There are 5 Vowel Letters in the English Alphabet and all the five Vowels have 20 sounds.
All the 20 Vowel Sounds are divided into two parts:
- Monophthongs and
- Diphthongs
Also called Pure Vowels, Monophthongs are such Vowel Sounds that are pronounced with one tone. These are:
- /i:/ as in Seat /si:t/
- /ɪ/ as in It /sit/
- /ɛ/ as in Lend /lɛnd/
- /æ/ as in Add /æd/
- /u:/ as in Pool /pu:l/
- /ʊ/ as in Look /lʊk/
- /ʌ/ as in Luck /lʌk/
- /ə/ as in Able /eibəl/
- /ə:/ as in Bird /bə:d/
- /ɔ/ as in All /ɔl/
- /ɑ:/ as in Heart /hɑ:(r)t/
A Diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds pronounced as a single vowel. The following are Diphthongs:
- /ei/ as in Pay /pei/
- /eə/ as in Pair /peə/
- /ou/ as in Post /poust/
- /ɔi/ as in Boy /bɔi/
- /ai/ as in Eye /ai/
- /au/ as in Loud /laud/
- /iə/ as in Career /kariə(r)/
- /uə/ as in Poor /puə/
‘Y’ is some times pronounced as a Vowel in the following words:
Funny /fʌni/, Coy /kɔi/