Tense vowel

Definition

Tense is a feature which characterizes vowels that are produced with a tongue body or tongue root configuration involving a greater constriction than that found in their lax counterparts; this greater degree of constriction is frequently accompanied by greater length (Halle & Clements (1983:7)).

Example

In English, [I] in willis lax, while [i] in wheel is tense.

Links

• Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

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