The logic of English pronunciation: the rules of short and long vowel sounds
There are five vowels in English, and we all know them – a, e, i, o, u. But what many people don’t know is that English actually has 20 vowel sounds. This means that these vowels are pronounced in twenty different ways according to certain rules. We will cover some of these sounds in this article, which will reveal why we pronounce “fat” and “fate” in English. Yes, there is logic.
There are 20 vowel sounds in English. The short vowels in IPA are /ɪ /-pit, /e /-pet, /æ /-pat, /ʌ /-cut, /ʊ /-put, /ɒ /dog /dog, /ə /-about. The long vowels in IPA are /i:/-week, /t:/-hard, /ɔ:/-fork, /ɜ:/-heard, /u:/-start. The Diphthong vowels in IPA are /eɪ /place, /oʊ /-home, /aʊ /-mouse, /ɪə /-clear, /eə /care, /care, /ɔɪ /-boy, /aɪ /find, /find, /find, /find, /find, /find, /ʊə /-tour.
To start learning step by step, let’s first understand that each vowel makes at least two sounds – short and long sounds. They sometimes remain silent. The sound produced by a vowel depends on its position in the word and the surrounding letters.
Vowel Sound Rule Number 1:
When a word has only one vowel and ends with a consonant, the vowel makes Short voice.
‘a’in’jam’
‘e’ in “Western”
‘o’ in “hot”
“I” is in the “fish”
‘u’ in the cup
Vowel Sound Rule Number 2:
When two vowels of a word are separated by two or more letters, The first vowel makes a brief sound.
Like “Apple”
Such as “octopus”
Like the “basket”
Just like in “Elephant”
Just like in an umbrella
Vowel Sound Rule No. 3:
When a word ends with the letter ‘e’ (magic ‘e’/silent’e’), The first vowel makes a long sound.
“Hat” becomes “cloak”
“Kite” becomes “Kite”
“Bathtub” becomes “tube”
Just like in the “game”
Just like in “time”
Vowel Sound Rule Number 4:
When a word is adjacent to each other two vowels, The first vowel makes a long sound, and the second vowel remains silent.
Just like in a “tie”
Just like in a “ship”
Just like in “rain”
Such as “value”
Just like “foot”
Symbols representing short vowel pronunciation
It is useful to place the marker on top of the vowel. It indicates the vowel sound to be used. For example, a short vowel sound is represented by a curved symbol above the vowel-like “’ in “măn”. Although the sound of the long vowel is represented on a small line above it, such as “ā” in “Marn”. Such symbols will enhance your child’s ability to effectively identify and use appropriate vowels.
Examples of pronunciation practice:
aa
“Fat”, “Map”, “Hand”, “Lamp”, “Glass”
“Fate”, “Pain”, “Game”, “Mail”, “Whale”
EE
“Egg”, “Red”, “Nest”, “Bell”, “Smell”
“Ears”, “Sea”, “Healing”, “Weakness”, “Three”
ii
“Pig”, “Rip”, “Fist”, “Milk”, “Swimming”
“Hide”, “Tile”, “Lime”, “Wipe”, “Price”
oh
“Fox”, “jump”, “pole”, “drip”, “pond”
“Road”, “Goat”, “Bone”, “Attention”, “Baking”
uu
“Bud”, “gun”, “hug”, “trash dump”, “puff”
“rule”, “true”, “dunes”, “flute”, “fruit
Hope this provides you with some basic information on pronunciation in English. Thank you for reading.
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