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1.The English vowel phonemes are divided onto two large groups: monophthongs and diphthongs.
A monophthong is a pure(unchanging) vowel sound. In its pronunciation the organs of speech do not change their position throughout the duration of the vowel. [i],[e],[æ],[?],[u],[ʌ],[ə],[α:], [ç:]
A diphthong is a complex sound consisting of two vowel elements pronounced so as to form a single syllable. In the pronunciation of a diphthong the organs of speech start in the position of one vowel and glide in the direction of another vowel. The first element of an English diphthong is called the nucleus. It is strong, clear and distinct. The second element is rather weak. It is called glide.
There are 8 diphthongs. There are two vowels in English ([i:] and [u:]) which may have a diphthongal pronunciation. These vowels are called diphthongized vowels, or diphthongoids. Thus the English monophthongs may be classified according to the following principles:
I .According to the tongue position
II. According to the lip position
III. According to the length of the vowel
IV. According to the degree of tenseness.
I) According to the tongue position
1)According to the horizontal movement of the tongue( the position of the bulk of the tongue) vowels are divided into five groups:
a) front b) front-retracted c) central d) back e) back-advanced.2) According to the vertical movement of the tongue (the height of the raised part of the tongue) vowels are divided into three groups:
A) close or high vowels B) open or low vowels C) mid-open or mid vowels.According to the horizontal movement of the tongue.
- Front vowels are those which are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate, forming a large empty space in the back part of the mouth. The English front vowels are [i:], [e], [æ] and the nucleus of [εə]. Russian front vowels are [è], and [ý].
- Front-retracted vowels are those which are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the front part of the mouth, but some retracted. The front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate. There is only one front-retracted monophthong in English: [i]. The nuclei of the diphthongs [ai] and [au] are also front-retracted. There are no front-retracted vowels in Russian.
- Central vowels are those in which the central part of the tongue is raised towards. The junction is between the hard and soft palate. English central vowels are [ʌ], [ç:], [ə] and the nucleus of [ou]. The Russian central vowels are [û] and [A].
- Back vowels are those which are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the back part of the mouth. The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate, forming an empty space in the front part of the mouth. The English back vowels are [?], [ :], [u:] and the nucleus of the diphthong [ ɔi ]. The Russian back vowels are [o], [ó].
- Back-advanced vowels are those which are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the back part of the mouth but some advanced. The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the front part of the soft palate. The English back-advanced vowels are [α ],[ʋ]. There are no back-advanced vowels in Russian.
According to the vertical movement of the tongue (the height of the raised part of the tongue) vowels are divided into three groups:
A) close or high vowels B) open or low vowels C) mid-open or mid vowels.
A) Close (high) vowels are those which are produced when one of the parts of the tongue comes close to the roof of the of the mouth and the air-passage
is narrowed.
The English close or high vowels are [i],[i:], [u:].
The Russian close vowels are [è], [û], [y].
B) Open (low) vowels are those which are produced when the raised part of the tongue is very low in the mouth and the air-passage is very wide.
The English open or low vowels are [æ], [α:], [?], [ʌ]. And the nuclei of [ai],[aʋ]
The only open vowel in Russian is [a].
C) Mid-open (mid) vowels are those which are produced when the raised part of the tongue is half-way between its high and low positions.
The English mid-open or mid vowels are [e], [ç:], [ə], [ o:] and the nuclei of [εə], [oʋ].
The Russian mid-open vowels are [ý], [o].
Each of the these three main tongue-positions (high, mid, low) has tow variations: narrow and broad.
II. According to the lip position vowels may be rounded and unrounded.
Rounded vowels are produced when the lips are more or less rounded. The English rounded vowels are [?], [o:], [ʋ],[u:] and the nuclei of [o?], [oi]
The Russian rounded vowels are [y], [o].
The Russian unrounded vowels are [ý], [è], [a], [û].
III. According to the degree of tenseness vowels are divided into tense and lax.
Tense vowels are produced when the organs of speech are tense.
All the English short vowels are tense: [i:],[α:], [u:],[?:],[ç:]
Lax vowels are those which produced with lesser tenseness of the speech organs.
All the English short vowels are lax, [i],[e],[æ],[ʋ],[α],[ʌ],[ə].
In addition to the above principals, the English vowels are also classified according to the character of their end. From this point of view they may be:
checked and unchecked.
a)The English short vowels under stress are checked. So are the English long vowels and diphthongs when followed by voiceless consonants
E.g: bed [bed],not [nαt], pull [pʋl], speak [spi:k], type [taip].
b) Unchecked vowels are those which pronounced with lessening the force of utterance towards their end. They have a weak end. The English long vowels and
diphthongs when stressed both in open and in closed syllables followed by voiced consonants are unchecked. The same is true of all the English unstressed
vowels no matter whether long or short
E.g: free [fri:], time[taim], attitude [ætitu:d], window[windoʋ], city [siti].
The English vowel phonemes are not differentiated according to the position of the soft palate. They are all oral. In the pronunciation of any English
vowel the soft palate is always raised and the entire volume of air passes out through the mouth cavity.
IV. According to the length vowels may be long and short.
The following English vowels may be describe as long: [i:], [a:], [o:], [u:], [ç:].
The following English vowels may be describe as short: [i], [e], [ə],[][ʌ], [ʋ], [æ].