stammvokale

Stammvokale, also known as core vowels or cardinal vowels, are a set of idealized vowel sounds that are used as reference points in phonetics. They were first proposed by Peter Ladefoged and John C. Watson in 1963. The term "stammvokal" is German for "stem vowel," reflecting their role as a standard against which other vowels are measured.

There are ten stammvokale, which are defined by their position in the mouth and the degree of tongue height. They are divided into two groups: front vowels and back vowels. Front vowels are produced with the tongue positioned forward in the mouth, while back vowels are produced with the tongue positioned towards the back of the mouth. The vowels are further categorized by their height, which can be high, mid, or low.

The stammvokale are not actual sounds that occur in any natural language, but rather they serve as a way to describe and compare the sounds of different languages. They are used in phonetic transcription and in the study of speech production and perception. The stammvokale are often represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols, which are based on the cardinal vowel chart.

The ten stammvokale are:

1. High front vowel (i)

2. Near-high front vowel (y)

3. High back vowel (u)

4. Low back vowel (ɯ)

5. High front rounded vowel (y̹)

6. High back rounded vowel (u̹)

7. Low front vowel (ɑ)

8. Low back vowel (ɒ)

9. Mid front vowel (e)

10. Mid back vowel (o)

These vowels are used to describe the quality of other vowels in a language, providing a standardized way to compare and contrast different sounds.