English vowels

I. What’s a vowel?
- A sound produced without major obstruction/constriction in vocal tract
- No articulators touch or even come close
- English vowels are all voiced and oral
o Oral vowels different from nasal vowels: nasal vowels  air from nose too

II. Types of vowels

High

Mid
High

Mid

Mid Low

Low

- Chart shape: demonstrate the position of tongue when pronounce words

- Rounded and Unrounded sound: 4 rounded sounds
- Mouth shape:
o Close
o Half close
o Half open
o Open
III. Tongue positions
- Front vowels: the front of the tongue raises toward the hard palate
- Central vowels: the center of the tongue raises toward the juncture of the hard
palate and the soft palate
- Back vowels: the back of the tongue raises toward the soft palate
- Different position of tongue

 High  Front
 Mid  Center
 Low  Back
IV. Cardinal vowels
- Use to compare vowels sound in different languages
- Known as extreme vowels
- 1 to 5: unrounded
- 6 to 8: rounded

V. Lax vowels and Tense vowels

- Tense vowels: longer
- Lax vowels: shorter and more relaxing
- Vowel’s duration is shortened as more syllables are added within the same word
o Lead /liːd/
o Leader /ˈliːdə/
o Leadership /ˈliːdəʃɪp/  shorter vowel
VI. Diphthongs
- Movement from one pure vowel to another
- 1st part longer and stronger than the 2nd part
 DIPHTHONGS

CENTRING CLOSING

Ending in /ə/ Ending in /i/ Ending in /ʊ/

/iə/ /əi/ /əʊ/

/eə/ /ai/ /aʊ/

/ʊə/ /ɔi/

- Centring diphthongs: diphthongs begin with vowels from the edge and end with /ə/,
a central vowel
o /iə/, /eə/, /ʊə/