English Vowel Sounds

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English Vowel Sounds A vowel letter can represent different vowel sounds: hat [ht], hate [heit], all

[o:l], art [a:rt], any ['eni]. ( : hat [ht], hate [heit], all [o:l], art [a:rt], any ['eni].) The same vowel sound is often represented by different vowel letters in writing: [ei] they, weigh, may, cake, steak, rain. ( : [ei] they, weigh, may, cake, steak, rain.)
Open and closed syllables

( ) Open syllable: Kate [keit], Pete [pi:t], note [nout], site [sait], cute [kyu:t]. Closed syllable: cat [kt], pet [pet], not [not], sit [sit], cut (the neutral sound []).
Vowels and vowel combinations

The vowels A, E, I, O, U, Y alone, in combination with one another or with R, W represent different vowel sounds. The chart below lists the vowel sounds according to the American variant of pronunciation. ( A, E, I, O, U, Y , R, W . .) Sounds Letters e, ee ea ie, ei i y e ea Examples be, eve, see, meet, sleep, meal, read, leave, sea, team, field, believe, receive it, kiss, tip, pick, dinner, system, busy, pity, sunny let, tell, press, send, end, bread, dead, weather, leather Notes been [i]; bread, deaf [e]; great, break [ei]; friend [e] machine, ski, liter, pizza [i:] meter [i:] sea, mean [i:]

[i:]

[i] [e]

[ei]

a ai, ay ei, ey ea

late, make, race, able, stable, aim, wait, play, say, day, eight, weight, they, hey, break, great, steak cat, apple, land, travel, mad; AmE: last, class, dance, castle, half army, car, party, garden, park, father, calm, palm, drama; BrE: last, class, dance, castle, half ice, find, smile, tie, lie, die, my, style, apply, buy, guy out, about, house, mouse, now, brown, cow, owl, powder not, rock, model, bottle, copy more, order, cord, port, long, gone, cost, coffee, law, saw, pause, because, bought, thought, caught, hall, always, water, war, want oil, voice, noise, boy, toy go, note, open, old, most, road, boat, low, own, bowl use, duty, music, cute, huge, tune, few, dew, mew, new, euphemism, feud, neutral, hue, cue, due, sue, suit rude, Lucy, June, do, move, room, tool, crew, chew, flew, jewel, blue, true, fruit, juice, group, through, route; AmE: duty, new, sue,

said, says [e]; height, eye [ai]

[]

[a:]

ar a i, ie y, uy ou ow o or o aw, au ought al, waoi, oy o oa, ow u ew eu ue, ui u o, oo ew ue, ui ou

war, warm [o:]

[ai]

[au]

group, soup [u:] know, own [ou]

[o]

work, word [r]

[o:]

[oi] [ou]

do, move [u:] how, owl [au]

[yu:]

[u:]

guide, quite [ai]; build [i]

student [u] oo u ou u, o ou a, e o, i er, ur, ir or, ar ear look, book, foot, good, put, push, pull, full, sugar, would, could, should gun, cut, son, money, love, tough, enough, rough, about, brutal, taken, violent, memory, reason, family serve, herb, burn, hurt, girl, sir, work, word, doctor, dollar, heard, earn, earnest, earth heart, hearth [a:]

neutral sound []

[r]

Note 1: The letter Y The letter Y can function as a vowel or as a consonant. As a vowel, Y has the vowel sounds [i], [ai]. As a consonant, Y has the consonant sound [y] (i.e., a semivowel sound), usually at the beginning of the word and only in the syllable before a vowel. [i]: any, city, carry, funny, mystery, synonym; [ai]: my, cry, rely, signify, nylon, type; [y]: yard, year, yes, yet, yield, you. 1: Y Y . , Y [i], [ai]. , Y [y] (.. ), . [i]: any, city, carry, funny, mystery, synonym; [ai]: my, cry, rely, signify, nylon, type; [y]: yard, year, yes, yet, yield, you. Note 2: Diphthongs A diphthong is one indivisible vowel sound that consists of two parts. The first part is the main strong component (the nucleus); the second part is short and weak (the glide). A diphthong is always stressed on its first component: [au], [ou]. A diphthong forms one syllable. American linguists usually list five diphthongs: [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou]. 2: , . (); (). : [au], [ou]. . : [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou].

Note 3: The sound [o] The sound [o] is short in British English. In the same words in American English, the sound [o] is a long sound colored as [a:]. This sound is often listed as [a:] in American materials for ESL students. In some words, there are two variants of pronunciation in AmE: [o:] or [o]. [o]: lot, rock, rob, bother, bottle, college, comment, document, modern, popular, respond, John, Tom; [o:] or [o]: gone, coffee, office, borrow, orange, sorry, loss, lost, want, wash, water. 3: [o] [o] . , [o] , [a:]. [a:] ESL. AmE: [o:] [o]. [o]: lot, rock, rob, bother, bottle, college, comment, document, modern, popular, respond, John, Tom; [o:] [o]: gone, coffee, office, borrow, orange, sorry, loss, lost, want, wash, water. Note 4: The neutral sound Transcription symbols for the neutral sound are [] (caret) in stressed syllables (fun, son) and [] (schwa) in unstressed syllables (about, lesson). In American ESL materials, the neutral sound is often shown as [] (schwa) in both stressed and unstressed syllables. 4: : [] (caret) (fun, son) [] (schwa) (about, lesson). ESL [] (schwa) , . Read more about vowel letters and sounds in Spelling Patterns for Vowels in the section Writing. Spelling Patterns for Vowels Writing.

Vocal Ingls Sounds Una carta vocal puede representar diferentes sonidos de las vocales: Sombrero [Calor], odio [heit] todos [o: l], el arte [a: rt], cualquier ['eni]. ( : Sombrero [Calor], odio [heit] todos [o: l], el arte [a: rt]., Cualquier ['eni]) El mismo sonido vocal es a menudo representado por diferentes letras vocales en la escritura: [ei] que, pesar, puede, pasteles, carne, lluvia. ( :. [Ei] que, pesar, puede, pasteles, carne, lluvia)
Slabas abiertas y cerradas

( ) Slaba abierta: Kate [keit], Pete [pi: t], [Nota nout] sitio [sait], lindo [kyu: t]. Slaba cerrada: cat [Kaet], mascota [animal], no [no], sit [sit], corte (el sonido neutral []).
Las vocales y las combinaciones de vocales

Las vocales A, E, I, O, U, Y solos, en combinacin con otros o con R, W representan diferentes sonidos de las vocales. La tabla a continuacin enumera los sonidos vocales de acuerdo con la variante americana de la pronunciacin. ( A, E, I, O, U, Y , R, W . .) Sonidos Letras e, ee ea es decir, ei yo y Ejemplos ser, vspera, ver, conocer, dormir, comida, leer, salir, mar, equipo, campo, crea, reciba que, beso, punta, elegir, cena, Notas estado [i]; pan, sordos [e]; grande, rotura [ei]; amigo [e] mquina, esqu,

[I:]

[I]

sistema, ocupado, lstima, soleado [E] e ea un ai, ay ei, ey ea vamos, informe, pulse, enviar, finalizar, pan, muertos, tiempo, cuero finales, marca, raza, poder, estable, apuntar, esperar, el juego, por ejemplo, das, ocho, el peso, que, hey, descanso, grande, carne gato, manzana, tierra, viaje, fuera de s; AmE: pasado, la clase, la danza, castillo, medio ejrcito, coche, fiesta, jardn, parque, padre, la calma, la palma, el teatro; BrE: pasado, la clase, la danza, castillo, medio hielo, encontrar, sonrer, atar, mentir, morir, mi, estilo, aplicar, comprar, chico a cabo, aproximadamente, casa, ratn, Ahora, marrn, vaca, bho, en polvo No, roca, modelo, botella, copia ms, el orden, el cable, el puerto, tiempo, se han ido, el costo, el caf, ley, sierra, hacer una pausa, porque, compr, pens, cogido, hall, siempre, el agua, la guerra, quieren aceite, la voz, el ruido, muchacho, juguete

litro, pizza [i:] metros [i:] mar, significa [i:] dicho, dice [e]; estatura, ojos [ai]

[Ei]

[]

un

[A:]

ar un

guerra, caliente [o:]

[Ai]

i, es decir, y, uy ou ow o

[Au]

grupo, sopa [u:] saber, el propio [ou]

[O]

[O:]

o o aw, au debera al, wa-

trabajo, palabra [r]

[Oi]

oi, oy

[Ou]

o oa, ow

vaya, tenga en cuenta, abierto, viejo, mayor, carretera, barco, bajo, poseer, tazn empleo, trabajo, msica, lindo, enorme, cancin, pocos, roco, malla, nuevo, eufemismo, pelea, neutral, tonalidad, seal, debido, sue, juego grosero, Lucy, junio, hacer, moverse, espacio, herramienta, tripulacin, mastique, vol, joya, azul, verdad, fruta, jugo, grupo, a travs, ruta; AmE: deber, nuevo, sue, estudiante mira, libro, pie, bueno, colocar, empujar, tirar, lleno, azcar, sera, podra, debera arma, corte, el hijo, el dinero, el amor, duro, suficiente, spero, aproximadamente, brutal, tomado, violento, memoria, la razn, la familia servir, hierba, quemadura, dolor, chica, seor, trabajo, palabra, doctor, dlar, oye, ganar, serio, tierra

hacer, llevar a cabo [u:] cmo, owl [au]

[Yu:]

u ew UE ue, ui

[U:]

u o, oo ew ue, ui ou

orientar, muy [ai]; construir [i]

[U]

oo u ou u, o ou a, e o, i

sonido neutral []

[r]

er, ur, ir o, ar odo

corazn, corazn [a:]

Nota 1: La letra Y La letra Y puede funcionar como una vocal o como una consonante. Como vocal, Y cuenta con los sonidos de las vocales [i], [ai].Como una consonante, Y tiene el sonido de la consonante [y] (es decir, un sonido semivocal), por lo general al principio de la palabra y slo en la slaba antes de una vocal. [I]: cualquiera, ciudad, lleve, divertido, misterioso, sinnimo; [Ai]: mi, llora, se basan, significar, nylon, tipo; [Y]: patio, aos, eso s, sin embargo, el rendimiento, que te. 1: Y

Y . , Y [i], [ai]. , Y [y] (.. ), . [I]: cualquiera, ciudad, lleve, divertido, misterioso, sinnimo; [Ai]: mi, llora, se basan, significar, nylon, tipo; [Y]: patio, aos, eso s, sin embargo, el rendimiento, que te. Nota 2: Los diptongos Un diptongo es una vocal indivisible que consta de dos partes. La primera parte es el principal componente fuerte (el ncleo), y la segunda parte es corta y dbil (el deslizamiento). Un diptongo es siempre destac en su primer componente: [ una u], [ o u]. Un diptongo forma una slaba. Lingistas americanos suelen enumerar cinco diptongos: [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou]. 2: , . (); (). : [ una u], [ ou]. . : [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou]. Nota 3: El sonido [o] El sonido [o] es la abreviatura en Ingls britnico. En las mismas palabras en Ingls Americano, el sonido [o] es un sonido largo de color como [a:]. Este sonido es a menudo aparece como [a:] en los materiales estadounidenses para estudiantes de ESL. En algunas palabras, hay dos variantes de pronunciacin en AmE: [o:] o [o]. [O]: mucho, rock, robar, molestar, botella, universidad, comentario, documento, moderno, popular, responder, John, Tom; [O:] o [o]: ido, caf, oficina, pedir prestado, naranja, lo siento, prdida, perdido, quiere, lavar, el agua. 3: [o] [o] . , [o] , [a:]. [a:] ESL. AmE: [o:] [o]. [O]: mucho, rock, robar, molestar, botella, universidad, comentario, documento, moderno, popular, responder, John, Tom; [O:] [o]: ido, caf, oficina, pedir prestado, naranja, lo siento, prdida, perdido, quiere, lavar, el agua. Nota 4: El sonido neutral Smbolos de transcripcin para el sonido neutral son [] (intercalacin) en las slabas tnicas (diversin, hijo) y [] (schwa) en slabas tonas (aproximadamente, leccin). En los materiales de ESL

estadounidenses, el sonido neutral a menudo se muestra como [] (schwa) en ambas slabas tnicas y tonas. 4: : [] (caret) (diversin, hijo) [] (schwa) (aproximadamente, leccin). ESL [] (schwa) , . Lea ms acerca de letras vocales y sonidos en patrones de ortografa para las vocales en la seccin de escritura. patrones de ortografa para Vocales Escritura.

Esta tabla contiene todos los sonidos (fonemas) que se usan en el idioma Ingls.Para cada sonido

El smbolo en el Alfabeto Fontico Internacional (IPA), que se utiliza entranscripciones font diccionarios modernos para los estudiantes de ingls - es decir, en el sistema fontico del AC G algunos smbolos adicionales.

El grfico representa los fonemas ingleses y americanos con un smbolo. Un smbolo puede sig fonemas diferentes en Ingls americano y britnico. Ver las notas al pie de los britnicos slo y americano smbolos.

Dos ingleses palabras que utilizan el sonido. El relieve muestra donde se escucha el sonido.

Los enlaces marcados Amer y Brit reproducir grabaciones de sonido (se requiere Flash), don se pronuncian en Ingls americano y britnico. La versin britnica se da slo cuando es muy d versin americana.

Para imprimir el grfico, utilice la versin en PDF para imprimir .


vocales consonantes

IPA ejemplos : e i: : u: a e c u p, l u ck un rm, f unather c un t, bl a ck m e t, b e d una manera, cin e m a

escuchar
Amer Amer /Brit Amer Amer Amer Amer /Brit Amer Amer Amer /Brit Amer /Brit Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer /Brit Amer /Brit
17 7 6 3 45 1 2 2

IPA ejemplos b d F g h j k l m n p r s t t b anuncio, la b d i d , la d y f ind, i f en g ive, fla g h ay, h Ello y es, y ellow c a, ba ck l por ejemplo, l ITT lde correo m an, le m en n o, te n si ng , fi n ger p et, ma p r ed, t r y s un, mi ss SH e, cra SH t ea, ge tt ing ch eck, ch ur ch th tinta, bo th es, mo th er

escuchar
Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer
9 8

: t ur n, l oreja n h i t, s i tt i ng s ee , h ea t h o t r o ck c un ll, f ou r p u t, c oul d bl ue , f oo d f que me ve,ojo

a n ow , ou t s ay ,dieciocho t o g o , h o me b oy , j oi n e qu ere , aire n oreja , h ere

p ure , tnuestra ist

Amer /Brit

v w z

v oice, fi ve w y, w indo w z oo, la z y motivo s ure, vi si el

Amer Amer Amer Amer Amer

d j ust, lar ge
1.

1. Casi todos los diccionarios usan el e smbolo de la vocal en la cama . El problema de esta convencin es que e en el IPA n Ingls. El smbolo "adecuado" para la cama vocal es (no confundir con : ). Lo mismo ocurre con e vs .

la vocal en la cama , sino que representa una vocal diferente que se oye, por ejemplo, en la palabra alemana S ee le , o al prin

2.

2. En y : , el no se pronuncia en BrE, a menos que el sonido viene antes de una vocal (como en responder , responder el siempre se pronuncia, y los sonidos a veces se escribe como y . 3. En AmE, : y son una vocal, por lo que la calma y la cuna tienen la misma vocal. En Amrica transcripciones, caliente

3.

t.
4. 5.

. 4 Alrededor del 40% de los estadounidenses pronunciar : del mismo modo que : , por lo quellam y cuna tienen la mism cot-atrapado . 5. En Amrica transcripciones, : se escribe a menudo como : (por ejemplo, la ley = l: ), a menos que sea seguido por r , siendo un : .

6.

6. En la transcripcin britnica, o se suele representar como . Para algunos hablantes BrE,o es ms apropiado (utiliz redondeada) - para los dems, el smbolo apropiado es . Para los hablantes norteamericanos, o suele ser ms precisa. 7. En e , la r no se pronuncia en BrE, a menos que el sonido viene antes de una vocal (como en la ms querida AmE, la r se pronuncia siempre, y los sonidos se escribe a menudo como er r r .

7.

8.

8. Todos los diccionarios usan el r smbolo para el primer sonido de r ed . El problema de esta convencin es que r en el IPA a los britnicos o estadounidenses r , sino que significa la "dura" r que se escucha, por ejemplo, en la palabra espaola rey o smbolo "adecuado" para el rojo consonante es .

9.

9. En Ingls Americano, t se pronuncia a menudo como una aleta de t , que suena como d o (ms precisamente) como el rp por ejemplo, en la palabra espaola Pero . Por ejemplo: la carta . Algunos diccionarios usan la t smbolo de la aleta t .

smbolos especiales

IPA lo que significa

The vertical line () is used to show word stress. It is placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For example, / pronounced like this, and/kntrkt/ like that. Word stress is explained in our article about phonetic transcriptio

is not a sound it is a short way of saying that an r is pronounced only in American English. For example, if yo

pronunciation of bar is/b:/, you mean that it is /b:r/ in American English, and /b:/ in British English.

However, in BrE, r will be heard if is followed by a vowel. For example, far goneis pronounced /f: gn/ in B pronounced /f: rat/. like . Examples: very /veri/, create/kriet/, previous /pri:vis/, ability /blti/.

i is usually pronounced like a shorter version of i:, but sometimes (especially in an old-fashioned British accent) i

l means that the consonant l is pronounced as a separate syllable (the syllabic l, which sounds like a vowel), or th

short sound before it. Examples:little /lt l/, uncle /k l/.

Instead of the l symbol, some dictionaries use an l with a small vertical line underneath, or simply l, as in /ltl/.

n means that the consonant n is pronounced as a separate syllable (the syllabic n, which sounds like a vowel), or

short sound before it. Examples:written /rt n/, listen /ls n/.

Instead of the n symbol, some dictionaries use an n with a small vertical line underneath, or simply n, as in /rt

Does this chart list all the sounds that you can hear in British and Am English?

No. This page contains symbols used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictiona English learners. It does not list all the possible sounds in American or British English.

For example, this page does not list the regular t (heard in this pronunciation ofletter) and the fla

in this one) with separate symbols. It groups them under a single symbol: t. (In other words, it gr of similar soundsunder a single phoneme, for simplicity. To understand how sounds are grouped phonemes, read the article on phonemic transcription.)

So this page actually lists phonemes (groups of sounds), not individual sounds.Each symbol in can correspond to many different (but similar) sounds, depending on the word an speakers accent.

Take the phoneme p in the above chart. It occurs in the phonemic transcriptions of pin /pn/ and spin /spn/. In pin, this phoneme is pronounced with aspiration (breathing). Th p sound has its own special symbol in the IPA: p. In spin, the phoneme is pronounced normall normal p sound is represented by p in the IPA. So the p phoneme represents twosounds: p and be confusing, because p can mean both the pphoneme and the p sound.)

Typing the phonetic symbols

You wont find phonetic symbols on your computers keyboard. How do you type them in a Word mail message, or SRS collection? There are two solutions:

You can go to the IPA phonetic keyboard at ipa.typeit.org, type your transcriptions, and copy & your document.

You can use the ASCII Phonetic Alphabet, which replaces IPA symbols with characters that you your keyboard.

Learning to pronounce the sounds

We offer English pronunciation software called PerfectPronunciation which teaches learners to p most frequently used English words. It lets you listen to examples of English sounds, practice you pronunciation, and review your knowledge. PerfectPronunciation uses the ASCII Phonetic Alphab
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English Vowel Sounds


Sound
/i/ /I/ /ey/ /e/ "ae" "ah" "uh" "oo" /u/ "er" /o/ /ai/ /au/ /oi/ like lout coin lack lock luck look Luke lurk lute coon Kern cone kine pout pert leak lick lake lit late let keen kin cane Ken can con pet pat pot putt put boot Bert boat bite bout boo burr Bo, bow by bough boy peat pit beet bit bait bet bet bought but baa bay bee

bah

Some Generalizations (Not Rules) about English vowels and spelling


English vowels have "long" and "short" forms.

The long form is the "name" of the letter: The short form is as follows:
A E I O U a e i o u /ey/ /i/ /ai/ /o/ or /ou/ /u/ or /yu/ "ae" /e/ /I/ "ah" "uh"

Long vowels are usually (but not always) indicated by a second (silent) vowel in the same syllable:
sheep jay slow bait pony heat loaf like mice tune peace juice hoe leave

(Sometimes "y" and "w" can function as a second vowel.)

Short vowels usually stand alone within a syllable and are often followed by "double" consonants:
ran jet cup doll kiss tick lamb witch fast hint punch

Note the difference:


hope hop tiny/tinny hoped hopped hoping hopping

Notable exceptions:
head light read give sign live gone find lead (sound is "short" despite silent second vowel) (sound is "long" despite no silent second vowel) (two pronunciations: long or short)

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