The English vowel system

ðiː ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ vaʊəl ˈsɪs.təm

•Rubén Borreguero Ortíz.•Grado en Educación Primaria. Mención en L.E. Inglés.•Universidad de Granada. Campus de Ceuta.

English Vs Spanish•While in Spanish we have 5 vowel sounds, in English there are 12 different vowel sounds.

•Some vowels may sound almost alike, so getting accustomed our ears to the English sounds is very important from the very beginning in order to be able to distinguish them.

Some tips before you start.

• The vowel sound schwa /ə/ is never stressed.• The vowel sound /e/ doesn’t have long sound.• In RP, with a long vowel before r , the

consonant is not pronounced. EG:– Board [bᴐ:d] ; bird [bɜ:d] ; work [wɜ:k];

poor [pᴐ:]

/i: /

Most important spellings that represent /i:/• ee see [si:].• ea beach [bi:tʃ], • ie field [fi:ld]• e scene [si:n]• eo people [pi:pl]• ey key [ki:]• ay quay [ki:]

It is found in the tonic Castillian /i/ accompanied by dental or palatal consonants.e.g. capilla, castillo, sí (emphatic), chino

/ i /

Most important spellings:• i rich [ritʃ] , pitch [pɪtʃ] , think [θɪŋk]• y, lady [leɪdi], body [bɒdi], tiny [taɪni]As you can see, in the word tiny, the i is not

represented by /i/ but as the diphthong /ai/.

We can find an approximate production when the Castilian /i/ is in unstressed position:e.g. Último, cursi, pitar.Sometimes it may sound seemed as /e/.

/ e /

Most important spellings that represent /e/• e bed [bed] , length [leŋθ]• ea death [deθ]• a many [meni]

The Castilian /e/ is usually more closed and tenser that the English equivalent. Nevertheless you can get a more open realization in the following cases:1. when it is in contact with the vibrant / r /: perro, red.2. followed by / x / (jota): agujero, sonajero3. diphthong / ei /: peine

/æ /

Most important spellings:

• a mass [mæs], bad [bæd], flash [flæʃ], match[mætʃ]

In Castilian there is not a similar vowel. A didactic resource to get an approach would be to pronounce the phoneme /e/ with a much bigger separation between the jaws.

/a: /

Most important spellings:• a bark [ba:k], car [ka:], ask [a:sk]• er clerk [cla:k]• ear heart [ha:t]• al palm [pa:m], half [ha:f]• au aunt [a:nt], laugh[la:f]

There is no similar vowel in Castilian; this vowel and / æ / and / / are a focus of confusion for beginners. Some Spanish people pronounce /g / as a guttural instead of velar, specially between vowels, this /a/ is similar to the English corresponding.· e.g. haga, traga, saga, ...The important aspect is to give double quantity, because it’s a long vowel.

/ᴐ/ /ɒ/

Most important spellings that represent• o not [bɒt], box [bɒks], dog [dɒg].• a want [wɒnt]• au because [bikɒz], nevertheless you also can

find with schwa [bɪkəz]• ou cough [kɒf]

The articulation organs maintain very similar positions to those of / a: /, but the lips can be lightly widened for / o /. Another difference is the double duration of / a: /.e.g. Morder, portal, foro

/ᴐ: /

Most important spellings:• or horse [hᴐ:s]• oor poor [pᴐ:]• ore more [mᴐ:] • aw saw [sᴐ:]• oar board [bᴐ:d] , roar [rᴐ:] • ou bought [bᴐ:t]• our four [fᴐ:]• a all [ᴐ:l] , call [kᴐ:l]

/ ʊ /

Most important spellings that represent.• o full[fʊl], put[pʊt].• oo book [bʊk], took [tʊk]• ou could [kʊd], should[ʃʊd].• o woman [wʊmən]

The Spanish sound is produced at the back and it is more tenser. A similar sound can be heard when it is next to “r” and “l”: curso, hurto, pulso, tumulto…

/ u: /

Most important spellings that represent that represent /u: /• oo spoon[spu:n], shoot [ʃu:t], root [ru:t], choose [tʃu:z]• ou soup[su:p], route [ru:t]• o do [du:]• u flu [fl:u]• ew jewellery [dʒuːlri], jewel [dʒuːl] • ue blue [blu:] • ui suit [su:t]• oe shoe [ʃu:]

It is more closed and tenser than the Spanish “u” ( apart from being longer).

/ʌ /

Most important spellings that represent.• u sun[sʌn], funny [fʌni].• o won[wʌn], come [kʌm], done[dʌn].• ou country[kʌntri], southern[sʌðən], young [yʌŋ].• oo blood[blʌd], flood[flʌd].

This phoneme together with /a:/ and /æ/ is a focus of confusion for Spanish speakers who can assimilate it to an “a” sound. This sound seems to be more approximate to the Spanish “A” when it is accompanied by velar consonants: regate, coja, jaque

/ə/

Most common spellings:• It has no regular character to represent it.• Any vowel or group of vowels may, in

unstressed position, represent /ə/.• e.g. famous [feiməs], woman [wʊmən]; letter

[letə], cupboard [kʌbəd], should [ʃəd] (in weak pronunciation)

This is the schwa vowel sound. We don’t have any seemed in Spanish.The most common English vowel.

/ə: / /ɜ:/

Most important spellings that represent it.• ir first [fɜ:st]• er serve [sɜ:v]• ear earth [ɜ:θ]• ur nurse [nɜ:s]• or word [wɜ:d]• our journey [dʒɜ:ni]

Long schwa.A good tip to produce it well is to to produce a Spanish “e” and, little by little, to approximate it to an “o”, not reaching it.