LIN228H1 Lecture Notes - Diphthong, Monophthong, General American
Document Summary
Vowels are described in terms of height, backness, and rounding. Backness: front, central, or back rounding: rounded or unrounded (all of the non-low back vowels are rounded in english) Diphthongs consist of a sequence of a simple vowel and a glide. Diphthongs: front central central back u back ow. J i high mid low i ej ej. [ j] [ w] aj aw beat bit bait bet. Vowels in english are also distinguished according to whether they are tense or lax. The terms tense and lax do not refer to a consistent phonetic property but rather are used to label sets of vowels that behave differently with respect to the phonology of english. Lax vowels: i, ej, aj, aw, u, ow, , j. Tense vowels can occur in open (ending in __________________ ) or closed syllables (ending in ____________________). Lax vowels can only occur in closed syllables. It is a lax vowel which can occur in open syllables.
