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Cardinal vowels
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Cardinal vowels
Cardinal vowels are a set of reference vowels used by phoneticians in describing the sounds of languages. They are classified depending on the position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth, how far forward or back is the highest point of the tongue, and the position of the lips (rounded or unrounded).
A cardinal vowel is a vowel sound produced when the tongue is in an extreme position, either front or back, high or low. The current system was formulated by Daniel Jones in the early 20th century, though the idea goes back to earlier phoneticians, notably Ellis and Bell.
Three of the cardinal vowels—[i], [ɑ] and [u]—have articulatory definitions. The vowel [i] is produced with the tongue as far forward and as high in the mouth as is possible (without producing friction), with spread lips. The vowel [u] is produced with the tongue as far back and as high in the mouth as is possible, with protruded lips. This sound can be approximated by adopting the posture to whistle a very low note, or to blow out a candle. And [ɑ] is produced with the tongue as low and as far back in the mouth as possible. The other vowels are 'auditorily equidistant' between these three 'corner vowels', at four degrees of aperture or 'height': close (high tongue position), close-mid, open-mid, and open (low tongue position).
These degrees of aperture plus the front-back distinction define eight reference points on a mixture of articulatory and auditory criteria. These eight vowels are known as the eight 'primary cardinal vowels', and vowels like these are common in the world's languages.
The lip positions can be reversed with the lip position for the corresponding vowel on the opposite side of the front-back dimension, so that e.g. Cardinal 1 can be produced with rounding somewhat similar to that of Cardinal 8; these are known as 'secondary cardinal vowels'. Sounds such as these are claimed to be less common in the world's languages. Other vowel sounds are also recognised on the vowel chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Jones argued that to be able to use the cardinal vowel system effectively, one must undergo training either with an expert phonetician, or otherwise with extensive studying of specially created audio recordings for each vowel, working both on the recognition and the production of the sounds.
Cardinal vowels are not vowels of any particular language, but a measuring system. However, some languages contain vowel or vowels that are close to the cardinal vowel(s). An example of such language is Ngwe, which is spoken in Cameroon. It has been cited as a language with a vowel system that has eight vowels which are rather similar to the eight primary cardinal vowels.
The primary cardinal vowels 1–8 were initially defined in Jones' 1917 English Pronouncing Dictionary, while the secondary cardinal vowels 9–18 were first defined in a 1956 handbook by Jones, with accompanying audio recordings. The letter for Cardinal 12 ⟨ɶ⟩ was added to the IPA in 1976 based on this 1956 definition.
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Cardinal vowels
Cardinal vowels are a set of reference vowels used by phoneticians in describing the sounds of languages. They are classified depending on the position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth, how far forward or back is the highest point of the tongue, and the position of the lips (rounded or unrounded).
A cardinal vowel is a vowel sound produced when the tongue is in an extreme position, either front or back, high or low. The current system was formulated by Daniel Jones in the early 20th century, though the idea goes back to earlier phoneticians, notably Ellis and Bell.
Three of the cardinal vowels—[i], [ɑ] and [u]—have articulatory definitions. The vowel [i] is produced with the tongue as far forward and as high in the mouth as is possible (without producing friction), with spread lips. The vowel [u] is produced with the tongue as far back and as high in the mouth as is possible, with protruded lips. This sound can be approximated by adopting the posture to whistle a very low note, or to blow out a candle. And [ɑ] is produced with the tongue as low and as far back in the mouth as possible. The other vowels are 'auditorily equidistant' between these three 'corner vowels', at four degrees of aperture or 'height': close (high tongue position), close-mid, open-mid, and open (low tongue position).
These degrees of aperture plus the front-back distinction define eight reference points on a mixture of articulatory and auditory criteria. These eight vowels are known as the eight 'primary cardinal vowels', and vowels like these are common in the world's languages.
The lip positions can be reversed with the lip position for the corresponding vowel on the opposite side of the front-back dimension, so that e.g. Cardinal 1 can be produced with rounding somewhat similar to that of Cardinal 8; these are known as 'secondary cardinal vowels'. Sounds such as these are claimed to be less common in the world's languages. Other vowel sounds are also recognised on the vowel chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Jones argued that to be able to use the cardinal vowel system effectively, one must undergo training either with an expert phonetician, or otherwise with extensive studying of specially created audio recordings for each vowel, working both on the recognition and the production of the sounds.
Cardinal vowels are not vowels of any particular language, but a measuring system. However, some languages contain vowel or vowels that are close to the cardinal vowel(s). An example of such language is Ngwe, which is spoken in Cameroon. It has been cited as a language with a vowel system that has eight vowels which are rather similar to the eight primary cardinal vowels.
The primary cardinal vowels 1–8 were initially defined in Jones' 1917 English Pronouncing Dictionary, while the secondary cardinal vowels 9–18 were first defined in a 1956 handbook by Jones, with accompanying audio recordings. The letter for Cardinal 12 ⟨ɶ⟩ was added to the IPA in 1976 based on this 1956 definition.
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