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Chp.5. Vowel Sounds

The document discusses different vowel sounds and their articulation in the mouth. It introduces cardinal vowels and describes their tongue positions. Diagrams are included to illustrate the vowel space and positions of different cardinal vowels. Both primary and secondary cardinal vowels are defined.

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Saif Ur Rahman
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32 views7 pages

Chp.5. Vowel Sounds

The document discusses different vowel sounds and their articulation in the mouth. It introduces cardinal vowels and describes their tongue positions. Diagrams are included to illustrate the vowel space and positions of different cardinal vowels. Both primary and secondary cardinal vowels are defined.

Uploaded by

Saif Ur Rahman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VOWEL SOUNDS

CARDINAL VOWELS
1. Introduction:

The main difference between vowels and consonants lies in airflow: vowels have no obstruction in
the mouth, unlike consonants. An analogy with musical instruments helps understand vowels.
Different-sized recorders produce varied sound qualities. Similarly, vowels differ only in sound
quality, like the sounds of different recorders.

The mouth acts as the instrument for producing vowels. By manipulating the tongue's position
relative to the roof of the mouth, we create different tube sizes, each producing a different vowel
sound. The mouth's flexibility, particularly with the movement of the tongue, allows for the
creation of various vowel sounds despite its rigid structure.

2. The Two Basic Cardinal Vowels:

Cardinal vowels are artificial, made following articulatory instructions, and may differ slightly
from actual language use. Vowels tend to have more variation in articulation across languages,
dialects, and idiolects.

Daniel Jones developed a chart in the early 1900s to plot vowels similar to cardinal points in
nature. Two basic cardinal vowels are "ah" ([a]) and "ee" ([i]). "Ah" ([a]) is articulated with the
tongue pulled back and lowered, while "ee" ([i]) is with the tongue high and forward. Lip position
plays a role in vowel articulation.

These cardinal vowels serve as reference points to define other vowels. The "ah" sound, like in
"spa" or "father," involves an open mouth and a low tongue, allowing the doctor to examine the
throat without obstruction.

3. The Four Corner Primary Cardinal Vowels: Two Axial Parameters


Diagram 1: The Vowel Space (Figure 5.1)
Diagram 1 illustrates the vowel space, showing the confined volume within which vowels are
articulated. Represents the confined volume within the mouth and between the tongue and roof of
the mouth. Geometrically shows the available space for vowel articulation. The left-facing vowel
space indicates the area where vowel articulation occurs.

Diagram 2: Tongue Positions and Tube Sizes (Figure 5.2)


 Demonstrates how different tongue positions result in varying tube sizes for airflow
 Each tongue position creates a different size and shape of the tube, affecting the resulting
vowel sound.

Diagram 3: The Two Basic Cardinal Vowels (Figure 5.3):


 Plots the basic cardinal vowels [i] and [a] within the vowel space.
 The blob in the top left represents [i], and the blob in the low right represents [a].
 Illustrates the positions of these two vowels in the vowel space.
Diagram 4: The Four Corner Cardinal Vowels (Figure 5.5):
 Shows the primary cardinal vowels [i], [u], [a], and [a] plotted in the four corners of the
vowel space.
 Top left: [i], top right: [u], bottom left: [a], bottom right: [α].
 Provides a visual representation of the positions of these primary cardinal vowels within
the vowel space.
Four Perceptually Intermediate Primary Cardinal Vowels:
The Roundness Parameter
4. Four Perceptually Intermediate Primary Cardinal Vowels:
The Roundness Parameter
The cardinal vowels are theoretical representations, not perfectly matching real vowels. French
vowels are closer to cardinal vowels than English, seen in "sea" ([i]) and "shoe" ([u]) in English
vs. "si" ([si]) and "chou" ([ʃu]) in French. Despite both being [si] and [ʃu] in IPA, there are subtle
differences. This shows French vowels align more with cardinal vowels than English, which vary
widely.
English accents also vary, especially in vowels. Cardinal vowels are like imperfect straight lines,
representing theory vs. reality. IPA uses diacritics for deviations, but they're sparingly used due
to complexity. For instance, "sea" and "shoe" are often transcribed as [i] and [u] despite
differences. French vowels, closer to cardinal vowels 1 and 8, are slightly closer than common
English vowels.
5. Some Vowel Typology:
The Basic Vowel Triangle
The primary cardinal vowels consist of eight, with four fundamentals. Not all languages use all;
some, like North Caucasian, have two with many variations. The common system has three: [i],
[u], and a central low vowel between [a] and [α].
There is no specific IPA symbol for the central low vowel, often written as [a]. To address this,
[æ] (the ash) is proposed for cardinal vowel no. 4, seen in Yorkshire "hat" or eastern New
England "heart." This change allows [a] to represent the central low vowel in Scottish "hat."
To address this, [æ] (known as "the ash") is proposed for cardinal vowel no. 4, representing the
vowel in words like Yorkshire "hat" or eastern New England "heart." This change allows [a] to
represent the central low vowel found in Scottish "hat. “

The basic vowels [i], [æ], [u] are distinct: [i] and [u] are high, [æ] is low; [i] is front, [u] is back,
and [æ] is central; [i] has spread lips, [u] have rounded lips, and [æ] has neutral lips. When
systems have more than three vowels, they add intermediate vowels to form the five-member
vowel triangle: i e ae o u Here, [e] and [o] are between [i]-[æ] and [u]-[æ], but these
symbols can be misleading as they don't precisely represent the sounds.
6. Quantum Vowels

The vowels [a], [i], and [u] are called QUANTUM VOWELS because they can be pronounced
over a wide range without significantly changing how they are perceived. This isn't because
they're easy to pronounce—they require extreme tongue and lip positions. Instead, it's because
their sound quality stays relatively consistent even with slight articulation changes.
For instance, while [i] requires the tongue to move extremely forward and up, a more relaxed
position still sounds like [i]. This stable sound quality lets these vowels be broadly identified as
[a], [i], and [u], despite articulation differences.
The term QUANTUM VOWELS emphasizes the "quantum leap" in perception between these
vowels, where slight variations are heard as nuances or accents. This relates to the complex link
between oral cavity size and resulting sound, a concept in acoustic physics.
7. Secondary Cardinal Vowels:
Front Round Vowels
Secondary Cardinal Vowels, also known as front round vowels, are a set of vowels that are
produced by deliberately reversing the normal action of the lips from the primary cardinal
vowels. These secondary vowels result in a doubling of the vowel inventory, expanding it from
eight to sixteen members.

 [y] - This is a front high round vowel, corresponding to the primary cardinal vowel [i]. It
is transcribed as [y] in French (e.g., rue [by] 'street') and as [fy] in German (e.g., früh [fy]
'early'). Some English learners of French and German may mistakenly replace [y] with
the English vowel in "cue," which contains elements of both [i] and [u].
 [@] ([ø] in America) - This is the round counterpart of [e], a front mid vowel. It appears
in French (e.g., feu [fø] 'fire') and German (e.g., schön [ʃøn] 'beautiful'). Monolingual
English speakers might struggle with this sound and may replace it with an unround
central vowel.
 [œ] ([œ] in America) - This is the round counterpart of [ɛ], a front mid-low vowel. It
exists in French (e.g., cœur [kœʁ] 'heart') and German (e.g., zwölf [tsvœlf] 'twelve’).
 [ɶ] - This is the round counterpart of [æ], a front low vowel. It is quite rare among
languages, reported to exist in a Bavarian dialect of Austria.
8. Back Secondary Cardinal Vowels
Key Points:
The diagram illustrates the primary and secondary back cardinal vowels. Secondary vowels (in
brackets) are represented with their IPA symbols. Secondary cardinal vowels are distinguished by
their rounded articulation. The diagram provides a visual reference for the placement of these
vowels in the vowel space, showing the tongue position and lip rounding for each vowel.

 [i] - High front unrounded vowel


 [y] - High front rounded vowel (Secondary Cardinal Vowel)
 The [y] vowel is pronounced with a high tongue position like [i] but with rounded lips,
creating a different sound.
 [e] - Mid-high front unrounded vowel
 [ɛ] - Mid front unrounded vowel
 [œ] - Mid front rounded vowel (Secondary Cardinal Vowel)
 The [œ] vowel is positioned between [e] and [ɔ], combining the mid height of [e] with
rounded lips like [ɔ].
 [a] - Low front unrounded vowel
 [ʌ] - Low back rounded vowel (Secondary Cardinal Vowel)
 The [ʌ] vowel is a low back vowel with rounded lips, contrasting with the low front
unrounded [a].
 [ɑ] - Low back unrounded vowel
 [ɤ] - Mid-high back unrounded vowel (Secondary Cardinal Vowel)
 The [ɤ] vowel is positioned between [ɑ] and [ɔ], combining the mid-high height of [ɔ]
with an unrounded back articulation.
 [ɔ] - Mid back rounded vowel
 [ɯ] - High back unrounded vowel (Secondary Cardinal Vowel)
 The [ɯ] vowel is a high back vowel with an unrounded articulation, contrasting with the
rounded [ɔ].
9. Central Vowel
Key Points:
The diagram illustrates the central vowels in the IPA chart. Central vowels are neither front nor
back, and they have a neutral tongue position. [ə] (Schwa) is the most common vowel sound in
the world's languages. The diagram provides a visual reference for the placement of these central
vowels in the vowel space, showing the tongue position for each vowel.

 [i] - High front unrounded vowel


 [ɪ] - High central unrounded vowel
 The [ɪ] vowel is a high central vowel, not quite as front as [i] but still unrounded.
 [e] - Mid-high front unrounded vowel
 [ɛ] - Mid front unrounded vowel
 [ə] - Mid central unrounded vowel (Schwa)
 The [ə] vowel is a neutral, central vowel, often called "schwa." It's the most common
vowel sound in many languages.
 [a] - Low front unrounded vowel
 [ɐ] - Low central unrounded vowel
 The [ɐ] vowel is a low central vowel, similar to [a] but more central in the mouth.
 [ɑ] - Low back unrounded vowel
 [ʌ] - Low central unrounded vowel
 The [ʌ] vowel is a low central vowel, contrasting with [ɑ] which is a low back vowel.

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