Chapter 4-5: Vowels and Consonants Flashcards
Vowel
phonemes produced without any appreciable constriction or blockage of air flow in the vocal tract
-
Primary Articulator in Production of Vowels:
Tongue, but the tongue does NOT constrict air— this would make a consonant sound
Tongue height vs tongue advancement
Tongue Height: how high or low (high, mid, low) tongue is in mouth during production of vowels
Tongue Advancement: how far forward or back (front, central, back) tongue is in mouth during production of vowels
Rounded vs Unrounded Vowels
Whether lips are rounded or unrounded in the production of vowels
ex: rounded: u, o, er (stressed and unstressed)d
ex: unrounded: i, I, e, ae, a
Tense vs Lax Vowels
Tense: generally longer in duration and require more muscular effort than lax vowels
Tense can end an open syllable (hi, tu), Lax never ends an open syllable
Monopthongs
One vowel sound
- most English vowels are monopthongs because they have one primary articulatory position in the vocal tract.
Dipthongs
Vowel sounds that have two distinct articulatory positions.
- Each dipthong is an individual phoneme containing two vowels
Two parts of a dipthong
Onglide: first element of a dipthong
Offglide: second element of a dipthong
** Offglide always produced at a higher position
Major difference between vowels and consonants:
Consonants have contact or near contact between articulators while vowels have an open vocal tract
How many vowels in English language?
17-20 vowels
Position of the velum during most vowels?
Raised to prevent air being directed into nasal cavity.
Monopthongs can be classified by:
Tongue Height - high or low
Tongue advancement - front or back
Lip Shape- rounded or unrounded
Tension - tense or lax
/i/
high, front, unrounded, tense
/I/
high, front, unrounded, lax
Rhotacized
production of a phoneme with an /R/
ex IR, EpsilonR
/e/ lower-case e
high/mid, front, unrounded, tense
/$ Epsilon/
low-mid, front, unrunded,
Will not an a syllable in English pronunciation
/ae/ Ash
low, front, unrounded, lax
