square, in the office, in the morning, in the night, etc.
2. Historical Setting: in the olden days or the present time.
3. Social Setting: Types of social atmosphere like language, occupation, religion, etc. 

Conflict: This refers to the opposition of characters or forces within a play resulting from divergent ideas and interests. Conflict is responsible for the development of dramatic action in a play. It goes without conflict because it projects the theme of a ply. The actions of the character are therefore geared towards creating conflict and resolving the same for the play to come to an end. 

Dramatic Irony: Refers to the incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that are understood by the audience but unknown to some of the characters in the play. Also called tragic irony. 

Tragic Flaw: Every classical tragic hero is endowed with a tragic flaw, which eventually brings about his downfall despite his impressive credentials. The flaw could be in the form of uncontrollable anger for Odewale in Ola Rotimi’s, The Gods Are Not To Blame, or over ambition for Macbeth.

Comedy:  A drama with a generally light atmosphere leading to a happy ending. Examples are Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel.

Tragedy: A drama with a generally serious intense atmosphere leading to an unhappy ending. Examples Ngugi’s The Black Hermit Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu

Farce: This is a comedy of a lower kind in which believability is sacrificed for the main objective of exciting laughter. Example Zulu Sofola’s Wizard of Law

Tragic – Comedy: This is a play that combines the salient features of comedy and tragedy and tends towards a happy ending, usually with a great sense of relief after much anxiety.

Melodrama: Like the comic farce, melodrama is a play in which believability is sacrificed for the sake of sensational action and producing the shock effect. When tragedy becomes unrealistic or unconvincing. It becomes melodrama. 

ASSIGNMENT: List ten literary terms and their meaning.