ENGLISH VOWELS

Jordan Wee Jee Wui

Tiong Ing King
(2 PISMP TESL)
Contents
Place and manner of articulation of:
Monophthpongs: Short and long vowels
Diphthongs
Triphthongs
Phonetic symbols and transcription
Introduction
A speech sound produced with a (relatively)
unimpeded air stream.
The vowels of English are not A, E, I, O, U.
These are the letters that are used to represent
vowels in English orthography.
English has more than 5 vowels.

A QUICK TOUR OF THE ARTICULATORY STRUCTURES

Articulation of Vowels
Height of tongue (vertical position of the tongue relative to
either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw)
Openness of jaws
Backness of tongue (position of the tongue relative to the back
of the mouth)
Roundedness of the lips
Typical length of the vowel
Phonation / breathy/ whisper
Lips Tongue
Monophthongs
/mnfz/
Short and long vowels
Symbols of Monophthongs
Vowel Chart for Monophthongs
Rounded
Back Central
Half-open
Half-close
Close
Open
Front
Unrounded
Low
Mid
High
// high, half-close, slightly front, slightly spread
kit bid lip quick
/ kt / / bd / / lp / / kwk /

/e/ mid, half-open, front, slightly spread
bed head said death
/ bed / / hed / / sed / / de /

// low, open, front, slightly spread
trap bad cat fact
/ trp / / bd / / kt / / fkt /

Short Vowels
// high, half-close, slightly back, rounded
foot good put should
/ft/ /gd/ /pt/ /d/

// low, slightly open, back, slightly rounded
lot odd wash cross
/lt/ /d/ /w/ / krs /

// mid, half-open, central, neutral
mud love blood tough
/md/ /lv/ /bld/ / tf /

// mid, slightly half-open, central, neutral
about common standard murder
/bat/ /kmn/ /stndd/ /md/

Long Vowels
/i/ high, close, front, slightly spread
sea keep fleece
/si/ /kip/ /flis/

/u/ high, close, back, moderately rounded
moon true queue
/mun/ /tru/ /kju/

// mid, slightly half-open, back, strongly rounded
law gnaw thought
/l/ /n/ /t/

// mid, slightly half-open, central, neutral
nurse stir learn
/ns/ /st/ /ln/

// low, open, slightly back, neutral
car start father
/k/ /stt/ /f/


Diphthongs
(/dfz/)
-Known as gliding vowel.
-the first vowel sounds louder than the second.
Diphthongs list
There are two sub-sets of diphthongs in English,
distinguished by the nature of their second target, that is,
by the direction in which the glide is made.
closing diphthongs (5)-the glide is made from a more open
to a more close position
/ a / , / e / , / / , / / , / /
centring diphthongs (3)- the glide is made from a more
peripheral to a more central position
/ /, / /, / e /


Centring dipthongs
/ / : A glide is made by lowering the central part of the tongue to
position between open-mid and close-mid (roughly, the area of
schwa), with the lips neutrally open.


/ /: A glide is made by lowering the central part of the tongue to
position between open-mid and close-mid (roughly, the area of
schwa), with the lips neutrally open.


/ e / : A glide is by raising the central part of the tongue to a position
equally open (open-mid) position. The lips remain neutral.

Closing diphthongs:
/ a / : A glide is made by raising the front to central part of the
tongue towards the close-mid position.

/ e /: A glide is made by raising the front to central part of the
tongue towards the close-mid position.


/ /: A glide is made by raising the front to central part of the
tongue towards the close-mid position

/ /: A glide is made by raising the back to central part of the
tongue towards the close-mid position. The position of the lips is
changed from neutral to slightly rounded.

/ /: A glide is made by raising the back to central part of the
tongue towards the close-mid position. The position of the lips is
changed from neutral to slightly rounded.

Cautious: In British English, the final r of the diphthongs
//, /e/, // is not pronounced.
For example:
ear / /,
air / e /,
poor / p /
/ / is increasingly rare in daily communication. Many
speakers pronounce as // instead.
For example, poor is pronounced as /p/; tour as /t/;
sure as /s/
Triphthongs
A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third,
all produced rapidly and without interruption.
For example, a careful pronunciation of the word hour begins with a
vowel quality similar to :, goes on to then ends in .

It says / a /
5 types of triphthongs
Triphthongs: 5 closing diphthongs with added on the end.
- e + = e . as in layer / le /,
player / ple /
- a + = a. as in lire / la /, fire / fa /
- + = , as in loyal / ll / , royal / rl /
- + = u, as in lower / l / ,
mower / m /
- a + = au, as in power / pa / , hour / a /
Vowel chart of tripthongs