Lecturer: Ms Y. Chorfi 			Sétif-2- University 		1st Year Classes 	2017-2018

4. Vowels of English / ˈvaʊəlz  əv ˈɪŋglɪʃ /
	Introduction The word vowel is originated from Latin “vocalis”   vocal. Put it simply, vowels as opposed to consonants are produced without an obstruction of the air stream which makes the distinction between vowels quite difficult. To distinguish vowels, the only criterion that could be relied on is the manner in which they are articulated, for neither voicing nor length is a reliable criterion. Apart from being oral, the different manners of vowel articulations involve slight movements of the tongue and the lips. 
4.1 Manner of articulation 
	Tongue and lip movements result in varying shapes of the mouth, which can be described in terms of ( 1 ) closeness /openness, (2) frontness/backness, and (3) the shape of the lips. These are the three criteria for the description of vowel phonemes. 
	a. Closeness /openness or tongue height refers to the distance between the tongue and the hard palate and consequently to the position of the lower jaw. If the tongue is high, it is close to the palate and so the vowel is a close vowel like the one in the word bee. If the tongue is low, the distance that separates it from the palate is much greater and the vowel is open like in the word startling. Other than being close and open, the vowels could be mid-open if the tongue is a bit higher than low like the one in the word apple, and if the tongue is a bit lower than high; the resultant sound is a mid-close vowel like the one in the word fish. The vowel that is made with a tongue height somewhere between mid-high and mid-low is simply called a mid vowel like the one in the word egg. The terms close and open in the British phonology refer to high and low in the American one. 
	b. Frontness / backness refers to the part of the tongue that is raised highest. If the front of the tongue is high, as in bee, the vowel is front. If the back of the tongue is raised highest, as in the middle sound of the word goose, the vowel is back. Between the front and the back, if the centre is highest, like in the second sound of the word bird, the resultant sound is a central vowel.
	c. The shape of the lips they can be either spread, neutral, or round. The spreading of lips usually correlates with frontness, and lip-rounding with backness. Thus, this criterion is not regarded as important because vowels in English do not differ only in the shape of the lips.  
	Given this, there are only two distinctive features for vowel description in English: closeness / openness and frontness / backness.  
4.2. English Vowels Phonetic Description
	In RP and most English accents, there are 12 vowel phonemes; 5 are typically long, and 7 are short. 
	a. Long vowels IPA symbols for long vowels are followed by length mark made of two vertical dots ː
-/iː/ it’s a close /kləʊs/ front vowel, for the front of the tongue is raised to the palate, and the lips are slightly spread. It’s the last sound in the word bee.
-/ɜː/ it’s a mid central vowel, as the centre of the tongue is raised between mid-close and mid-open position, and the lips are in neutral shape.  It is well known as a hesitation sound and spelled as er; it’s the medial sound in bird. 
-/ɑː/ it’s an open central-back vowel, as the part of the tongue between the centre and the back is lowered to fully open position, and the lips are in neutral position. 
-/ɔː/ it’s a mid back vowel. The back of the tongue is raised between mid-close and mid-open position, and the lips are rounded. It’s the medial sound in horse. 
-/uː/ it’s a close back vowel. The back of the tongue is raised that it almost touches the palate, and the lips are moderately rounded. It’s medial in the word goose. 
	b. Short vowels 
-/ɪ/ it’s a mid-close front-central vowel. The part of the tongue between the front and the centre is raised to just above the mid-close position, and the lips are slightly spread. It’s the medial sound in fish. 
-/e/ it’s a mid front vowel. The front of the tongue is raised between mid-close and mid-open position, and the lips are slightly spread. It’s word initial in egg. 
-/æ/ it’s an open front vowel. The front of the tongue is raised between mid-open and fully open position, and the lips are slightly spread. It’s word initial in apple.
-/ʌ/ it’s a mid-open central vowel. The centre of the tongue is raised between mid-open and fully open position, and the lips are in neutral shape. It’s the second sound in butter.  
-/ɒ/ it’s an open back vowel. The back of the tongue is lowered to almost fully open position, and the lips are slightly rounded. It’s word initial in olive. It’s a vowel which does not exist in GA (Genral American), and it is replaced with the long open central vowel / ɑː /. 
-/ʊ/ it’s a mid-close central-back vowel. The part of the tongue between the centre and the back is raised to just above the mid-close position, and the lips are rounded. It’s the second sound in put. 
-/ə/ it’s a mid central vowel. The centre of the tongue is raised between mid-close and mid-open position, and the lips are in a neutral shape. It’s the third sound in spaghetti, the first in ago and the final in mother. 
This last vowel is called schwa; a term that comes originally from Hebrew, which means emptiness. Schwa is articulated in practically the same manner as the long vowel /ɜː/.  
-The vowel chart 
	Vowel symbols are arranged on a quadrilateral chart known as vowel chart or vowel diagram. The shape reflects roughly the space in the centre of the mouth. The horizontal lines represent the openness and closeness of the vowels. The higher the symbol, the closer the tongue is to the hard palate; the lower