English vowel sounds/vowel sounds in English

English vowel Sounds

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🔹 1. Monophthongs (Single Vowel Sounds)

These are simple, pure sounds with one articulatory position.

Short Vowel Sounds (7 sounds):

Symbol	Example Word	Sound Description
/ɪ/	bit	short "i"
/e/	bed	short "e"
/æ/	cat	short "a"
/ʌ/	cup	short "u" (central)
/ɒ/	pot (BrE)	short "o" (British)
/ʊ/	book	short "u"
/ə/	sofa	schwa (unstressed)

Long Vowel Sounds (5 sounds):

Symbol	Example Word	Sound Description
/iː/	seat	long "ee"
/ɑː/	car (BrE)	long "ah"
/ɔː/	saw (BrE)	long "aw"
/uː/	blue	long "oo"
/ɜː/	bird	long "er" (central)

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🔹 2. Diphthongs (Gliding Vowel Sounds)

These are a combination of two vowel sounds within the same syllable.

Symbol	Example Word	Sound Description
/aɪ/	time	"eye" sound
/eɪ/	face	"ay" sound
/ɔɪ/	boy	"oy" sound
/aʊ/	house	"ow" sound
/əʊ/	go (BrE)	"oh" sound (British)
/ɪə/	ear (BrE)	"ear" glide
/eə/	air (BrE)	"air" glide
/ʊə/	pure (BrE)	"ure" glide

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