1. Traditional Classification
Vowels
Traditional Classification

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

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

4. 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

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

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

7. 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

8. 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”

9. 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

10. 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 []

11. 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 []

12. 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

13. 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]

14. 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]