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Vowels

Explore the power of vowels in English! Vowels are a type of speech sound that is produced with an open vocal tract, allowing air to flow freely without obstruction. In English, the vowels are the letters A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. Consider vowels as the core building blocks of words that form the nucleus of syllables. They…

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Vowels

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Explore the power of vowels in English! Vowels are a type of speech sound that is produced with an open vocal tract, allowing air to flow freely without obstruction. In English, the vowels are the letters A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. Consider vowels as the core building blocks of words that form the nucleus of syllables. They are essential for forming words, conveying meaning, and creating rhythm and melody in speech.

What is the meaning of vowel?

A vowel is a speech sound that is produced when the air flows out through the mouth without being stopped by the vocal organs. Vowels are produced when there is nothing to obstruct the vocal cords.

A syllable

A syllable is a part of a word containing one vowel sound, called the nucleus. It may or may not have consonant sounds before or after it. If the syllable has a consonant sound before it, this is called the 'onset'. If there is a consonant sound after it, this is called the 'coda'.

  • For example, the word pen /pen/ has one syllable and it contains an onset /p/, a nucleus /e/, and a coda /n/.

A word can have more than one syllable:

  • For example, the word robot /ˈrəʊbɒt/ has two syllables. A quick way to work out how many syllables a word has is to count the main vowels.

What letters are vowels?

In the English language, we have five vowels. These are a, e, i, o and u.


Vowels, image of vowels, VaiaFig. 1 - There are five vowel letters in the English alphabet.

These are vowels as we know them in the alphabet, however there are many more vowel sounds than these. We'll look at them next.

List of vowel sounds in words

There are 20 possible vowels sounds. Twelve of these are present in the English language. The 12 English vowel sounds are:

  1. / ɪ / as in if, sit, and wrist.

  2. / i: / as in be, read, and sheet.

  3. / ʊ / as in put, good, and should.

  4. / u: / as in you, food, and through.

  5. / e / as in pen, said, and when.

  6. / ə / as in about, polite, and teacher.

  7. / 3: / as in her, girl, and work.

  8. / ɔ: / as in also, four, and walk.

  9. / æ / as in ant, ham, and that.

  10. / ʌ / as in up, duck, and some.

  11. / ɑ: / as in ask, large, and start.

  12. / ɒ / as in of, not, and what.

What are vowel sounds made of?

Every vowel is pronounced according to three dimensions that distinguish them from each other:

Height

Height, or closeness, refers to the vertical position of the tongue in the mouth, if it's high, mid, or low . For example, / ɑ: / as in arm, / ə / as in ago, and / u: / as in too.

Backness

Backness refers to the horizontal position of the tongue, if it's in the front, center, or back of the mouth. For example, / ɪ / as in any, / 3: / as in fur, and / ɒ / as in got.

Rounding

Rounding refers to the position of the lips, if they are rounded or spread . For example, / ɔ: / as in saw, and / æ / as in hat.

Here are some other aspects that help to describe vowel sounds:

  • Tenseness and laxness : - tense vowels are pronounced with tension in certain muscles. They are long vowels: in British English, tense vowels are / i :, i, u, 3 :, ɔ :, a: /. - lax vowels are produced when there is no muscle tension. They are short vowels. In British English, lax vowels are / ɪ, ə, e, aə, ʊ, ɒ, and ʌ /.
  • The length of the vowel refers to the duration of a vowel sound. Vowels can be long or short.

Monophthongs and Diphthongs

There are two types of vowels in English: Monophthongs and Diphthongs.

  • Say the word company out loud. You may notice that there are three different vowel letters, “o, a, y” which correspond to three distinct vowel sounds: / ʌ /, / ə /, and / i /.

These vowels are called monophthongs because we don't pronounce them together but as three distinct sounds. A monophthong is a single vowel sound.

  • Now say the word tie out loud. What do you notice? There are two vowel letters, “i and e”, and two vowel sounds: / aɪ /.

Unlike monophthongs, here there are two vowels joined together. We say that the word 'tie' contains one diphthong. A diphthong is two vowels together.

Here's another example: alone.

  • Three letters: a, o, e.
  • Two vowel sounds: / ə, əʊ /.
  • One monophthong / ə / and one diphthong / əʊ /.

The first / ə / is separated from the other two vowel sounds by the consonant sound / l /. Yet, the two vowel sounds / ə, ʊ / are joined to make the diphthong / əʊ /.

In English, there are some words that contain triple vowels, called triphthongs, as in the word liar /ˈlaɪə /. A triphthong is a combination of three different vowels.

Vowels - Key takeaways

  • A vowel is a speech sound that is produced when the air flows out through the mouth without being stopped by the vocal organs.

  • A syllable is a single part of a word that contains one vowel sound, the nucleus, and two consonants, the onset and the coda.

  • Every vowel is pronounced according to: height, backness, and rounding.

  • There are two types of vowel in the English language: monophthong and diphthong.

Frequently Asked Questions about Vowels

A vowel is a speech sound that is produced when the air flows out through the mouth without being stopped by the vocal organs.

Vowels are speech sounds made when the mouth is open and the air can escape freely from the mouth. Consonants are speech sounds made when the airflow is blocked or restricted.

The letters a, e, i, o, u.

There are 5 vowels in the alphabet and they are a, e, i, o, u.

There are 12 vowel sounds and 8 diphthongs in the English language.

Final Vowels Quiz

Vowels Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

Which vowel sound is there in the word cat?

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Answer

/æ/.

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Question

Which vowel sound is there in the word boat?


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Answer

/əʊ/.


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Question

Which vowel sound is there in the word judge?


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Answer

/ʌ/.

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Question

What is the role of y in the word rhythm?


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Answer

A vowel.

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Question

How many vowels are there in the English alphabet?


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Answer

5.


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How many vowel sounds are there?


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Answer

20.


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Question

What type of vowel sound is /u:/?


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Answer

Low.

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Question

What type of vowel sound is /ɪ/?


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Answer

Front.

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Question

What type of vowel sound is /ɔ:/?

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Answer

Rounded.

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Question

What type of vowel sound is //?


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Answer

Diphthong.


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Question

Vowel sounds are typically voiced. TRUE OR FALSE


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Answer

TRUE.

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Question

Within a syllable, vowels represent the onset and the coda. TRUE OR FALSE.


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Answer

FALSE: Vowels represent the nucleus of the syllables.

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Question

The vowel symbol in the word write is /aɪ/. TRUE OR FALSE.


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Answer

TRUE.

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Question

The diphthongs are the union of two monophthongs. TRUE OR FALSE.


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Answer

TRUE.

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Question

The syllables can only be close. TRUE OR FALSE.


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Answer

FALSE: The syllables can be close and open, depending on if there is a vowel or a consonant at the end of the word.

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Question

What is a vowel?

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Answer

A vowel is a speech sound produced when the airflow is not obstructed by the articulators (vocal organs).

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Question

What part of a syllable is the vowel?

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Answer

Nucleus

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Question

What is a syllable?

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Answer

A unit of sound containing one vowel sound.

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Question

How many syllables are in the word: dysfunctional?

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Answer

4

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Question

Which vowel sound represents the underlined sounds in:

banana, function, about, planter, photograph

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Answer

/ ə /

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