Phonetics

Classification of vowels
Vowels are classified in terms of:
the height of the bulk of the tongue in the mouth
the front/back position of the tongue in the mouth
the degree of lip-rounding
the length of vowels
Number of vowels
There are 20 vowels:
12 single vowels (or monothongs) and
8 double vowels (or diphthongs).
Monothongs
/ˈm{n{H{Nz/
Front
Central
Back
High
Low
Middle
Close
Half-close
Half-open
Open












[`vaU«l tS¿:t]
Front
Central
Back
High
Low
Middle
Close
Half-close
Half-open
Open
heed
hid
head
had
cut
hard
hot
saw
shoe
put
the
bird
[`vaU«l tS¿:t]
/i:/
/i:/
/I/
/I/
/e/
/e/
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ /
//
//
//
//
//
//
Diphthongs
/`dIfHÎNz/
Diphthongs
Sounds that consist of a movement
or glide from one vowel to another.
The first part of a diphthong is
always longer and stronger than
the second part as the sound glides
into the second part of the diphthong
the loudness of the sound decreases.
Diphthongs
Centring
Closing
Ending in //
Ending in //
Ending in //
// // //
// / / //
// //
//
//
/ /
/ /
ear e ear
beer bee beer
tear tea tear
pier pea pier
beard bead beard
//
tour two tour
sure shoe sure
poor pour poor
lure loo lure
//
//
//
//
/ /
/ /
//
//
//
//