1. English Vowel Triangle
It’s not as easy as you think.

2. Description of Vowels
 They are unrestricted  They can be sustained
The teeth, tongue, and lips As long as you have
do not prevent airflow breath, you can sustain a
vowel sound
 They are normally voiced  They have shape or form
It has pitch – and can be And they are the core of
whispered. the syllable

3. Four Factors that
Affect Shaping and
Coupling of
Resonators
1. Jaw position – opening of mouth and
throat
2. Lip position – spreading or rounding
3. Tongue position – arching forward or
backward
4. Raised Soft Palate

4. Raised soft palate
1. Resonates: enhances the vibration and
magnifies the sound
2. Resonator of Human voice is oral
cavity, pharynx, throat, and chest
3. (resonator of violin is the box)

5.  Back pure vowels: tongue
is thickened in the back
while producing these
sounds

6.  Back pure vowels: tongue
is thickened in the back
while producing these
sounds
 Front pure vowels: tongue
is thickened in the front
while producing these
sounds

7. English Pure Vowels
i u
I Ʊ
e o
Ɛ Ɔ
æ ɑ

8. English Back Pure Vowels
u
Ʊ
o
Ɔ
ɑ

9. English Back Pure Vowels
u blue
Ʊ Brown
sugar
o opaque
Ɔ auburn
ɑ aqua

10. English Front Pure Vowels
green i
indigo I
e
red Ɛ
black æ

11. [u]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
1. Grew  (see p. 56 in book)
2. You  Nasal
3. Too  Insufficient lip rounding
4. To  Insertion [kul] vs. [kuəl]
5. Two
6. Blue
 Practice phrases:
 Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
 I love you, truly.
 Fools, through and through.
English Pure Back Vowels

12. [ʊ]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
1. sugar  Substitution (diphthong)
2. took [ə, u]
3. could
 Practice phrases:
 The crooked straight.
 My faith looks up to Thee.
 Man is made for the woman and the woman for
the man.
English Pure Back Vowels

13. [o]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
1. Violet  Substitution (diphthong)
2. Opaque
 Practice phrases:
 For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
 Come, every soul by sin oppressed.
 Memory, hither come and tune your merry
notes.
In American English, the sound [o] is only used in
unstressed, rhythmically short syllables.
 “Soul” and “notes” do not contain the [o] sound because they
only have one syllable, and therefore, are stressed.
English Pure Back Vowels

14. [Ɔ]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
1. Auburn  Insertion of diphthong
2. Moss  Inadequate mouth opening
3. Fall
4. Awkward
 Practice phrases:
 That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness
 I saw the cross of Jesus
 Autumn leaves are now falling
English Pure Back Vowels

15. [ɑ]
 Potential Problems
 Insufficient lowering of jaw
 Spellings:
 Spreading lips, as in a grin
1. aqua
 Retracting the body of tongue
2. got
 Substitution of briɡht [a] for back [ɑ]
 Practice phrases:
 Sing alleluia to the Lord
 Stir thy church, O God, our Father
 Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la . . . . .
English Pure Back Vowels

16. English Front Pure Vowels
i u
I Ʊ
e o
Ɛ Ɔ
æ ɑ

17. [i]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
1. Quay  Diphthongs:
2. She we’ll, heeled, yield, seal
3. Breathe
4. Green
5. Conceive
6. People  Practice phrases:
7. Key  He shall speak peace unto the heathen
8. believe  Free to be me, God, I really am free.
 Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me
English Pure Front Vowels

18. [I]
 Spellings:  Potential Problems
 Substitution:
1. indigo been, beautiful, pretty, eternal,
2. Busy women
 Vowel reduction: This sound is
3. behold typically a schwa [Ə], although
there are other vowels that can
be unstressed or reduced. A
reduced vowel is a vowel that
 Practice phrases: can only occur in unstressed
syllables, like schwa, and an
 Because I have been given much, I unstressed vowel is a vowel that
too must give can be stressed but is not.
Before “ng”, “I” {I} is pronounced
 That her iniquity is pardoned [I], as in bring, sing, and think
 Sure on this shining night  Typical spellings for vowel
reduction of [I} is ly, -y, -ies, and
–ing.
 Any words with these suffixes
English Pure Front Vowels have reduced vowels

19. Vowel Reduction
 Vowel reduction: This sound is typically a schwa
[ə], although there are other vowels that can be
unstressed or reduced. A reduced vowel is a vowel that
can only occur in unstressed syllables, like schwa, and an
unstressed vowel is a vowel that can be stressed but is not.
Before “ng”, “I” {I} is pronounced [I], as in
bring, sing, and think
 Typical spellings for vowel reduction of [I] is -ly, -y, -
ies, and –ing.
 Any words with these suffixes have reduced vowels

20. ʌ ɛ
Ə

21. [ʌ]
 This sound occurs only in stressed syllables. This includes those
instances where “un” is a prefix emphasizing negation of the root word
 Spellings: above, us, plum, fuzzy, undone, blood, trouble
 Potential problems: substitution of [ɑ] ̤ fuzzy/fozie, was, love, one, son
 PRACTICE PHRASES
 Unto us a Son is given
 What wondrous love is this
 I wonder as I wander out under the sky
 Above = [Ə.bʌv]


22. [Ə]
 This sound occurs only in unstressed syllables. This includes those instances where “un”
is a prefix emphasizing negation of the root word
 Spellings: magenta, angel, evil, a, of the, cotton, passion, upon
 The sound only occurs in unstressed syllables or words
 Because in singing every syllable must have a vowel sound, [Ə] is used in singing certain
syllables which are spoken without a vowels sound, as in little and people
 The schwa is a variable, weakly-defined sound. Other sounds in unstressed
ɪ
syllables: [ ] happiness, prepare, remember, receive, rejoice
 PRACTICE PHRASES
 Unto us a Son is given
 Hark! The herald angels sing
 When I think upon the maidens

23. Angel and Evil
 Angel:
 Evil:

24. [3]
 Spellings:
bird, purple, ever, counselor, forward, earth, journey, timbre, m
artyr
 Potential problems: Some authorities avoid this
sound, preferring [ʌ] in stressed syllables and [Ə] in unstressed
syllables: Bud-bird; but-Bert
 Bird = [b3d] vs. bud = [bʌd]
 Bert = [b3t] vs. but [bʌt]
 Practice phrases:
 Wonderful Counselor, the everlasting Father
 Let all the world in every corner sing
 I wonder as I wander out under the sky

25. Words from Textbook
 Bill  Lent  Twenty
 Pit  Lint  Rinse
 Pet  Ten  rents
 Hid  Tent
 Head  Tin
 Pin  Tint
 Pen  Twin

26. Words from Textbook
 Bill  Lent  Twenty
 Pit  Lint  Rinse
 Pet  Ten  rents
 Hid  Tent
 Head  Tin
 Pin  Tint
 Pen  Twin

27. Words from Textbook
 Ed  Bad
 Add  Sad
 Pest  Said
 Past  Then
 Men  Than
 Man
 Bed

28. Words from Textbook
 Boot  Pole
 Book  Paul
 Boat  pot
 Bought
 Box
 Pool
 Pull