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    Vowel

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    Yuraima Bustamante

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    Vowel

    Uploaded by

    Yuraima Bustamante
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    10 views12 pages

    Vowel

    Uploaded by

    Yuraima Bustamante

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    What Is a Vowel?

    The term ‘vowel’ is used to refer to letters used to represent vowel


    sounds. In the English language, five letters among the twenty-six letters
    of the English alphabet are called vowels. They are a, e, i, o, and u. The
    Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines a vowel as “a letter that represents
    a vowel sound”. Now, let us find out what a vowel sound is.

    What Is a Vowel Sound?


    A vowel sound is a speech sound that is pronounced without the lips,
    tongue, teeth or throat blocking the air produced when uttering the
    letter. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, a vowel sound is “a
    speech sound in which the mouth is open, and the tongue is not
    touching the top of the mouth, the teeth, etc., so that the flow of air is
    not limited”. There are only five vowels in the English language, but
    there are twenty vowel sounds in total. Out of the twenty, eight of them
    are called diphthongs. Let us look at the following lists of vowel sounds
    and diphthongs to have a clearer idea.

    Classification of Vowels
    Vowels are classified into two – pure vowels and diphthongs.

    Pure Vowels
    Vowels which have a single vowel sound when pronounced are called
    pure vowels. The twelve vowel sounds we have mentioned earlier are
    pure vowels. Words such as announce(ə), fret(e), sun(ʌ), tick(ɪ),
    please(iː), dot(ɒ), foot(ʊ), food(uː), word(ɜː), warm(ɔː), arm(aː) and
    pant(æ) come under this category.

    Pure vowels are further classified into two – checked vowels and free
    vowels. Read on to learn what they are.

    Checked Vowels
    Among the 12 vowel sounds, 7 of them are considered checked vowels.
    They are ʌ, e, ə, ʊ, ɪ, æ and ɒ. These vowels cannot occur at the end of
    open syllables.

    Free Vowels
    The five vowel sounds uː, iː, ɜː, aː and ɔː are considered free vowels.
    These vowels can be used at the end of open syllables.

    List of Pure Vowels with Examples


    The 12 vowel sounds in English have been provided below with
    examples to help you understand. Check them out.

    Vowel sounds Examples

    /ʌ/ cut, butter

    /aː/ park, far

    /æ/ bat, fan

    /ɒ/ goggles, fog

    /ɔː/ more, warn

    /ɜː/ bird, worm

    /e/ pet, ten

    /ə/ vendor, monitor

    /ɪ/ sit, pin

    /iː/ theme, fleet


    /ʊ/ cook, put

    /uː/ flute, boon

    Diphthongs
    Diphthongs are speech sounds formed by the combination of two vowel
    sounds. They do not resemble the speech sound of either vowel sound,
    instead form an entirely new speech sound.

    List of Diphthongs with Examples


    Given below is a table with the eight diphthongs in the English language.
    Go through the examples given for each diphthong to clearly understand
    what the phoneme sounds like.

    Diphthongs Examples

    /aɪ/ fight, write

    /aʊ/ plough, cow

    /eə/ their, chair

    /əʊ/ soak, rodent

    /eɪ/ fate, pain

    /ɪə/ here, cheer

    /ʊə/ poor, sure

    /ɔɪ/ toy, exploit


    Types of Vowels/Vowel Sounds
    Vowels/vowel sounds are categorised into two based on the length of the
    vowel sound and the number of vowels. They are

     Short vowels
     Long vowels

    Let us look at each of them in detail.

    Short Vowels
    Short vowels are those that appear individually in words. These words
    normally end with consonants. They can, in no way, appear at the end of
    the last syllable of a word.

    Here are a few examples.

     ‘a’ in ‘pan’
     ‘e’ in ‘rent’
     ‘i’ in ‘pit’
     ‘o’ in ‘cot’
     ‘u’ in ‘truck’

    Long Vowels
    The term ‘long vowels’ is used to refer to two or more vowels that
    appear in words. Words with long vowels can start/end with vowels. Take
    a look at the following examples to understand.

     ‘a’ in ‘fake’
     ‘e’ in ‘tedious’’
     ‘i’ in ‘blind’
     ‘o’ in ‘rote’
     ‘u’ in ‘cumin’
    The categorisation of vowel sounds as long and short would not be the
    same. There is a difference. They would include words with diphthongs
    as well. Let us look at the following examples to comprehend how it
    works.

    Short Vowel Sounds


     ‘a’ in ‘braid’, ‘falcon’, ‘steak’
     ‘e’ in ‘furry’, ‘tread’, ‘says’
     ‘i’ in ‘women’, ‘eject’, ‘houses’
     ‘o’ in ‘entrepreneur’, ‘cause’, ‘flaw’
     ‘u’ in ‘flood’, ‘done’, ‘son’

    Long Vowel Sounds


     ‘a’ in ‘faint’, ‘weight’, ‘dainty’
     ‘e’ in ‘receive’, ‘weak’, ‘encyclopaedia’
     ‘i’ in ‘tight’, ‘ice’, ‘eye’
     ‘o’ in ‘blow’, ‘road’, ‘door’
     ‘u’ in ‘new’, ‘queue’, ‘vacuum’

    Consonants That Blend In


    Consonants usually have sounds which are, in no way, related to the
    vowel sounds. However, there are some consonants that blend in with a
    vowel to form a vowel sound. In these cases, the consonant sound of
    these consonants are not evident at all. They include w, r, l and y. Here
    are a few examples.

     Alms
     Days
     Awe
     Play
     Few
     Fur
     Now
     Palm
     Arms
     Fowl
     Balm
     For
     Toy
     Pulley
     Thaw
     Fir

    Is ‘Y’ a Vowel?
    The letter ‘y’ is a consonant, but it can be considered a vowel sound.
    Why is it so? Have you ever noticed the pronunciation of the letter ‘y’
    when placed in different positions in words? Analyse the words given
    below.

    You By Fly Play Happy

    Except for the first word, the consonant sound /j/ is not pronounced in
    any of the other words. So, it can be said that ‘y’ can be considered as
    both a consonant and vowel sound because of its specific function.

    Common Mistakes Made with the Use of


    Vowels
    With the number of examples you have already come across, you would
    have understood the different spellings that can be possible for a vowel
    sound. That is the reason the English language has homophones.

    Let us look at some examples.


    A Paint Play Weigh Prey Flake

    E Steal Baby Peel Sieve Receive

    I Buy Tie Sigh Dye Fly

    O Soak Sow Sew Floor Though

    U Shoe Clue Flu Food Stew

    When you look at these, don’t you feel it is easier to learn the phonetic
    transcription of words than the spelling of words? Well, this is one of the
    factors that makes the English language interesting.

    Use of Vowels in Words


    Take a look at the following word lists to learn a few words with vowels
    and no vowels.

    List of Words with Vowels


     Gate
     Fleet
     Slot
     Plough
     Taught
     Preach
     Dance
     Whale
     Plight
     Neighbour
     Friendship
     Comfortable
     Irreversible
     Affectionate
     Biodegradable
    List of Words with No Vowels
     Dry
     Fly
     Shy
     By
     Gym
     Ply
     Sly
     Cry
     Why
     Pry
     Spy
     Gypsy
     Cyst
     Crypt
     Rhythm

    You can check out the articles on vowel words and consonant words to
    build your vocabulary.

    Frequently Asked Questions on Vowels and


    Vowel Sounds in English
    Q1
    What is a vowel?
    The term ‘vowel’ is used to refer to letters used to represent vowel
    sounds. In the English language, five letters among the twenty-six letters
    of the English alphabet are called vowels. They are a, e, i, o, and u. The
    Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines a vowel as “a letter that represents
    a vowel sound”.
    Q2
    What is a vowel sound?
    A vowel sound is a speech sound that is pronounced without the lips,
    tongue, teeth or throat blocking the air produced when uttering the
    letter. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, a vowel sound is “a
    speech sound in which the mouth is open, and the tongue is not
    touching the top of the mouth, the teeth, etc., so that the flow of air is
    not limited”.
    Q3
    How many vowels are there in the English
    alphabet?
    There are 5 vowels in the English alphabet, namely, a, e, i, o, and u.
    Q4
    How many vowel sounds are there in the English
    language?
    There are 20 vowel sounds in the English language, out of which 8 are
    diphthongs.
    Q5
    What are diphthongs?
    Diphthongs are vowel sounds formed by the combination of two vowel
    sounds. They are also referred to as vowel combinations or double vowel
    sounds.

    20 vowels in total:

     7 short vowels: /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /ə/ /e/ /ɒ/ /ʌ/ /æ/


     5 long vowels: /iː/ /uː/ /ɑː/ /ɔː/ /ɜː/
     8 diphthongs: /eɪ/ /aɪ//ɔɪ/ /əʊ/ /aʊ/ /ɪə/ /eə/
    /ʊə/

    Vowels are divided into different categories based on


    1. Length of the sound
    2. Position of the tongue
    3. Shape of the lips
    1. Length of the sound

     Long (tense) vowels
     Short (lax) vowels
    2. Position of the tongue

    close (high) or open (low)
     The distance between the tongue and the top of
    the mouth
     front or back
     The part of the tongue that is raised
    3. Shape of the lips

     Rounded ( e.g. /ʊ/)
     Neutral (e.g. /ə/)
     Spread (e.g. /iː/)

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