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Vowel Features

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Mona Lindau
Mona Lindau*
Affiliation:
University of Ibadan
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Abstract

This paper presents an inventory of the features that are necessary to describe vowel systems in the languages of the world. The relationship between the features and their articulatory and acoustic correlates is explored. Some vowel features, like High and Back, are accounted for in both articulatory and acoustic terms. Others, like Peripheral, are best described with reference to the acoustic domain. When the number of contrasts of each feature is considered, some features turn out to be multivalued.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , September 1978 , pp. 541 - 563
Copyright
Copyright © 1978 by Linguistic Society of America

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