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Tense and Lax Vowels

In English vowel production, we sometimes place the tongue in such a way that there is greater constriction in the vocal tract. These are called tense vowels.

Vowels produced with less constriction and more open flow of air are referred to as lax vowels. The following graph illustrates the tense and lax verbs of American English. This is also called the schwa, or reduced vowels.

Schwa commonly appear in single syllable words or multi-syllable words in unstressed positions.

Tense		Lax
Heat	[i]	hit	[ɪ]
Mate	[ej]	met	[ɛ]
		Mat	[æ]
Shoot	[u]	should	[ʊ]
Coat	[ow]	Caught	[ɔ]
		Boy	[ɔj]
		Cut	[ʌ]
		Canada	[Ə]
Lock	[a]
lies	[aj]
loud	[aw]

(O’Grady 35-37)

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O' Grady, William, Archibald, John, Aronoff Mark, Rees-Miller, Janie. Contemporary Linguistics

5th Edition. Boston: Bedford St. Martin's, 2005.