Vowels Case Essay Example for Free

Vowels model EssaySpeech sounds stomach be classified and depict in articulatory, acoustic and auditory price. On the basis of these terms the cardinal broad categories in which the speech sounds in any language can be classified are vowels and harmoniseds. Consonants are best described in articulatory terms because in that location is some type of colony or narrowing of the air passage to the extent that thither is audible friction during the production of that sound. But in case of the production of vowels as there is no closure and no narrowing of the air passage to the extent that it may produce audible friction some(prenominal) articulatory and auditory terms are used to describe and classify them. In Phonetic terms vowels are speech sounds in the production of which there is no obstruction or closure and no narrowing of a degree that would cause audible friction in the pharynx and the mouth.Vowels are fundamentally a tone issuing from the glotis with the voca l chords vibrating. Classification and description of vowels becomes difficult due to the fact that the specialisation of one vowel from another arises because of the modification in the shape and size of the resonating chambers, that is the pharyngeal cavity, bony cavity and the mouth. Soft Palate, the lips and the tongue are responsible for this modification. Thus, just as any description of consonant sounds should reveal the sic of vocal cords, place of articulation and manner of articulation, similarly any description of vowel sounds describe1. the locating of the soft palate raised (oral) or lowered (nasalized).2. The shape of the lips 1i. Unrounded spread, neutral, surfaceii. Rounded open and close3. The shape of the tonguei. which part of the tongue is raised front, central and back. ii. How senior high is the part of the tongue is raised close, half close, half open and open. The position of the soft palate is judged by auditory perception. The shape of the lips c an be observed by the eye and therefore described in articulatory terms. But the shape and position of the tongue changes so minutely that it is very difficult to savor these changes. So most of the positions of the tongue are judged by auditory perception only.Cardinal VowelsThus it is distinctly that a finer and more independent schema of description is needed on the auditory and articulatory levels. The most satisfactory scheme was devised by Daniel Jones and is known as the Cardinal Vowel system. The basis of the system is physiological. The vowel sounds were produced with the tongue in certain easily felt position. The front of the tongue was raised as close as possible to the palate without causing friction and the sound produced was that of the cardinal vowel i . Starting from the i , the front of the tongue was lowered gradually, the lips remained in the spread or the open position and the soft palate was in raised position. The lowering of the tongue was halted at th ree points at which the vowel qualities seemed to be equi-distant from the auditory point of view.These three tongue positions were x-rayed and it was found that these three points were almost equi-distant from a spacial point of view. The symbols assigned to these three positions were e, , a . The same procedure was applied to the vowels which are produced by peak the back of the tongue. The sound produced when the whole of the tongue was as low as possible with a minute raising at the back of the tongue was termed as the cardinal vowel . The lips were changed progressively from a long open shape to closely rounded one and the soft palate remained in the raised position. formerly again three auditorily and spatially equi-distant points were found. These points were were assigned the symbols , o, u . Thus a scale of eight primal cardinal vowels was set up. They were de observe by the following numbers and symbols 1, i 2, e 3, 4, a 5, 6, 7, o 8, u. The useful ness of Cardinal VowelsSuch a scale is useful becausea. these cardinal vowel sounds are unrelated to particular values in languages, though they may occur in various languages, and b. the set of cardinal vowels is recorded so that reference may always be made to a standard. A vowel sound may be described as being similar to a particular cardinal vowel. These cardinal vowels can be represent diagrammatically. A vowel diagram is obtained by plotting the highest point of tongue raising for each of the primary cardinal vowels and joining the points together. The internal triangle, corresponding to the region of central vowel sounds, is made by dividing the top tenor into three approximately equal sections and drawing lines parallel to the two sides so that they meet near the stem turn of the figure.C i C uC e C o C C C a C Monophthongs and DiphthongsThere are twenty vowel sounds in RP. These vowel sounds can be divided into two types monophthongs and diphthongs on the bas is of whether the quality the vowel sound changes during their production or not. Vowel sounds, during the production of which there is no considerable and volunteer(prenominal) change in the quality of the sound are called monophthongs or handsome vowels. For example, the vowel sound / I / in pin. They are represented by thick dots in the vowel diagram. There are 12 monophthongs in RP. Similarly, vowel sound, during the production of which there is considerable and voluntary change in the quality of the sound is called diphthongs or gliding vowel. For example the / aI / sound in pine. (Explain). They are represented by arrows in the vowel diagram indicating the starting point and the flush in which the quality change, corresponding to the movement of the tongue, is made. There are 8 diphthongs in RP.It should be noted that a diphthong is not the same thing as a sequence of two monophthongs. The diphthong occupies one syllable piece a sequence of two monophthongs is spread over two syllables. Example soil, sawing. During the description of a diphthong we hold up to describe the lip position and the tongue position at the starting point and the lip position and the tongue position after it has glided in a particular direction.