Traditional Classification Vowels Traditional Classification

Traditional Vowel Classification Classify vowels according to: Tongue movement Lip rounding tension

Tongue Movement Involves 2 dimensions: Tongue advancement (horizontal movement) front to back – advancement -- horizontal Tongue height (vertical movement) low to high – height -- vertical

Front-Back (advancement) Front vowels – tongue in front; most of resonating cavity in back of mouth Central vowels – half of resonating cavity in front; half in back Back vowels – tongue in back; resonating cavity in front of mouth

High-Low (Height) High vowels – tongue at highest position Mid vowels – tongue at mid position Low vowels – tongue at lowest position

Advancement + Height = 9 position Front low Central mid Back high

9 logical positions Advancement Height Vowels Front high [, ] Front mid [, ] 5 FRONT Front low [] VOWELS Central high none Central mid [, , ] 4 CENTRAL Central low [] VOWELS Back high [, ] Back mid [, ] 5 BACK Back low [] VOWELS

Front Vowels []: front, high, tense, unround Air passes over tense part of tongue; teeth are almost closed Often substituted in final unstressed syllable [b] []: front, high, lax, unround Used in stressed or unstressed syllable Often substitute [] for [] in foreign dialects, EX. [b] ~ [] “busy”

Front Vowels []: front, mid, tense, unround When elongated, is a diphthong [] []: front, mid, lax, unround Shorter in duration than [] Combines with [r] to get [r] []: front, low, neutral tension, unround Lowest of front vowels Tongue low and flat Mouth open more than for any other vowel Often nasalized

Central Vowels []: central, mid, lax, neutral lip rounding More difficult to teach because there is a lot of variation in central tongue positioning. []: central, mid, lax, neutral lip rounding Used in unstressed words in weak or connected speech [] Often interchanged with [] in unstressed syllables [] ~ [] “heaven” []: central, low, tense, neutral lip rounding Always occurs in stressed syllables []

Central Vowels []: central, mid, tense, neutral lip rounding Stressed vocalic [r]; [] and [] []: central, mid, lax, neutral lip rounding Unstressed vocalic [r] Most often in final positions []

Central Vowels [] and []: These 2 vowels are [r] colored vowels difficult to teach Often misarticulated Both have retroflex Tongue-tip is curled or pulled back Tongue is arched in middle [] – stress depends on forcefulness, duration, and amplitude

Back Vowels All back vowels are found and arching of tongue is more prominent in the back of the mouth []: back, high, tense, round Is the highest and most rounded of back vowels Mouth opening is narrower than for any other vowel [j] often accompanies [u]  [juz] ~ [uz]; [kjut] ~ [kut] Easier to teach because of its distinctive features []: back, high, lax, round Lips aren’t as round as [u]

Back Vowels []: back, mid, tense, round []: back, mid, lax, round Lips are completely rounded; muscles are tense [o] glides easily into diphthong [] Diphthong occurs in accented syllables usually in final position [] ~ [] []: back, mid, lax, round More prominent in Northeastern dialects; not common in Southern dialects; frequently collapses to [] in Southern dialects. EX. “caught” [k t] ~ “cot” [k t] []: back, low, neutral in tension, round Very little rounding Tongue is relaxed and mouth is in smiling-like position “cot” [k t] ~ “tot” [t]