What’s on the The Vowel Space poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
Vowels are classified by tongue height, tongue frontness and lip rounding. Because these vary continuously, vowels form a space rather than a set of discrete sounds.
- Height: close (ee) to open (ah).
- Frontness: front (ee) to back (oo).
- Rounding: oo is rounded; ee is not.
- English has around 20 vowel sounds and five vowel letters.
- Diphthongs glide between two positions: the vowel in 'buy'.
- Schwa /ə/ is the neutral centre, and the commonest vowel in English.
- English vowels — ~20
- Vowel letters — 5
- Commonest — schwa
- Accents differ far more in vowels than in consonants — which is why they are hard to…
Schwa appears in unstressed syllables everywhere: the a in 'about', the e in 'taken', the o in 'memory'.
Questions about the The Vowel Space poster
- What’s on the The Vowel Space poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. Vowels are classified by tongue height, tongue frontness and lip rounding. Because these vary continuously, vowels form a space rather than a set of discrete sounds. Height: close (ee) to open (ah).; Frontness: front (ee) to back (oo).; Rounding: oo is rounded; ee is not.; English has around 20 vowel sounds and five vowel letters.; Diphthongs glide between two positions: the vowel in 'buy'.; Schwa /ə/ is the neutral centre, and the commonest vowel in English.; English vowels — ~20; Vowel letters — 5; Commonest — schwa; Accents differ far more in vowels than in consonants — which is why they are hard to…. Schwa appears in unstressed syllables everywhere: the a in 'about', the e in 'taken', the o in 'memory'.
- Who is the The Vowel Space poster for?
- The Vowel Space belongs to the Languages section rather than to a school year, because languages is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning how languages work can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Vowel Space poster?
- Vowels are positions, not points. That is why accents differ mostly in their vowels. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Vowel Space belongs on the wall where that languages work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Vowel Space?
- Bilingualism, Grammatical Case and Code-Switching sit alongside The Vowel Space in the Languages section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.BilingualismGrammatical CaseCode-Switching
- Is the The Vowel Space poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Vowel Space downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Languages section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Vowel Space poster print at?
- The Vowel Space is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Vowel Space loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Vowel Space on the same wall.
Browse every Languages poster, or start from the full catalogue.