What does the vowel diagram represent?

The vowel diagram, also known as the vowel chart or vowel quadrilateral, represents the position of the tongue in the mouth when producing different vowel sounds. It's a visual representation of how the tongue moves in terms of height (high, mid, low) and backness (front, central, back) to create different vowel sounds.

Here's a breakdown of the key aspects:

* Height: This refers to how high or low the tongue is in the mouth.

* High vowels: Tongue is positioned high in the mouth (e.g., /i/, /u/).

* Mid vowels: Tongue is positioned in the middle (e.g., /e/, /o/).

* Low vowels: Tongue is positioned low in the mouth (e.g., /æ/, /ɑ/).

* Backness: This refers to how far forward or backward the tongue is in the mouth.

* Front vowels: Tongue is positioned at the front of the mouth (e.g., /i/, /e/, /æ/).

* Central vowels: Tongue is positioned in the center (e.g., /ə/).

* Back vowels: Tongue is positioned at the back of the mouth (e.g., /u/, /o/, /ɑ/).

The vowel diagram also typically includes information on rounding or lip protrusion.

* Rounded vowels: Lips are rounded or protruded (e.g., /u/, /o/).

* Unrounded vowels: Lips are spread or neutral (e.g., /i/, /e/, /æ/, /ɑ/).

Example:

The vowel sound /i/ in "see" is a high, front, and unrounded vowel, as represented in the upper left corner of the vowel diagram.

Key takeaway: The vowel diagram is a helpful tool for understanding how the tongue position impacts different vowel sounds. It's used in phonetics and linguistics to describe and classify vowel sounds across different languages.