Philippine Christian University

Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Dasmariñas, Cavite

English Phonology

VIETOR
TRIANGLE
Master of Arts in Education Major in English

Submitted to: Dr. Priscilla R. Moriones

Submitted by: Ma. Mickaela Mirasol M. Dimaano
July 29, 2021
 THE VIETOR TRIANGLE
A Vietor Triangle (also known as the Vowel Triangle) is a schematic representation of vowel
sounds, created by Wilhelm Vietor (1850-1918, German philologist and phonetician). It is inverted
to help us remember that for each sound, our mouth opens a little wider as we go down until we
reach the middle part. Vowels is about how you let the air through. Vowels have three
characteristics. They are: Height, rounding, and backness.
Front vowels
The front vowels are i, I, Ei, Ɛ, and æ. One thing that these vowels have in common is the position
of the tongue. It’s forward enough, and the front is high enough for you to see it. The tip of the tongue is
down when saying the front vowel sounds. It’s down and touching the back of the bottom front teeth.

1.  i - long sound. To make this sound, think of your lips being pulled out because it’s a long sound.
There is a lot of tension in this vowel sound. Tension means tight. You feel it in your cheeks and a
little bit under your chin.
ex: cheese  |tʃiːz|
ski |skiː|
key |kiː|

2. I - short sound. The lips is more relaxed and the mouth open a bit more when saying /ɪ/ To make
this sound, keep your jaw raised but move your mouth forward slightly. Now for one beat, say  I.
ex: sit |sɪt|
hymn |hɪm|
bridge |brɪdʒ|

3. e or eɪ - long vowel sound. As you can observe, your mouth is opening more and your jaw is
lowering. This sound is also tense. To make this sound, move your lips sideways. The mouth
slightly wider than making I sound. Then, keeping the same lips position, make the mouth a little
smaller by closingit slightly.
ex: day |deɪ|
wave |weɪv|
break |breɪk|

4. Ɛ – Short e sound. To make this sound lower your jaw slightly and pull your mouth back. The
mouth is open wider than in Ɛi.
ex: bed |bed|
Guess |sed| 
Said |sed|

5. æ – short sound. It is a tense sound. In short, lips are still spread but this is the most open vowel
the front vowel groups.
ex: snack |snæk|
fast |fæst|
cat |kæt|
Back Vowels
Back vowels are Ɔ, oƱ, Ʊ, and u. In back vowel sounds, you can notice that the position of the lips
are rounded. Some sounds require more of a circle mouth than others. Another thing that back vowel
sounds have in common is the position of the tongue but it can’t be seen. Tongue is pulled back so the
highest point is the back of our tongue. The tip of the tongue is slightly down and slightly touching the
back of the bottom front teeth.
6. Ɔ – It’s a short sound and a very open and rounded sound. . Make your lips rounded and lower
your jaw. Open your mouth wide as in a, but gently round your lips like o.
ex: bought |brɔːt|
gone |ɡɔːn|
talk |tɔːk|

7. O or Ʊ – Long o. –Another long vowel sound. The lips are very rounded but it’s more open. Think
of th letter “O”. But as we come to the end of this vowel sound, our lips become even tighter. It
finishes actually with a slight /u/ sound. Gently round your lips and go from big to small, Sustain for
two beats.
ex: boat |θrəʊ|
Throw |θrəʊ|
Note |nəʊt|

8. U or u:   Long u sound. Your lips need to be rounded and they’re in the tight circle, pull your lips
forward into a small tight circle.
ex: shoes |ˈʃuːz|
Flew |fluː|
Boot |buːt|

9. u or Ʊ  - Short u sound. –This is a short vowel sound. It’s also more relaxed sound. The lips are
still rounded but it’s not a tight circle. It’s a relaxed circle. To make this sound, move your
mouth forward and keep it short.
ex: book /bʊk/
foot /fʊt/
pull /pʊl/

Central Vowels
The central vowel is called central for a reason. The position of the lips and tongue are different
from the position needed to make front vowels and back vowels. To make central vowel sounds,
it’s neither very pushed forward like in front vowels nor very pulled back like in back vowels.

10. ə - Its a very short sound, and also a very relaxed sound. If you were to hold this sound out, it
becomes the sound we make when we we’re thinking aloud. When we don’t know what to say. But
most often we make it a short sound. The lips is neutral, and tongue is relaxed. It represents the
same sound as /^/. Having the two symbols shows a stressed and unstressed sound. To make this
sound, relax your lips, open your mouth a little, and keep your tongue in the middle position, not
high or low.
Ex: cup |kʌp|
Does |dʌz|
Love |lʌv|
11. α- It is a very long vowel sound. It’s a very open sound as well. My lips are relaxed, but my mouth
is in a very open position. My tongue is low inside my mouth. Low and a bit forward so that the tip
does touch the back of the bottom front teeth. It could be the sound someone makes when they
discover something. To make this sound, relax your lips, open your mouth wide, and keep your
tongue low and centered the tip touching the back of your bottom front teeth.

ex: pot |pɑːt|

got |ɡɑːt|
not |nɑːt|