Topic: Principles of classification of vowels; Principal features of vowels Level: Intermediate Materials

Activity 2

1. 
   According to the position of the tongue
   

In the vowel production the tongue may move in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction.According to the position of the bulk of the tongue (or the horizontal movement of the tongue) vowels are divided into five groups:

1. 
   Front [ i:,e:, æ ]
   
2. 
   Front - retracted [ i ]
   
3. 
   Central [ ʌ ,ә:,ә ]
   
4. 
   Back [ u:, з:, ә ]
   
5. 
   Back-advanced [ a:,u ]
   

According to the height of the raised part of the tongue (or the vertical movement of the tongue) vowels are divided into three groups:

1. 
   High [i:,u:,u,i]
   
2. 
   Low [a, ә , ʌ , æ ]
   
3. 
   Mid [e, ә:, ә, ɔ:]
   

II. According to the position of the lips the vowels may be:

1. 
   Rounded [ u, u:, ɔ:, ɔ]
   
2. 
   Unrounded [ i:, i, e, a:, ʌ, æ, ә:, ә ]
   

III. According to their length the vowels may be:

1. 
   Long [ i:, a:, u:, ɔ:, ә: ]
   
2. 
   Short [ e, u, i, ɔ, ʌ, æ, ә ]
   

IV. According to the degree of tenseness the vowels may be:

1. 
   Tense [ i:,а:,u:, ɔ:, ә: ] when they are produced, the organs of speech are tense.
   
2. 
   Lax [ i, e, u, ɔ, ʌ, æ, ә] when they are produced the organs of speech are not tense.
   

Activity 3
Procedure: Students make practice the classification of vowels
Handout 3 Describe the mentioned vowel from its articulatory-acustic point of view..

1. 
   /i/ - /i:/ 3. /a:/ - /ʌ/ 5. /ɔ/ - /ɔ:/
   
2. 
   /e/ - /æ/ 4. /з:/ - /ә/ 6. /u/ - /u:/
   
1. 
   Home task: learning the articulatory – acustic features or vowels
   

.Glossary

1.