1. Vowel sounds: Classification and Description Professor/Author: Navarro, Maria Laura.

2. Revision: What are pure vowel sounds?
What makes them different from consonant sounds?
How many vowel sounds does English have?
Give examples that illustrate the difference in meaning when a phoneme is wrongly used in a word.

3. Classification of vowel sounds
We can classify vowel sounds according to:
Quality
Quantity
Part of the tongue which is raised
Height of the tongue
Lip position

4. Quantity and Quality
According to quantity, vowel sounds can be either short or long.
According to quality, vowel sounds can be either strong or weak, depending on the stress of the syllable.

5. Diagram of the english pure vowels
The diagram is a representation of the vowel space in the centre of the mouth where vowel sounds are articulated.
It indicates tongue position:
Part of the tongue which is raised
Height of the tongue.
Diagram of the english pure vowels

6. Part of the tongue and height of the tongue
According to the height of the tongue, vowel sounds can be close, half clase (or close-mid), mid, half open (or open- mid) and open.
Height of the tongue refers to the distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
According to the part of the tongue which is raised, vowel sounds can be front, central or back.

7. Position of the lips
According to the position of the lips, vowel sounds can be rounded, spread and neutral. These are the basic lip positions which are used in describing the articulation of vowel sounds.

8. Position of the lips

9. Activity: classify vowel sounds
Quantity
Quality
Part of the tongue
Height of the tongue
Position of the lips
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