VOWELS
Also called “monophthongs”
Produced with little restriction of the
airflow from the lungs out of the mouth
and/or the nose
Produced with a smooth, unobstructed
airflow through the oral tract
CHARACTERISTICS OF
VOWEL SOUNDS
They carry pitch and loudness.
You can sing or shout them.
They may be short or long in duration.
They can stand alone.
[i]
beet amoeba
beat people
be Caesar
receive Vaseline
key serene
believe Aesop
[ɪ] [æ]
bit pan
consist act
injury Ma’am
bin
women
English
business
physics
[e]/[eɪ] [ɛ]
gate bet
bait serenity
ray says
great guest
eight dead
gauge said
greyhound
risque
fillet
[u]
boot too
lute two
who move
sewer Lou
through true
to suit
[ʊ]/[U] [ʌ]
put cut
foot tough
butcher oven
could does
cover
flood
[o]/[oʊ] [Ɔ]
coat caught
beau stalk
go core
grow saw
though ball
toe awe
own auto
sew
[ɑ]
cot
father
palm
DIPHTHONGS
Also called “gliding vowels”
A sequence of two vowel sounds
A vowel unit that begins with one oral
configuration and ends with another
[aɪ]
bite aisle
sight choir
by liar
buy island
die height
dye sign
[aʊ] [ƆI]
about boy
brown oil
doubt
coward
VOCOID
ARTICULATION
HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE
High Vowels
Pronounced with the mouth in the
least degree of openness
[ i ] – he
[ ɪ ] – hit
[u] – who
[ʊ] – put
HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE
Mid Vowels
Pronounced with the mouth in an
intermediate degree of openness
[e] – bait
[ɛ] – bet
HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE
Mid Vowels
[o] – boat
[ᴐ] – bore
[ʌ] – butt
[ə] – about
HEIGHT OF THE TONGUE
Low Vowels
Pronounced with the mouth in the
greatest degree of openness
[æ] – hack
[ɑ] – hah
LIP ROUNDING
Prolong the word who.
Say cheese.
LIP ROUNDING
Spread/Unrounded Vowels
The lips assume the shape of a smile.
[ i ] - beat
[ ɪ ] - bit
[e] - bait
[ɛ] - bet
LIP ROUNDING
Spread/Unrounded Vowels
[æ] - hat
[ə] - about
[ʌ] - hut
[ɑ] - hah
LIP ROUNDING
Rounded Vowels
The lips are pursed or rounded.
[u] - boot
[ʊ] - put
[o] - boat
[ᴐ] - bore
LIP ROUNDING
Rounded Vowels
Only back vowels are rounded, and as
you move from high to low, the lip
rounding decreases.
