Analysis examines vowel tenseness in English vowels, indicating potential confusion for Japanese speakers.
This paper examines the vowel tenseness indicator θ₁ in the English vowel /ɑː/ and compares the results with previously reported findings in Ishizaki (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025a, 2025b) in order to provide a more comprehensive discussion. An investigation of the English vowels /ɑː/, /æ/, and /ʌ/, which may cause confusion for Japanese speakers, shows that /ɑː/ and /ʌ/ display similar θ₁ patterns, whereas /æ/ behaves differently. If vowel tenseness is assumed to be defined in the same way for both close and open vowels, comparison with the θ₁ behavior of the close vowels /iː/, /ɪ/, /uː/, and /ʊ/ may provide further insight into the tenseness of /ɑː/, /æ/, and /ʌ/. Ishizaki (2025a) proposed the parameter “force of tenseness,” and further consideration of this parameter based on the present study may help clarify what vowel tenseness represents. The findings should be regarded as preliminary, as they are based on a limited dataset.
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Tatsuya Ishizaki (2026) studied this question.
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