The articulatory aspect of Eng. vowels

Vowels are speech sounds produced without obstructing the flow of air from the lungs, so that the breath stream passes freely through the mouth.

On the articulatory level there are several classifications, according to

1. THE STABILITY OF ARTICULATION

Vowel sounds are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs.

A monophthong consists of only one vowel sound that does not change during its articulation (i, e, 96, u)

A diphthong is a complex vowel sound that consists of two components (ei, ai, oi, au)

A triphthong is a complex vowel sound that consists of three components (our, fire, player)

2. THE TONGUE POSITION

- When the tongue moves forward and backward

front – when the tongue is in the front part of the mouth and the front part of it is raised to the hard palate – i:, e, 96

front-retracted - the tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted (втянут) and the part of the tongue nearer to centre than to front is raised – i

central – the front of the tongue is raised towards the back part of the hard palate – v, з:, з

back – the tongue is in the back part of the mouth and the back of it is raised towards the soft palate – a:, o, o:, u:

back-advanced – the tongue is in the back part of the mouth but is slightly advanced - u

- When the tongue moves up and down

close – the front or the back of the tongue is raised high towards the palate – i:, i, u, u:

open – the front or the back of the tongue is as low as possible in the mouth – 96, a:, o. o:

mid – the highest part of the tongue occupies the position intermediate between the close and the open one – e, v, з:, з

3. LIP POSITION

unrounded – i:, i, e, 96, a:, v, з:, з

rounded – o, o:, u, u:

4. CHARACTER OF VOWEL END

checked – if a vowel is followed by a strong voiceless cons-t – ex, better, cart

free – if a vowel is followed by a weak voiced cons-t – before, begger

5. Vowel length

long – i:, a:, o:, u:, з:

short – i, e, o, u, v, з