On the structure of vowel space: a genealogy of general phonetic concepts

This paper gives an overview and an analysis of representative vowel space depictions found in the phonetic literature of the past four centuries. A visual representation of 24 selected structural proposals with time is given in poster form, after translation to a common notation. A first-order approach is developed by which the distance between any pair of vowel schemes may be measured. Using these distances and other considerations, trends are detected and major innovations identified. An attempt is then made to trace the genealogy of five general phonetic concepts concerning the structure of vowel space: discretizing the continuum, the assumption of symmetry, triangular vs. square arrangements, the development of ‘roundedness’ as an independent dimension and the treatment of ‘central’ vowels. Such a historical perspective is deemed necessary for a full appreciation and utilization of the current vowel schemes.