English Sounds | TeacherApp English

SHORT - LONG VOWELS

In English, Vowels can be Short or Long. The symbols followed by "Colon (:)" are Long Vowels, the rest are Short Vowels. The difference is that Long Vowels are pronounced with a longer duration than Short Vowels.

SHORT VOWELS

ɪ Kit	ʊ Book	e Net
ə Water	æ Map	ʌ Study
ɒ Follow	-	-

LONG VOWELS

i: Meet	u: Too	ɜ: Learn
ɔ: Talk	ɑ: Cart	-

FRONT - CENTRE - BACK VOWELS

To create the Vowel sounds we use tongue, lips and jaw to shape the air. The following examples represent the position of the tongue in each of the sounds.

FRONT VOWELS

(Tongue raised towards the front palate)

i: Meet	ɪ Kit	e Net
æ Map	-	-

CENTRE VOWELS

(Tongue in a flat and intermediate position)

ə Water	ɜ: Learn	ʌ Study
ɑ: Cart	-	-

BACK VOWELS

(The Tongue in a back position closest to the throat)

ʊ Book	u: Too	ɔ: Talk
ɒ Follow	-	-

VOICED - UNVOICED CONSONANTS

The speech sounds can be divided into Voiced and Unvoiced (or Voiceless) Consonants. The difference is that when we produce a Voiced sound, the vocal cords vibrate. In an Unvoiced sound, there is no vibration of the vocal cords.

VOICED CONSONANTS