Vowels Flashcards
For vowels, what is the highest part of the tongue always between?
The hard palate and the pharynx
What are the 3 descriptions of a vowel?
- frontness/ backness - which part of the tongue is raised
- open/close - jaw position
- Roundedness - are lips spread or rounded?
What are the different levels of jaw position?
Close
|
Close - mid
|
Open - mid
|
Open
what is the height of the tongue at different levels of openness?
High: close
Mid: close-mid, open-mid
Low: open
What is the difference between tense and lax vowels?
Tense: involve more extreme articulations, have longer durations e.g. i, e, o, u
Lax: have less extreme articulatory postures, are shorter in duration e.g. ʊ, ɛ, ʌ, ə æ
What are the primary cardinal vowels?
- close front unrounded (i)
- close-mid front unrounded (e)
- open-mid front unrounded (ɛ)
- open front unrounded (a)
- open back unrounded (ɑ)
- open-mid back rounded (ɔ)
- close-mid back rounded (o)
- close back rounded (u)
What are the corner vowels?
1,4,5,8
what are the secondary cardinal vowels?
- close, front, unrounded (y)
- close-mid, front, unrounded (ø)
- open-mid, front, unrounded (œ)
- open, front, unrounded ̩(oE)
- open, back, unrounded (ɒ)
- open-mid, back rounded (ʌ)
- close-mid, back, rounded (ɤ)
- close, back, rounded (ɯ)
what is a monophtong?
single vowel, with a single sound segment
what is a diphthong?
a complex vowel, with 2 sounds.
The second part of the diphthong is always lax
what is a closing diphthong?
In RP
The second element is more close than the first
what is a centring diphthong?
In RP
begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one
what is a lexical set?
a group of words which have the same vowel sound in all or most varieties of english
e.g KIT = ship, bit, vision, spirit, symbol
Proposed by Wells (1982)
A useful way of referring to vowels in analysis e.g. ‘the FLEECE’
(use small caps)
