Vowels Unlike consonants, a vowel sound is produced with an open passage of air in the mouth. Vowel sounds are articulated with a relatively free airflow. All vowel sounds are voiced. The shape of the mouth forms a cubic area or a tube-shaped cavity. The tongue influences the shape through which the air must pass. Graphically there are just 5 vowels symbols in British English alphabet, but there are 12 single vowels (monophthoughs) and 8 diphthongs. American English has 10 single vowels and 5 diphthongs.

Vocal tract as a resonating tube

How are vowels described? 1- Horizontal axis: Front vowels lie beneath the hard palate [i, I ], back vowels [ u, a ] lie beneath the soft palate, and central vowels lie beneath the area between the soft and hard palate. Front – Central – Back 2- Vertical axis: high vowels [ i , u ] are made with the front part of the tongue is close to the palate. Low vowels [a, æ] are made with the tongue is lowered from the mouth and automatically entails the opening of the mouth. Close – Mid – Open 3- The position of the lips is a third dimension for describing vowel sounds, i.e., rounded or unrounded vowels. 4- A vowel is long or short

The position of the highest point of the tongue how front or back the tongue’s highest point in the mouth is how high or low the highest point of the tongue is

English Vowels FRONT CENTRAL BACK CLOSE Half-CLOSE Half-OPEN OPEN

[i]as in see is close, front, unrounded, long Vowel Description [i]as in see is close, front, unrounded, long [I] as in sit is front, half-close, unrounded, short [e] as in get is front, half-open, unrounded, short [æ] as in cat is open, front, neutral, short [ɑ] as in father is open, back, slightly rounded, long [ɒ] as in pod, cod is open, back, slightly rounded, short

Vowel Description 7. [ɔ] as in raw, all is half-open, back, rounded, long 8. [ʊ] as in book, put is half-close, back, rounded, short 9. [u] as in food is close, back, rounded, long 10. [ʌ] as in cut is open, central, neutral, short 11. [ɜ] as in shirt is half-close, central, slightly rounded, long 12. [ə] as in ago, writer is half-open, central, slightly rounded, short

pen said death mess mean meat steak weak theme green Circle the word that has a different vowel sound. Then write the vowel symbol that represents the common sound in the remaining three. pen said death mess mean meat steak weak theme green sane pad fat chap mast hoot good moon view suit cup dub core some numb groom saw chore shore port

Read the following words and group them in columns under their vowel symbol: board – two – bored – moth – do – through – blue – daughter – crew – cod – dog – cup – some – pause – dull – doll – choose – chores – Paul – true – dove [ʌ] [ɒ] [u] [ɔ]

Describe the vowel sound in each of the following words: foot pot cut seed father soon bird, sad, about

foot [ʊ] half-close, back, short, rounded pot [ ɒ ] open, back, short, slightly rounded cut [ʌ] central open short neutral seed [i] close, front, unrounded, long father [ɑ] open, back, slightly rounded, long soon [u] close, back, rounded, long bird [ɜ] half-close, central, slightly rounded, long sad [æ] open, front neutral short about [ə] central half-open slightly rounded short

Diphthongs Diphthongs involve a movement or glide from one vowel to another. A vowel which remains constant and does not glide is called a pure vowel. The total number of diphthongs in English is Eight.

Diphthongs ending in ə aʊ eI eI Diphthongs involve a movement or glide from one vowel to another. The total number of diphthongs in English is Eight. Diphthongs Centering closing ending in ə ending in ʊ ending in I ɪə ʊə əʊ aʊ eə ɔɪ ɔɪ eI eI aI aI

Examples of Diphthongs A diphthong is a tongue movement from one vocalic position to another. Diphthongs in English include: /ɪə/ beer, fear /eə/ chair, stare /ʊə/ sure, tour , pour /eI/ say, weigh , pay /aI/ high, buy , site /ɔɪ/ toy, joy, coy /əʊ/ go, hello , phone /aʊ/ house, now, found

Activity: Find the odd one out 1- phone – load – loud 2- say – mind – price 3- near – square – beer 4- house – sure – cure 5- coin – choice – fair 6- lay – gray – cry 7- hear – bear – pair 8- no – now – brown

Decide which diphthongs you pronounce in the following words: /eɪ/ /ɑɪ/ /ɔɪ/ /ɑʊ/ /ǝʊ/ /eǝ/ /ɪǝ/ spy great destroy noise pound note pair fear plain aisle grow loud pear beard prey pie coin shout low their dear note pound great grow destroy pair fear plain low dear spy noise pear aisle prey coin loud beard their shout pie

Triphthongs A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and without interruption.

Triphthongs eIə layer , player aIə liar , fire ɔIə loyal , royal əʊə lower , mower aʊə hour , power

Triphthongs Transcribe the following words: liar lower power royal higher giant shower widower flour laIə(r) ləʊə(r) paʊə(r) rɔIəl haIə(r) dʒaIənt ʃaʊə(r) wIdəʊə(r) flaʊə(r)