Vowel: No obstruction in vocal tract, nucleus of the syllable

• Sonorous: High acoustic intensity

English Vowel Rules

Tense / Lax:

• Tense: At the end of a word & before consonants (e.g.
• Lax: Never at the end of a word, always before consonants

Occurrence:

• [ə] before [r] and in unstressed syllables (e.g. bird [bərd], scuba [skubə])
• [ʌ] only in stressed syllables (e.g. bud [bʌd])
• [ɔ] only before [r] (e.g. board)