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{{Short description|Schematic arrangement of vowels}}
A '''vowel diagram''' or '''vowel chart''' is a schematic arrangement of the [[vowel]]s. Depending on the particular language being discussed, it can take the form of a triangle or a quadrilateral. Vertical position on the diagram denotes the [[vowel height|vowel closeness]], with close vowels at the top of the diagram, and horizontal position denotes the [[vowel backness]], with front vowels at the left of the diagram.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh>{{cite book|title=A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology|author=Paul Skandera and Peter Burleigh|year=2005|publisher=Gunter Narr Verlag|isbn=3823361252|pages=33&ndash;34}}</ref> Vowels are unique in that their main features do not contain differences in voicing, manner, or place (articulators). Vowels differ only in the position of the tongue when voiced. The tongue moves vertically and horizontally within the oral cavity. Vowels are produced with at least a part of their [[vocal tract]] obstructed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cancio|first=Mary Lou|title=Functional Phonetics Workbook|year=2007|publisher=Plural Publishing|location=San Diego, CA}}</ref> ▼
[[ImageFile:California English vowel chart.svg|thumb|right|A vowel chart for southern [[California English]], showing how its vowels lie within the IPA vowel trapezium.<ref name="ladefoged-1999">{{cite book|author=[[Peter Ladefoged|Ladefoged, Peter]]|author-link=Peter Ladefoged|year=1999|chapter=American English|title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association|pages=41&ndash;44|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-63751-1}}</ref>]]▼
[[File:Vowel triange, cardinal vowels.png|thumb|A schematic vowel triangle arranged according to [[formant]]s.]]
{{IPA notice}}
 
▲A '''vowel diagram''' or '''vowel chart''' is a schematic arrangement of the [[vowel]]s. Depending on the particular language being discussed, it can take the form of a triangle or a quadrilateral. Vertical position on the diagram denotes the [[vowel height|vowel closeness]], with close vowels at the top of the diagram, and horizontal position denotes the [[vowel backness]], with front vowels at the left of the diagram.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh>{{cite book|title=A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology|author=Paul Skandera and Peter Burleigh|year=2005|publisher=Gunter Narr Verlag|isbn=3823361252|pages=33&ndash;34}}</ref> Vowels are unique in that their main features do not contain differences in voicing, manner, or place (articulators). Vowels differ only in the position of the tongue when voiced. The tongue moves vertically and horizontally within the oral cavity. Vowels are produced with at least a part of their [[vocal tract]] obstructed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cancio|first=Mary Lou|title=Functional Phonetics Workbook|year=2007|publisher=Plural Publishing|location=San Diego, CA}}</ref>
In the vowel diagram, convenient reference points are provided for specifying tongue position. The position of the highest point of the arch of the tongue is considered to be the point of articulation of the vowel. The vertical dimension of the vowel diagram is known as vowel high, which includes high, central (mid), or low vowels. The horizontal dimension of the vowel diagram includes tongue advancement and identifies how far forward the tongue is located in the oral cavity during production. Vowels are also categorized by the tenseness or laxness of the tongue. The schwa [ə] is in the center of the chart and is frequently referred to as the neutral vowel. Here, the vocal tract is in its neutral state and creates a near perfect tube. For other vowels, there is a necessary movement of the vocal tract and tongue away from the neutral position, either up/down or backward/forward. The next dimension for vowels are tense/lax; here we can distinguish high/mid/low dimensions and the front/central/back dimensions. In other words, all vowels but schwas. For instance, [i] and [ɪ] or [o] and [ɔ] are very hard to tell apart, but we can categorize them into tense or lax. Tense vowels are [i] and [ɔ] . Lax vowels are [ɪ] and [o]. The next dimension for vowels are rounding. Rounding is important because it continues to help differentiate the vowels of English. For example, when you say [u], your lips are rounded but when you say [i], your lips are spread. We can categorize vowels as rounded or unrounded. So, rounded vowels are [u], [ʊ], [o], [ɔ] and the unrounded vowels are [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ], [ɑ], [ʌ], [ə].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/articulation/describing-vowels.html |title=Describing English vowels |website=Phonetics |first=Kevin |last=Russell |publisher=[[University of Manitoba]] |date=27 November 2005 |accessdate=18 April 2013}}</ref>
 
In the vowel diagram, convenient reference points are provided for specifying tongue position. The position of the highest point of the arch of the tongue is considered to be the point of articulation of the vowel. The vertical dimension of the vowel diagram is known as vowel height, which includes high, central (mid), or low vowels. The horizontal dimension of the vowel diagram includes tongue advancement and identifies how far forward the tongue is located in the oral cavity during production.
[[File:IPA vowel trapezium.svg|thumb|right|The standard IPA vowel trapezium.]] The vowel systems of most languages can be represented by vowel diagrams. Usually there is a pattern of even distribution of marks on the chart, a phenomenon that is known as '''vowel dispersion'''. For most languages, the vowel system is triangular. Only 10% of languages, including the [[English language]], have a vowel diagram that is quadrilateral. Such a diagram is called a '''vowel quadrilateral''' or a '''vowel trapezium'''.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh /> ▼
 
Vowels are also categorized by the [[Tenseness|tenseness or laxness]] of the tongue. The schwa {{IPA|[ə]}} is in the center of the chart and is frequently referred to as the neutral vowel. Here, the vocal tract is in its neutral state and creates a near perfect tube. For other vowels, there is a necessary movement of the vocal tract and tongue away from the neutral position, either up/down or backward/forward. The next dimension for vowels are tense/lax; here we can distinguish high/mid/low dimensions and the front/central/back dimensions. In other words, all vowels but schwas. Examples of tense and lax vowels are {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[o]}} and {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, respectively.
Different vowels vary in pitch. For example, high vowels such as [i] and [u] tend to have higher [[fundamental frequency]] than low vowels such as [a]. Vowels are distinct from each other based on their acoustic form, or spectral properties. Spectral properties consist of the speech sound's fundamental frequency and its formants. Each vowel in the vowel diagram has a unique first and second formant, or F1 and F2. The frequency of the first formant refers to the width of the pharyngeal cavity and the position of the tongue on a vertical axis, ranging from open to close. The frequency of the second formant refers to the length of the oral cavity and the position of the tongue on a horizontal axis. Vowels [i], [u], and [a] are often referred to as point vowels because they represent the most extreme F1 and F2 frequencies. [a] has a high F1 frequency because of the narrow size of the pharynx and the low position of the tongue. F2 is higher in the case of [i] because the oral cavity is short and the tongue is at the front of the mouth. F2 is low in the production of [u] because the mouth is elongated and the lips are rounded while the pharynx is lowered.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics|author=Eva M. Fernández and Helen Smith Cairns|year=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=9781405191470|pages=158–159}}</ref>▼
 
Another characteristic of vowels is rounding. For example, for {{IPA|[u]}}, the lips are rounded, but for {{IPA|[i]}}, the lips are spread. Vowels can be categorized as rounded or unrounded. Rounded vowels are {{IPA|[u]}}, {{IPA|[ʊ]}}, {{IPA|[o]}}, {{IPA|[ɔ]}} and the unrounded vowels are {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA|[e]}}, {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, {{IPA|[æ]}}, {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, {{IPA|[ʌ]}}, {{IPA|[ə]}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/articulation/describing-vowels.html |title=Describing English vowels |website=Phonetics |first=Kevin |last=Russell |publisher=[[University of Manitoba]] |date=27 November 2005 |access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref>
▲[[Image:California English vowel chart.svg|thumb|right|A vowel chart for southern [[California English]], showing how its vowels lie within the IPA vowel trapezium.<ref name="ladefoged-1999">{{cite book|author=[[Peter Ladefoged|Ladefoged, Peter]]|year=1999|chapter=American English|title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association|pages=41&ndash;44|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-63751-1}}</ref>]]
The [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] vowel chart comprises the [[cardinal vowels]], and is displayed in the form of a [[trapezoid|trapezium]]. By definition, no vowel sound can be plotted outside of the IPA trapezium because its four corners represent the extreme points of [[articulatory phonetics|articulation]]. The vowel diagrams of most real languages are not so extreme. In English, for example, high vowels are not as high as the corners of the IPA trapezium, nor are front vowels as front.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh /><ref>{{cite book|title=English Phonology: An Introduction|author=Heinz J. Giegerich|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521336031|pages=14&ndash;15}}</ref>▼
 
▲[[File:IPA vowel trapezium.svg|thumb|right|The standard IPA vowel trapezium.]] The vowel systems of most languages can be represented by vowel diagrams. Usually, there is a pattern of even distribution of marks on the chart, a phenomenon that is known as '''vowel dispersion'''. For most languages, the vowel system is triangular. Only 10% of languages, including the [[English language|English]], have a vowel diagram that is quadrilateral. Such a diagram is called a '''vowel quadrilateral''' or a '''vowel trapezium'''.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh />
== IPA vowel diagram with added material==▼
IPA chart vowels▼
 
Different vowels vary in pitch. For example, high vowels, such as {{IPA|[i]}} and {{IPA|[u]}}, tend to have a higher [[fundamental frequency]] than low vowels, such as {{IPA|[a]}}. Vowels are distinct from one another by their acoustic form or spectral properties. Spectral properties are the speech sound's fundamental frequency and its formants.
Vowel symbols with diacritics added are not included in the official vowel chart of the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|International Phonetic Association]]. The terms ''Near-front, Near-back, Near-close'' and ''Near-open'' do not appear on the official chart.
 
▲Different vowels vary in pitch. For example, high vowels such as [i] and [u] tend to have higher [[fundamental frequency]] than low vowels such as [a]. Vowels are distinct from each other based on their acoustic form, or spectral properties. Spectral properties consist of the speech sound's fundamental frequency and its formants. Each vowel in the vowel diagram has a unique first and second formant, or F1 and F2. The frequency of the first formant refers to the width of the pharyngeal cavity and the position of the tongue on a vertical axis, rangingand ranges from open to close. The frequency of the second formant refers to the length of the oral cavity and the position of the tongue on a horizontal axis. Vowels {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[u]}}, and {{IPA|[a]}} are often referred to as point vowels because they represent the most extreme F1 and F2 frequencies. {{IPA|[a]}} has a high F1 frequency because of the narrow size of the pharynx and the low position of the tongue. The F2 frequency is higher in the case offor {{IPA|[i]}} because the oral cavity is short and the tongue is at the front of the mouth. The F2 frequency is low in the production of [u] because the mouth is elongated and the lips are rounded while the pharynx is lowered.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics|url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalspsyc00fern|url-access=limited|author=Eva M. Fernández and Helen Smith Cairns|year=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=9781405191470|pages=158–159[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalspsyc00fern/page/n173 158]–159}}</ref>
== References ==
 
{{reflist}}
The [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] vowel chart has the [[cardinal vowels]] and is displayed in the form of a [[trapezoid|trapezium]]. By definition, no vowel sound can be plotted outside of the IPA trapezium because its four corners represent the extreme points of [[articulatory phonetics|articulation]].
 
▲The [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] vowel chart comprises the [[cardinal vowels]], and is displayed in the form of a [[trapezoid|trapezium]]. By definition, no vowel sound can be plotted outside of the IPA trapezium because its four corners represent the extreme points of [[articulatory phonetics|articulation]]. The vowel diagrams of most real languages are not so extreme. In English, for example, high vowels are not as high as the corners of the IPA trapezium, nor areand front vowels are not as front.<ref name=SkanderaBurleigh /><ref>{{cite book|title=English Phonology: An Introduction|author=Heinz J. Giegerich|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521336031|pages=14&ndash;15}}</ref>
 
▲== IPA vowel diagram with added material==
▲{{IPA chart vowels}}
 
The [[International Phonetic Alphabet chart|official vowel chart]] of the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] does not include vowel symbols with added diacritics as shown here, and only gives labels for the heights "close", "close-mid", "open-mid", and "open" (shown here in bold).
 
== See also ==
*[[ChineseIPA vowel diagramchart with audio]] {{spoken}}
*[[IPA vowelconsonant chart with audio]] {{spoken}}
 
== External linksReferences ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Vowel charts}}
*[http://www.sengpielaudio.com/VowelDiagram.htm Vowel diagram (triangle) - Frequency position of the first and of the second formant of the vowels]
 
{{IPA navigation}}
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