Learn Phonemic Transcription with the Monophthongs of the English Sound System
The
monophthongs of the English language
A monophthong (/ˈmɒnəfθɒŋ/ Greek monóphthongos from mónos "single" and phthóngos
"sound") is a pure vowel
sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed,
and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The
monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs,
where the vowel quality changes within the same syllable, and hiatus, where two vowels are next to
each other in different syllables. A vowel sound whose quality does not change
over the duration of the vowel is called a pure vowel. Furthermore, a monophthong
can be seen as a vowel that has a single perceived auditory quality.
There are 12 monophthongs in the English sound system. These
are however classified into short vowels and long vowels. Short vowels in the
sense that, their production is not prolonged; there are seven of such vowels
in English.
·
Short vowels
/ɪ/
as in kit/kɪt/
/e/ as in dress/dres/
/æ/
as in trap/træp/
/ʌ/
as in strut/strʌt/
/ɒ/
as in lot/lɒt/
/ʊ/
as in foot/fʊt/
/ә/
as in another/әˈnɒðә/
And long in the sense that, their production
is prolonged, that is the tongue remain in the same position a little longer
for the production of these sounds in comparison to the longevity of the tongue
in positions for the production of short vowels. There are five such vowels in
English.
·
Long vowels
/i:/ as in fleece/fli:s/
/ɑ:/
as in palm/pɑ:m/
/ɔ:/
as in thought/θɔ:t/
/u:/ as in goose/gu:s/
/ɜ:/
as in nurse/nɜ:s/
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| English Monophthong chart |
Auto-graphic representation of the English monophthong vowels
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Phonetic
symbol
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Spelling
variant(s)
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Word
examples
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Transcription
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/i:/
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‘ee’
‘ea’
‘e’
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been feel
seat feat
be
he
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/bi:n/ /fi:l/
/si:t/ /fi:t/
/bi:/ /hi:/
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/ɪ/
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‘i’
‘ui’
‘e’(in unstressed syllables)
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bit sit
built guilt
believe receive
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/bɪt/ /sıt/
/bılt/ /gılt/
/bıˈli:v/ /rıˈsi:v/
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/e/
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‘e’
‘ea’
‘eo’
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best test
head bread
leopard jeopardy
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/best/ /test/
/hed/ /bred/
/ˈlepәd/ /ˈʤepәdi/
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/æ/
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‘a’
‘ai’
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flat jack
plait plaid
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/flæt/ /ʤæk/
/plæt/ /plæd/
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/a:/
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‘ar’
‘al’
‘a’(before ‘s’ in the same syllable)
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farm card
palm calm
past fast
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/fa:m/ /ka:d/
/pa:m/ /ka:m/
/pa:st/ /fa:st/
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/ɒ/
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‘o’
‘a’(after letter ‘w’)
‘ou’
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pot cot
wash watch
cough
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/pɒt/ /kɒt/
/wɒʃ/ /wɒʧ/
/kɒf/
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/ɔ:/
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‘or’
‘aw’
‘ou’
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sport short
law
raw
bought fought
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/spɔ:t/ /ʃɔ:t/
/lɔ:/ /rɔ:/
/bɔ:t/ /fɔ:t/
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/ʊ/
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‘u’
‘oo’(before letter ‘k’)
‘ou’
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push put
cook look
could would
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/pʊʃ/ /pʊt/
/kʊk/ /lʊk/
/kʊd/ /wʊd/
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/u:/
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‘oo’
‘ew’
‘ue’
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fool cool
new blew
blue cue
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/fu:l/ /ku:l/
/nju:/ /blu:/
/blu:/ /kju:/
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/ʌ/
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‘o’
‘u’
‘oo’
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love won
blush cut
flood blood
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/lʌv/ /wʌn/
/blʌʃ/ /kʌt/
/flʌd/ /blʌd/
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/ɜ:/
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‘er’(in stressed syllables)
‘ir’
‘ur’
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serve verve
bird girl
burn curb
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/sɜ:v/ /vɜ:v/
/bɜ:d/ /gɜ:l/
/bɜ:n/ /kɜ:b/
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/ә/
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‘a’(in unstressed syllables)
‘o’(in unstressed syllables)
‘er’(in unstressed syllables)
‘or’(in unstressed syllables)
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ago about
obtain obtuse
better
letter
doctor tractor
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/әˈgәʊ/ /әˈbaʊt/
/әbˈteɪn/ /әbˈtu:s/
/ˈbetә/ /ˈletә/
/ˈdɒktә/ /ˈtræktә/
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