Vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as tense vowels

Last UpdatedMarch 5, 2024

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This chapter offers an overview of the consonants of Spanish, focusing on the main phonemes, both in terms of the dialectal variation and phonological processes that affect them. 1: Three categories of vowel height: high as in beat (left), mid as in bet (centre), and low as in bat (right). Separating the sound into its composite vowels yields two distinct vowel sounds: 'ah' and 'eeh'. When singing diphthongs, the first vowel sound is sustained primarily, and the second vowel sound is added at the very last second in order to make the word distinguishable. Tense vowels are articulated with greater muscular effort, slightly higher tongue positions, and longer durations than lax vowels. The word diphthong comes from the Greek word for “two sounds”. Câu 15: Which of the following is the description of the sound /i:/? A. which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel. What are the vowels? There are five English vowels, A, E, I, O, U. Vowels are made without an obstruction in the vocal tract, so they are quite sonorous. Front, central, and back refer to frontness of articulation, which describes the part of the tongue used to pronounce the vowel. These are ʌ, e, ə, ʊ, ɪ, æ, and ɒ. Which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift position during production of the sound? Select all that apply. The tense vowels, when not part of a diphthong, are phonetically long. Here are the best content from the team THPT THU THUA synthesized and compiled from many sources, see more in the category How To. It helps linguists and language learners understand and compare the different vowel sounds in a systematic way. 1 2. which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift Which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel? long a. The horizontal position of the tongue, known as its backness, also affects vowel quality. See full list on ecampusontario. /ā/. A front, short, lax, unrounded vowel C. [+furniture, +legs, +back, +seat, -blankets]. The first part of the sound is the Open syllables are syllables in which the last phonogram is a single letter vowel — therefore, your mouth stays open, because vowels are open sounds. In articulatory phonetics, vowels can be classified according to the position of Tense vowels - Bucknell University Tense vowels Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like A student with general phonological awareness can learn to read fluently, even if the student has not yet developed awareness of speech sounds at the phoneme level. It’s important to note that at first Abstract. Lax vowels are monophthongal and tense vowels are diphthongal. A phoneme is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a given language. For example, the English word through consists of three phonemes: the initial "th" sound, the "r" sound, and a vowel sound. ‘Rabbit May 1, 2024 · Results revealed that the tense−lax vowel difference was generally enhanced in clear relative to plain speech, but clear-speech modifications for tense and lax vowels showed a trade-off in the Short vowels (the most common sound for a single vowel spelling) Other vowels (the remaining vowel sounds) The long vowel sounds are not pronounced for longer time than short vowel sounds! It is important for ESL/ELL/EFL students to realize that the terms "long" and "short" are not describing the length of time a vowel sound is said. English does not allow this sound in the middle of words. e. This is a two-syllable word. 2. These symbols do not always follow the standard IPA A phoneme of a language or dialect is an abstraction of a speech sound or of a group of different sounds that are all perceived to have the same function by speakers of that particular language or dialect. The vowels of SSB are spread more evenly around the vowel space than RP’s were. During the pronunciation of a vowel the tongue may be advanced Within each of these varieties there are many dialects, and their vowels may also differ greatly. Click on the video links to watch a short 3D animation of how each vowel is produced. The most sonorous sound, the peak of sonority, is called the nucleus of a syllable. 6. The r takes over the preceding vowel sound. For example, the sound [u] is described as high, back rounded and tense. oi and ou. Jan 1, 2005 · of the tongue root is the basis of the distinction between the relatively tense -feeling, crisper vowels of beat and bait and the more lax vowels of bit and bet. For most speakers of Canadian English, in the category pets, tarantula is probably: Peripheral. Sometimes, Y can also function as a vowel, but it is not considered a vowel in and of itself. Dec 6, 2023 · Tense vowels are important to understand and master in order to achieve accurate pronunciation in American English. Mar 1, 2024 · Question 8: Which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel? Answer: long a. Vowel, in human speech, sound in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions as a resonance chamber, with minimal obstruction and without audible friction; e. Numerous sounds can be represented by these vowels. Aug 26, 2023 · Long vowel sounds are pronounced the same as the letter name of the vowel, while short vowels are typically shorter and sound different than the letter name. The diphthong written as /ʊə/ represents the same vowel phoneme in both MD and HCE. Question 9: Which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift position during the production of the sound? Select all that apply. [3] At points where two sounds share an intersection, the left is unrounded, and the right is rounded which refers to the shape of the lips while making the sound. LETRS Unit 2 Session 5 Questions and Answers (2022/2023) (Verified Answers)1 /1LETRS Unit 2 Session 5 T/F English vowels are easier for students to pronounce and writethan consonants false What makes r-controlled vowel sounds so confusing forstudents? The sounds make two mouth movements. Free Vowels The vowel sounds uː, iː, ɜː, aː, and ɔː are considered free vowels. These vowels can be used at the end of open syllables. /oi/. Such a definition can help us to distinguish vowels from consonants (in which there is a partial or complete obstruction in the flow of air) but cannot help us to distinguish one vowel Nov 28, 2022 · Vowels are letters representing a speech sound where air leaves the mouth without blockage. 1. The air stream is weak. But in bead, the vowel is a little longer. Vowel breaking is sometimes defined as a subtype of diphthongization, when it refers to harmonic ( assimilatory) process that involves diphthongization triggered by a following vowel or consonant. o There is only one way to spell an r-controlled vowel. The difference between rounded and unrounded vowels is visually testable. lax vowels: All other things being equal ¥Vowel length in English is affected by many factors ¥All other things being A vowel chart is a visual representation of the vowel sounds in a language, typically displayed on a grid with the position of the tongue and lips. They are intermediate between front and back vowels: /3:/ as in /’b3:d/. Oct 26, 2011 · Summary. So perhaps "the tense high vowels" of English contain a glide. Tense and lax only applies to high and mid vowels. Choose the set of features that best defines chair. ʊə. Now make the vowel sound [aɪ] again but hold it at the beginning [aaa]. vowels. All vowels can be divided into two main categories: diphthongs and monophthongs. 00:00. • These comparisons illustrate tense and lax vowels - Tense vowels tend to be longer and have a more extreme (less central) tongue position than their nearest lax counterparts - The web site we are using for audio examples actually transcribes the tense vowels [ i ] [ u ] as long with the [ ː ] symbol 24 3. If we want to investigate the functions of vowels and consonants in speech, we first need to think about at which ‘positions’ they can occur in the speech Vowels can be categorized according to whether they are rounded or unrounded. Tense vowels are made with greater tension in the muscles of the vocal tract than lax vowels. The sounds make two mouth movements. The first part of the sound is the Oct 1, 2013 · A neutral British English accent uses 19 vowel sounds, they are (in the order they appear in the sound chart above): 00:00. Select the one that targets phonological awareness only, without attempting to address other language skills. Backness could equally be called frontness, and sometimes this term is used, but backness is more standard and preferred. Tense vowels usually form by putting a larger effort into the muscles of the tongue which is at a higher position when pronouncing them. Moreover, tense vowels are further divided into two subclasses, Plain-Tense and Broken-Tense vowels, while lax vowels are classified May 23, 2017 · Here we have two vowels – ə and əː – which are divided/connected by the consonant sound, k, making əkəː. Between these two vowel sounds is a consonant sound, b, making æbɪ. Lax vowels are produced with a more “relaxed” tongue position and are often quieter; Schwa: a schwa is a vowel that is articulated with a completely neutral tongue and lip position. ”. Homework Exercises duck /dʌk/ – dark /da:k. Tense vowels are pronounced with the movement of the tongue, with or without a change in lip position. These sounds are created by maintaining a heightened muscular tension in the vocal apparatus May 3, 2024 · Phonetics - Vowel Sounds, Articulation, Acoustics: Vowels traditionally have been specified in terms of the position of the highest point of the tongue and the position of the lips. c a ke, d ay, tr ai n, gr ea t, th ey. /ou/. It identifies three main categories of vowels: front, central, and back, each characterized by distinct mouth positions and sound pronunciations. We can express this pattern as a rule: Mid and high tense vowels are diphthongized by the addition of a high lax vowel that matches the original vowel in front or back. Some people say /tʊə/, others say this word with the long monophthong Front & Back: Vowel sounds on the left of the chart represent a more forward or ‘front’ position for the tongue, while those on the right of the chart represent a more ‘back’ position. The Sounds of English: Short vowels These videos show you how This is the second of five long vowel programmes in our series of videos that explore the sounds of English. Answer: /oi/ /ou/ Question 10: Which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as “tense” vowels? Knowing a language includes knowing the sounds of that language. 3 - Table 4. o English does not allow this sound in the middle of words. Jan 11, 2024 · The IPA Vowel Chart is an interactive tool developed by the International Phonetic Association for representing standardized vowel symbols. But there are 15 total French vowel sounds, like /ø/ and /œ/. The vowels used in Pronunciation Coach for American English are described in the following table. A more retracted front, short, lax, unrounded vowel B. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. American English has a fairly rich vowel inventory, so we can illustrate most of the vowel symbols with English words. “a” is a vowel in this word. There is the closing movement of the front of the tongue and lips are kept unrounded while To form a wide vowel, the tongue root is advanced so that the pharynx is expanded. The chart roughly represents the tongue position in the oral cavity. A four-sided vowel chart is often used to demonstrate the front–back and high–low positions. Essential elements in the classification of vowel sounds. Examples of tense vowels include /i:/ (as in “beat”), /e:/ (as in “book”), /o:/ (as in “food”), and /u:/ (as in “moon”). Finally, like consonants, vowels may be characterized by (5) nasality. 2. The last unit talked about simple vowels, where the tongue position stays pretty constant throughout the duration of the vowel. The R takes over the preceding vowel sound. ɪə. [4] IPA: Vowels. Rounded and unrounded pairs are represented as: Unrounded • Rounded. We look at phonemic vowel length as it once existed in English and observe that the old quantity distinction does not map comfortably into modern “long” and “short”. Here are spelling examples for each vowel sound (ɪə eɪ ʊə ɔɪ). That is a non-round vowel. Which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as "tense" vowels? long e and /yu/. (This diphthongal pronunciation is not universal in all dialects of English). o The r takes over the preceding vowel sound. The high vowel analogs would then be [ɪj, ʊw]. Long vowel sounds usually take longer to pronounce than short vowels. Instead, they would hear and articulate the /i/ sound – the closest vowel in Spanish – and say the words “seat” and “cheek. When making a vowel sound, the tension you create in making it can change tongue position and other qualities, altering the sounds. The sound [æ] is low front unrounded and lax. In our case here, /u/ is the tense vowel while the rest are lax vowels that are different and opposite from tense vowels. These vowels cannot appear at the end of open syllables. Pay attention to words like ‘tour’. The [ɑ] vowel of the word [ˈfɑðɹ̩] is unrounded in most dialects of English, though in Canadian English it is often rounded at least a little. tenseness: Vowels can be tense or lax, depending again on the tongue. The diacritic to indicate that a segment is long looks a bit like a colon [iː]. The topic of Spanish consonants is vast and has given rise to many studies from different perspectives, from generative phonology to Optimality Theory approaches. Front. t our, Eu rope, c ure. Say these English words out loud: fly, tie, ride, smile. what makes an r-controlled vowel sounds so confusing for students? the r takes over the preceding vowel sound. We are able to segment a continuous stream of speech into distinct parts and recognize the parts in other words. Sometimes people assume that there are five vowel sounds in English: A, E, I, O and U. Close (high) & Open (low): If the tongue is higher, nearer the hard palate (‘roof’ of the mouth), the symbol is place higher on the chart, and called Terms in this set (66) Start studying Vowel Transcription. The five vowels in the English language are a, e, i, o, and u. Tense vs. The five standard vowels are A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels are voiced sounds produced with a stricture of open approximation without any obstruction, either partial or complete, in the passage of air. ɔɪ. The Interactive IPA Vowel Chart provides audio recordings to Within the chart “close”, “open”, “mid”, “front”, “central”, and “back” refer to the placement of the sound within the mouth. The consonant categories. eɪ. And now make just the vowel sounds, [i], [ɪ]. This sound, however, can be quite varied in Australian English. The lips are unrounded and the tongue is at a . -serves as a Cardinal vowel by marking the highest boundary for back vowels. 3. 1 Like consonants, vowels can be either oral or nasal, depending on whether the velum is raised or lowered (see if you can tell the difference between the vowels in mat /mæt/ and man /mæn/). These can be pronounced without such vibration or produced with vibrating vocal cords. The Sounds of English: Voiceless Consonants - 2 Episode 2 / 10 Jan 2023 Jul 31, 2023 · Checked Vowels Among the twelve vowel sounds, seven are classified as checked vowels. Master close vowels, close-mid vowels, nasal vowels and more. The French vowels are a, e, i, o, u and y. [1] Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. When completing this English vowels practice, make sure you are clearly making a short vowel and a long vowel. The low vowels do not have tense distinctions. g. Central. Tense vowels tend to have a more constricted tongue, creating a longer, higher, and louder sound than lax vowels. The variations common in African American English are predictable and governed by rules. Written English has just 5 spellings – a e i o & u, through combinations of these spellings, we can produce the 19 sounds above. For example, let’s look at the pair of vowels [e] and [ɛ] from the words gate and get. A lowest, front, short, lax, unrounded vowel Câu 16: Complementary distribution is an indication that the sounds in ¥The tense back vowels /ow/ and / / (both /A/ and / / in GA) are longer than the lax central /!/ ¥An exception to the Ôlax vowels shorter than tenseÕ is /Q/ ÐIt is often as long as any other vowel 8 Length of tense v. The right answer is a. Vowels are more difficult to describe in articulatory terms because their articulation relies on variations of tongue position and of the shape of the mouth; no clear contact between organs of speech can be felt: Vowels are voiced sounds. In addition to these major English diphthongs, speakers of Canadian English also have a tendency to turn the mid-tense vowels into diphthongs. They’re both mid Dec 10, 2021 · Vowels are sounds in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions as a resonance chamber, with minimal obstruction and without audible friction. 1 - Auditory qualities of some of the vowels of American and British English. Examples in Words: cat. Which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel?: Which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift position during production of the sound? Select all that apply. Dec 12, 2020 · This is clearest with "gate, goat" where the vowels sometimes written [e:,o:] are actually more like [ɛi] or, in some systems of writing, [ɛj]. In English, the mid and high back vowels are rounded, the front and central vowels unrounded. vowel letters and sounds originates in the fact that, as introduced in Chapter 3, there are two major types of full vowel in English, tense and lax, and each vowel letter has tense and lax pronunciations as well. Figure 2 shows these positions for eight different vowels. For example, the 'a' in 'cake' is a short 'a' sound, while the 'a' in 'bake' is a long 'a' sound. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (length). the vowel in beat Both are mid vowels, but the first is a front vowel and the second is a back vowel. Vowels can also be rounded or unrounded; this describes the shape of the lips during Chapter 4 - English Vowels. /oi/ and /ou/. Apr 18, 2020 · The vowel sound in the word 'my' is a diphthong. The original pure vowel typically breaks into two segments. They also usually take a slightly longer time for them to be pronounced. For example, the English words “sit”, “bit”, and “kit The word diphthong comes from the Greek word for “two sounds”. A front, close (high), long, tense, unrounded vowel D. Examples of vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables and in reduced syllables. stuff /stʌf/ – staff /sta:f/. We need to give more effort and use more muscle to articulate this kind of vowel. Symbols for vowels will be considered first, because there are fewer vowels than consonants. Which of the following is considered a front vowel? A. The r takes over the preceding vowel sound. Mar 1, 2018 · Let’s start with the easy part: all vowels are, by nature, voiced. In addition to simple vowels, many languages include A vowel is any sound that a letter makes that is not a consonant sound. Click here to learn how to pronounce each vowel sound in French correctly with examples and native audio pronunciations. , The Oct 5, 2019 · 1. There are no vowels with lax qualities in Spanish so there is no need for a distinction. Below are the examples of tense vowel: Palm. Advancement. Mar 17, 2024 · English makes a distinction between tense and lax vowels, which is a distinction that a lot of other languages don’t have. If we look again at the word ‘rabbit’, we see the same structure. B. A vowel is a voiced sound produced in the mouth with no obstruction to the air stream. pub Nov 17, 2020 · 2. These are always vowel sounds regardless of the word. Linguists classify vowels according to four pieces of information: tongue height, tongue backness, lip Which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel? /a/ (long a) Which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift position during production of the sound? Select all that apply. lax Conventionally a distinction is made between ‘tense’ and ‘lax’ vowels in English, at least for high and mid vowels. Vowels are contrasted with consonants, which represent sounds where air is obstructed, such as the closing of the lips for b, m, and p. Everyone who knows a language knows how to segment sentences into words and words into sounds. Feb 23, 2024 · Figure 2. And also, our tongue slightly goes to a higher position and doing its job for more duration than the lax vowels. And regarding the two vowels that share the central space, we are going to differentiate them this way, this schwa [ə] sound is going to be a mid central unrounded lax vowel, and A. When articulated, the way in which the air flows through the vocal cords is open, without any blockage. Vowel charts are used to analyze and describe the vowel systems of various languages. Prolongation of. Tense Vowel. 8 Diphthongs. street. The first segment matches the original vowel, and the second segment is harmonic with the Round(ed) vowels: u ʊ o ɔ In English the round vowels are all back and non-low. The implications of these distinctions are discussed, and definitions of the terms “personal quality” and “phonetic quality” are suggested. American english vowel chart. The highest point of the tongue is in the front of the mouth for the vowels in heed, hid, head, and had. May 3, 2024 · Adam Zeidan. Front vowels are pronounced with the tip of the tongue, central vowels with the 14. To feel this difference, say the two words sheep and ship. Example 4. Tense and lax are less clearly defined terms. Peak and pick should sound different. Phonetic symbols. 10. The position of the lips: rounded and unrounded vowels. The description In this case, the vowel sound starts with the glide [j] and then moves into the vowel [u]. , the i in “fit,” and the a in “pack. However, this is a misconception. There are three helpful rules to know about open syllables: Consistent Rule: A, E, O, U usually say /A/, /E/, /O/, /U/ or /oo/ at the end of a syllable. English has both tense and lax vowels. Vowels have syllabic function, i. 4. There are several We also have a classification of vowels based on the tenseness. There are two vowel sounds in this word: æ and ɪ. Although usually produced with vibrating vocal cords, vowels may. Mar 8, 2012 · Here, then, is a slightly modified vowel space for SSB: And here are the vowels listed by lexical set, cross-classified, with a commA-STRUT distinction and, where different, more familiar Gimsonian symbols between slanting brackets: To sum up. Linguists classify vowels according to four pieces of information: tongue height, tongue backness, lip rounding, and May 20, 2022 · A syllable is a peak of sonority that is surrounded by less sonorous sounds. For most speakers of Canadian English in the category animals, giraffe is probably: Less typical than do g. A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. 7 Classifying Vowels. Taking the examples feed [fid] / food [fud] as a basis, observe yourself in a mirror saying "feed" and notice how your lips are spread -- this is why photographers have you say "cheese", because it looks like a smile. Each vowel letter can represent more than one sound. D. Linguists classify vowels according to four pieces of information: tongue height, tongue backness, lip rounding, and 1 Vowels: their symbols and properties Conventionally, the first division in speech sounds is made between vowels and consonants. Duck and dark – should sound different. This is a predictable process in English — vowels get longer when there’s a voiced sound in the coda of the syllable. Episode 1 / 02 Feb 2023. A quick look at the vowel chart shows that the Native Spanish speaker would have to lower his tongue and OPEN his /i/ vowel to get the /ɪ/ vowel. Vowels are classified according to the (1) advancement and (2) height of the tongue in pronunciation, (3) the tenseness of the tongue and (4) whether or not the lips are rounded during pronunciation. Understanding the difference between tense and lax vowels is essential in the study of phonetics and phonology, branches of linguistics that deal with the sounds of speech. There are three major diphthongs in English that have quite a noticeable change in the quality of the vowel sound. Oct 10, 2011 · High vowels are pronounced in the top of the mouth, mid vowels in the middle of the mouth, and low vowels in the bottom of the mouth. In English, the vowels are a, e, i, o, and u, although y can sometimes count as a vowel, too. For example, heat and hit should sound different. As examples, say beet, which has a tense vowel, and then say bit, which has a lax vowel. every English syllable requires a vowel sound. Central vowels. There is only one way to spell an r-controlled vowel. English does International Phonetic Alphabet, also called IPA, is an international alphabet used by linguists to accurately represent the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) in human speech. 4 days ago · 8 Great Ways for Kids to Learn French ». false. , Read the following list of classroom activities. Figure 1 demonstrates symbols for two broad types of vowel: tense vowels (associated with one of the dots on the chart) and lax vowels (not linked to a dot). 3 days ago · If a speech sound is pronounced without any blockage of the vocal cords, it is considered a vowel. The distribution of tense and lax vowels in stressed syllables in American English. May 9, 2023 · 'Long e and /yu/' vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as "tense" vowels. -mostly referred to as the u sound, or the lowercase u. Jun 21, 2023 · You are reading about which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as “tense” vowels?. The part of the tongue that is raised: front, back and central vowels. The body of the tongue moves in the mouth to shape each vowel, and for some vowels, the lips are rounded as well. Nov 29, 2023 · Other vowel sounds, like /ǝ/ (schwa) and /ŏ/ for example, would be classified as lax vowels because they are typically shorter in duration and less muscularly tense. The full set of basic IPA consonant categories is shown in the table below: The subset of 22 IPA symbols relevant to English dictionary-style pronunciations is given below: Of these, some have basically their normal value in English spelling: p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, f, v, s, z, l. 1. Which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as "tense" vowels? /e/ and /yu/. This list includes phonetic symbols for the transcription of English sounds, plus others that are used in this class for transliterating or transcribing various languages, with the articulatory description of the sounds and some extra comments where appropriate. These are vowel letters, not vowel sounds. The main differences between vowels and consonants are that (1) vowels are sounds produced with an open airway between the larynx and the lips, at least along the midline, whereas consonants are produced with a stricture or closure somewhere along it; and (2) that vowels tend to be syllabic in languages, meaning that they embody a sonorous peak Dec 14, 2012 · This paper explores the use of the terms “long” and “short” to describe two classes of English vowels with different distributions. Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. So, the front tense vowel is diphthongized by the addition of a front vowel and the back tense vowel is diphthongized by the addition of a back vowel. Spanish doesn't have the distinction be aide all the vowels they use are tense phonemes (as they would be labeled in English). Alternative terms for the two Aug 13, 2018 · Summary. Lax vowels are pronounced with more or less stationary tongue and lip position. 12: Classifying Vowels. Each sound uses a unique position of the mouth – with a different jaw, lip May 20, 2022 · The vowel sound in both words is the high front tense vowel [i]. Chapter 2: Producing Speech Sounds. In MD it is the sound in ‘port’, whereas in HCE it is the sound in ‘got’. These vowels are generally divided into two categories in English phonology: lax and tense. : /oi/ and /ou/ 5. There is only one way to spell an r-controlled vowel. For this class, you should learn the terms used to describe the vowel sounds of English. The tongue and the vocal cords are tense. Less Consistent: I and Y usually say /E Spellings: ɪə eɪ ʊə ɔɪ. Dec 20, 2021 · Terms in this set (5) English vowels are easier for students to pronounce and write than consonants. Which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as "tense" vowels? The arrangement of the vowel sounds in the chart below reflects the IPA standard. The sound [ɔ] is mid back rounded and lax. pressbooks. C. Phoneticians often classify vowels according to their phonetic quality which is considered as independent of other features, such as pitch, loudness, and personal quality. Order: /i/ then /ɪ/. Accordingly, these vowels are classified as front -the High-Back Tense Rounded Vowel (as in /but/)-produced by retracting (pulling back) the tongue from its rest position and raising it toward the soft palate (velum). 2 - Table 4. The heigth to which it is raised: close and open vowels. Diphthongs are complex vowel sounds in which the tongue moves from one position to another to make a vowel that changes from one sound to another. This is the first of seven short vowel programmes in our series of videos that explore the sounds of English. ear, b eer, h ere, id ea. What that means is that a syllable is made up of a vowel, or some other very sonorous sound, with some sounds before it and after it that are less sonorous, usually glides and consonants. nq lw mn bv bi uq nt cs uq ej