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PARAMETERS FOR DESCRIBING THE MONOPHTHONGS OF THE ENGLISH SOUND SYSTEM In order to classify the vowels of English, it is essential to consider certain factors which are necessary for proper classification. The first thing to be noted is that it is from the lungs that the airstream for the production of speech sounds flows (in most human languages). For the production of vowels, the airstream flows without any obstruction. Although there is no obstruction to the flow of the airstream, the tongue moves and the shape of the lips changes according to the kind of vowel being produced. In addition to the movement of the tongue and changes in the shape of the lips, the jaw also moves. These factors are what are termed parameters for describing vowels. In describing the vowels of English there are five (5) basic parameters 1   The vertical position of the tongue This refers to how high or low in the mouth is the tongue e.g. high, mid, and low. This is also referred to how open or

The monophthongs of the English language A monophthong (/ˈmɒnəfθɒŋ/ Greek monóphthongos from mónos "single" and phthóngos "sound") is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs , where the vowel quality changes within the same syllable, and hiatus , where two vowels are next to each other in different syllables. A vowel sound whose quality does not change over the duration of the vowel is called a pure vowel. Furthermore, a monophthong can be seen as a vowel that has a single perceived auditory quality.   There are 12 monophthongs in the English sound system. These are however classified into short vowels and long vowels. Short vowels in the sense that, their production is not prolonged; there are seven of such vowels in   English. ·          Short vowels / ɪ / as in k i t/k ɪ t/