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Old 14-Oct-2006, 04:29
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Default describe these phonemes phonetically

I'm taking phonetics through correspondence, and it's difficult to get help. I have to describe phonemes phonetically, and I'm not sure what that means.
for example:
u is a back vowel, it's a very short sound. It is used in wolf, took, could.

Does this mean I have to describe the tongue and such as well?
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Old 14-Oct-2006, 07:49
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Default Re: describe these phonemes phonetically

I presume they would want the IPA classification, so whether a vowel sound is front/central/back and close/close-mid etc.
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Old 14-Oct-2006, 13:46
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Default Re: describe these phonemes phonetically

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Originally Posted by Tdol View Post
I presume they would want the IPA classification, so whether a vowel sound is front/central/back and close/close-mid etc.
I agree. Tongue position is sort of implied by that classification anyway (in that you can't produce an open vowel if your tongue is positioned for the production of a close vowel). If the tongue were doing other things (such as the lateral flap in Welsh, or retroflex vowels - where, in some languages, you have to modify certain speech sounds by curling the tip of the tongue) you'd have to say this. But in describing English phonemes you can just stick to front/central/back and close/close-mid etc.

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Last edited by BobK; 14-Oct-2006 at 14:55.
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Old 15-Oct-2006, 04:53
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Default Re: describe these phonemes phonetically

thanks that makes sense.
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