VOWEL STUDY GUIDE Alphabetic letter IPA Symbol Sample word “A” – Long sound [e] ‘ate’ “A” – Short sound [æ] ‘bat’ “E” – Long sound [i] ‘see’ “E” – Short sound [ɛ] ‘set’ “I” – Long sound [ɑɪ] ‘ice’ “I” – Short sound [ɪ] ‘sit’ “O” - Long sound [o] ‘so’ “O” – Short sound [ʊ] ‘book’ “U” – Long sound [u] ‘blue’ “U” – Short sound [ʌ] ‘luck’ “A” “E” “I” “O” “U” - unstressed [ə] “apart’ Unique and Combination Vowel Sounds [ɝ] A long, stressed, vowel sound that is a unique sound in English created from the combination of the [ɛ] and the [r] sounds and is found words like early [ɝlɪ] and world [wɝld]. [ɚ] A long, unstressed sound that is a combination of any unstressed vowel [ə] and the [r] sound in English. Production is the same as the [ɝ] sound only difference is stress. It is found in words such as other [ʌðɚ] and perhaps [pɚhæps]. [ɚ] Diphthongs [ɪɚ] A combination of the [ɪ] and [ɚ] sounds and appears is words such as fear [fɪɚ] and near [nɪɚ]. [ɛɚ] A combination of the [ɛ] and the [ɚ] sounds and appears in words such as stair [stɛɚ] and chair [t͡ʃɛɚ]. [ʊɚ] A combination of the [ʊ] and the [ɚ] sounds and appears in words such as sure [ʃʊɚ] and tour [tʊɚ]. [ɔɚ] A combination of the [ɔ] and the [ɚ] sounds and appears in words such as door [dɔɚ] and four [fɔɚ]. Other Diphthongs [ɔɪ] A [ɔ] diphthong of the [ɔ] and the [ɪ] sounds. It appears in words such as boil [bɔɪl] and enjoy [ɛnd͡ ʒɔɪ]. [ɑʊ] A [ɑ] diphthong of the [ɑ] sound and the [ʊ] sounds. It appears in words such as round [rɑʊnd] and towel [tɑʊl].