We learned in childhood that the vowels are a, e, i, о, u, and sometimes w and y. But this is but a slight clue as to what a vowel really is. The symbols that we have just enumerated are letters—vowel letters, to be more exact. If you say the first one, a slowly you will discover that it is made up of two sounds: the a in ale and almost the e in eve. It is not therefore a pure vowel. You can try this out on the other vowel letters and see how many of them represent pure vowels.
A vowel is a speech sound or whisper in the production of which there is an openness of the throat and mouth cavities that permits sound so produced to come out unobstructed.
Instead of the few simplified vowel letters as noted above there are in American Speech some seventeen vowel sounds. Our English alphabet does not allow us accurately to indicate these vowels because English spelling is far from being an exact representation of the sounds. For more accurate representation of the vowel sounds therefore, we use certain special phonetic symbols. The vowel sounds are:
1. [i] As in see, eve, be, need, feet, green, but
also spelled as in people, machine, yield, deceive, deacon, Caesar.
2. [ɪ] As in hit, flit, sill, bill, but also spelled as
in myth, pretty, business, hymn, busy, ink, England, fountain, plumage.
3. [e ɪ] As in age, they, gain, base, raid, late, but
also spelled as in break, vein, status, tale. (NOTE: When prolonged, this sound becomes a diphthong, or a combination of two vowels.)
4. [e] As in set, let, get, wreck, bed, red, but also
spelled as in deaf, says, leopard, many, Thames, bury, again.
5. [æ] As in back, cat, fat, ham, marry, saddle.
This sound is always spelled with an a.
6. [a] As in shaft, ask, gaff. This sound is about
half way between the vowel of sang and the vowel a of father.
7. [ɑ ː] As in father, ah, alms, heart, calm, but also
spelled as in sergeant, odd.
8. [ɒ] as in doll, hot, polish, from, loss, God, but
is spelled also as fodder, watch, (NOTE: This is a sound which, if not natural to your speech, is not to be cultivated.)
9. [ɔ] As in awe, awl, fall, wall, saw, but is also
spelled as in cloth, laud, norm, Launfal, Salisbury, augment, sought, war, Utah.
10. [o] As in go, rope, soap, folk, bowl, hoe, poll.
(NOTE: This sound, like No. 3, can be classed as a diphthong.)
11. [ʊ] As in foot, good, pull, full, put, but also
spelled as in sugar, could, worsted.
12. [u] As in loose, lose, noon, fool, noose, but
also spelled as in glue, flue, flew, rude, shoe, Louise, route.
13. [ɜː] As in fir, sir, third, were, turn, attorney,
but also spelled as in pearl, myrtle, journey, colonel, (NOTE: This sound has the r quality added to it and is found in General American speakers. Easterners do not have the r tongue position for it.)
14. [ɜ] As in the words above except that there is
no r quality.
15. [ɜː] As in the second vowel in father, mother,
better. This has for General American speakers a slight r quality to it.
16. [ə ] As in the words above except that there
is no r quality. This is general among Eastern speakers. It also occurs in all speakers as a vowel in the unstressed syllables in several, gentleman, elephant, nation, purpose, gallop.
17. [ʌ] AS in cut, nut, sun, but also spelled as in done, among, come, trouble, compass.
