Definitions of Pronunciation The Effectiveness of Minimal Pairs Towards Students' English Pronunciation

In the production of vowels the tongue is held at such a distance from the roof of the mouth that there is no perceptible frictional noise. When the tongue takes up a vowel position, a resonance chamber is formed which modifies the quality of tone produced by the voice, and gives rise to a distinct quality or tamber which we call a vowel. 11 The qualities of vowels depend upon the positions of the tongue and lips. It is convenient to classify them according to the position on the main of the tongue. In the production of most vowels the tongue is convex to the palate. Vowels may therefore be conveniently arranged according to the position of the highest point of the tongue. It means the movements of the tongue in passing from one vowel position to another should be examined with a looking – glass or felt with the finger. There are front vowels, in the production of which the „front’ of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate; example i: in fi:d feed. There are back vowels, in the production of which the „back’ of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate; example u: in fu:d food. Then in the middle and upper part of the figure there are vowels intermediate between front and back; theyare called central vowels; e xample : in b :d bird. Fig. 2.1 Conventionalized diagram of vowel positions. 12 11 Daniel Jones, The Pronunciation of English, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1986, p.12. 12 Ibid., p. 15. Vowel quality is also largely dependent on the position of the lips. The lips may be heldin natural or neutral positions; they may be spread out so as to leave a long narrow opening between them, or they may be drawn together so that the opening between them is more or less round. Vowels produced with the lips in the latter position are called rounded vowels. Others are called unrounded. There are two main types of rounding, called close lip – rounding and open lip – rounding. These are illustrated in fig.1. There are also intermediate degrees. If the spreading of the lips is very marked, the vowels may be termed spread. Lip- spreading and neutral lip- position are illustrated in fig.1 a b. An example of a rounded vowel is u: ; examples of unrounded vowe ls are i, α:. Some authorities consider the state of tension of the tongue to be an important factor in the production of various vowel qualities, and they distinguish tense vowels from lax vowels. Some vowels certainly do require in their formation a greater degree of tongue tension than others. Most people can easily feel, for instance, that the i: of li:p leap has a tenser articulation than the i of lip, and that the u: of bu:t boot as pronounced in Southern England has a tenser articulation than the u of fu:t foot. This can be tested by placing the finger against the outside of the throat about half- way between the chin and the larynx. When pronouncing the vowel of lip this part feels loose, but when pronouncing the vowel of li:p, it becomes tenser and is pushed forward. The position of the soft palate may affect vowel quality. In the articulation of normal vowels the soft palate is raised.