I. Vowels

[I], short stressed vowel, ex. sit [ sIt ]

[i], short unstressed vowel, ex. happy [ ‘hæpi ]

[i:], long vowel, ex. see [ si: ]

[ e ], short stressed vowel, ex. ten [ ten ]

[ ə ], short unstressed vowel, ex. ago [ə ‘gəu ]

[ æ ], short wide open vowel, ex. hat [ hæt ]

[ 3: ], long vowel, ex. first [ f3:st ]

[ ʌ ], short stressed vowel, ex. bus [ bʌs ]

[ a: ], long vowel, ex. arm [ a:m ]

[ ɒ ], short stressed vowel, ex. got [ gɒt ]

[ ɔ: ],long vowel, ex. saw [ sɔ: ]

[ ʊ ], short stressed vowel, ex. put [ pʊt ]

[ u: ], long vowel, ex. too [ tu: ]

 

II. Diphthongs. Diphthongs are two vowel sounds pronounced together. The first sound is strong, the second is weak.

[ eI ], ex. page [ peIdʒ ] [ ɔI], ex. join [ dʒɔI ]

[ əʊ ], ex. home [ həʊm ] [ ], ex. near [ nIə ]

[ aI ], ex. five [ faIv ] [ ], ex. hair [ heə ]

[ ], ex. now [ naʊ ] [ ʊə], ex. poor [ pʊə ]