Hi. I’m Denise. Thank you for watching my
video. Today I want to give you an overview of the vowel sounds in English. Please be
aware though that there are some variations in the way that these sounds are produced
or in the way that these sounds are made by native speakers. I’m from the state of Michigan
which is in the northern part of the United States and my accent is a fairly standard
American accent. But people from different parts of the United States will pronounce
some of these sounds in a slightly different way from the way that I do. So please keep
that in mind, okay? That there are variations. Another thing to be aware of is that not all
linguists agree with the number of vowels that exist in English. Some say there are
fourteen vowels; some say fifteen; some say sixteen. Today I will be presenting fourteen
vowels to you. Please don’t confuse the vowel sounds with
vowel letters. We have five vowel letters in English and we use those letters to write
words. The vowel letters are A E I O U. These are the letters, the letters that we use to
write words, but each of these letters can make more than one sound. So all together since
they are all making more than one sound, all together we have either fourteen, fifteen,
or sixteen vowel sounds, okay! So, I will be talking about the sounds today and not
the letters. When I write the vowel sounds, I will write the sound inside two slashes
like this. For example, this. This is the sound /u/ and I know it’s the sound because
I have the two slashes here. If I’m talking about the letter u, then I will not use the
slashes. I would write the letter u like this. So this is the sound /u/. This is the letter
u. This is the sound /i/. This is the letter i. So, again, if I’m talking about the sound,
I will write it inside two slash marks like this. If I’m talking about a letter, I will
write it like this. And I will be using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet. When we talk about vowels, we should be aware
of different parts of our mouth and what they are doing and what position they are in. So
the first part of our mouth that we should be aware of is our tongue. We should know
how high our tongue is in our mouth and also which part of the tongue is at that height.
So if this is my tongue, for example, we can talk about the very end of it or the very
tip. Is the tip high in the mouth or is it the front of the tongue. Just inside the tip
is the front part. Is that the part that’s high in our mouth, or is it the next part?
Is it the center of the tongue? Or is it the back of the tongue? So I’ve written up here
tip, front, center, back. So which part of our tongue is at which height in our mouth?
So how high is the tongue? We should also be aware of what our lips are
doing. Our lips, are they spread, rounded, or open? If the lips are spread that means
that they are, my mouth is wide. My lips are spread wide apart. If they are rounded,
it looks something like this, so they make a circle, rounded. If my lips are open, my
mouth might look something like this. So different vowel sounds have the lips in different positions.
So we need to be aware of whether our lips are spread, rounded, or open. And they might
be a combination of these as well. We also should be aware of our muscles. Are
they tense or are they relaxed? If they’re tense, that means that they’re tight in
my mouth. And if they’re not tense, then they are relaxed. So when we talk about vowels,
we should be aware of these things. Here’s a vowel chart. It looks a little
messy but I’ll try to explain it to you. Okay? So, here goes. First of all, I said
that I would be using the International Phonetic Alphabet so these are the symbols, phonetic
symbols, for each of the vowel sounds. I also said that the position of our tongue is very
important. Well this chart shows different positions of the tongue. So, if we go across
here, we’re actually talking about which part of the tongue we’re using or which
part of the tongue is important to the production of this sound. So here, this refers to the front part of
the tongue. Remember that picture I made. We had the tip, the front, the center, and
the back of the tongue. So these three words up here refer to which part of the tongue
is important for this sound. So the front of the tongue is important when producing
these vowel sounds. The center of the tongue is important when producing this sound and
the back of the tongue is important when producing these sounds. This sound here, some linguists
put it in the center and some put it in the back. It’s kind of between the two. Some
speakers might make it more of a center vowel sound. Some make it more of a back vowel.
So I tried to put it between the two. It’s actually, I guess I have it in the back It
should be between the two. So we know which part of the tongue, front,
center, or back, is important in making each of these sounds but we also need to know where
in our mouth that part of the tongue is. So the tongue can be high in our mouth. It can
be in the middle of our mouth, or it can be low. So we can move our tongue around, right?
So this shows, this says high, so these vowels across here are high vowels. That means that
the tongue will be high in the mouth but it’s not the entire tongue. It’s just the front
of the tongue. So these are high front, well these two are high front vowels. So the front
of my tongue will be high in my mouth. These two are high back vowels so the back of my
tongue will be high in my mouth. Then we have middle, so these vowels here will have the
tongue position in the middle of the mouth. And for these two, they are front vowels,
so the front of the tongue will be about in the middle of my mouth. For this one, this
a back middle or center vowel, so for this one the back of my tongue will be about in
the middle of my mouth. This one again, it kind of fluctuates. Some linguists put it
in middle; some put it in low. It’s really pretty low. I tried to put it low, but I needed
room for this other stuff. So this one is mostly low, but notice it’s between middle
and low. Then we have low, so for this sound which is a front vowel, we have the front
of our tongue low in our mouth. For this one especially, we have the center of our tongue
low in our mouth. So, again, this is front, center, back - which part of our tongue is
important. This is high, middle, low - where in our mouth that part of the tongue is, whether
it’s high in our mouth, in the middle, or low in our mouth. Then I have this part in red, spread, rounded,
and open. That means the vowels on this side tend to have the mouth spread. The lips are
spread. So these red words are about the mouth or the lip position. So, again, on this side
the lips are spread. On this side the lips are rounded. So this sound, for instance,
is /u/. Notice my lips are rounded. /u/ For this sound, it’s /i/. Notice my lips are
spread. /i/ So we have spread /i/, rounded /u/. So everything on this side is going to
have somewhat rounded lips. Everything on this side will have somewhat spread lips.
But, then we also have at the bottom the mouth is more open. So, I can start up here with
my lips very spread and I can move on down the chart and as I move down, my mouth is
becoming more open. So I start spread. Now watch me go down the chart. /i/ /ɪ/ /eɪ/
/ɛ/ /æ/ So my mouth is open for /æ/. My lips don’t look spread but I wanted to put
this here because you can see the difference between /æ/ with my mouth open and /ɔ/.
My mouth is open here, too, isn’t it? /ɔ/ But my lips are rounded so /æ/ /ɔ/. /æ/
/ɔ/. So even though my mouth is open here I still wanted you to think of the lips as
being somewhat spread /æ/ so that you could distinguish that from the rounded /ɔ/. So
this side is spread. This side is rounded. Now when we go down the chart. This one. This
is /i/ /i/. My lips are very spread. /i/ Now I’m exaggerating a little bit. /i/ When
I pronounce an entire word, I may not spread my lips quite that much but when we’re looking
at the individual sounds, and when we’re practicing the individual sounds, it’s a
good idea to go ahead and exaggerate so you can feel the movement. You can feel what your
mouth is doing. It’s very important to know that, to feel that /i/. This is spread but
this is rounded. This is /u/ /u/ /i/ /u/ /i/ /u/. So it’s okay to exaggerate these sounds
and these movements when you’re practicing. It will help you to really feel what your
mouth is doing, to feel what your tongue or your lips are doing and to begin to understand
the differences between these sounds. So go ahead and exaggerate, okay? As I go down, though, I have /i/. So my tongue
is high in my mouth and it’s the front part of my tongue. It’s not the very tip. Remember,
I had tip, front, center, back. It’s not the very tip. If this is my tongue. It’s
not the very tip. It’s the front part. The tip is really touching on all of these really.
The tip is touching my lower front teeth on the inside. So if my tip is down a little
bit, it’s the front part of my tongue just behind the tip that is being raised. So that’s
the part that is high in my mouth. It’s not the tip. I don’t go like that to put
the tip up. The tip is down, but the front is up. So the front part of my tongue is high
in my mouth for /i/ /i/. The tip is down behind my teeth. The front is going to be raised
a bit in my mouth. /ɪ/ is almost in the same position. Notice
what happens to the sides of my mouth when I move from /i/ to /ɪ/. The sides of my mouth
will relax so /i/ /ɪ/ /i/ /ɪ/. Notice that I relaxed when I got to the second sound.
The tongue is about in the same position. It’s still high. The front of my tongue
is still high in my mouth. It’s a little bit lower for /ɪ/. That’s why /ɪ/ is below
/i/ in the chart, but they’re about in the same spot. So a big difference is that /i/
this first sound /i/ is a tense vowel. That means the muscles in my mouth, in my jaw,
the muscles are tight. If I say /i/, I can feel. Put your thumb under your chin. /i/
/i/ You can feel something pushing against your thumb /i/ /i/ and you should be able
to feel the tenseness, the tightness in your mouth. Then when I move to /ɪ/, the second
one, I relax. Everything is relaxed. So I’m going to move from /i/ /ɪ/ /i/ If I touch
here /i/, it’s tense. I can feel the tightness. Sorry. /i/ Then I move down to /ɪ/. /i/ /ɪ/
My mouth relaxes. The sides go down. I don’t feel the tenseness here. So /i/ is a tense
vowel. /ɪ/ is we call it lax. It’s a lax vowel which means relaxed. The muscles are
relaxed. Then we have /eɪ/ /eɪ/. /eɪ/ is also a
front vowel, but it’s the middle part of my tongue that rises, that goes up. /eɪ/
and /ɛ/ have a similar mouth position. They’re both front, mid front vowels but as with these
two, we have a tenseness difference here. /eɪ/ is a tense vowel so the muscles are
tense in my mouth. If I say /eɪ/, I can feel the pushing on my thumb here. /eɪ/ And I
just relax the sides of my mouth /ɛ/. /eɪ/ /ɛ/ /eɪ/ /ɛ/ You should be able to see
the sides of my mouth just coming down a little bit when I move from /eɪ/ to /ɛ/. So this
is tense. This is lax or relaxed. Then we have /æ/ /æ/. It’s still a front
vowel so the front of my tongue is important but it’s low in my mouth. Notice my jaw
is opening, too. I have open at the bottom, so I said as we go down, these bottom vowels
are going to have the mouth more open. /æ/ /æ/ /æ/ My mouth is open. /æ/
So watch my mouth movement as I go down. I’ll go this way. /i/ /ɪ/ /eɪ/ /ɛ/ /æ/. /i/
/ɪ/ /eɪ/ /ɛ/ /æ/. /i/ /ɪ/ /eɪ/ /ɛ/ /æ/. So notice my mouth is opening more as
I go down here. Let’s take a look at the back vowels. And
again, this one could be center or back. So I kind of have it in the middle. These on
this side are going to have the lips rounded. Now at the top of the chart just like on this
side the mouth is going to be more closed. As I go down, the mouth is going to be more
open. So here my lips are very rounded /u/ and they’re almost closed, too. There’s
not a big opening here. /u/ /u/ That’s the sound as in the word boot. /u/ And that’s
a tense vowel so the muscles are tight. If I then relax my muscles, I have /ʊ/ /ʊ/.
/u/ /ʊ/ /u/ /ʊ/. So the lips are still rounded. The difference between those two is the relaxing.
Then we have /oʊ/ /oʊ/. Notice my lips are still rounded, but my mouth is open a little
bit more than for /u/. See how much of an opening is here for the first sound /u/. There’s
not much at all. When I get down here /oʊ/ /oʊ/, my mouth is open a little bit more,
but the lips are still rounded. This is /ɔ/ /ɔ/. So again, my lips are still
rounded but my mouth is opening more because I’m moving down to the bottom of the chart
/ɔ/. So we have /u/ /ʊ/ /oʊ/ /ɔ/. /u/ /ʊ/ /oʊ/ /ɔ/. /u/ /ʊ/ /oʊ/ /ɔ/. And
we have this one here. This is /ɑ/ /ɑ/. So with this one, my lips are not rounded.
It’s not back. I tried to make it in the center here. And my mouth is opened /ɑ/ /ɑ/.
And it’s really the center part of my tongue which is rising up a little bit. We also have
another vowel. It’s called schwa. It is a center vowel, goes about here and with this
vowel, the center of our tongue rises just a little bit to about the middle of our mouth
but very little. And our mouth. Schwa is about halfway from the top so the mouth is not really
spread. It’s not really open. Our mouth is really just open a little bit. /ə/ /ə/
There’s really not much movement. The tongue rises just a little bit in the center of our
mouth. And a key word for that would be the word but. So this is /ə/ /ə/. My mouth is
a little bit open. Some speakers might open their mouth a little bit more /ə/ /ə/ but
I can make that sound really by hardly opening my mouth /ə/ /ə/ and the tongue is moving
just a little bit. So the center of my tongue is rising just a little bit in the middle
of my mouth. We also have key words which I have written
here in blue. These are words that you can use to help you remember these sounds. So
this is see. It uses the /i/ sound. Sit. It uses /ɪ/. Say uses /eɪ/. Set. It has /ɛ/.
Sat has /æ/. But has /ə/. Boot has /u/. Book has /ʊ/. No has /oʊ/. Saw has /ɔ/.
Not has /ɑ/. So you can use these words written in blue to help you remember what these key
sounds sound like. Also, if you look up words in a dictionary and once you are familiar
with these key words and the sounds that they make, when you see these sounds in a dictionary,
it will be easier for you to remember how to make that sound because you already know
the key word that has that sound in it. And a note about using dictionaries. Different
dictionaries use different symbols. Some of them use the same symbols that I have here.
Some of them use many of the same symbols but not all of the same symbols. Some of them
might use completely different symbols. It really depends on which dictionary you are
using. So what you need to do is check the symbols that are used in your own dictionary.
Whatever dictionary you’re using, in whatever dictionary you’re using you need to check
those symbols and see what the key words are. So maybe they have a different symbol which
makes the same sound as in the word no, which makes the same /oʊ/ sound so you need to
be aware of that so that when you’re learning pronunciation of a word, you understand what
the symbols refer to, what sounds those symbols refer to. Let me say these sounds with their
key words. /i/ see. /ɪ/ sit. /eɪ/ say. /ɛ/ set. /æ/ sat. /ə/ but. /ɑ/ not. /u/ boot.
/ʊ/ book. /oʊ/ no. /ɔ/ saw. We have three other vowel sounds that I’ll
show you. Here are three other vowel sounds we have. These vowel sounds are sometimes
called complex vowels or diphthongs. They are made up of the sounds of two other vowels
but they are joined very closely together. We start with one sound and we glide into
the next sound. This one is /ɑɪ/ /ɑɪ/. So we start with the /ɑ/ and move into /ɪ/
and it sounds like /ɑɪ/ /ɑɪ/ hi. /aʊ/ /aʊ/ how. /ɔɪ/ /ɔɪ/ boy. This was an overview of the vowel sounds in
English. If you’d like to see how each individual sound is made, if you want to see some more
details about each individual sound and if you want to see some other words or hear some
other words that use these sounds, please take a look at my other videos. Thanks for
watching. Bye.
