This refers to whether the lips are rounded or unrounded while pronouncing a vowel.

a) The vowels produced with

rounded lips are called as rounded vowels. b) Those produced with unrounded lips are called as unrounded vowels.

Examples: /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /u:/, /ɔ:/ are rounded,

and /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɑ:/, /æ/, /ə/ ,/ʌ/ are unrounded.

A single shift in quality results in a diphthong.

There are eight diphthongs in English:

1) /eɪ/ as in ‘say’

2) /ɑʊ/ or /aʊ/ as in cow

3) /ɑɪ/ or /aɪ/ as in ‘fine’

4) /ɔɪ/ as in ‘boy’

5) /ɪə/ as in ‘dear’

6) /eə/ as in ‘air’

7) /ʊə/ as in gruel

8) /əʊ/ as in ‘home’

Closed vs. Open Vowels

Open vowels

 /ɒ/ as in dog

Open-mid vowels

 /æ/ as in bag
 /ɛ/ as in beg
 /ʌ/ as in but
 /ɔ/ as in caught

Mid vowels

 /ə/ as in banana

Closed-mid vowels

 /ɪ/ as in knit
 /ʊ/ as in would

Closed vowels

 /i/ as in happy

Front vs. Back Vowels

Open vowels

 /ɒ/ as in dog

Open-mid vowels

 /æ/ as in bag
 /ɛ/ as in beg
 /ʌ/ as in but
 /ɔ/ as in caught

Mid vowels

 /ə/ as in banana

Closed-mid vowels
  /ɪ/ as in knit
 /ʊ/ as in would

Closed vowels

 /i/ as in happy

Front vs. Back Vowels

Front vowels

 /i/ as in happy - /hæpi/

 /ɪ/ as in quick - /kwɪk/
 /ɛ/ as in bet - /bɛt/
 /æ/ as in apple - /æpəl/

Central vowels

 /ə/ as in angel - /eɪndʒəl/

Back vowels

 /u/ as in Luke - /lu:k/

 /ʊ/ as in book - /bʊk/
 /ʌ/ as in putt - /pʌt/
 /ɔ/ as in bought - /bɔ:t/
 /ɒ/ as in robot - /rəʊbɒt/

Front vowels

 /i/ as in happy - /hæpi/

 /ɪ/ as in quick - /kwɪk/
 /ɛ/ as in bet - /bɛt/
 /æ/ as in apple - /æpəl/

Central vowels

 /ə/ as in angel - /eɪndʒəl/

Back vowels

 /u/ as in Luke - /lu:k/

 /ʊ/ as in book - /bʊk/
  /ʌ/ as in putt - /pʌt/
 /ɔ/ as in bought - /bɔ:t/
 /ɒ/ as in robot - /rəʊbɒt/

Thanks to this ad, StudySmarter remains free:

Front vowels

 /i/ as in happy - /hæpi/

 /ɪ/ as in quick - /kwɪk/
 /ɛ/ as in bet - /bɛt/
 /æ/ as in apple - /æpəl/

Central vowels

 /ə/ as in angel - /eɪndʒəl/

Back vowels

 /u/ as in Luke - /lu:k/

 /ʊ/ as in book - /bʊk/
 /ʌ/ as in putt - /pʌt/
 /ɔ/ as in bought - /bɔ:t/
 /ɒ/ as in robot - /rəʊbɒt/

Thanks to this ad, StudySmarter remains free:

Front vowels

 /i/ as in happy - /hæpi/

 /ɪ/ as in quick - /kwɪk/
 /ɛ/ as in bet - /bɛt/
 /æ/ as in apple - /æpəl/

Central vowels

 /ə/ as in angel - /eɪndʒəl/

Back vowels

 /u/ as in Luke - /lu:k/

 /ʊ/ as in book - /bʊk/
 /ʌ/ as in putt - /pʌt/
 /ɔ/ as in bought - /bɔ:t/
  /ɒ/ as in robot - /rəʊbɒt/

Rounded vs. Unrounded Vowels

rounded : /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /u:/, /ɔ:/

unrounded: /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɑ:/, /æ/, /ə/ , /ʌ/.

Monophthongs
There are ten monophthong vowels used in English:
 /i:/ as in cheese - /tʃi:z/
 /ɪ/ as in big - /bɪg/
 /ɛ/ as in beg - /bɛg/
 /æ/ as in bag - /bæg/
 /ə/ as in ruler - /ru:lə/
 /u:/ as in dune - /dʒu:n/
 /ʊ/ as in could - /kʊd/
 /ʌ/ as in cup - /kʌp/
 /ɔ/ as in more - /mɔ:/
 /ɒ/ as in gone - /gɒn/

Diphthongs
There are eight diphthong vowels used in the English language. These are:

 /ɪə/ as in fear - /fɪə/

 /eɪ/ as in gate - /geɪt/
 /ʊə/ as in poor - /pʊə/
 /ɔɪ/ as in coin - /kɔɪn/
 /əʊ/ as in know - /nəʊ/
 /eə/ as in there - /ðeə/
 /aɪ/ as in eye - /aɪ/
 /aʊ/ as in loud - /laʊd/

Triphthongs

Here are some examples of words with triphthong vowels:

  tyre - /taɪə/
 power - /paʊə/
 greyer - /gɹeɪə/
 rower - /rəʊə/
 destroyer - /dəstɹɔɪə/

Long and Short Vowel Chart

A short vowel is a vowel sound produced in a short and quick manner, such as /ɪ/
in big.
A long vowel is a longer, more elongated form of a short vowel sound, such as /ɜ:/
in burn.
Here is a chart of the long and short monophthong vowels used in English:
Vowel
Vowel Example Word Transcription of Example
Length
/ɪ//ʊ//e//ə//æ//ʌ// wigshouldbedaroundfastmugwas
/wɪg//ʃʊd//bed//əɹaʊnd//fæst//mʌg//wɒʃ/
Short ɒ/ h

/i://u://ɜ://ɔ://ɑ:/ cheeseswoonheardnoughtfarm /tʃi:z//swu:n//hɜ:d//nɔ:t//fɑ:m/

Long

IPA Vowel Chart with Examples

Now that we've gone over all the possible vowel sounds in the English language,
let's cover them again in one place with some examples.
Vowel Type Vowel Length Vowel Example Example Transcription

Monophthongs Long /i:/ freeze /fɹi:z/

/u:/ tune /tʃu:n/

/ɜ:/ burn /bɜ:n/

 /ɔ:/ jaunt /dʒɔ:nt/

/ɑ:/ bard /bɑ:d/

/ɪ/ impressive /ɪmpɹesɪv/

/ʊ/ would /wʊd/

/e/ wedding /wedɪŋ/

Short /ə/ sofa /səʊfə/

/æ/ plant /plænt/

/ʌ/ fun /fʌn/

/ɒ/ bottle /bɒtəl/

/ɪə/ /wɪə/
Diphthongs weir

/eɪ/ /əbeɪt/
abate
/ʊə/ /tʊəɹɪst/

tourist
/ɔɪ/ /ədʒɔɪnɪŋ/

/əʊ/ adjoining /təʊ/

 toe

/eə/ /weə/
wear
/aɪ/ /saɪθ/

scythe
/aʊ/ /əgraʊnd/

aground

pyre
/aɪə/ /paɪə/

/aʊə/ flour /flaʊə/

Triphthongs /eɪə/ slayer /sleɪə/

/əʊə/ /bəʊə/
boa

/ɔɪə/ /fɔɪə/

foyer
 Rounded vs. Unrounded Vowels
rounded : /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /u:/, /ɔ:/

unrounded: /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɑ:/, /æ/, /ə/ , /ʌ/.

Monophthongs
There are ten monophthong vowels used in English:
 /i:/ as in cheese - /tʃi:z/
 /ɪ/ as in big - /bɪg/
 /ɛ/ as in beg - /bɛg/
 /æ/ as in bag - /bæg/
 /ə/ as in ruler - /ru:lə/
 /u:/ as in dune - /dʒu:n/
 /ʊ/ as in could - /kʊd/
 /ʌ/ as in cup - /kʌp/
 /ɔ/ as in more - /mɔ:/
 /ɒ/ as in gone - /gɒn/
Diphthongs
There are eight diphthong vowels used in the English language. These are:

 /ɪə/ as in fear - /fɪə/

 /eɪ/ as in gate - /geɪt/
 /ʊə/ as in poor - /pʊə/
 /ɔɪ/ as in coin - /kɔɪn/
 /əʊ/ as in know - /nəʊ/
 /eə/ as in there - /ðeə/
 /aɪ/ as in eye - /aɪ/
 /aʊ/ as in loud - /laʊd/