English Vowel Sounds

A vowel letter can represent different vowel sounds: hat [hæt], hate [heit],
all [o:l], art [a:rt], any ['eni].
(Одна гласная буква может передавать разные гласные звуки: hat [hæt],
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.
(Один и тот же гласный звук часто представлен разными гласными
буквами на письме: [ei] they, weigh, may, cake, steak, rain.)

Open and closed syllables

(Открытые и закрытые слоги)

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

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.
(Гласные A, E, I, O, U, Y по отдельности, в комбинации друг с другом или
с R, W передают различные гласные звуки. В таблице ниже указаны
гласные звуки согласно американскому варианту произношения.)

Sounds Letters Examples Notes

been [i];
e, ee be, eve, see, meet, sleep, bread, deaf [e];
[i:] ea meal, read, leave, sea, team, great, break
ie, ei field, believe, receive [ei];
friend [e]
i it, kiss, tip, pick, dinner, machine, ski,
[i]
y system, busy, pity, sunny liter, pizza [i:]
let, tell, press, send, end,
e meter [i:]
[e] bread, dead, weather,
ea sea, mean [i:]
leather
 late, make, race, able,
a
stable,
ai, ay
[ei] aim, wait, play, say, day, said, says [e];
ei, ey
eight, weight, they, hey, height, eye [ai]
ea
break, great, steak
cat, apple, land, travel, mad;
[æ] a AmE: last, class, dance,
castle, half
army, car, party, garden,
park, war, warm [o:]
ar
[a:] father, calm, palm, drama;
a
BrE: last, class, dance,
castle, half
i, ie ice, find, smile, tie, lie, die,
[ai]
y, uy my, style, apply, buy, guy
out, about, house, mouse, group, soup
ou
[au] now, brown, cow, owl, [u:]
ow
powder know, own [ou]
[o] o not, rock, model, bottle, copy
more, order, cord, port,
or
long, gone, cost, coffee, work, word [ər]
o
law, saw, pause, because,
[o:] aw, au
bought, thought, caught,
ought
hall, always, water, war,
al, wa-
want
[oi] oi, oy oil, voice, noise, boy, toy
o go, note, open, old, most, do, move [u:]
[ou]
oa, ow road, boat, low, own, bowl how, owl [au]
use, duty, music, cute, huge,
u
tune,
ew
[yu:] few, dew, mew, new,
eu
euphemism, feud, neutral,
ue, ui
hue, cue, due, sue, suit
u
rude, Lucy, June,
o, oo
do, move, room, tool,
ew
[u:] crew, chew, flew, jewel, guide, quite
ue, ui
blue, true, fruit, juice, [ai];
ou
group, through, route; build [i]
 AmE: duty, new, sue,
student
oo look, book, foot, good,
[u] u put, push, pull, full, sugar,
ou would, could, should
u, o gun, cut, son, money, love,
Also:
neutral sound ou tough, enough, rough,
stressed, [ʌ];
[ə] a, e about, brutal, taken, violent,
unstressed, [ə].
o, i memory, reason, family
er, ur, serve, herb, burn, hurt, girl,
ir sir,
[ər] heart, hearth
or, ar work, word, doctor, dollar,
[a:]
ear heard, earn, earnest, earth

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.
Примечание 1: Буква Y
Буква Y может функционировать как гласная или согласная. Как гласная,
Y имеет гласные звуки [i], [ai]. Как согласная, Y имеет согласный звук
[y] (т.е. полугласный звук), обычно в начале слова и только в слоге
перед гласной.
[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].
Примечание 2: Дифтонги
Дифтонг это один неделимый гласный звук, который состоит из двух
частей. Первая часть главный сильный компонент (ядро); вторая часть
короткая и слабая (скольжение). Дифтонг всегда имеет ударение на
первом компоненте: [au], [ou]. Дифтонг образует один слог.
Американские лингвисты обычно приводят пять дифтонгов: [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.
Примечание 3: Звук [o]
Звук [o] краткий в британском английском. В тех же словах в
американском английском, звук [o] долгий звук, окрашенный как [a:].
Этот звук часто дается как [a:] в американских материалах для
студентов ESL. В некоторых словах два варианта произношения в AmE:
[o:] или [o].
[o]: lot, rock, rob, bother, bottle, college, comment, document, modern,
popular, respond, John, Tom;
[o:] или [o]: gone, coffee, office, borrow, orange, sorry, loss, lost, want,
wash, water.

Note 4: The neutral sound

Transcription symbols for the neutral sound are [ʌ] (caret) in stressed
syllables (fun, son) and [ə] (schwa) in unstressed syllables (about, lesson).
In American ESL materials, the neutral sound is often shown as [ə] (schwa)
in both stressed and unstressed syllables.
Примечание 4: Нейтральный звук
Символы транскрипции для нейтрального звука: [ʌ] (caret) в ударных
слогах (fun, son) и [ə] (schwa) в безударных слогах (about, lesson). В
американских материалах ESL нейтральный звук часто дается как [ə]
(schwa) и в ударных, и в безударных слогах.

Read more about vowel letters and sounds in Spelling Patterns for Vowels in
the section Writing.
Прочитайте еще о гласных буквах и звуках в статье Spelling Patterns for
Vowels в разделе Writing.

In phonetics, stress is the degree of emphasis given a sound or syllable in speech, also called
lexical stress or word stress. ... This means that stress patterns can help distinguish
the meanings of two words or phrases that otherwise appear to be the same.