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The
Vowels
of
American English
All world languages have a set of sounds that occur only in that language, excluding those that don't. Logically, once someone masters all these sounds, they should be able to pronounce any word or phrase in that language correctly. In linguistic terms, this set of native sounds is called a PHONOLOGY, and in the Pronunciation tab, we have a phonology of Standard American English divided into vowels and consonants.
All world languages have a set of sounds that occur only in that language, excluding those that don't. Logically, once someone masters all these sounds, they should be able to pronounce any word or phrase in that language correctly. In linguistic terms, this set of native sounds is called a PHONOLOGY, and in the Pronunciation tab, we have a phonology of Standard American English divided into vowels and consonants.
Naturally, in a language as widespread as English, there are bound to be several dialects — even within the same country or even state. One form of American English may contain sounds that others don't have. The phonology given here represents that of an English without any trace of a regional accent and the best suited, in my opinion, for any English learner looking to acquire a natural accent.
Naturally, in a language as widespread as English, there are bound to be several dialects — even within the same country or even state. One form of American English may contain sounds that others don't have. The phonology given here represents that of an English without any trace of a regional accent and the best suited, in my opinion, for any English learner looking to acquire a natural accent.
Why do we need phonetic symbols?
Why do we need phonetic symbols?
The English alphabet has 6 vowels: a e i o u y. However, some of these vowel letters represent more than one sound — for instance, the sounds represented by o in the word tomorrow are each distinct from one another: [tʰǝmɑ́row]. Here we see that each o represents a different sound which isn't reflected in the original spelling.
That's where phonetic transcription comes in — it leaves no doubt as to how any word is pronounced. Since English spelling is so unreliable for determining actual pronunciation, phonetic transcription is also an indispensible part of learning new words and phrases. Most of the symbols used here are from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which you may be familiar with from dictionaries and textbooks. However, I've modified some of the symbols for easier reading.
How many vowels does English have?
How many vowels does English have?
Putting aside the above six written vowels of English, if we take into account all the possible vowels sounds that are used in spoken standard American English, we actually end up with nine: [ɑ æ ǝ ɛ i ɪ o u ʊ], some of which combine to form diphthongs: [ay æw ey oy ow], giving us a total of 15 vowel sounds. But wait, there's more...
To make things even more interesting, there are consonant sounds that also function as vowels in some words. How is that possible? Well, a vowel is basically the center, or nucleus, of a syllable. For instance, the word banana is spelled with three a's and consequently has three syllables: [bǝnǽːnǝ]. But now let's look at the word murder. The written form has two vowels u and e. However, if we transcribe this word as it's actually pronounced, we see that it contains no actual [u]-sound or [e]-sound, but rather two [r]-sounds: [mʀɖʀ]. In other words, the nucleus of both syllables is actually [r], making it the vowel in these syllables. In my transcription system, these types of vowels will be represented by a small capital letter: [ʀ] [ʟ] [ɴ]
Below is a description and examples of all the vowel sounds that occur in standard American English.
Vowels
Vowels
[ɑ]
This is the wide, open ah-sound not unlike the one you make when you show the doctor your tonsils. For an authentic American pronunciation, it's important to keep this sound really open.
Orthographically, the sound [ɑ] corresponds to several spellings: most commonly o as in hot, body; as well as digraphs like au, aw, ou. It's also spelled a in loanwords, such as Spanish taco and Italian pasta, and au as in German Autobahn and the French name Audubon, which are both pronounced alike in English. It's also spelled en and em in French loanwords, like ensemble.
____________
odd, awed, aahed [ɑ:d]
bought, bot, baht [bɑt̚]
taco [tʰɑ́ːkow] pasta [pʰɑstǝ]
autobahn, Audubon [ɑ́ɖǝbɑ̀ːn]
ensemble [ɑnsɑ́mbʟ]
[æ]
This is the vowel in cat [kʰæt̚] and is always represented by the letter a, although it can also be found in some French loanwords containing in or im. When producing this vowel, it helps to pull the corners of your lips back as if to smile.
One notable feature of [æ] in American English is that when it occurs in an open* unstressed syllable before a stressed syllable, we tend to make it longer than other vowels in that position and give it a secondary stress.
____________*An open syllable is one that ends in a vowel. For instance the word café has two open syllables: ca [kʰæ] and fé [fey]. In this word, the first syllable [kʰæ] is unstressed, but because of the [æ], it’s a bit longer than, for instance, the first syllable of cabana [kʰǝˈbæːnǝ], where the unstressed open syllable ca contains [ǝ] and is short, as expected.____________cab [kʰæ:b] thanks [θæŋks] back [bæk]
example [ɛgzǽmpʟ] Rodin [rowdǽn]
café [kʰæ̀ːféy] chateau [ʃæ̀ːtʰów]
tattoo [tʰæ̀ːtʰúː] snafu [snæ̀ːfúː]
[ɛ]
This is simply an open e-sound as heard in the word yes [yɛs]. The trick is to keep the mouth relaxed and relatively open, but not so open that it approaches [æ].
____________
jet [ǧɛt̚] skeleton [skɛ́lɛtʰɪn]
message [mɛ́sɪǧ] September [sɛptɛ́mbʀ]
example [ɛgzǽmpʟ] remember [rɪmɛ́mbʀ]
[ǝ]
This sound can be very short and unstressed, as in the first syllable of about [ǝbǽwt̚], or stressed as in the words cup [kʰǝp] and run [rǝːn]. The mouth doesn’t really do anything — the lips barely part and middle of the tongue rises ever so slightly — a very neutral vowel.
_______
The IPA has a difference symbol for this sound when it's stressed: [ʌ], but I don't see the point in having two symbols for the same sound, so I use [ǝ] everywhere on this site.____________
Canada [kʰǽnǝdǝ]
tell him/them [tʰɛlǝm] collection [kʰǝlɛ́kʃɴ]
much [mǝč] summer [sǝ́mʀ] honey [hǝ́ni]
bug [bǝːg] hub [hǝːb] mud [mǝːd]
[i]
This is the vowel heard twice in the word tv [tʰìːvíː]. In order to produce it correctly, your teeth should be quite close together and your lips spread as if to smile. In some dialects, especially in the south, this sound is produced as a diphthong: [ɪy]. For instance, you may hear tree pronounced [tʰrɪy] instead of [tʰriː].
____________see [si:] mean [mi:n] eating [íːɖiŋ]
tea leaves [tʰí:lì:vz] series [sí:(ə)rì:z]
extremely needy [ɛkstríːmli níːɖi]
[ɪ]
This can be a very challenging vowel for a lot of English learners. There's a tendency to just use [i] and not distiguish between leave [liːv] and live [lɪːv], for example. However, whereas [i] is tense and kind of smiley, for [ɪ], there's a little more space between the teeth and the mouth is very relaxed.
____________sit [sɪt̚] live [lɪ:v] film [fɪɫm]
in Berlin [ɪm.bʀlɪ́n] simplistic [sɪmpʰlɪ́stɪk]
[u]
This is the vowel heard in food [fu:d]. Note that in most European languages, [u] is pronounce quite far back in the mouth compared to American English. Our sound is fronted — the back of the tongue is brought slightly forward in the mouth. You may hear some speakers pronounce this vowel as the diphthong [ʊw] — especially in the southern states.
____________
food [fu:d] boot [but̚] newt [nut̚] fuel [fyuːɫ]
[ʊ]
This is the vowel heard in the word book [bʊk]. It's similar to the [u]-sound, except that the lips are not as protruded and the mouth is more relaxed. For instance, for the word nuke [nuk], the lips noticeably extend for the vowel. However, for nook [nʊk], they just barely protrude.
____________wood, would [wʊ:d]
took [tʰʊk] put [pʰʊt̚]
cookie [kʰʊki]
Syllabic Consonants
Syllabic Consonants
[ʟ]
This is a dark, syllabic [ɫ] sound, which, like [ʀ], can form the nucleus of a syllable. However, unlike, [ʀ], it's normally preceded by a very slight [ə]. For instance, awful below, although transcribed as [ɑːfʟ], is actually pronounced as [ɑ́ːfǝɫ]*.
_________
*Regardless of this, I'll continue to use just [ʟ] in my transcriptions because when the second syllable of awful is lengthened for emphasis, for instance, it's the [ʟ] that's lengthened, and not the [ə] before it.____________
awful [ɑːfʟ] little [lɪɖʟ] apple [ǽpʟ]
[ɴ]
This is the syllabic [n] heard most often spelled ton, tin, ten, don, din, den. In these syllables, the sounds [t̚] and [d̚] aren't released, but go directly into [n] for the rest of the syllable, with no other discernible vowel.
_________
*Note that the modal can, when unstressed, is commonly pronounced [kʰɴ] or even [gɴ].____________
mitten [mɪ́t̚ɴ] cotton [kʰɑ́t̚ɴ] tartan [tʰɑ́rt̚ɴ]
hidden [hɪ́d̚ɴ] harden [hɑ́rd̚ɴ] pardon [pʰɑ́rd̚ɴ]
[ʀ]
This is the sound normally represented in the IPA by [ɚ] in unstressed syllables and [ɝ] in stressed syllables* in the IPA and most dictionaries. It's the [r] sound heard in the word girl [gʀːl], where the tip of the tongue is raised towards the middle of the palate.
____________
*On this site, I use [ʀ] throughout since I hear no difference between the stressed and unstressed sound. Futhermore, I don't hear any trace of [ǝ] in the word bird, for instance, where the [b] is followed by a long [r] sound, although some references claim that there's an element of [ǝ] before the [r].____________earth [ʀːθ] world [wʀɫd] girl [gʀːl]
further [fʀ́ːðʀ] stranger [stréi̯nǧʀ]
Diphthongs
A diphthong is basically two vowels that make up one syllable.
[ai̯]
This is the ai-sound heard in the word hi [hay]. In writing, it's represented by several spellings, but most commonly the single vowel i.
____________In the southern US, you may hear this pronounced not as a diphthong, but as a simple [æ]... for example hi [hæ:] (although some speakers may also used the diphthong [æy]).____________
I'd [ai̯d] high, hi [hai̯]
sigh [sai̯] might, mite [mai̯t̚] try, tri- [tʰrai̯]
trial [tʰrai̯(ǝ)ɫ] by, bi-, buy [bai̯]
[æu̯]
This is the au-sound heard in the word how [hæʊ̯] and is a diphthong that starts out as the [æ] in hat, and ends in a [w] semiconsonant.
____________
cow [kʰæːu̯] loud [læːu̯d] shout [ʃæu̯t̚]powder [pʰæu̯ɖʀ] Moscow [mɑ́skæ̀:u̯]shout-out [ʃǽu̯ɖæu̯t̚] roundabout [rǽu̯ndǝbæu̯t̚][ei̯]
This is also an e-sound, but with the teeth closer together than for [ɛ] above. It only occurs in the diphthong [eɪ̯].
____________
face [fei̯s] rain [rei̯n]
stranger [stréi̯nǧʀ]
[ou̯]
This is the vowel heard in the words boy and join. Note that when this diphthong is followed by l as the last sound in a word or syllable, most speakers insert a very short [ǝ] sound before a final [ɫ].
____________
toy [tʰoːɪ̯] choice [čoɪ̯s]
oil [óɪ̯ᵊɫ]
[oy]
This is the vowel heard in the words boy and join. Note that when this diphthong is followed by l as the last sound in a word or syllable, most speakers insert a very short [ǝ] sound before a final [ɫ].
____________
toy [tʰoɪ̯] choice [čoɪ̯s]
oil [óɪ̯ᵊɫ] spoiler [spóɪ̯lʀ]
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