Perusvokaalit

Perusvokaalit, often translated as cardinal vowels, are a set of reference points in the articulation of vowel sounds. They represent the most extreme possible positions for the tongue in the mouth when producing vowels, both in terms of height (how high or low the tongue is) and backness (how far forward or backward the tongue is). These extreme positions create distinct vowel qualities that are relatively stable across different speakers and languages, making them useful for phonetic analysis and comparison.

The system of cardinal vowels was developed by Daniel Jones, a prominent British phonetician, in the early 20th century. He identified eight primary cardinal vowels, which are organized on a vowel quadrilateral. The corners of this quadrilateral represent the most extreme points: [i] for the high front vowel (as in the 'ee' in "see"), [a] for the low front vowel (as in the 'a' in "father"), [u] for the high back vowel (as in the 'oo' in "too"), and [ɑ] for the low back vowel (as in the 'ah' in "father," though often distinct from the front [a]).

Between these primary points lie secondary cardinal vowels, which represent the opposite extreme positions for the same dimension. For example, if [i] is high front, the corresponding low front vowel is [a]. Similarly, [u] is high back, and [ɑ] is low back. The intermediate cardinal vowels ([e], [ɛ], [ɔ], [o]) fill in the gaps along the edges of the quadrilateral, representing mid-high and mid-low positions. These reference points allow phoneticians to describe and transcribe vowel sounds with a high degree of precision, serving as a universal standard for vowel articulation.