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Dec 6, 2023 · The primary distinction between lax and tense vowels lies in their length and the tension of the muscles used in their production. Lax vowels are shorter and produced with relatively loose muscles in the vocal apparatus. In contrast, tense vowels are longer and require relatively tense muscles for their articulation.
But for [i], the muscles are more tense than for [ɪ]. The same is true for the vowels in late and let, [e] and [ɛ]. And also for the vowels in food and foot, [u] and [ʊ] It can be hard to feel the physical difference between tense and lax vowels, but the distinction is actually an important one in the mental grammar of English.
- Catherine Anderson
- 2018
Mar 17, 2024 · The final piece of information that we use to classify vowels is a little trickier to explain. English makes a distinction between tense and lax vowels, which is a distinction that a lot of other languages don’t have. Tense vowels are made with greater tension in the muscles of the vocal tract than lax vowels.
Lax vowels are characterized by a more relaxed and shorter pronunciation, while tense vowels are produced with more muscular tension and are longer in duration. Lax vowels include sounds like /ɪ/ in "sit" and /ʌ/ in "but," while tense vowels include sounds like /i:/ in "see" and /u:/ in "boot." The distinction between lax and tense vowels is ...
Mar 18, 2024 · T he tense vowels of English also tend to inherently be a bit longer than their lax counterparts. For example, the tense vowel in the English word beat is longer than the lax vowel in bit. Consonants may also differ from each other in length. Long consonants are often called geminates, while short consonants are called singletons.
The terms TENSE/LAX do not capture significant phonetic differences. TENSENESS/LAXNESS have to be interpreted as a complex of articulatory characteristics. 1. TONGUE ROOT POSITION: In the articulation of tense vowels the root moves more forward -- advanced tongue root (ATR). 2. LIP POSITION: Tense vowels are more rounded, or the lips are more ...
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Contrasts between two vowels on the basis of tenseness, and even phonemic contrasts, are common in many languages, including English.For example, in most English dialects, beet and bit are contrasted by the vowel sound being tense in the first word but not the second; i.e., / iː / (as in beet) is the tense counterpart to the lax / ɪ / (as in bit); the same is true of / uː / (as in kook ...