Vowels are one of two principal types of speech sound, the other being consonants. Vowels are typically produced with voicing, and with a vocal tract open at least as much as it is for the vowel [i]. Vowels are classified by height and frontness/backness, these terms referring to the highest point on the surface of the tongue. This range of space within the oral cavity is called the vowel quadrangle, based on its shape. Other characteristics are also used in the classification of vowels, besides these two principal ones. These include rounding/labialization, tenseness/ATR, nasalization, duration/length, and syllabicity. The group of front unrounded and back rounded vowels comprise what are called cardinal vowels or primary vowels; these are the most common vowels in the world’s languages. Secondary vowels include front rounded and back unrounded vowels. Nasalization of vowels involves opening the velopharyngeal port during their production.

The word consonant means 'with a sonant' or vowel. Consonants are one of two main types of speech sounds, the other being vowels. In the production of consonants, the vocal tract is blocked, the vocal tract is seriously constricted, or the airflow is diverted through the nasal passage. The term articulation is used for the movements and adjustments required to produce an individual speech sound. Consonants are classified by (1) whether the vocal folds are vibrating, (2) where in the vocal tract articulation takes place, and (3) the manner of articulation (the type of articulation). Manners of articulation include plosives, nasals, fricatives, and approximants, the latter of which can be broken down into laterals and glides. Other manners of articulation include trills. Consonants may be produced with a secondary articulation in addition to the primary articulation.

It was during the reign of Henry II (1154–89) that royal justice was available to anyone could bring their case within a certain formula, known as a writ. This is discussed in Chapter 5, ‘The Father of the Common Law (c.1154–1215)’, the title of which refers to the title often bestowed upon Henry II, the first monarch from the House of Plantagenet. The chapter focuses on the development of the writ system during and in the aftermath of Henry’s reign in relation to what we now call land law and whether this marked a move to centralisation that replaced the feudal system. The chapter begins by examining the Becket controversy but will then move on to argue that it is for other developments that Henry Plantagenet’s reign should be remembered. The second part of this chapter explored the developments to the legal system that occurred during this reign and that allowed for a common law to develop and be regularised. The final section will explore in detail the origins of the writ system, following Maitland’s legendary account of The Forms of Action as well as the revisions and criticisms put forward by Milsom.