Articulation bases of English and Russian vowels are different.
(1) The lips. In the production of Russian vowels the lips are con
siderably protruded and rounded /î, ó/. In the articulation of the
similar English h, o:/, /u, u:/ considerable protrusion does not take
place. Englishmen have the so called "flat-type" position of the lips,
their lips are more tense than the lips of the Russian, and the corners
of the lips are raised, which resembles a smile.
(2) The bulk of the tongue. In the articulation of the English vow
els the bulk of the tongue occupies more positions than in the pro
duction of the Russian yowels. When the bulk of the tongue moves
in the horizontal direction it may occupy a fully front and a front-
retracted, a fully back and a back-advanced position. Horizontal move
ments of the tongue condition the articulation of the /ý, ý:/ vowels,
which are of mixed type.
Each of the three vertical positions of the tongue (high, mid, low) in English is subdivided into a narrow and broad variety. Thus, six groups of vowel sounds are formed in the system of English vowels.
Such broad variety of the bulk of the tongue positions is not observed in the production of the Russian vowel sounds. When classified according to the vertical movement of the tongue they may be divided into; high — /è, û, ó/, mid — /ý, î/ and low — /a/.
According to the horizontal movement of the bulk of the tongue Russian vowels may be subdivided into: front — /è, ý/, central — /üã, a/ and back — /î, ó/. The articulatory peculiarities in the pronunciation of English vowels constitute the basis for the formation of diphthongs when the position of the tongue changes within the articulation of one and the same vowel.
(3) The principle of the degree of tenseness in vowel classification
is inseparably connected with the free or unchecked and checked char
acter of the vowels.
(4) The length of the vowels. Long vowels in English are consid
ered to be tense. There are no long vowels which can be opposed pho-
neraically to short vowels in the Russian language. Length in the
Russian vowel system is an irrelevant feature.
(5) The stability of articulation. There are monophthongs and
diphthongoids in the Russian vowel system, but there are no diph
thongs.
(6) There are 6 vowel phonemes in Russian and 20 in English.
Given below are English vowels which have no counterparts in Rus
sian:
(1) long and short vowels /i:—i/, /o:~--d/, /u: —u/, Is: — a/,