English vowels

Vowels are normally made with the air stream that meets no closure or narrowing in the mouth, pharyngal and nasal cavities. That is why in the production of vowel sounds there is no noise component characteristic of consonantal sounds.

On the articulatory level the description of vowels notes changes:

ü In the stability of articulation,

ü In the tongue position,

ü In the lip position,

ü In the character of the vowel end,

ü In respect of their length.

Stability of Articulation.

All English vowels are divided into three groups: pure vowels or monophthongs and diphthongs.

Monophthongs are vowels the articulation of which is almost unchanging. The quality of such vowels is relatively pure.

In the pronunciation of diphthongs the organs of speech glide from one vowel position to another within one syllable. The starting point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct. The glide which shows the direction of the quality change is very weak. In fact diphthongs consist of two clearly perceptible vowel elements.

Russian phonetician M.A. Sokolova distinguishes the third type of English vowels - diphthongoids. In the pronunciation of diphthongoids the articulation is slightly changing but the difference between the starting point and the end is not so distinct as it is in the case of diphthongs. There are two diphthongoids in English: [i:, u:].