Description Of Pure Vowels 39122

DESCRIPTION OF PURE VOWELS IN ENGLISH A vowel is defined as a voiced sound in the production of which is no obstruction, partial or complete, of the air age. Here, we shall deal with the twelve pure vowel sounds of English language.

1. / ɪ: / as in ‘sheep’ / ɪ:p / It is a close front unrounded vowel. In forming this vowel, the tongue is raised to a height a bit below and behind the close front position. The lips are spread. It is a long vowel sound. It occurs in all three positions in a word, initial, middle and final. Even, people, tea etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • • •

e

complete, these

ee

need, green

ea

repeat, read

ie

believe, niece

i

machine

ei

receive, seize

ey

key

2. / ɪ / as in ‘sit’ / sɪt / It is a short front unrounded vowel between close and half close. In forming it, the general position of the tongue and lips is like that in the long / ɪ: /, but the tongue is in a lower and retracted position. It is raised just above the half close position. It occurs in all three positions in a word. It, mist, dirty etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • • •

i

tick, ink

e

return, market

ie

mischief, ladies

ai

fountain

u, ui

busy, build

y

system, city

a

village, surface

3. / e / as in ‘dead’ / ded / This vowel is a front, unrounded vowel, with height of the tongue between half-close and half-open, and the lips are in a spread or neutral position, and slightly wider apart than in the case of / ɪ: /. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • •

e

red, bell

ea

bread, death

a

any, Thames

u

bury

ie

friend

ei, ai

leisure, said

4. / æ / as in ‘bag’ / bæg / This vowel is intermediate between half-open and open, front, unrounded. To form it, we place the tongue slightly below the half-open position. The lips are in a spread or neutral position. The mouth, in the production of this vowel, is a bit more open than for / e /. This vowel does not occur in the final position in a word. Tag, rag, man, at etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• •

a

land, cash

ai

plait, plaid

5. / a: / as in ‘card’ / ka:d /

It is a long vowel formed with the mouth wide open, nearer to back than front, with lips in a neutral position. In forming this vowel, the tip of the tongue is often retracted from lower teeth. The jaws are separated, e.g. , class, chance etc. This vowel does not occur in the final position in a word. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • 6. /

a

after, father

ear

heart, hearth

er

clerk

au

aunt, laugh

ɒ / as in ‘dog’ / dɒ g /

This is an almost open, short, back vowel with slight rounding of lips and the tongue held in the lowest and most backward position. The position of the tongue in this vowel is the same as in Cardinal vowel no 5. / a: /. It occurs in two positions, initial and middle. Ox, box, all, fox etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • 7. /

o

gone, top

a

was, quality

ou

cough, Gloucester

au

because, Australia

ɔ : / as in ‘ball’ / bɔ :l/

This vowel is intermediate between open and half-open, back, round. It is produced by raising the back of the tongue to a position between halfopen and half-close, and with medium lip-rounding. It is a long vowel sound. It occurs in all the three positions. Ought, bought, law etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • •

aw

saw, lawn

ou

ought, thought

au

daughter, vault, cause

a

salt, hall, water

oo

door, floor

oa

oar, board

8. / ʊ / as in ‘put’ / pʊ t / This vowel is between close and half-close, back with fairly close rounding. The tongue is lax. It does not occur at the beginning of words. Cook, full etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • •

oo

look, foot

u

butcher, sugar

o

wolf, woman

ou

could, would

9. / u: / as in ‘fool’ / fu:l / This vowel is almost close, back and rounded. In pronouncing it, there is tenseness in the tongue, and the lips are closely rounded. It is a long form of / u /, but its length is reduced when it occurs before voiceless consonants. Its relation to / u / is the same as that of / ɪ / is to / ɪ: /. Food, rude etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• •

o

do, move

u

rule, June

• • • • •

ou

soup, route

ui

fruit, juice

ue

blue, true

oe

shoe

oo

noon, choose

10. / ʌ / as in ‘bus’ / bʌ s / It is a half-open, central unrounded vowel. This vowel does not occur in the final position in a word or in open syllables. It is formed with jaws quite separate, and lips naturally open, and the centre of the tongue raised just above the fully open position. But, dull etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • •

u

sun, bus

o

son, some

ou

country, couple

oe

does

oo

blood, flood

11. / 3: / as in ‘earth’ / 3: / This vowel is between half-close and half-open, central, unrounded. It is a long vowel which occurs only in accented syllables. In pronouncing it, the centre of the tongue is raised between half-close to half-open, and the lips are neutrally spread. Burn, word etc. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • • • 12. /

er

serve, her

err

err

ear

earth, heard

ur

turn, church

ir

bird, gird

or

word, worse

our

courtesy

ə / as in ‘alone’ / ələʊ n /

This vowel is between half-close and half-open, central and unrounded. It is a vowel with a neutral lip-position. It occurs only in the unaccented syllables. The spellings representing this vowel sound are:

• • • • • • • • • • •

a

about, human

ar

forward, standard

o

factory, continue

or

effort

ou

famous

er

longer, teacher

or

motor, sailor

our

colour, favour

ure

nature, picture

re

centre, theatre

e

sentence, problem

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SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD