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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 22:1/2 (1995) ► pp.197–216

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Daniel Jones, Paul Passy, and the development of the cardinal vowel system

 | University of Leiden
 | Copenhagen Business School
Published online: 1 January 1995
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.22.1-2.08col
Summary
Developed in the first quarter of the present century, Daniel Jones’s (1881–1967) Cardinal Vowel theory has proved for many years to be the most popular and enduring model of vowel description. Only relatively recently have doubts about its shaky theoretical foundations – first expressed as early as 1928 by G. Oscar Russell – begun to impinge on the linguistic world. Paul Passy (1859–1940) emerges as the most significant direct influence on Jones, who modified Passy’s ideas and transformed them into a model for vowel description with notionally universal application. For some years, Jones appeared curiously reluctant to release full information about his scheme, probably because he was unable to obtain sufficient hard evidence in the form of radiological data to support his principle of equidistant articulatory steps between the Cardinal Vowels. Eventually, Jones was forced to retreat to a weaker version of his theory based on a combination of articulatory and auditory criteria.
Résumé
La théorie des voyelles cardinales développée durant le premier quart de ce siècle par Daniel Jones (1881–1967) eut un succès énorme et fut dominant pendant de nombreuses années. Récemment, pourtant, un certain nombre de critiques ont surgi dans le monde linguistique, réfutant les bases théoriques sur lesquelles l’auteur se fonde (en réalité, G. Oscar Russell s’interrogeait déjà sur ses fondements théoriques en 1928). Paul Passy (1859–1940) peut être considéré comme l’auteur qui a influencé Jones de la façon la plus significative. Jones modifia les idées de Passy et les transforma en modèle de description de voyelles à application universelle. Pendant de nombreuses années, Jones fut curieusement peu disposé à communiquer toutes les informations dont il disposait sur son modèle; la raison fut certainement qu’il n’avait pas encore obtenu de preuves concrètes sous la forme de données radiologiques qui pourraient appuyer son principe d’équidistance articulatoire entre les voyelles cardinales. En définitive, Jones se sentit obligé de se rabattre sur une version moins fortemment formulée de sa théorie, une version basée sur la combinaison de critères articulatoires et phonétiques.
Zusammenfassung
Die im ersten Viertel des gegenwärtigen Jahrhunderts von Daniel Jones (1881–1967) entwickelte grundlegende Vokaltheorie hat sich seit vielen Jahren als das populärste und dauerhafteste Modell zur Vokalbeschreibung erwiesen. Erst in jüngerer Zeit sind Zweifel an dessen wissenschaftlicher Begründung (immerhin schon 1928 von G. Oscar Russell ausgedrückt) aufgekommen. Paul Passy (1859–1940) tritt als der bedeutendste Einfluss auf Jones hervor, welcher Passys Ideen modifiziert und in ein Modell zur Vokalbeschreibung mit begrifflich allgemeingültiger Anwendung verändert. Jones erschien viele Jahre hindurch seltsam widerwillig, volle Information über sein Schema zu veröffentlichen. Ein wesentlicher Grund dafür ist wohl darin probably because he was unable to obtain sufficient hard evidence in the form of radiological data to support his principle of equidistant articulatory steps between the Cardinal Vowels. Eventually, Jones was forced to retreat to a weaker version of his theory based on a combination of articulatory and auditory criteria.
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Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Wood, Sidney
2023. Dating the open /æ/ sound change in Southern British English. JASA Express Letters 3:3 DOI logo
Collins, Beverley & Inger M. Mees
2012. Jones,Daniel. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, DOI logo
Collins, B.S. & I.M. Mees
2006. Jones, Daniel (1881–1967). In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, ► pp. 131 ff. DOI logo

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