English Vowels Sound

Vowel Sounds


Definition of Vowel Sounds
Revision:
What are Phonetics and Phonology?

Phonetics: how to make,
transmit and perceive speech
sounds.
Phonology: the sound system
and rules of sounds in a
language  the position in a
word

Vocal vibration
No constriction of the
airflow (the air flows
freely)

Occurs at the center
of syllable


Vowel Classification
What the following video and answer the
following questions.
/>&t=30s
1. How many types of vowel sounds are there in
English?
2. How many criteria for describing vowel sounds

are there? What are they?


Vowel Classification
How many types of vowel sounds are there in
English?
2 types: monophthongs, diphthongs
How many criteria for describing vowel sounds are
there? What are they?
3.
Height, backness, roundness


front

central

back
high
mid
low


Vowel Classification
Tongue height

How high and low the tongue is

Tongue shape/
backness

How far front or back the tongue is

Lip shape/
roundness

Are lips rounded?


Tongue height

How high and low the tongue is


Tongue shape/
backness

How far front or back the tongue is


Lip shape/
roundness

Are lips rounded?



Monophthongs (British English)

Length of vowels depends on …
Vowel + voiceless consonant
 shorter vowel

hit, heat

1. context
Vowel + voiced consonant
 longer vowel

hid, heed

Vowel in an unstressed syllable
 shorter vowel

record (n)

2. stress
Vowel in a stressed syllable
 longer vowel

record (v)


To produce a correct short vowel, it is
not enough to simply cut the long vowel
short. Long vowels differ from short
ones not only in quantity (length) but
also in quality (they sound different).
You can see this difference in the vowel

quadrilateral.



Pronunciation Practice
Access the following link
/>unciation/introduction
or
/>5mSnMGAUeSZY4Jf7D
Sounds
/i:/
/ɪ/
/e/
/æ/
/ʌ/
/ə/

Examples
beat, heel, leave
bit, hill, live
bet, pen, dead
bat, pan, dad
but, some, rush
about, printer, tomorrow

Sounds
/ɜ:/
/ʊ/
/u:/
/ɒ/

/ɔː/
/ɑ:/

Examples
fir, curse, learn
pull, could, foot
pool, cooed, food
pot, shot, spot
port, short, sport
part, half, father


Diphthongs
Element 1

e

/eɪ/

Element 2
closer

closing

ɪ
more central

centering

Diphthongs


Pronunciation Practice
Access the following link
/>unciation/introduction
or
/>5mSnMGAUeSZY4Jf7D

Sounds
/ɪə/
/eə/
/ʊə/
/eɪ/
/aɪ/
/ɔɪ/
/əʊ/
/aʊ/

Examples
hear, peer, queer, near, beer
hair, pair, stare, where, bear
poor, lure, moor, moored
stay, taste, faint, name
stay, height, tight, climb, fine
coy, host, coin, spoil, joy
code, host, no, row, boast
cow, house, now, loud, row