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cardinal vowel

noun Phonetics.

any one of eight primary, purportedly invariant, sustained vowel sounds that constitute a reference set for describing the vowel inventory of a language.

any one of the eight or more supplementary or secondary cardinal vowels.

Origin:
1920–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Cardinal vowel is always a great word to know.

So is lax. Does it mean:

any one of a variety of ingressive, usually implosive, speech sounds produced by suction occlusion and plosive or affricative release

articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles

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