Module 3 - Vowels And Front Vowels Flashcards
Vowel def + components
A speech sound that is formed without a significant constriction of the oral and pharyngeal cavities and that serves as a syllable nucleus
No Significant constriction
Syllable Nucleus
Meaning of significant constriction
The cavities are never narrowed to the degree observed for consonants
Syllable nucleus
Only one vowel sound can occur within the boundaries of a syllable unit
Individual vowels can be identified with individual syllables
Three aspects of vowel production
- Spatial - the articulators are positioned so as not to constrict the oral and pharyngeal cavities
- Temporal - sound of interest can be sustained indefinitely
- Functional - syllable must include a vowel as its nucleus
Monophthong
A pure vowel having a single, unchanging sound quality
Diphthongs
Vowel like sound which involves a gradual transition from one vowel articulation (onglide) to another (offglide)
E.g. how, eye, hoy
Tongue position dimensions
Tongue position distinguishes among almost all of the vowel sounds in English
- High-low (superior-inferior)
- Front-back (anterior-posterior)
Vowel Characteristics
Vowels are voiced
Vowels resonate in the oral cavity
No significant constrictions/open vocal tract
Vowels are the nucleus of a syllable
Two types: monophthong + diphthong
Vowel Description
TONGUE HEIGHT:
- vertical position of tongue - high to low
TONGUE ADVANCEMENT:
- front to back continuum (front, central, back)
TENSENESS OR DURATION
- tense vowels longer
- Lax vowels shorter
LIP ROUNDING
TONGUE HEIGHT
- Vertical position of the tongue body
- determined as the position of the highest point of the tongue
- High vowels - tongue is close to the roof of the mouth
- Low vowels - tongue is depressed in the mouth
- Intermediate - mid
high - low tongue contrasts (words)
Heat - Hat
Pete - Pat
Meat - Mat
Hoot- Hot
Soup - Sop
Ease - As
Jaw
The tongue can move independently of the jaw
However, tongue and jaw work together in vowel articulation
General Rule:
High vowels - produced with a closed jaw position
Low vowels - produced with a more open jaw position
Descending Tongue Height (Words)
Meat
Mit
Mate
Met
Mat
Tongue Advancement (Tongue retraction)
Front to back dimension (anterior - posterior)
Classified as:
- Front
- Central
- Back
Examples of Front/Central/Back Comparisons
FRONT-BACK:
Heat-hoot
Hat-Hot
Pit-Put
FRONT-CENTRAL:
Heat-hurt
hat-hut
pit-putt
CENTRAL-BACK
hurt-hoot
hut-hot
putt-put
Four Corners
Point, Cardinal, Corner Vowel
/i/ (high-front) - heat, see, deed, me, beef
/u/ (high-back) - hoot, Sue, dude, moo, boot
/æ/(low-front) - hat, sap, dad, mash, bag
/a/(low-back) - hot, sock, dock, bomb, box
Tenseness
Muscle Activity + Duration
Divided into tense and lax
Tense Vowels
Tense vowels - have greater muscle activity and longer duration
e.g. /i, u, ɔ, o/
Heat, boot, bought, bake, boat
Lax Vowels
Less muscle activity, shorter duration
/ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, a, ə, ʌ, ɚ/
Hit, get, cat, book, father, some, Bert
Lip Rounding
Rounded vowels - produced with the lips in a pursed and protruded state
/u, ʊ, o, ɔ, ɚ, ɝ/
Unrounded vowels - no pursing or protrusion
/i, ɪ, ɛ, e, æ, ə, ʌ, a/
Front Vowels
All are unrounded
Front vowels make up roughly half of all vowels recorded in English
/i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ/
Vowel /i/
Eat, read, cheese
Lips - unrounded, possibly retracted
Jaws - closed or elevated position
Velopharynx- normally closed unless sound is in a nasal context; velum tends to be quite high
Always in stressed syllables; never in an unstressed syllable
Transcription /i/
Seed /s i d/
Phoenix /f i n ɪ k s/
Feast /f i s t/
Beak /b i k/
Leap /l i p/
Leagues /l i ɡ z/
Knead /n i d/
Sneak /s n i k/
Lease /l i s/
Green /ɡ r i n/
Please /p l i z/
Bleed /b l i d/
Vowel /ɪ/
City, it, In, If, ill, is
Tongue- high-mid, front, lax
Lips: unrounded; sometimes slightly rounded
Jaw: closed ranging to mid-open
Velopharynx: normally closed unless sound is in nasal context
Transcription /ɪ/
Limp /l ɪ m p/
Did /d ɪ d/
Picking /p ɪ k ɪ ŋ/
Look at slides for more
Vowel /e/
Ate, date, locate
Tongue: front, mid, tense
Lips: unrounded
Jaw: mid; may be closed
Velopharynx - normally closed
Monophthong, but commonly occurs in English in the diphthongized form /eɪ/ (syllables with primary stress including monosyllabic words or open syllables)
E.g. Vacation /v e k eɪ ʃ ə n/
Transcription /e/
Examples that are often, but not always, produced with the monophthong /e/
Donate, operate, elevate
Examples of words that are often, but not always produced with a diphthong /eɪ/
Game
Fade
Ballet
Clay
Gray
Eight
Gaze
Amaze
Vowel /ɛ/
Bed, send, rest
Tongue: low-mid, front, lax
Lips: unrounded
Jaw: mid-position
Velopharynx: normally closed
Short duration
Transcription /ɛ/
Bet /b ɛ t/
Attempt /ə t ɛ m p t/
Vowel /æ/
Had, Sass, Alabama
Tongue: low, front, lax
Lips: unrounded
Jaw: open position
Velopharynx: normally closed
Generally not followed by /r/ in American English within the same syllable. For example, in the word “larynx” /l æ r ɪ ŋ k s/
the /æ/ and the /r/ are in different symbols
Transcription /æ/
bad, hammer, alabama, slash, glass, standard, alcohol
