/i/ - the UNHAPPY Vowel

[@Wizy-r1z]

I am happ1~~~ for these excellent classes😍

[@RaufAbasquliyev]

We were taught at school to pronounce 'happy' as [ˈhæpɪ]. We used to pronounce most of the words ending with Y that way: recently, many, hobby, etc. It was more than 30 years ago. ;)

[@PronunciationStudio]

Yes, this has changed in modern GB English - the Y endings are closer to /iː/ in position rather than /ɪ/. Though you'll still hear old-fashioned RP speakers using the more open position, and it's heard widely in the North.

[@austinschaible1005]

I would argue that /hapi/ is acceptable because i doesn't contrast with i: and the slashes indicate phonemic transcription not narrow transcription. It's a broad transcription of the phoneme.

[@leisanshavalieva]

The first version shows the mouth position and the length correctly

[@italianesco]

Whuuuuuuuuuuuuut? 😯 Listen, my friend, the English language already has a most often inaccurate phonetic representation of its actual sound using the Roman alphabet because it is an excellent APPROXIMATION of its actual sound across a wide range of accents around the world 🌏 If we now want to get all picky and prissy and purist about its IPA phonetic transcription, we might as well be entering "phonetic Nazi" territory: "Nooooooo length marks for you!" 😂 (Seinfeld: The Soup Nazi: "No soup 🍲 for you!" 😂) After all, the beauty of English is that, for the most part, we agree on its spelling. But we'll never agree on its pronunciation: "You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF!" 😂😜😎

[@angelloferreiraoficial]

Sometimes, the phonetic transcription is a little confused 🤔. It isn't it?

[@robertkohler3856]

/ hapij/ !

[@PronunciationStudio]

Yes! This kind of thing could work - or /ˈhapɪj/ as the glide does tend to start a little bit more open than [i]. The only issue is the two symbols for the one weak vowel sound seems a bit too much visually. But it solves both the phonemic and the mouth position problems!

[@wagnerjunior6524]

But you changed the stress in the second, not a fair comparison.

[@PronunciationStudio]

Fair point, it is slightly exaggerated in the audio, but the length does attract some level of stress.

[@antonellaregueira4618]

So you are telling me that the only reason why it would be wrong is because it hasn't been accepted as a phoneme yet? Who cares?

[@PronunciationStudio]

Yep! Well, the wider question is how to categorise vowel sounds in GB English phonemically. But you're right - I don't think anybody actually cares!

[@CharlieBravissimo]

Purists can't be happy anyway, so let's go with /i/. :)

[@PronunciationStudio]

Totally /ˈtəʊtəli/ agree!