System of English vowels

The classification of English vowel phonemes.

English vowel phonemes are classified according to the following principles:

I. According to the position of the bulk of the tongue.

II. According to the height of the raised part of the tongue.

III. According to the kip position.

IV. According to the length of the vowel.

V. According to the stability of articulation.

I. According to the position of the bulk of the tongue vowels are divided into five groups:

1) Front vowels are produced when the bulk of the tongue is in the front part of the mouth. At the same time the front part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate, forming a large empty space in the back part of the mouth [i:, e, ǽ]. see, spell, man

2) Front-retracted vowels are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the front part of the mouth. However it is a little retracted The front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate [i]. fish

3) Central vowels are produced when the central part of the tongue is raised towards the juncture between the hard and the soft palate [ , з:, ] muscles, work, about

4) Back vowels are produced when the bulk of the tongue is in the back of the mouth. At the same time the back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, forming an empty space in the front part of the mouth [o, o:, u:,]. got, saw, too

5) Back-advanced vowels are produced when the bulk of the tongue is in the back part of the mouth. However, it is a little advanced The back part of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate [a:, u]. arm, pull

II. According to the height of the raised part of the tongue vowels are divided into three groups:

1) Close (high) vowels are produced when the tongue comes close to the roof of the mouth. The air passage is narrowed [i:, i, u:, u]. see, sit, too, put

2) Open (low) vowels are produced when the tongue is very low in the mouth. The air passage is wide [ǽ, a:, o, /\]. man, arm, got, cup

3) Mid-open (mid) vowels are produced when the tongue is half way between its high and low position [e, e:, , o:]. ten, fur, ago, saw

III. According to the lip position vowels are divided into two groups:

1) Unrounded vowels are pronounced when the lips are neutral or spread [i:, I, e, ǽ, a, /\, з:, ]. see, sit, ten, man, cup, arm, fur, ago

2) Rounded vowels are produced when the lips are drawn together so that the opening between them is more or less round [o, o:, u, u:]. hot, saw, put, too

IV. According to the length of the vowels they are divided into short and long.

V. According to the stability of articulation vowels are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs, diphthongoids.

1) A monophthong is an unchanging vowel sound. In its pronunciation the organs of speech do not change their position so its articulation is stable. There are 10 monophthongs in English.

[]10 monophthong – sit, ten, hat, got, put, cup, ago, arm, saw, fur

2) A diphthong is a complex sound consisting of two vowel elements. In the pronunciation of the diphthong the organs of speech start in the position of one vowel then they glide gradually in the direction of another vowel. Its full formation is not accomplished The articulation of diphthongs is not stable . The first element of a diphthong is called a nucleus. It is strong, clear and distinct. The second element is rather weak. It is called the glide [ei, ai, oi, au, eu, ie, ee, ue]. – 8 diphthongs

page, five, join, now, go, near, pear, poor

3) There are two vowels in English which may have a diphthongal pronunciation. In the articulation of these vowels the organs of speech change their position but very slightly. These vowels are called diphthongoids [i:, u:]. key , too

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 3180