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VOWEL SOUNDS
Vowel sounds are also called vocoids. There are 20 vowel sounds in
English. There are 12 monophthongs or pure vowels and 8 diphthongs
or vowel glides.

There is no stricture or stopping of air while

producing vowel sounds. Secondly, in all vowel sounds, the VOCAL

CORDS VIBRATE. So, ALL VOWEL SOUNDS ARE VOICED SOUNDS.
Pure Vowels:
There are 12 pure vowels in English. They can be divided into long
vowels and short vowels. These vowels are called pure vowels because
there is ONE CLEAR SOUND made in producing them.
DESCRIPTION OF VOWEL SOUNDS:
Vowel sounds are described according to three factors.
The distance between the tongue and the hard palate: If the distance
is more, it is an open vowel. If the distance between the tongue and the
hard palate is less, it is a close vowel.
The part of the tongue that is raised: If the front of the tongue is
raised while producing a vowel sound, it is a front vowel. If the back of
the tongue is raised while producing a vowel sound, it is a back vowel.
If the central portion of the tongue is raised while producing a vowel
sound, it is a central vowel.
The position of the lips: There are three common lip positions
Rounded: The lips are brought towards each other as in the
sounds // and //
Spread: This is the usual position of the lips when one smiles. Here
the lips are moved away from each other as in //, /e/, and /I/;
Neutral: The lips are neither spread nor rounded, as in // and //.

Short Vowels:
Dr. Sujatha Menon

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There

are

short

vowels

in

English.

They

are

//, //,

/e/, /I/, //, //, and //.

/I/ = close front vowel; the lips are spread
/e/ = close front vowel; the lips are spread
// = open front vowel; the lips are spread
// = close back vowel; the lips are rounded
// = open back vowel; the lips are rounded
// = open central vowel; the lips are neutral
// = mid-close central vowel; the lips are neutral

Long Vowels:
There are 5 long vowels in English. They are denoted by two dots

(:).

/i:/ = close front vowel; the lips are spread

/:/ = open front vowel; the lips are spread
/3:/ = mid-central vowel; the lips are neutral
/u:/= close back vowel; the lips are rounded
/:/ = open back vowel; the lips are rounded

Cardinal Vowels:
The IPA (International Phonetic Association) has a quadrilateral for
identifying the main vowels in most European languages. These are
called the cardinal vowels. (page 12 in the book).

Diphthongs:
Dr. Sujatha Menon

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There are 8 diphthongs in English. The word di means two. So, as the
name suggests, a diphthong consists of two sounds. Unlike the pure
vowel, there is NO ONE CLEAR SOUND. There is A GLIDE OR
MOVEMENT FROM ONE VOWEL SOUND TO ANOTHER. So,
diphthongs are called vowel glides.
There are two types of diphthongs:
Centring Diphthongs:
These diphthongs end with the central vowel //. There are three
centring diphthongs - /I/, //, and /e/.
Closing Diphthongs:
These diphthongs end with the closing vowels /I/ and //.
There are three diphthongs ending with /I/ - /eI/, /I/, and /aI/.
There are two diphthongs ending with // - /a/ and //

Triphthongs:
There are five triphthongs in English. As the name suggests, tri means
three. They consist of three sounds.

/eI/ 'layer', 'player'

// 'lower', 'mower'
/aI/ 'liar', 'fire'
/a/ 'power', 'hour'
/I/ 'loyal', 'royal'

Dr. Sujatha Menon