Vowel Letter Vowel Sound (IPA Symbol) How To Pronounce It Example Word A I Ice O U
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ABHISHEK GOUTAMVowel Letter Vowel Sound (IPA Symbol) How To Pronounce It Example Word A I Ice O U
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ABHISHEK GOUTAMDiphthong
What is a diphthong?
A diphthong is a single-syllable vowel sound in which the beginning of the sound is different from the end sound
—that is, the sound glides from one vowel sound to another. For this reason, diphthongs are often referred to as
gliding vowels.
A diphthong combines two vowels to create one sound.
The diphthongs are all long sounds.
The tongue and the mouth move from one position to another to form a diphthong, as in the following.
A “pure” vowel sound that doesn’t glide is known as a monophthong. It’s also possible (though less common)
A single syllable that glides between three vowel sounds; this is known as a triphthong
There are eight vowel sounds in American English that are generally agreed upon as being diphthongs.
With the exception of long E (/i/), all of the traditional long vowel sounds are diphthongs. These most
predictably occur when the vowel letter is followed by a single consonant and a silent “e”:
Vowel Sound (IPA
Vowel Letter How to pronounce it Example word
Symbol)
tape
A /eɪ/ eh-ee
(/teɪp/)
ice
I /aɪ/ ah-ee
(/aɪs/)
rope
O /oʊ/ oh-oo
(/roʊp/)
cube
U /ju/* ee-oo
(/kjub/
/ɔɪ/
This diphthong is pronounced “au-ee”—it begins with the /ɔ/ sound (as in dawn or door) and glides to the /ɪ/
sound (as in pit). It generally only occurs with the vowel combinations “OY” and “OI.”
Common
Example Words Full IPA
Digraphs
Boy, annoy, royal, employed,
OY /bɔɪ/, /əˈnɔɪ/, /ˈrɔɪəl/, /ɪmˈplɔɪd/
OI Coin, foil, choice, noise /kɔɪn/, /fɔɪl/, /ʧɔɪs/, /nɔɪz/
/aʊ/
This diphthong is pronounced “ah-oo”—the vowel glides from the /æ/ sound (as in bat) to the /ʊ/ sound (as in
pull). It generally occurs with the digraphs “OU” and “OW.”
Common
Example Words Full IPA
Digraphs
OU Found, pout, drought, mouth /faʊnd/, /paʊt/, /draʊt/, (GH becomes silent), /maʊθ/
OW Town, crowd, chowder, shower /taʊn/, /kraʊd/, /ˈʧaʊdər/, /ˈʃaʊər/
“R-Colored” Diphthongs
There are two other diphthongs that sometimes occur in American English: /ɪə/ and /ɛə/. These can be found in
certain instances where a vowel sound is followed by an “r.” However, it is very common in General American
pronunciations to omit the schwa sound before the “r” in /ɪər/ and /ɛər/, and the standard transcription in (most)
American dictionaries is often simply /ɪr/ or /ɛr/, respectively.
R-Colored” Diphthongs, /ɪə/
When this diphthong is articulated, it is pronounced “ih-uh,” quickly gliding from the short I sound /ɪ/ (as in tip)
to an unstressed schwa (/ ə/). It usually occurs with the digraphs “EE,” “EA,” and “IE” when they are followed
by an “R.”
Letter Example Words Full IPA IPA in American
Combinations
EER Beer, deer, sheer, steer /bɪər/, /dɪər/, /ʃɪər/, /stɪər/ /bɪr/, /dɪr/, /ʃɪr/, /stɪr
EAR Dear, hear, shear, appear /dɪər/, /hɪər/, /ʃɪər/, /əpˈɪər/ /dɪr/, /hɪr/, /ʃɪr/, /əpˈɪr/
/pɪər/, /fɪərs/, /frən /pɪr/, /fɪrs/, /frən
IER* Pier, fierce, frontier, bandolier
ˈtɪər/, /ˌbændəˈlɪər/ ˈtɪr/, /ˌbændəˈlɪr/
R-Colored” Diphthongs, /ɛə/
When this diphthong is articulated, it is pronounced “eh-uh,” quickly gliding from the short “E” sound /ɛ/ (as in
set) to an unstressed schwa(/ə/).
This diphthong usually occurs with the letter combinations “ARE” and “AIR,” but be careful: it also sometimes
occurs with “EAR,” which is often pronounced /ɪər/. All of the root “EAR” words that have the /ɛər/
pronunciation are listed below
Letter Example Words Full IPA IPA in American
Combination
s
/flɛr/, /kɛr/, /stɛr/, /ɪn
ARE* Flare, care, stare, ensnare /flɛər/, /kɛər/, /stɛər/, /ɪnˈsnɛər/
ˈsnɛr/
AIR
Flair, stairs, dairy, repair /flɛər/, /stɛərz/, /dɛəri/, /rəˈpɛər/ /flɛr/, /stɛrz/, /dɛri/, /rəˈpɛr
Wear, bear, pear, swear, tear /wɛər/, /bɛər/, /pɛər/, /wɛr/, /bɛr/, /pɛr/,
EAR
/swɛər/, /tɛər/ /swɛr/, /tɛr/
Diphthong Vowels | Sounds
✦ A diphthong is a long vowel that moves from one mouth position to another.
✦ The first position in a diphthong is stronger than the second.
Sound Spellings Examples
eɪ ay, ea, a_e, ai pay, great, maid
ɔɪ oi, oy noise, toy, choice
aɪ ie, i_e, i, y fine, like, might
əʊ o, o_e, oa, ow no, stone, road
aʊ ou, ow round, how, brown
ɪə eer, ear beer, hear, steer
are, ere, ea, ai care, there, bear
eə
Long vowels or diphthongs
A vowel letter followed by another vowel letter or by w or y usually represents a long vowel or a diphthong:
aa, ee, ea, oo, oi, ou, eu, ai, ei ow, oy, ew, ey, uw, aw, ay u (when at the end of a word) ogh.
Any vowel when written single can be either long or short, depending on what follows.
Much of the time if a vowel is followed by one consonant and then a vowel it is long. nāme, grēne, shīres, bōte,
hōlȳ, rȳden, otherwise a vowel written single is short: ăn, thăt, tĕndrĕ, ŏft, bŭt, fŏlk, yŏng
Lengths OF VOWELS (Short and Long Vowels)
A vowel in a stressed syllable is longer than a vowel in an unstressed syllable.
An open vowel (one that ends a word) is longer than a closed vowel (one that is followed by a consonant).
A closed vowel is longer when it is followed by a voiced consonant than when it is followed by a voiceless
consonant.
In most cases if the vowel is ‘long’ or a diphthong in Modern English, it was long or a diphthong in Middle
English.
MidEng pronounced spelling ModEng
Rīden "reed-un" i, y ride
Grēne "gray-nuh" e, ee green
Nāme "nah-muh" a, aa name
Hōly "haw-lee" o, oo holy
Vertū "vair-tü" u, eu, ew, uw virtue
Fowles "fool-uhs" ou, ow, ogh fowls
Cause "cow-zuh" au, aw cause
Newe "nyoo-uh" eu, ew new
Fewe "feh-oo-uh" ew few
Coy "coy" oi, oy coy
Day "die" ay, ai day
Growen "graw-un" ou, ow grow
Diphthongs (oʊ, aʊ, aɪ, eɪ, ɔɪ, ju)
[oʊ] – The OH as in NO Diphthong
Soundː oh [oʊ]
Spelling: o: go [goʊ], oo: brooch [bɹoʊʧ], ou: soul [soʊl], ow: row [ɹoʊ], oa: oat
[oʊt], oe: foe [foʊ], ough: though [ðoʊ], au: chauffeur [ˈʃoʊ fə әɹ], eau: beau
[boʊ]
oh [oʊ] Stressed oh [oʊ] Unstressed oh [oʊ] Stressed oh [oʊ] Unstressed
go [goʊ] borrow [ˈbɑɹ oʊ] know [noʊ] yellow [ˈjɛl oʊ]
below [bɪˈloʊ]
[aʊ] – The OW as in NOW Diphthong
Soundː ow [aʊ]
Spelling: ou: round [ɹaʊnd], ow: cow [kaʊ], ough: bough [baʊ]
ow [aʊ] Stressed ow [aʊ] Unstressed ow [aʊ] Stressed ow [aʊ] Unstressed
now [naʊ] letdown [ˈlɛt￨ daʊn] sound [saʊnd] blackout [ˈblæk aʊt]
power [ˈpaʊ əәɹ]
[aɪ] – The AI as in BUY Diphthong
Soundː ai [aɪ]
Spelling: y: my [maɪ], ai: aisle [aɪl], ie: lie [laɪ], ye: bye [baɪ], uy: buy [baɪ], igh:
sight [saɪt], eigh: height [haɪt], aye: aye [aɪ], i: time [taɪm]
ai [aɪ] Stressed ai [aɪ] Unstressed ai [aɪ] Stressed ai [aɪ] Unstressed
mind [maɪnd] idea [aɪˈdi əә] united [juˈnaɪ dɪd] exercise [ˈɛk səәɹ
ˌsaɪz]
[eɪ] – AY as in SAY Diphthong
Soundː ay [eɪ]
Spelling: a: age [eɪʤ], ai: aid [eɪd], ay: say [seɪ], eight: eight [eɪt], ey: they [ðeɪ]
ay [eɪ] Stressed ay [eɪ] Unstressed ay [eɪ] Stressed ay [eɪ] Unstressed
play [pleɪ] highway [ˈhaɪ weɪ] stay [steɪ] always [ˈɔl weɪz]
late [leɪt]
[ɔɪ] – The OY as in TOY Diphthong
Soundː oy [ɔɪ]
Spelling: oi: moist [mɔɪst], oy: boy [bɔɪ]
oy [ɔɪ] Stressed oy [ɔɪ] Unstressed oy [ɔɪ] Stressed oy [ɔɪ] Unstressed
toy [tɔɪ] steroid [ˈstɛɹ ɔɪd] employs [ɛmˈplɔɪz] envoy [ˈɑn vɔɪ]
voice [vɔɪs]
[ju] – The EW as in FEW Diphthong
Soundː ew [ju]
Spelling: u: use [juz], eu: feud [fjud], ew: few [fju], eau: beauty [ˈbju di]
ew [ju] Stressed ew [ju] Unstressed ew [ju] Stressed ew [ju] Unstressed
few [fju] U. S. [juˈɛs] beauty [ˈbju di] January [ˈdʒæn ju ˌɛɹ
i]
view [vju]