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Unit 5: Classification of Speech Sounds: Vowels, Consonants-General Introduction

So vocoids are normally classified according to these three criteria: tongue-height (high, mid, low, Notes
or close, half-open and open); tongue advancement (front, central, back); and lip-rounding
(rounded and unrounded).
In order to describe the vowels, we usually draw three points in the horizontal axes: front, central
and back, referring to the part of the tongue which is the highest. So we have
1. front vowels, during the production of which the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard
palate. For example, /i, i:, e:, a/ in Hindi, and /i, i:, e, æ / in English as in sit, seat, set, and
sat respectively.
2. back vowels, during the production of which the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft
palate. For example /o:,u, u:/ in Hindi, and/ a:, , :, u, u:/ in English as in cart, cot, caught,
book and tool respectively.
3. central vowels, during the production of which the central part of the tongue (the part between
the front and the back) is raised. For example, / / in Hindi, and/ , :, Λ / in English as in
about, earth and but respectively.
e
e
e
On the vertical axis we usually draw four points: close, half-close, half-open, and open. They are
also referred to as high, high mid, mid (middle), low mid, and low by some phoneticians, especially
the American phoneticians. On the basis of the vertical axes we have the following types of the
vowels.
A close vowel is one for which the tongue is as close to the roof of mouth as possible. For example,
/i:/ in sea and /u:/in zoo.
An open vowel is one which is produced with the tongue as low as possible and the jaws are wide
open. For example, /a:/ in card and / /in hot.
The two intermediate points—half-close and half-open—are obtained by dividing the distance
between the two extreme positions into three equal points. These are customarily represented in
the following manner.
FRONT CENTRAL BACK
CLOSE i [u]
1 8
[ ]
2 7
HALF-CLOSE e [ ] [o]
3 6
HALF-OPEN [ ] c
OPEN [ ] æ 4 5 [a]
THE PRIMARY CARDINAL VOWELS

Figure 5.1
The above figure represents the Primary Cardinal Vowels on the horizontal and vertical lines
suggested by Daniel Jones. These cardinal vowels do not exist in any language in this form, but
are phonetic hypotheses meant to facilitate the description of vowels.
As regards lip-rounding, in British R.P., .... front and central vowels are automatically unrounded
and back vowels (except /a:/) are automatically rounded. So this distinction is omitted by some
phoneticians, but some others still maintain it.
We can describe a vowel by using a three-term label, indicating the height, the direction
(advancement) of the tongue, and the position of the lips. For example.
1. /a:/ in the English word arm, back, open, unrounded vowel.
2. / / in the English word hot, back open, rounded vowel.
3. /i:/ in the English word need, front, close, unrounded vowel.
4. /u/ in the English word, tooth, back, close, rounded vowel.

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