Of the large number of possible vowels only a small proportion is employed in each language.Īgain, among the special vowels of anyone language we must distinguish between those differences, which are distinctive, that is, to which differences of meaning correspond and those which are not. There are besides other modifications caused by the shape of the tongue itself. Thus, if the ee of 'feel' is pronounced with narrowed lip-opening, we obtain the French u in clune' - the high-front-round. All these vowels may be further modified by labialisation or rounding. Thus the u of 'full' is high-back, just as that of 'hit' is high front. The vowels of these three words are all front, but the distinctions of height apply to back and mixed vowels as well. By height they are high, as in 'hit', mid, as in 'hate' or low, as in 'hat'. Vowels are formed by retraction of the back of the tongue, as in 'father' by advancing the front of the tongue, as in 'bit' or else they are mixed, as in 'bird', in which the tongue is in a position half-way between back and front.
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