Question

What is a cardinal vowel according to Daniel Jones’ system?

• A. A vowel that occurs frequently in English
• B. A fixed reference point in vowel space
• C. A central vowel used for comparison
• D. A vowel from Latin or Greek origin

Answer 1

Answer:

B. A fixed reference point in vowel space

A cardinal vowel is a standardized reference point in the total range of vowel qualities. These are not actual vowels from any specific language but are designed as anchor points to help linguists compare and describe the vowels in any language.