Pronunciation and word stress exercises II

Pronunciation and word stress exercises I

Vowels and Consonants

Definition

The terms vowel and consonant refer to the sounds which make up the spoken language.

Vowels are open sounds and consonants are relatively closed.

The idea that English has five vowels - a, e, i, o, and u - is slightly misleading. This statement refers to those letters of the alphabet which can be used to represent some of the many open sounds of the language.

Vowels

A vowel is a sound during which articulation there is not obstruction in the vocal tract. We will classify vowels according to two criteria:

1.
According to the part of the tongue which is raised we have:

FRONT VOWELS: Those during which articulation the front of the tongue is raised

CENTRAL VOWELS: Those during which articulation the tongue is in a relaxed position .

BACK VOWELS: Those during which articulation the back of the tongue is raised.



2.
According to the height of the tongue or jaw we have:

CLOSE VOWELS:Those pronounced with the tongue very close to the palate and the jaw very high.

OPEN VOWELS:Those pronounced with the tongue and the jaw very low.

HALF-CLOSE VOWELS and HALF-OPEN VOWELS are pronounced with the tongue and jaw occupying an intermediate position between the two extreme categories already mentioned.

UNIT ONE