[Menvi-discuss] formulating vowels

[Brandon Keith Biggs]

Hello,
Ask your teacher for visualization exercises as well. My teacher said to 
form an ooh vowel, sing ooh, pinch your index finger and thumb together and 
pull them out away from your mouth. It is to signify pulling the sound from 
your mouth, like you would pull wire or string. I think of there being a big 
block of gold in my mouth and I want only a perfect spirally bar coming out 
of my lips. When you pinch right as the attack happens and start pulling 
perfectly strait forward out of your mouth you get the luscious rich closed 
ooh sound almost all languages love.
If you're talking about one of the weird sounds that are unique to French, 
just imitate the best you can. I'd also suggest listening to some Foust to 
hear what those singers do.
Thank you,

Brandon Keith Biggs
-----Original Message----- 
From: Karen Gearreald
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:34 PM
To: 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'
Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] formulating vowels

Kelsey, it is easy to become too worried about placing your lips and tongue
and jaw in exactly the right position for French vowels.  I had a similar
problem in college when I was learning to speak French.  Of course you will
need to know the various positions for your phonetics class.  I think,
however, that in actually producing the vowels, you will most easily learn
to relax and remember if you imitate the correct sounds, just as you would
if you were a baby in France.  Little blind children in France learn the
vowels by sound through imitation and repetition; so can we.

The big exception may be the front, rounded "u" vowel.  As Bettie Downing
said, you can learn much by touching your tutor's mouth when this vowel is
being pronounced.  Without undue tension, remember to round your lips as you
bring them forward.  This is not a position that we use in English.
Observing the forward rounding of the lips for the "u" vowel, someone once
comically said:  "You look as if a rooster could perch on your lips."  Not a
bad concept.  Your lips can still be soft and flexible, but give that silly
rooster a place to stand.

Karen Gearreald

-----Original Message-----
From: menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org
[mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of Kelsey Nicolay
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:58 PM
To: menvi-discuss at menvi.org
Subject: [Menvi-discuss] formulating vowels

Hello,
I am taking a French phonetics course this semester and am
currently working with a tutor.  We are learning about vowel
height, vowel roundedness, and vowel backness.  How does a tutor
explain how the mouth is supposed to form these vowels?
Thanks,

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