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Part 3
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Part 3
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The second aspect of vowel classification that you will be introduced to is that of tongue backness. Vowels are classified in terms of how far the raised body of the tongue is from the back of the mouth, which is called the backness of the tongue.
There are three primary height distinctions among vowels: front, back, and central.
In English, examples of front vowels are 
, 
, [e], 
, 
. These vowels are articulated relatively forward in the mouth. Examples of back vowels are 
, 
, 
, 
. These vowels are articulated relatively far back in the mouth.. Examples of central vowels are 
, 
. These are vowels whose tongue positions are roughly between the front and back vowels.
These classifications, like the tongue heights, are quite relative, as different languages have different canonical tongue backnesses for different classifications.
As illustration of tongue backness, observe the following diagrams for the vowels , .
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As you can see from the diagrams, the articulation of the front vowel is much farther forward than that for the back vowel .
In the next section, you will be introduced to the classification of vowels in terms of lip rounding.
© 2001 The Language Samples Project