Phonetics: Tense/Lax Vowels in English 1.2

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This exercise will provide you with more practice on distinguishing between tense and lax vowels in Standard English.

For the following questions, select the feature that best describes each vowel.

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A	lax
B	tense Hint: The vowel [ɛ], as in quest or best, is lax.

A	tense
B	lax Hint: The vowel [u], as in soon or suit, is tense.

A	tense Hint: The vowel [a], as in father or spa, is lax. *This is what is taught at the introductory level; with more in-depth study, however, some would disagree.
B	lax

A	lax
B	tense Hint: The vowel [ʌ], as in flood or bud, is lax.

Phonetics: Tense/Lax Vowels in English 1.2

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