phonetics

Classification of vowels
Vowels are classified in terms of:
1. the height of the bulk of the tongue in the mouth
2. the front/back position of the tongue in the mouth
3. the degree of lip-rounding
4. the length of vowels


Number of vowels
There are 20 vowels:
12 single vowels (or monothongs) and
8 double vowels (or diphthongs).


Monothongs
/ˈm{n{H{Nz/


Front Central Back
High
Low
Middle
Close
Half-close
Half-open
Open
 





 

 
 


 
['vaUl tS¿:t]


Front Central Back
High
Low
Middle
Close
Half-close
Half-open
Open
•
heed
•
hid
•
head
•
had

•
cut
•
hard
•
hot
•
saw
•
shoe
•
put
•
the
•
bird
['vaUl
tS¿:t]


 :


 :













  


  


  


  


   


   


  