Re: vowel descriptions

Quoth Garrett:
> I need a little help - How do i describe the following vowels
> (front/central/back, high/mid/low), and what are their ASCII IPA
> representations?
>
> r (in her, sure)
        Usually a mid-central vowel, with rhoticity.  ASCII-IPA is
        unclear; R would be okay if you aren't using a uvular trill.
> w (in put, book
        back, high-mid, round, lax.  U.
>    *or* cut, what)
        mid, central, unround.  ^ or V.  A completely different vowel,
        in most people's dialects.  You aren't perhaps from northern
        England, are you?  (If you are, you want [U].)
> u (in luke, toot)
        back, high, round, tense.  u.
> o (in go, rote)
        back, mid, round, tense.  o.
> a (in dot, faught; open 'a')
        Gaaah.  You probably mean
           back, low, round.  A.
        but you might mean
           back, low-mid, round, lax.  O.
        or possibly
           front, low, unround.  a.
        or something else entirely.  (Going back to the northern English
        hypothesis, you probably want [A].)
> e (in set, fetch)
        Front, mid, unround, lax.  E.
> i (in keep, me)
        Front, high, unround, tense.  i.

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