language. The cardinal vowels themselves do not belong to any particular
language, but are possible vowels to be used as reference points.
The cardinal vowel [i] is made with the front of the tongue as high as
possible in the mouth without touching the roof of the mouth. It is a front
vowel. By gradually lowering the tongue, three more front vowels were
established: [e], [y] and [a]. The difference in tongue position for [i] and [e],
for [e] and [y] and for [y] and [a] is approximately equal and the difference
in sound between each vowel and the next one is also similar. All these front
vowels are made with fairly spread lips.
Cardinal vowel [w] is made with the back of the tongue as low as
possible in the mouth. It is a back vowel. By gradually raising the back of
the tongue from the [w] position, three other cardinal vowels were estab-
lished: [Ñ], [o] and [u]. These three are made with the lips gradually more
rounded.
These eight vowels are known as the primary cardinal vowels. The five
vowels: [i], [e], [y], [a] and [w] are unrounded vowelsand [Ñ], [o] and [u] are
rounded vowels.
With the tongue in these eight positions, a secondary series of cardinal
vowels was established. Where the primary cardinal vowels are unrounded,
the secondary cardinal vowelsare rounded. Where the primary cardinal
vowels are rounded, the secondary cardinal vowels are unrounded.caretaker speechcaretaker speechn
also motherese, mother talk, baby talk
the simple speech used by mothers, fathers, babysitters, etc., when they talk
to young children who are learning to talk.