Group 4

THE SOUND OF VOWEL ʊ

Intro to Linguistics
Group 4 :
1. Erna Tasya (E1D021014)
2. Dwi Haryati (E1D021013)
3. Genta Pala Soka (E1D021179)
4. Herman Apriandi (E1D021077) ə
5. Inayah Anugrah (E1D021192)
6. Kadek Crismeilani (E1D021194)
 DEFINITION OF VOWEL
A vowel is a sound produced with a comparatively open
configuration of the vocal tract.
Vowel are produce when the airstream is voiced through the vibration of
the vocal cords in the larinx, and then shaped using the tongue and the
lips to modify the overall shape of the mouth.
The are twenty vowel sound in english language. These
sounds are sub-divided into two, nemely :

● Monopthongs : these are tweleve (12)

● Dipthongs : these are eight (8)
 DEFINITION OF MONOPTHONGS

Monopthongs are vowel sounds with one vowel element. That is,
the lips and the tongue will assuem one shape and position
respectively. Monopthongs are also called pure vowels.
There are two types of the Monopthongs :

● Short Vowels : a short vowel has no colon (:)

● Long vowels : a long vowel has a colon (:)

04
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
MONOPTHONGS

● Monopthongs can be found in any part of word. However, they

are often found in the middle of a word.
● You also can find monopthongs ar the beginning and end of
word.
● Monopthongs are also divided into long and short.
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
There are two place of articulation features for every vowel. One feature describe the HORIZONTAL
position of the tongue in the mouth, while the other feature describes the VERTICAL position of the
tongue in the mouth.

 Horizontal ( front – to – back ) position in the mouth :

● Front vowels : produced when the front part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate,
nearest the upper teeth ridge. The sounds are :  /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, and /æ/
● Central vowels : sounds made by raising the middle part of the tongue in the direction of the soft
palate. The sounds are : /ə/, /a/, /aɪ/, and /aʊ/
● Back vowels : produced by raising the back part of the tongue in the direction of the soft palate.
The sounds are : /ʌ/, /ɑ/, /o/, /ɔ/, /u/, /ʊ/, and /ɔɪ/
 Vertical ( high – to – low ) position in the mouth :
● High vowels : produced by placing the tongue toward the hard palate, so that there is a little
distance between the tongue and hard palate. The sounds are : /i/, /ɪ/, /u/, and /ʊ/
● Mid vowels : produced by placing the tongue between position for high vowels and low vowels.
The sounds are : /e/, /ɛ/, /ə/, /ʌ/, /o/, /ɔ/, and /ɔɪ/
● Low vowels : produced by placing tongue so low that there is a great distance between the tongue
and the hard palate.
The sounds are : /ӕ/, /a/, /ɑ/, /aɪ/, and /aʊ/
i
THE 7 VOWEL SOUNDS
1. English Vowel Sound [i]
Based on the height of the tongue, the English
vowel sound [i] is a high vowel. If viewed from the
position of the tongue, vowel sound [i] is a front
vowel. Vowel sound [i] is also an unrounded and
tense vowel. Some dictionaries often write vowel
sound [i] as [i:]. The pronunciation is the same, it
basically pronounce as long i.
The example : eat, beat, bee, seat, read, meat, me,
sea, leap, deep, keep.
 ɪ

2. English Vowel Sound [ɪ]

Based on the height of the tongue, the English vowel
sound [ɪ] is a high vowel. If viewed from the position of
the tongue, vowel sound [ɪ] is a front vowel. Vowel
sound [ɪ] is also an unrounded and lax vowel. Since it is a
lax vowel, the English vowel sound [ɪ] is pronounced as
short i.
The example : with, this, link, wink, rink, sink, big, pit,
pick, win, pin, fill, fit, sit.
3. English Vowel Sound [e]
The English vowel sound [e] is a mid front vowel based on
the English vowel sound. This was because the height of the
tongue is in the middle and the position of the tongue is
front. It was also considered as unrounded vowel. Based on
the tension of the muscle, English vowel sound [e] was
considered as a tense vowel. This sound is not purely vowel
as it is followed by a sound somewhat similar to [i].
The example : aid, ate, gave, made, hate, rate, paid, pay,
ray,my, bed, pet, set, ten, went, rest, best.
 ə

4. English Vowel Sound [ə]

The English vowel sound [ə] is a mid central vowel. The vowel
is made by having the central part of the tongue placed in the
middle of the mouth cavity.

The example : along, ago, about, away

5. English Vowel Sound [ɛ]
The English vowel sound [ɛ] is a mid front vowels. This was
because the height of the tongue is in the middle and the
position of the tongue is front. It was also considered as
unrounded vowel. Based on the tension of the muscle, English
vowel sound [ɛ] is considered as a lax vowel.

The example : bird, girl, turn, work, heard, nurse

 u
6. English Vowel Sound [u]
The English vowel sound [u] is a high back vowel. When
producing the sound [u], we raise the back part of the tongue
without touching any part of the mouth. When making this
sound, our lips are rounded and the muscles are tense. This
vowel sound can be described as long u, some dictionaries
write it as [u:].

The example : food, mood, soup, pool, shoot, cool.

7. English Vowel Sound [ʊ]
The English vowel sound [ʊ] is a high back vowel. This sound
is produced by lowering a tongue a bit from the [u] position.
The lips are rounded and the muscles are lax when making this
sound. Since it is a lax vowel, this sound is pronounced as
short u.

The example : boot, put, full, wolf, woman, look, hook, nook,
cook, rook.
8. English Vowel Sound [o]
The vowel sound [o] is produced by putting the back of the
tongue and lower than the position of [ʊ]. This vowel is made
by rounding the lips. For these reasons, the sounds are called
the mid back rounded vowels.
The vowel sound [o] is also a tense vowel. Some dictionaries,
like Oxford,uses the symbol [ɒ] instead of [o]. Dardjowidjojo
(2009) also mentions that the vowel sound [o] can be
pronounced as [əʊ].
The example : rod, hot, off, got, not, all, job, call.
 CONCLUTION
There are many tools of human articulation and each of them has a different position and
function in generating the sounds of language. However, there is an element that is not
categorized as a human articulation, but has a very important role in generating the sound.
The element is air and is the primary source of energy to produce sound. Vowel or consonant
sounds is the sounds of language by tools of human articulation. All vowels are voiced
sounds, consonants has a voiced sound and voiceless sound. Voiced and voiceless sound is
related with condition of the vocal cords. Condition of the vocal cords (glottis) tightly closed
when air out through it, then it will apply the vibration of the vocal cords and the resulting
sound is the voice sounds. Conversely, if the vocal cords were stretched or open when the air
through it, the vibration of the vocal cords do not apply, the resulting sound is voiceless
sounds.
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