PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY
VOWELS
BY NADIA SAFEER
LECTURER ENGLISH
NUML RAWALPINDI
ENGLISH SOUNDS
ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS
• A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any obstruction in the oral
cavity. Vowels can be sub-classified into three: monophthongs,
diphthongs, and triphthongs
• The vowel chart is a diagram to understand vowel sounds.
• It tries to represent where the tongue lies in relation to the openness of
the mouth when you produce a vowel.
• So the front closed vowel /i:/ means that your tongue is in a forward
12 PURE VOWELS (MONOPHTHONGS)
There are 12 monophthongs, and they are known as pure vowels because they
consist of only one vowel quality. They are classified into short vowels and long
vowels.
• A vowel is a voiced sound. This sound is produced without a noise component.
• The air which is coming from the lungs without any restrictions is called a vowel.
• There are three major parameters for describing vowel sounds:
•1. The part of the tongue used for the articulation: front, central, or back.
•2. The position of the tongue in relation to the palate: high, mid or low.
12 PURE VOWELS (MONOPHTHONGS)
• Try saying it to
yourself and
then contrast it
with the open
back sound in
the diagram.
VOWELS CHARTS
VOWELS SPEECH
ORGANS
VIDEO FOR EXPLANATION
For a more detailed audio-visual explanation of
how to answer questions on vowel sounds,
watch the following video lecture:
https://youtu.be/yBgGRrG1sF8
VIDEO FOR EXPLANATION
https://drive.go
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EXAMPLES
The 12 Vowel Sounds:
/i:/
Description:
The front of the tongue is raised.
It is raised to a height slightly below and behind the close position.
Spellings:
ee – tree / tri:/, cheese / tʃi:z/, canteen / kænti:n/
e - be / bi:/, these / ði:z/.
ie – field / fi:ld/, piece / pi:s/
ea – tea / ti:/, sea / si:/, leaf / li:f/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /i:/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/ɪ/
Description:
•A part of the tongue nearer to the Centre than to the front is raised.
•It is raised just above the half-close position.
Spellings:
ɪ – sit / sɪt/, with / wɪð/
e – become / bɪk˄m/,
y – city / sɪtɪ/, sympathy / sɪmpəɵɪ/
a – village / vɪlɪdƷ/, private / praɪvɪt/, cabbage / kæbɪdƷ/
ie – cities / sɪtɪs/, ladies / leɪdɪs/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ɪ/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/ʊ/
Description:
•A part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to the back is raised.
•It is raised just above the half-close position.
Spellings:
u – put / pʊt/, full / fʊl/
o – wolf / wʊlf/, woman / wʊmən/
oo – nook / nʊk/, foot / fʊt/, good / gʊd/
ou – could / kʊd/, courier / kʊriə/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ʊ/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/u:/
Description:
•The back of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised nearly to the close position.
Spellings:
oo – soon / su:n/, food / fu:d/
o – do / du:/, who / wu:/
ou – soup / su:p/, through / ɵru:/
u –rude / ru:d/, june / dƷu:n/
ew – chew / tʃu:/, jew / dƷu:/
ui – juice / dƷu:z/
ue – blue / blu:/, true / tru:/
oe – shoe / ʃu:/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /u:/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/e/
Description:
•The front of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised to a position between half-close and half-open.
Spellings:
e – bed / bed /, went / went /
ea – head / hed/, breath / breɵ/
ie – friend / frend /
a – any / enɪ/, many / menɪ /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /e/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/3:/
Description:
•The centre of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised to a point between a half-close and half-open position.
Spelling:
ir – bird / b3:d/, girl / g3:l/
er – her / h3:/, serve / s3:v/
ear - heard / h3:d/, earth / 3:ɵ/
or – word / w3:d/, work / w3:k/
our – journey / dƷ3:nI/, courtesy / k3:təsɪ/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /3:/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/ɔ:/
Description:
•The back of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised between the half-open and half-close positions.
Spelling:
or – born / bɔ:n/, cord / kɔ:d/
aw – saw / sɔ:/, yawn / jɔ:n/
au – fault / fɔ:lt/, cause / kɔ:s/
ou – bought / bɔ:t/, ought /ɔ :t/
a - all / ɔ:l/, talk / tɔ:k/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ɔ:/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/æ/
Description:
•The front of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised just below the half-open position.
Spellings:
a – pat / pæt /, hand / hænd /, lamp / læmp /
ai – plaid / plæd /
Example:
bad / bæd /
bat / bæt /
sacks / sæks /
bag / bæg /
back / bæk /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /æ/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/˄/
Description:
•The Centre of the tongue is raised.
•It is raised just above the fully open position.
Spellings:
u – sun / s˄n /, cut / k˄t /
o – come / k˄m/, front / fr˄nt/
ou – country / k˄ntrɪ/, couple / k˄pl/
oo – blood / bl˄d/, flood / fɪ˄d/
oe – does / d˄z/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /˄/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/a:/
Description:
•A part of the tongue between the Centre and the back is raised.
•It is raised to the open position.
Spellings:
a – pass / pa:s/, branch / bra:ntʃ/
ar – part / pa:t/, car/ ka:/
ear – heart / ha:t/, hearth/ ha:ɵ/
er – clerk / kla:k/, sergeant / sa:dƷənt/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /a:/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/ɒ/
Description:
•The back of the tongue is raised.
•It is in a fully open position.
Spelling:
o – hot / hɒt /, dog / dɒg/
a – watch / wɒtʃ/, what / wɒt/
ou – cough / kɒf/,
ow – knowledge / nɒlɪdƷ/
au – because / bɪkɒs/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ɒ/ sound.
EXAMPLES
/ɒ/
Description:
•The back of the tongue is raised.
•It is in a fully open position.
Spelling:
o – hot / hɒt /, dog / dɒg/
a – watch / wɒtʃ/, what / wɒt/
ou – cough / kɒf/,
ow – knowledge / nɒlɪdƷ/
au – because / bɪkɒs/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ɒ/ sound.
COMPLETE CHART
COMPLETE CHART
VOWELS (5 DIPHTHONGS)
• A diphthong is a combination of two vowel qualities.
• It is called a GLIDE because its articulation involves a movement
from one vowel quality to another.
• For example, the vowel sound in play is a combination of /e/ and /i/,
and it is articulated with a gliding movement from /e/ to /i/, thereby
producing the sound /ei/.
• The following is a chart showing the 8 diphthongs:
DIPHTHONGS CHART 5
DIPHTHONGS CHART 5
• These 5 further
divided into 3
groups
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/IƏ/
Description:
•The glide begins from /ɪ/ and moves towards /ə/
•The lips are neutral.
Spellings:
eer – deer / dɪə/
ear – dear / dɪə/, fear / fɪə/
ere – here / hɪə/
eir – weired / wɪəd/
ier – fierce / fɪəs/
ea – idea / aɪdɪə/
Example:
ear / ɪə/
feared / fɪəd /
severe / sɪvɪə /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /IƏ/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/ʊə/
Description:
•The glide begins from /ʊ/ and moves towards /ə/.
•The lips are weakly rounded at the beginning of the glide and become neutrally
spread.
Spellings:
oor – poor / pʊə/
ure – pure / pjʊə/, sure / ʃuə/
ur – curious / kjʊərɪəs/, during / dʊərɪŋ/
our – tour / tʊə/
ewer – fewer / fjʊə/
Examples:
sure / ʃʊə /
fluent / flʊənt /
tourist / tʊərɪst /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ʊə/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/eə/
Description:
•The glide begins in the half-open from the position /e/ and moves in the direction
of /ə/.
•The lips are neutral.
Spellings:
are – care / keə/, rare / reə/
air – fair / feə/, chair / tʃeə/
ear – bear / beə/, wear / weə/
ere – here / heə/, there / ðeə/
eir – their / ðeə/, heir / heə/
Example:
air / eə /
hair / heə /
rare / reə /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /eə/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/eɪ/
Descriptions:
•The glide begins from /e/ slightly below the half-close position and moves in the
directions of /ɪ/
•The lips are spread.
Spellings:
a – late / leɪt/, game / geɪm/
ay – day / deɪ/, may / meɪ/
ai – aim / eɪm/, waist / weɪst/
ei – eight / eɪt/, vein / vein/
ey – they / ðeɪ/
ea – great / greɪt/, break / breɪk/
>> Click here to watch the video on the /eɪ/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/ɔɪ/
Descriptions:
•The glide begins from /Ɔ:/ slightly below the half-close position and moves in the
direction of /ɪ/
•The lips are spread.
Spellings:
oy – boy / bɔɪ/, joy / dƷɔɪ/
oi – voice / vɔɪs/, point / pɔɪnt/
Example:
oil / ɔɪl /
coin / kɔɪn /
annoy / ənɔɪ /
ointment / ɔɪntmənt /
join / dƷɔɪn /
destroy / destrɔɪ /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /ɔɪ/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/aɪ/
Description:
•The glide begins from just above the open position /a:/ and moves towards /I/.
•The lips are spread.
Spelling:
i – five / faɪv/, mine / maɪn/, file / faɪl/
u – buy / baɪ/, guy / gaɪ/
ie – tie / taɪ/, die / daɪ/
y – fly / flaɪ/
Example:
right / raɪt /
lie / laɪ /
fly / flaɪ /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /aɪ/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/əʊ/
Description:
•The glide begins at a central position / ə/ between half close and half-open. It then
moves in the direction of /ʊ /
•The lips are neutral for the first element and sounded for the second.
Spellings:
o – so / səʊ/, old / əʊld/, home / həʊm/
oa – road / rəʊd/, soap / səʊp/
oe – toe / təʊ/, foe / fəʊ/
ou – soul / səʊl/, though / ðəʊ /
ow – know / nəʊ/, blow / bləʊ/
Example:
old / əʊld /
go / gəʊ /
nose / nəʊz /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /əʊ/ sound.
ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS
/aʊ/
Description:
•The glide begins at a point between the back and front open position /a:/ and moves
towards /ʊ/.
•The lips change from a neutrally open to a weakly sounded position.
Spellings:
our – house / haʊs/
ow – cow / kaʊ/, brown / braʊn/
Example:
owl / aʊl /
loud / laʊd /
allow / əlaʊ /
>> Click here to watch the video on the /aʊ/ sound.
DIPHTHONGS: COMPLETE CHART
DIPHTHONGS: COMPLETE CHART
TRIPHTHONGS 3
• A triphthong is a combination of three vowel qualities
pronounced in one syllable.
• The following is a list of the 5 triphthongs and how they occur is
written English words:
COMBINE CHART
EMPTY CHARTS FOR PRACTICE
https://www.englishhub.co.in/2020/12/44-sounds-of
-english-with-phonetic-symbols.html
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-distributi
on-of-vowels-and-consonants-sounds-initial-medial-
final/81287101
EMPTY CHARTS FOR PRACTICE
