Simple Vowels
• What is a vowel?
• Short Unrounded Vowels
• Short Rounded Vowels
• Spelling Patterns
• Long Unrounded Vowels
• Comparison between These Long Vowels and the Similar Short Ones
• Short Unrounded Vowels
• Comparison between These Long Vowels and the Similar Short Ones
• Review
What is a vowel?
Definition
a speech sound produced without significant constriction of the air flowing through the
mouth.
(Richards, J.C. and R. Schmidt, 2010)
Vowel classification
Note:
Triphthongs
are not
included in
many books.
Some
phoneticians
believe that a
triphthong is
not a single
vowel. They
consider it as a
combination
of a diphthong
and /ə/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Vowel quadrangle
Daniel Jones (1917)
Easier version (O’Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M. and Katamba, F. 1999.Contemporary Linguistics:
An Introduction. Longman.)
Vowels within this rectangle are
the rounded ones
Vowels anywhere else within this
quadrangle are the unrounded
ones.
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Ways in which the vowels are described:
A vowel can be …
• short or long (vowel length i.e. how long it takes to pronounce it)
• high, mid or low (the tongue height or the position of the tongue in the oral cavity)
• front, central or back (part of the tongue involved)
• rounded or unrounded (the shape of the lips)
For example, you can say, /e/ is a short mid front unrounded vowel.
Shapes of the lips
Tongue position (height) and part of the tongue
involved
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Short unrounded vowels
Front vowels
Description
/ɪ/ / ɪ / short high front unrounded
/ e / short mid front unrounded
/e/
/ æ / short low front unrounded
/æ/
Central vowels
Description
/ ə / short mid central unrounded
/ ʌ / short low central unrounded
/ə/
/ʌ/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Examples
/ɪ/ sit, fit, mid, in, mint, filter, SIM, mist, physics
/e/ set, rent, men, enter, send, mend, special, said
/æ/ sat, cat, analysis, jam, man, apple, sack
/ə/ (schwa) about, around, announce, ever, clever, better, enter, filler
/ʌ/ cup, some, rough, tough, come, jump, cut
Transcription
Words transcription
run /rʌn/
some /sʌm/
hand /hænd/
fill /fɪl/
ever /ˈevə/
fell /fel/
filler /ˈfɪlə/
bitter /ˈbɪtə/
rough /rʌf/
Other way around
Transcription Words
/ˈentə/ enter
/əˈbaʊt/ about
/əˈtempt/ attempt
/ˈspeʃl/ special
/ˈdraɪvə/ driver
/ˈtiːtʃə/ teacher
/ˈpɪlə/ pillar
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Short rounded vowels
Back vowels
Description
/ʊ/ / ʊ / short high back rounded
/ ɒ / short low back rounded
/ɒ/
Examples
/ʊ/ put, look, took, pull, full, should
/ɒ/ pot, lock, rock, pop, hop, job, psychology
Transcription
Words transcription
pull /pʊl/
mob /mɒb/
job /dʒɒb/
took /tʊk/
looking /lʊkɪŋ/
long /lɒŋ/
soft /sɒft/
put /pʊt/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Further Transcription practice (all short vowels)
Words transcription
friend /frend/
book /bʊk/
log /lɒɡ/
camping /ˈkæmpɪŋ/
chest /tʃest/
gesture /ˈdʒestʃə/
rapid /ˈræpɪd/
rough /rʌf/
tough /tʌf/
Spelling patterns
i- sit, with, rich
/ɪ/
y- city, rhythm, symbol
e- pretty, except, houses
ie- cities
a – village, private, image
e- set, bed, went
/e/
ea- dead, head, breath
a - many, Thames
a- sat, cat, hand, lamp
/ æ/
ai – plait, plaid
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
u- suppose
/ ə/
er- mother
our- colour
a- accept, about, around
or – doctor
a - woman
u- sun, dull, cut
/ʌ /
o- son, some, among, done, month, colour
ou- country, southern, young
00- blood, flood
oe - does
u- Put, full, sugar, butcher
/ʊ /
o- wolf, woman
oo- good, book, wood, wool
ou- could, should, would
o- dog, holiday, sorry gone
/ɒ /
a- was, what, swan, want, watch
ou, ow- cough, knowledge
au- because, Australia, cauliflower
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Long Unrounded Vowels
Front high, central mid and back low
/iː/ Description
/ iː / long high front unrounded
/ɜː/ / ɜː / long mid central unrounded
/ ɑː / long low back unrounded
/ɑː/
Examples
/iː/ seen, believe, treat, mean, read, feet, delete, receive, teach, seat, keen
/ɜː/ merge, firth, return, earn, insert, verb, search, germ, skirt, shirt, worm, world
/ɑː/ smart, large, cast, laugh, calm, farm, alarm, last, card, class, nasty, cart
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Comparison between These Long Vowels and the Similar Short Ones
/iː
/
/ɪ/
/ɜː/
/ə/
/ʌ/
/ɑː/
Examples
/iː/ seat, leap, feast, teen , feel
/ɪ/ sit, lip, fist, tin, fill
/ɜː/ first, verge, earn
/ə/ (schwa) breakfast, ever, attention
/ɑː/ cart, heart, lark
/ʌ/ cut, hut, luck
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Transcription
Words transcription
read /riːd/
serve /sɜːv/
start /stɑːt/
large /lɑːdʒ/
believe /bɪˈliːv/
treat /triːt/
earning /ɜːnɪŋ/
mart /mɑːt/
feel /fiːl/
Transcription: Other way around
Transcription Words
/rɪˈtɜːn/ return
/ˈmiːtɪŋ/ meeting
/ɑːtʃ/ arch
/mɑːtʃ/ march
/rɪˈzɜːv/ reserve
/fəˈnetɪks/ phonetics
/iːtɪŋ/ eating
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Long Rounded Vowels
Back high and back mid
/uː/ Description
/ uː / long high back rounded
/ ɔː / long mid back rounded
/ ɔː /
Examples
/uː/ through, food, boon, prove, dune, fume, crew, improve
/ɔː/ horse, course, sore, lawn, brought, taught, caught, nought/naught
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Comparison between These Long Vowels and the Similar Short Ones
/ uː
/
/ʊ/
/ɔː/
/ɒ/
Examples
/u:/ fool
/ʊ/ full
/ɔ:/ caught, nought (naught US)
/ɒ/ cot, not
Transcription
Words transcription
true /truː/
moon /muːn/
caught /kɔːt/
taught /tɔːt/
board /bɔːd/
fume /fjuːm/
choose /tʃuːz/
shoes /ʃuːz/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Review
Ways in which Monophthongs (simple vowels) are categorized:
• high mid or low (close or open)
• front, central or back
• rounded or unrounded
• short or long
Vowel quadrangle: Daniel Jones (1917)
Vowel quadrangle: Easier version
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Short and long vowels
Unrounded
/iː/ /uː/
/ɪ/ /ʊ/ /
/ɜː/
/e/ /ɔː/ Rounded
/ə/
/æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/
/ɑː/
Further transcription
Words transcription
pot /pɒt/
port /pɔːt/
cot /kɒt/
caught /kɔːt/
not /nɒt/
nought, naught /nɔːt/
bot (robot) /bɒt/
bought /bɔːt/
Words transcription
Tim (name) /tɪm/
team /tiːm/
fill /fɪl/
feel /fiːl/
tin /tɪn/
teen /tiːn/
ship /ʃɪp/
sheep /ʃiːp/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
Words transcription
short /ʃɔːt/
shirt /ʃɜːt/
forced /fɔːst/
first /fɜːst/
lawn /lɔːn/
learn /lɜːn/
cord /kɔːd/
curd /kɜːd/
© Mohammad Adil, Yahya Asiri, Ahmed Swety 2021
