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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 vowe...

INTRODUCTION TO THE VOWELS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE A  vowel  is one of the two principal classes of speech sound, the other being a  consonant . Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in  quantity (length) . They are usually  voiced , and are closely involved in  prosodic variation such as  tone ,  intonation  and  stress . Vowel sounds are produced with an open  vocal tract . The word  vowel  comes from the  Latin  word  vocalis , meaning "vocal" (i.e. relating to the voice). Vowels are also called vociods. Phonetically, vowels are defined as speech segments which are produced with no obstruction in any part of the vocal tract; there is free flow of air from the lungs when vowel sounds are produced. On the other hand, phonemically, vowels are describe in terms of syllables (units of speech sound that can be produced within a single breath effort), that is, the sound that form the p...