week 5

Question 1

criteria to describe vowels

Answer 1

o tongue shape;
o lip shape (rounded v. neutral v. spread);
o monophthongs v. diphthongs;
o position of soft palate (nasality);
o duration

Question 2

tongue shape

Answer 2

vowel height: close v. open
- how close is the tongue to the roof of the mouth

vowel backness: front v. back
- which part of the tongue is highest

Question 3

KIT vowel

Answer 3

• fairly front and fairly close unrounded vowel
• In word-final position frequently undergoes happY tensing
• Short FLEECE vowel [i] has universally replaced older KIT vowel [ɪ] = happY tensing.
• Cf. happy [-i] v. happier [-ɪə(ɹ)].