The anatomy of a vowel

In classifying vowels, we need not indicate airstream mechanism, since it will always be pulmonic egressive, and we can generally assume that vowels are all voiced and oral: allophonic exceptions will be discussed . To describe vowels adequately and accurately, we then need to consider three different parameters, all of which can be seen as modifications of the place or manner of articulation continua for consonants: as we shall see, these are height, frontness and rounding. Additionally, vowels may be long or short (long ones are marked with a following : below), and monophthongs or diphthongs. The examples will be from Standard Southern British English (sometimes called RP, or Received Pronunciation), and General American, the most widely spoken variety of English in the United States, excluding the southern states, and the eastern seaboard, especially Boston, New England and New York City. SSBE and GA are generally thought of by English and American speakers respectively as not having any strong regional marking, and both are varieties highly likely to be heard in broadcasting, for instance in reading the television or radio news.