The English Vowel System

The vowel is a speech sound in the production of which the air stream coming out of the lungs meets no obstruction on its way.

The English vowel system consists of 20 vowel phonemes, which can be classified according to the following principles:

1. According to the stability of articulation we distinguish 12 monophthongs (2 diphthongoids among them) and 8 diphthongs.

2. According to the position of the bulk of the tongue we distinguish:

• front vowels with: the fully front /, , / and the front-retracted //;

• central vowels /, , /;

• back vowels with: the back advanced /, / and the fully back /, , /.

3. According to the tongue-height we distinguish:

• high: narrow /, / and broad /, /:

• mid: narrow /, / and broad /, /;

• low: narrow // and broad /, , /

4. According to the duration (length) we distinguish long and short vowel phonemes.

5. According to the degree of muscular tension we classify them into tense (all long vowels) and lax (all short vowels).

6. According to the lip position they are distinguished as labialised (rounded) and non-labialised (unrounded).

The Chart of English Vowel Phonemes

		Front	Front- retracted	Central	Back advanced	Back
High	narrow					
	broad				
Mid	narrow			
	broad					
Low	narrow			
	broad					

English Monophthongs

The monophthong is a vowel in the production of which the organs of speech do not change their position throughout the whole duration of a vowel.

1. All English front vowels have the following features in common.

1. The bulk of the tongue is pushed forward.

2. Its front is raised in the direction of the hard palate.

3. The tongue-tip is placed at the lower teeth.

2. All the back vowels are characterized by the following common features.

1. The bulk of the tongue is pushed backward.

2. Its back is raised in the direction of the soft palate to different heights (high, mid, low).

3. The tongue-tip is drawn from the teeth /, /.

4. The lips are rounded, except for // and //.

3. The central vowels have the following features in common.

1. The front and the blade of the tongue are equally raised. They are neither pushed forward nor retracted, occupying an intermediate position.

2. The tongue-tip is at the lower teeth.

3. The lips are spread for // or neutral for //.

English Diphthongs

The diphthong is a monophonemic combination of two vowel elements with gliding articulation.

The stressed element of a diphthong (which is always the first one in English) is called the nucleus, the second one is called the glide.

There are eight diphthongs in English. According to the type of nucleus they fall into three groups:

• front diphthongs /, , , , /;

• central diphthongs //

• back diphthongs /, /.

According to the type of glide they are grouped into:

1. // gliding diphthongs: /, , /.

2. // gliding diphthongs: /, , /.

3. // gliding diphthongs: /, /.

NOTE. The sequences // and // are biphonemic combination of a diphthong and the neutral //. The glide in them is very indistinct, e. g. In an hour. The Tower of London.

But the possessive pronoun ‘our’ is monophonemic, e. g. In our ِcountry.