Lecture No11 English Vowels Vowels Are The Sounds In

lecture no.11 english vowels vowels are the sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to t

Lecture No.11
English Vowels
Vowels are the sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of
air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
Description and Classification of vowels
Vowels are classified in terms of the following factors:
1.The height of the tongue in the mouth, i.e. how much the tongue
approaches the roof of the mouth. As a result vowels are classified
into high , mid and low .
2. The part of the tongue raised towards the palate, i.e. the highest
point of the tongue. Accordingly, vowels are usually front, central or
back.
3. The shape of the lips is of three types:
a: Rounded means that the lips are brought towards each other .
b: unrounded means that the lips move away from each other.
4.Length means that the vowel is either short or long.
Consider the following diagram in which all vowel sounds are
described:
Tongue Retraction
Tongue Height
Back
Central
Front
U:
u
i: i
High
O:
o
∂:
∂
e
Mid
a:
^
a
Low
Description of short vowels
1./ i / high , front , unrounded , short vowel : it , fit , pretty .
2. / e / mid, front, unrounded , short vowel : egg , bet . This sound
does not occur finally.
3. / a / low, front, unrounded , short vowel : adult , man . This
sound does not occur finally.
4. / o / mid, back, rounded, short vowel: on, pot. This sound does not
occur finally.
5. / u / high, back, rounded, short vowel: put. This sound occurs
neither initially nor finally.
6. / ∂ / mid, central, unrounded , short vowel : along , contain ,
better .
7. / Ʌ / low, central, unrounded , short vowel . up, some . This sound
does not occur finally. Examples of short vowels:
hit / hit /, city / siti /, pretty / priti /, baby / beibi /, orange /
orind3 /, rich / rit∫ /, set /set/ head / hed /, any / eni /, said /
sed /, friend / frend /, says / sez /, bread / bred /, engine /end3in
/,copy / kopi /, ate / et /, wretch / ret∫ /, fact / fakt /, catch /
kat∫ /, action / ak∫∂n / pencil / pensl /, leisure / le3∂ /, build /
bild /, match / mat∫ /, office / ofis /, offer / of ∂ /, wrong / roŋ
/, lock / lok /, olive / oliv /, lodge / lod3/, woman / wum∂n /, could
/ kud /, wool / wul /, foot / fut / , sugar / ∫ug∂ /, want / wont /,
what / wot /, won /w Ʌn /, ton / tɅ n luck /lɅ k /, hut / h Ʌ t /, mud
/ m Ʌ d /, drug / drɅ g /, bud / bɅ d /, much / mɅ t∫ /, does / dɅ z /
gentleman / d3entlm∂ n /, possible / pos∂ bl /, oblidge / ∂ blaid3 /,
supply /s∂plai/, doctor /dokt∂ /, famous / feim∂ s /, color / kɅ l∂ /,
picture / pikt∫∂ /, flood /flɅd/, month / mɅ nӨ young / jɅŋ /, gone /
gon /, jealous / d3el∂ s /, mirror / mir∂ /, ugly / Ʌgli /, never /
nev ∂/ , ahead / ∂ hed / .