Mohammed Kheider University English Department Module: English Phonetics &

Study of English Vowels
F
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Y
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LMD
LEVEL
Objective:
By the end of this course you’ll

be able to:

1- Define the vowel sounds

2- Recognise the organs that contribute in vowels articulation

5- Know the Cardinal vowels

3- Distinguish between the vowels and the consonants.

6- Use the previous properties and descriptions to determine the right vowels in words

4- Know the English vowel sounds

7- Pronounce vowel sounds in some words with correct and natural pronunciation

Lecturer:
Mr.Aounali

to pronounce.

There are five letters that are vowels

in English as follows: a e i o u and usually y
But from phonetic point view there are 20 vowel sounds for the aforesaid letters.
For example: the letter a can be pronounced as: call /ɔ:/
case /eɪ/
can /æ/
can’t /ɑ:/
American /ə , ə/

vowel is the sound which has a central function in

the syllable.
Examples:
- the indefinite article a (vowel) - at (vowel+consonant)
- to (c+v) - cat (cvc)
- streets ( cccvcc) - fox ( cvcc)

Detailed Study of English Vowels
-Vowels

1. Definition of a vowel:

1.2. From a phonetic point of view:

A vowel is a sound articulated with a voiced egressive air-stream without
any closure/narrowing giving rise to an audible friction.

There are 20 vowel sounds in English:
12 monophthongs: 7 short vowels : /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/ , /ɒ/, /ʊ/, /ә/.
and 5 long vowels: /i:/ , /ɑ:/ , /ɔ:/ , /з:/ , /u:/.

8 diphthongs: 5 closing vowels: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /әʊ/.
and 3 centring vowels: /eә/, /ɪә/, /ʊә/

consonant are very familiar, but when we study the sounds

of speech scientifically we can find that it is not easy to define. The most common points of difference are listed below as follows:

the changing shape and position of the articulators. The different

vowels can be categorised according to four features:

According to lip position vowels can be unrounded (with

neutral or spread lips) / ɪ, e, æ, ə, ʌ, iː, ɜː, ɑː/ or rounded /ɒ, ʊ, uː, ɔː/. For instance, the lips are rounded in ‘new’ /njuː/ but spread in ‘bee’ /biː/.

low)
We mean the part of the tongue involved in the

articulation and its shape or advancement. For example:
A front vowel is a vowel produced with the front of the tongue is opposite to alveolar ridge and moving to the front.
A central vowel is articulated when the centre of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate and resting in the centre.
A back vowel is articulated when the back of the tongue is
retracted towards the soft palate and moving backwards.
Depending on the position or height of the raised part of the tongue, vowels are divided into:
A close (high) vowel is produced when the tongue is raised high towards palate.

An open (low) vowel is produced when the tongue is placed low in mouth cavity.

A mid vowel is produced when the position of the tongue is intermediate between the high and the low. Therefore, we get mid-high and mid-low vowels..

a vowel takes a short period of time are the

short vowels whereas long vowels are longer. English vowels are long/ iː,ɜː,uː,ɔː,ɑː/ or short / ɪ,e, æ,ə,ʊ,ʌ, ɒ/.

of vowels is difficult, but the vowel diagram is the

best scheme used for classifying vowels, in which we have three horizontal labels for the position of the tongue (front, central and back) in the mouth opposing the soft palate.; on the other hand, we have four vertical lines for the shape of the tongue or the degree of opening of the mouth (close, close-mid, open-mid, open). In the Cardinal vowels chart we can place all the vowel sounds of English.

Pronunciation in Use:
Elementary Level, pp

68-74
Intermediate Level, pp 48-52
Advanced Level, pp 38-47


2- Jones, D. (1960) Outline of English Phonetics, (9th edition). Cambridge University Press.

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