🗣️ Understanding Vowels: A Simple Guide
Vowels are one of the most important parts of speech sounds in any language. They are smooth, open sounds that flow from the mouth without any blockage. But even though they all seem similar, each vowel has its own special character.
Let’s break it down into an easy explanation.
✅ What is a Vowel?
A vowel is a speech sound made when:
- Air comes freely out from the lungs,
- There is no blockage in the mouth,
- And the air comes out through the mouth only (not the nose).
🎯 How Do We Describe a Vowel?
To understand and describe vowels properly, we look at three key things:
1️⃣ Where Is the Tongue in the Mouth?
The position of the tongue decides how a vowel sounds.
🔹 Front Vowels
- The front of the tongue is raised.
- The tongue moves toward the hard palate (the top front part of the mouth).
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🧠 Examples:
-
/iː/ in see
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/ɪ/ in sit
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/e/ in head
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/æ/ in sat
-
🔹 Back Vowels
- The back of the tongue is raised.
- The tongue moves toward the soft palate (the top back of the mouth).
-
🧠 Examples:
-
/uː/ in moon
-
/ʊ/ in pull
-
/ɔː/ in caught
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/ɑː/ in part
-
🔹 Central Vowels
- The middle of the tongue is raised.
- It moves toward the area between the hard and soft palate.
-
🧠 Examples:
-
/ʌ/ in cut -
/ɜː/ in girl
-
/ə/ in mother
-
2️⃣ How High or Low Is the Tongue?
The height of the tongue in the mouth also changes the vowel sound.
🔺 Close (High) Vowels
-
The tongue is very close to the roof of the mouth.
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🧠 Example: /iː/ in seat, /uː/ in moon
🔻 Open (Low) Vowels
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The tongue is low in the mouth.
-
🧠 Example: /æ/ in cat, /ɑː/ in part
🟡 Middle Heights
-
Some vowels are between high and low.
-
🧠 Example: /e/ in head, /ʌ/ in cut
3️⃣ What Are the Lips Doing?
Lips also affect the sound of vowels.
🔘 Rounded Vowels
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Lips are shaped like a circle.
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🧠 Examples: /uː/ in moon, /ɔː/ in caught
➖ Unrounded Vowels
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Lips are flat or spread.
-
🧠 Examples: /iː/ in see, /e/ in head
📊 Quick Reference Table
|
Vowel |
Tongue Position |
Tongue Height |
Lips |
Example Word |
|
/iː/ |
Front |
Close (High) |
Unrounded |
see |
|
/æ/ |
Front |
Open (Low) |
Unrounded |
cat |
|
/ʌ/ |
Central |
Open (Low) |
Unrounded |
cut |
|
/uː/ |
Back |
Close (High) |
Rounded |
moon |
|
/ɔː/ |
Back |
Mid-Open |
Rounded |
caught |
|
/ɑː/ |
Back |
Open (Low) |
Unrounded |
part |
|
/ɜː/ |
Central |
Mid-Open |
Unrounded |
girl |
|
/ə/ |
Central |
Mid |
Unrounded |
mother |
🧪 Try This at Home
Say these words out loud:
-
see, cat, cut, moon, caught, part, girl, mother
Feel how your tongue and lips move differently for each sound? That’s the secret of vowel classification!
✍️ Final Tip
Even when vowels use the same part of the tongue, they sound different because of:
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The height of the tongue,
-
The shape of the lips.
For example:
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/iː/ in see and /æ/ in cat are both front vowels.
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But /iː/ is high, and /æ/ is low — and that changes everything.