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In phonetics and phonology, vowel height refers to the vertical position of the tongue relative to either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw. In high vowels, such as and , the tongue is positioned high in the mouth, whereas in low vowels, such as , the tongue is positioned low in the mouth. The first formant of a vowel (F1) usually corresponds to vowel height, with a higher F1 corresponding to a lower vowel height and a lower F1 corresponding to a higher vowel height. Sometimes the terms open and close are used as synonyms for low and high for describing vowels. The International Phonetic Alphabet identifies seven different vowel heights, although no known language distinguishes all seven: