Three factors for the description of English vowels
I. The height of the body of the tongue –
highest point of tongue (vertical axis);
II. The front-back position of the tongue –
highest point of tongue (horizontal axis);
III. The degree of lip rounding - lip posture
The height of the body of the tongue
THE FRONT-BACK POSITION OF THE TONGUE
DESCRIPTION OF THE VOWELS
Front & Central Vowels
/:/ high, front, unrounded vowel
// lower high, front, unrounded vowel
/e/ mid, front, unrounded vowel
/æ/ low, front, unrounded vowel
/:/ mid, central, unrounded vowel
/ə/ mid, central, unrounded vowel
Back Vowels
Back Vowels
/:/ low, back, unrounded vowel
// low, back, rounded vowel
/:/ mid-low, back, rounded vowel
/u/ lower high, back, rounded vowel
/u:/ high, back, rounded vowel
// lower mid, back, unrounded vowel
UNIT 8: WORD STRESS
English is a stress timed language
The English language is often referred to as stress-timed. Stress in a spoken sentence occurs at regular intervals and the time to say something depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the number of syllables itself.
