Tag Archives: Alexander Melville Bell

Feeling tongue positions

Posted on 2017/08/15 by swphonetics

150th Anniversary of the Bell Vowel Model 3 September 2017 saw the 150th anniversary of Alexander Melville Bell’s vowel model. Within ten years, it was claimed that Bell’s tongue positions could be felt by muscular sensations. Just ten years after … Continue reading →

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The double-resonance theory

Posted on 2017/08/13 by swphonetics

150th Anniversary of the Bell Vowel Model 2 September 2017 saw the 150th anniversary of Alexander Melville Bell’s vowel model, that was briefly explained by the double-resonance theory. The single-resonance theory was the standard for a couple of hundred years … Continue reading →

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Tongue height and backness

Posted on 2017/08/11 by swphonetics

150th Anniversary of the Bell Vowel Model 1 September 2017 saw the 150th anniversary of Alexander Melville Bell’s (1867) vowel model, with its unique innovation of tongue locations between front and back, what he actually called the location of a … Continue reading →

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The Bell vowel model: its acoustic weaknesses

Posted on 2013/01/22 by swphonetics

1. The single resonance and two resonance theories. Bell coupled his new vowel model to the then popular single resonance theory, claiming the vowel tone (resonance) depended on the dimensions of the buccal cavity. In Visible Speech (1867:71), he postulated … Continue reading →

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