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Transcription: Detailed Description of Vowels

This website uses symbols to transcribe phonemes (sounds). For an explanation of what these symbols represent, click here: vowels, consonants. The following special symbols are used:
ə Λ ā ē ī ō ū ű œ θ δ š ž č ĵ ŋ
If your browser cannot display any of these characters, you are advised to move to a browser which can, such as Internet Explorer 6.0.
Note: an apostrophe ' is placed before the accented vowel.

This page sets out the vowel phonemes (sounds) of English, and the symbols used to represent them on this website. It also gives a phonetic description of their pronunciation, for people who can understand the technical language of phonetics.

For a simple list of vowels, click here.
For consonant symbols, click here.

Neutral vowel

Symbol /ə/
Examples in English about, away, pizza, bottom, protect, golden, action
Similar pronunciations German genau, Begriff, Mode, French dessous
Phonetic description Schwa, the neutral vowel. Mid central vocoid. Reduced pronunciation. /ə/ occurs only in syllables of low stress.

Full short vowels

The six full short vowels may only occur followed by a consonant. They do not occur finally in words or finally in roots. They do not occur followed directly by another vowel.

In many dialects, some of these 'short' vowels are pronounced long, particularly /a/ which is often pronounced [æ:] in London, Australia, Canada and the US.

Symbol /a/
Examples in English hat, pan, active, handbag
Similar pronunciations German dann, alle, French sac, chatte, Castilian paso, barrio, Italian basta, alto
Phonetic description Front voicoid. Most typically low [a] or low-mid-low [�]. Pronounced long in many dialects.

Symbol /e/
Examples in English get, pen, lesson, edge, head, realm
Similar pronunciations German wenn, denken, French chef, chevre, Castilian jefe, hielo, Italian stesso, meglio
Phonetic description Front voicoid. Most typically mid-low [ε].

Symbol /i/
Examples in English fit, pin, little, whistle, quick
Similar pronunciations German ist, bestimmt. Like a reduced form of the vowel in French piste, chic, Castilian mismo, listo, Italian figlio, incolto
Phonetic description Front voicoid. Most typically high-mid-high [I].

Symbol /o/
Examples in English pot, rock, nod, module, quality, swan, wasp
Similar pronunciations German von, Glock, French proche, bloc, Italian sto, troppo, Castilian once, postre
Phonetic description Back voicoid. Most typically low. Dialects are split between forms with lip-rounding (usual in Great Britain and Australia) and those without lip-rounding (usual in Ireland and the Americas, and in some provincial dialects of England). In Scotland, usually mid-low, lip-rounded and long.

Symbol /u/
Examples in English bull, full, look, put, bush, foot, wolf
Similar pronunciations German Strumpf, unter, French le, de. Like a reduced form of Italian giunto, Castilian cumplir
Phonetic description Back voicoid. Most typically high-mid-high lip-rounded [U]. This vowel is subject to fronting and unrounding leading a sound more like [I] (as /i/).

Symbol /Λ/
Examples in English luck, putt, gully, hunch, sponge, honey, month, rough, courage
Similar pronunciations German bl�d, m�chte, French yeux, veut
Phonetic description Back voicoid. Most typically low-mid-low [Λ], but with many variants. In many dialects of north-central England, Ireland and the Caribbean, pronounced as /u/.

Simple long vowels

I call these 'simple' because I think that on some level, native speakers think of them all as long pure vowels. Their pronunciation varies a great deal between dialects. In some, they are pronounced as long pure vowels, but it is more normal (certainly in south England, Australia and the US) to pronounce many of them as diphthongs.

If you pronounce /ē/ and /ō/ as long pure vowels ([e:] and [o:]), everyone will understand you, though you may sound foreign.

Symbol /ā/
Examples in English father, ma, calm, Chalmers
Similar pronunciations German Rahm, haben. Like a lengthened form of French chat, moi, Italian sta, andiamo, Castilian verano, ya
Phonetic description Low vocoid. Back unrounded [α:] in most dialects. In some dialects it becomes front and unrounded. In others it becomes back and rounded. In some dialects of the Americas, this may be identical with /o/. In many non-rhotic dialects this is identical with /ar/.

Symbol /ē/
Examples in English make, razor, hay, astray, maiden, pain, they, beige, break, sleigh
Similar pronunciations German Spesen, eben, Italian prego, Castilian quer�is, ella, something between French pres and vieille
Phonetic description Underlying form is a long mid-high vowel [e:], but most typcially this has become a diphthong like [eI] or [εI]. In the coarser dialects of England and Australia the first element tends to become lower while the second becomes more strongly consonantal, producing [aj].

Symbol /ī/
Examples in English concede, even, steep, indeed, me, berry, receive, belief
Similar pronunciations German zwiebel, mieten, French prix, mise, Italian figlio, riso, Castilian mi, piso
Phonetic description Front vocoid. Underlying form is a long high vowel [i:], but most typcially this has become a diphthong more like [Ij] or in very coarse accents [əj].

Symbol /ō/
Examples in English go, rose, host, ghost, moat, loan, low
Similar pronunciations German Boden, Monat, or lengthened form of French trop, Italian Peroni, Castilian lomo
Phonetic description Rounded back vocoid. Underlying form is a long mid-high vowel [o:], but most typcially this has become a diphthong [oU]. In the coarser dialects of England and Australia the first element tends to become lower and to unround, perhaps also fronting, while the second becomes more strongly consonantal, producing [Λw], [æw] or [aw] as part of fronting and unrounding.

Symbol /ū/
Examples in English truth, prune, you, soup, too, moon, clue, crew
Similar pronunciations German Jude, Bruder, French vous, ouvre, Italian tu, musica, Castilian brujo, luz
Phonetic description Rounded back vocoid. Underlying form is a long high vowel [u:], but most typcially this has become a diphthong more like [Uw] or more in very coarse accents [əw]. This vowel is subject to fronting and unrounding.

Symbol /oa/
Examples in English all, ball, raw, dawn taut, August, taught, thought
Similar pronunciations Pronunciations vary: see discussion below.
Phonetic description Back vowel. Usually mid-low and rounded. In most non-rhotic dialects of England and Australia, this is probably identical with /or/. In many rhotic dialects of the Americas and Ireland, this is probably identical with /ā/ and /o/. But in the rhotic dialects of Scotland it is certainly distinct from both: raw /roa/ is pronounced with the same vowel as form /form/ but without the r-sound. Both are distinct from the pronunciation of calm /kām/. This contrasts with England where raw is typically /ror/ (pronounced non-rhotically) and North America where raw is /rā/.

Diphthongs

The standard pronunciation of these is as diphthongs, though many speakers pronounce them as long pure vowels.

Symbol /ai/
Examples in English violet, rice, eye, sky, why, lie, tries, sign, light
Similar pronunciations German weiss, Ei, French ail, travailler, Italian maiale, hai, Castilian hay, Maio
Phonetic description Standard pronunciation is [αI], but few native speakers pronounce it like that. In many dialects it has tended to move toward a low vocoid like /ā/, producing [α:] or [a:]. In others it has remained a diphthong but the first element is much more central, like [əI]. Many speakers mix these forms in free variation.

Symbol /au/
Examples in English now, cow, pout, house, plough
Similar pronunciations German Haus, auch, French Raoul, Italian nautico, Claudia, Castilian gaucho, Mauricio
Phonetic description Standard pronunciation is [aU], but few native speakers pronounce it like that. In many dialects the first element tends to move toward a raise and lengthen, while the second element tends to disappear, producing things like [a:U], [εU], [ε:U], [a:], [ε:]. This is connected with fronting and unrounding.

Symbol /oi/
Examples in English boy, toys, noise, foist, royal, toying
Similar pronunciations German Zeug, treu, Italian boia, Castilian soy, hoy
Phonetic description Falling diphthong, first element mid-low back rounded vocoid, second in the high-front region: [OI] or [Oj].

A difficult case: /ű/ or /jū/?

In more refined dialects, /ű/ is a distinct phoneme. But in vulgar speech, it is pronounced as /jū/, like the word you. Thus refined speech makes a distinction between /ű/ and /jū/ while vulgar speech pronounces both the same:

Word Refined speech Vulgar speech
use /jūs/ /jūs/
value /valjū/ /valjū/
assume /asűm/ /asjūm/
new /nű/ /njū/

On this website I treat /ű/ as a separate phoneme.

Symbol /ű/
Examples in English fuse, tune, new, lewd, fuel, beauty, Hugh, impugn
Similar pronunciations German Küche, Kühlschrank, French dessus, sucre
Phonetic description Underlying form is a high front rounded vocoid [y:]. Typically this has broken to a diphthong as [Iw], [Yw] or [yw]. See fronting and unrounding.

Rhotic vowels

All the rhotic vowels are usually long in non-rhotic dialects; in rhotic dialects they may be short. In rhotic dialects they are always pronounced with an r-sound following the vowel. In non-rhotic dialects, this r-sound is pronounced only when another vowel immediately follows (this may happen across word boundaries).

Symbol /ər/
Examples in English lager, berserk, hammer, comfort, rotor, beggar
Similar pronunciations German Lager, Hammer
Phonetic description Rhotic neutral vowel. Mid central. Reduced pronunciation. In non-rhotic dialects this is identical with /ə/.

Symbol /ar/
Examples in English car, pardon, art, charm, heart
Similar pronunciations German hart, stark, French car, argent, Italian largo, arte, Castilian Martes, arma
Phonetic description Rhotic low vowel. Back and unrounded in most dialects. In some dialects it becomes front and unrounded. In others it becomes back and rounded. In many non-rhotic dialects this is identical with /ā/.

Symbol /or/
Examples in English for, horn, organ, ward, core, bored, door, quarter, swarm
Similar pronunciations German horn, forschen, French or, Orly, Italian porta, giorno, Castilian morcilla, horno
Phonetic description Rhotic back vowel. Usually mid-low and rounded. In coarse non-rhotic dialects of England (particularly London), becomes a diphthong ending in a very strong [w] sound. In many non-rhotic dialects this is identical with /oa/.

Symbol /œr/
Examples in English turn, fur, blurred, fir, learn, bird, world, alert, her, work
Similar pronunciations German h�ren, st�rt, French leur, coeur
Phonetic description Rhotic mid vowel. Usually central and unrounded [3:]. In some dialects (particularly Scouser, the speech of Liverpool) fronted to [ε:]. In some dialects of Scotland and Ireland, there may be several distinct phonemes with different vowel sounds where most forms of English have only one.

Rhotised long vowels

There are several vowels which are obviously long vowels with the addition of rhoticity. They can be analysed in three ways:

1. They represent long vowels followed by /r/, so hair is /hēr/.

2. They represent long vowels followed by /ər/, so hair is /hēər/.

3. They are distinct phonemes, so hair is /hēr/.

A few speakers claim that there is a distinction between the vowel followed by /ər/, producing two syllables, and the vowel followed by simple rhoticity, producing one syllable. Such people claim that the word mare is one syllable /mēr/, while the word Mayor is two syllables /mēər/. I do not accept this analysis: I say that both these words have the same pronunciation.

I choose to label these 'rhotised long vowels' as vowels followed by /r/, because it makes phonetic transcription easier. But if you wish to speak a non-rhotic dialect, you must remember that these are rhotic phonemes as described above, leaving the letter r silent unless followed by a vowel sound (in the same word or the following word).

All of these rhotic vowels have a similar pattern of pronunciation: some speakers pronounce them like a long vowel followed by [ər], usually producing a triphthong like /ē/ [εI] + /ər/ [ə] > [εIə] or [ejə]. Others 'smoothe' the pronunciation somewhat, cutting out the glide, to produce something like [ε:ə]. Others 'smoothe' even further, simply leaving a long pure vowel like [ε:].

These vowels can result from a long vowel or diphthong being followed by the phoneme /ər/, for instance in the suffix -er: cry /kr'ai/ + -er > crier /kr'air/.

Symbol /ēr/
Examples in English there, their, they're, wear, rare, prayer, scary, caring, hair
Similar pronunciations German Meer, Speer, French cher, hier, Italian certo, erba, Castilian placer, cerca
Phonetic description Unsmoothed: As /ē/ + /ər/, producing [εIə] or [ejə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid (as below) followed by schwa: [ε:ə].
Fully smoothed: Pure vocoid of long duration, typically front mid-low: [ε:].

Symbol /īr/
Examples in English here, mere, we're, fear, beer, weird, weary, cheering
Similar pronunciations German hier, wir, French venir, fournir, Italian Irlanda, Castilian abrir, ir
Phonetic description Unsmoothed: As /ī/ + /ər/, producing [Ijə] or [ijə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid (as below) followed by schwa: [I:ə].
Fully smoothed: Pure vocoid of long duration, typically front high-mid-high: [I:].

Symbol /air/
Examples in English wire, hire, higher, pyre, liar, flier, admiring
Similar pronunciations German Eier, Feier, Castilian aire
Phonetic description Unsmoothed: As /ai/ + /ər/, producing [αIə] or [αjə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid (as below) followed by schwa: [α:ə] or [a:ə].
Fully smoothed: Pure vocoid of long duration, typically low: [α:] or [a:].

Symbol /aur/
Examples in English our, hour, power, flour, flower, shower, scour, towering
Similar pronunciations German saur, Bauer, Castilian Laura
Phonetic description Unsmoothed: As /au/ + /ər/, producing [aUə] or [awə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid (as below) followed by schwa: [α:ə] or [a:ə].
Fully smoothed: Pure vocoid of long duration, typically low: [α:] or [a:].
A great many speakers raise the first element to [ε], producing [εwə], [ε:ə] or [ε:]

Symbol /ūr/
Examples in English tour, poor, moor you're, truer, brewer, boor
Similar pronunciations German Schwur, Urheimat, French tour, bourgeois, Italian urbano, urna, Castilian urgente, muro
Phonetic description A great many - probably most - speakers pronounce this as /or/. Those who don't produce something like this:
Unsmoothed: As /ū/ + /ər/, producing [Uwə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid (as below) followed by schwa: [u:ə].
Fully smoothed: Identical to /or/.

/oi/ followed by /r/ or /ər/ is extremely rare, occuring only in a very few words like lawyer and the archaic sawyer. These are generally pronounced with two distinct syllables, as /oi/ followed by /ər/. /oi/ is so rare that there are no real examples of a stem ending with this phoneme taking the suffix -er: we could aftificially create toyer 'one who toys', but this word is not in general use.

Symbol /űr/
Examples in English pure, lure, allure alluring, newer, endure, cure
Similar pronunciations German würden, würfel, French sûr, pur
Phonetic description Unsmoothed: As /ű/ + /ər/, producing [Iwə], [Ywə], [ywə].
Partly smoothed: Pure long vocoid, followed by schwa: [y:ə].

Many speakers convert /ű/ to /jū/, so in their speech /űr/ becomes /jūr/. Many further change /ūr/ to /or/, so their /űr/ becomes /jor/ and they pronounce cure /k'űr/ as /kj'or/ and pure /p'űr/ as /pj'or/.

In dialects that distinguish /ű/ from /j#363;/, there is a distinct /jūr/, as in sure /sjūr/.

Note that the full pronunciation of /űr/ is usual only in stressed syllables. In unstressed syllables, it has generally reduced to /jər/, as picture /p'iktjər/, treasure /tr'ezjər/, seizure /s'īzjər/.

As usual, /j/ can palatalise preceding consonants:

sure /sj'ūr/ > /š'ūr/
picture /p'iktjər/ > /p'ičjər/
treasure /tr'ezjər/ > /tr'ežər/
seizure /s'īzjər/ > /s'īžər/

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