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].