THE VOWEL SYSTEM

THE VOWEL SYSTEM

1. 3.1 Vowels

   • It is not a consonant
   • There are 3 types of vowels:
     • Short Vowels
     • Long Vowels
     • Diphtongs
     • A fourth could be triphtongs
   • Cardinal vowels as a point of reference
     • Close and open: These terms refer exclusively to the distance of the tongue from the roof of the mouth.
     • Front and back: These terms refer not to the mouth but to the tongue.
     • Lip posture or position: There are 3 positions.
       • Rounded lips; produce sounds like cardinal vowel 8 (u).
       • Spread lips; like a big smile, produce sounds like cardinal 1 (i).
       • Neutral lips; Partly accounts for the difficulty they have in producing weak sounds successfully.

2. 3.2 The concept of "weakness" in English

   • Schwa:From the Hebrew "shwa" (meaning "emptiness").
     • Weakness in english is also connected to the theme of phonology.
       • The implications of weakness for the way in which we place stress in english sentences are many.
         • The existence of Schwa brings about a situation in which we can describe English as a "stress-timed" language and Spanish as a "syllable-timed" language.

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