CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 802.

English vowels have quality and quantity. They may be shortor long. Vowels may be classified according to the position of the tongue. The tongue can move vertically (up and down) and horizontally (forward and backward). According to the vertical movement of the tongue vowels are divided into close, mid-open and open. According to the horizontal movement of the tongue vowels are divided into: front [ı:], [ı], [e], [æ]; mixed or central [ə:], [ə]; back [u:], [u], [٨], [ ], [ ], [ a:].

Putting these together:

[ı:] beard (a close front vowel) is produced when the front of the tongue is the highest part, and is near the roof of the mouth.

[æ] bat (an open front vowel) when the front of the tongue is the highest part, but the tongue itself is low in the mouth.

[u:] food (a close back vowel) is produced when the back of the tongue is the highest part, and is near the roof of the mouth.

According to the lip position vowels can be divided into: rounded, unrounded.

According to the degree of tenseness they can fall into tense(long vowels), lax(short vowels).