VOWELS by BUSUNGU JOSEPH

 

Vowels

A vowel is a speech sound which is produced with the vibration of the vocal cords but without friction. All vowels are voiced.

Types of vowels

There are 20 vowel phonemes in English language divided into two main groups namely;

                                           i.            Monophthongs

                                        ii.            Diphthongs

Monophthongs

These are pure vowels which are produced as single vowel and divided into long and short vowels. These are pure vowels because they are produced without a noticeable change in vowel. They are 12 in number and are written chronologically in a vowel trapezium.

                      

i.                  /ɪ/ - short ‘I’

It is used in words with single ‘I’ like;

Sick /sɪk/

Tick /tɪk/

Sit /sɪt/ etc

 

ii.               /i:/ - long ‘I’

It is used in words with;

ee: seek /si:k/, seen /si:n/,

ea: sea /si:/ seal /si:/, cheat /ʧi:t/

eo: people /pi:pl/,

 

iii.            /e/ - short ‘e’

It is used in words with single e like;

Pen /pen/

Ten /ten/

Check / ʧek/

iv.             /æ/ - smiling ‘a’

It is used in words with single ‘a’ which are not followed by ‘r’ or ‘s’

Cat /kæt/

Plant /plænt/

Hat /hæt/

 

v.                /α:/ - long ‘a’

It is used in words with ‘a’ followed by ‘s’, ‘r’ or ‘l’

Past /pα:st/

Park /pα:k/

Fast /fα:st/

Calm /kα:m/

 

vi.             /ɒ/ - short ‘o’

It is used in words with single ‘o’ which is not followed by ‘r’ or ‘s’

Pot /pɒt/

Hot /hɒt/

Shop /òɒp/

 

vii.          /ͻ:/ - long ‘o’

It is used in words with single ‘o’ followed by ‘r’ or ‘s’

Post /pͻ:st/

Pork /pͻ:k/

Fort /fͻ:t/

Sort /sͻ:t/

 

viii.       /ʊ/ -short ‘u’

It is mostly used in words with single ‘u’

Put /pʊt/

It is also used in some of the words with ‘oo’

Book /bʊk/

Cook /kʊk/

good /gʊd/

 

ix.             /u:/ - long ‘u’

It is used in words with;

oo: food /fu:d/, root /ru:t/, look /lu:k/

u-e: cute /kju:t/, mute /mju:t/

oe: shoes /ʃu:z/

 

x.                /Ʌ/ - sharp ‘a’

It is used in words with ‘u’ pronounced as ‘a’

But /bɅt/

Cut /kɅt/

Nut /nɅt/

It is also used in words with ‘o’ pronounced as ‘a’

Done /dɅn/

Money /mɅnɪ/

Honey /hɅnɪ/

 

xi.             /ɜ:/ - long ‘e’

It is used in words with;

or: word /wɜ:d/, work /wɜ:k/

ir: firm /fɜ:m/, third /ɵɜ:d/, first /fɜ:st/

ur: church /ʧɜ:ʧ/, fur /fɜ:/

ear: heard /hɜ:d/

er: person /pʒ

 

xii.          /ə/ - schwa sound

This is the weakest vowel. It is used in the environment where the respective vowel is not heard.

It is mostly used when the word ends with ‘er’ or ‘or’

Teacher /ti:ʧə/

Maker /meɪkə/

Doctor /dɒktə/

ü NB: letter ‘r’ at the end of the word can be omitted or retained in a bracket to show that it is optional. Eg taker /teɪkə(r)/

ü Phonemes are not written in capital letters; hence the transcription should not involve capital letters.

 

Diphthongs

These are vowels with two phonemes. The first vowel becomes more prominent or stressed in pronunciation. They are eight in number. These are;

       i.            /eɪ/

Straight /streɪt/

Paid /peɪd/

Weight /weɪt/

Make /meɪk/

Baby /beɪbɪ/

 

    ii.            /əʊ/

Note /nəʊt/

Home /həʊm/

Wrote /rəʊ/

Go /gəʊ/

/əʊ/ is mostly applied in words where there is ‘o’ at the middle and ‘e’ at the end.

 

  iii.            /αɪ/

Fight /fαɪ/

Fine /fαɪn/

High /hαɪ/

Light /lαɪt/

 

  iv.            /αʊ/

Cow /kαʊ/

How /hαʊ/

Shout /ʃαʊt/

Now /nαʊ/

 

     v.            /ᴐɪ/

Boy /bᴐɪ/

Toy /tᴐɪ/

Oil /ᴐɪl/

Soil /sᴐɪl/

 

  vi.            /ɪə/

Fear /fɪə/

Near /ɪə/

Clear /klɪə/

Dear /dɪə/

 

vii.            /ɛə/

Chair /ʧɛə/

Air /ɛə/

 

viii.            /ʊə/

Pure /pjʊə/

Poor /pʊə/

Cure /kjʊə/

 

Because of affixation, there are some areas which needs triphthongs. i.e areas where three vowels should be compounded. These are the triphthongs;

i.                   /eɪə/

Player /pleɪə/

Payer /peɪə/

Sayer /seɪə/

ii.                 /əʊə/

Lower /ləʊə/

Sower /səʊə/

Power /pəʊə/

Slower /sləʊə/

 

iii.              /αɪə/

Higher /hαɪə/

Liar /lαɪə/

Fire /fαɪə/

Sire /sαɪə/

 

iv.               /αʊə/

Flour /flαʊə/

Hour /αʊə/

 

FACTORS FOR THE VOWEL DESCRIPTION

v There are four factors for vowel description namely;

i.                  Height

The height of the vowel refers to the fact that the tongue is higher when producing the vowel /i/ than when producing /e/ which is higher than that used for /æ/. According to the heigh we can get the following types of vowels;

(a)  Close: /i/, /u:/

(b) Mid close: /ɪ/, /ʊ/

(c)  Mid open: /e/, /Ʌ/, /ɜ:/, /ɒ/, /ͻ:/, /ə/

(d) Open: /α/, /æ/

ii.               Position of the tongue

According to the position of the tongue, vowels are divided into three types namely;

a.     Front vowels: /i:/, /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/

b.     Central vowels: /Ʌ/, /ɜ:/, /ə/

c.     Back vowels: /u:/, /ʊ/, /ͻ:/, /ɒ/, /α:/

iii.            Length

Some vowels take long time during pronunciation while others take short time. Here we get two types of vowels namely;

a.     Short vowels: /Ʌ/, /ə/, /ɒ/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /æ/, /e/

b.     Long vowels: /i:/, /α:/, /ᴐ:/, /ɜ:/, /u:/ and all diphthongs

iv.             Shape of the lips

According to the shapes of the lips, vowels are divided into three types namely;

a.     Rounded vowels: /u:/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ᴐ/, /α:/

b.     Unrounded vowels: /i:/, /e/, /ɪ/, /æ/

c.     Spread: /ɜ:/, /Ʌ/, /ə/