What is long vowel sounds: A Handy Guide to Long Vowel Sounds (+ 5 FREE Downloads)
Posted onA Handy Guide to Long Vowel Sounds (+ 5 FREE Downloads)
by Marie Rippel
When you teach reading and spelling, it’s a good idea to have a general overview of long vowel sounds. Let’s dive in!
A long vowel is a vowel that is pronounced the same as its name. For example, the word emu starts with the long E sound.
Seems pretty simple, right? But did you know that long vowel sounds can be spelled four different ways and that each way follows a specific spelling pattern?
The overview that follows will help you see the big picture about long vowel sounds as you teach reading and spelling. Read on to discover these useful patterns!
Four Ways to Form Long Vowel Sounds
A vowel at the end of a syllable can be long.
In the word we, as in We love emus, the vowel E is at the end of the syllable and says long E. In these words, the vowel at the end of a syllable is long: hero, hi, music.
Silent E can make the previous vowel long.
In the word cute, as in Emus are cute, the long U sound is formed by adding Silent E at the end of the word. Here are more words in which Silent E makes the previous vowel long: tape, shine, code.
Vowel teams can make long vowel sounds.
Vowel teams are two vowels that work together to make one sound. For example, in the word eat, as in Emus eat seeds, vowel team EA says long E. These words have vowel teams that make a long vowel sound: mail, sheep, soap.
I or O can be long when they come before two consonants.
In the word stroll, as in The emu went for a stroll, the letter O comes before two consonants and says its long vowel sound.
In these words, I or O are long before two consonants: kind, gold, child.
So there you go—the four basic patterns for spelling long vowel sounds!
Let’s Dive in a Little Deeper
The chart below illustrates the most common ways to spell the long vowel sounds.
Click to Download a Printable Chart!
Seeing these spellings all gathered in one place is enlightening for those of us who are already proficient readers and spellers. But I would only recommend using the chart for reference, or with an older student who has already mastered most of these phonograms. I would not recommend overwhelming a beginning student by teaching these spellings all at once. Instead, teach these basic patterns to students incrementally, one at a time.
Activities to Teach Long Vowel Sounds
Are you interested in seeing how we teach the four long vowel patterns in All About Reading and All About Spelling? Here is a sampling for you to download and enjoy!
Download “Be a Hero” Activity
(Vowel at the end of a syllable)
Download “Kit or Kite?” Activity
(Silent E)
Download “Wake Up the Sheep” Activity
(Vowel Teams)
Download “Find Gold” Activity
(I and O are long before two consonants)
The Bottom Line for Teaching Long Vowel Sounds
When it comes to teaching long vowel sounds, here’s what you need to keep in mind:
- Long vowel sounds can be spelled four different ways, each following a specific pattern.
- Teach these basic patterns to students incrementally, one at a time.
- Keep it fun! Use a wide variety of interesting activities to help your student learn the four patterns for forming long vowel sounds.
All About Reading and All About Spelling walk you and your student through all the steps needed to help your student learn to read and spell. The programs are multisensory, motivating, and complete with everything you need. And if you ever need a helping hand, we’re here for you.
What’s your take on teaching the long vowel sounds? Do you have anything else to share? Let me know in the comments below!
Looking for information on short vowels? Check out our Handy Guide to Short Vowel Sounds!
Long Vowel Sounds
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
A couple of weeks ago we explained that there are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) sound system and last week we looked at the 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds.
This week we are taking a look at the remaining 13 ‘long’ vowel sounds.
Here at Teach Phonics we split them in to two groups: 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds and 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds areso calleddue to the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ai,(eI)/ sound found in the words: train, tray, cake and break.
The /oa,(ǝƱ)/ sound found in the words: boat, hotel, toe and bone.
The /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy.
The /ow,(aƱ)/ sound found in the words: owl, house, drought and hour.
The /ee,(іː)/ sound found in the words: tree, pea, me, and pony.
The /I,(aI)/ sound found in the words: iron, fly, pie and light.
The /oo,(uː)/ sound found in the words: spoon, blue, screw and you.
The 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them along with the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ar,(ɑː)/ sound found in the words: car, father (southern UK accent) and art.
The /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The /ear,(Iǝ)/ sound found in the words: ear, here, deer and pier.
The /er,(ɜː)/ sound found in the words: bird, kerb, nurse and worm.
The /re,(Ʊǝ)/ sound found in the words: manure, tour and mature.
The /air,(eǝ)/ sound found in the words: chair, pear, square and where.
Phonics, Phonological AwarenessLong ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Received Pronounced English, The English Phoneme Chart
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
Learning to hear and differentiate the vowel sounds from consonant sounds is an important skill in understanding how words are formed.
Every word in the English Language has to have a vowel sound in it and every syllable in a word also has to have a vowel sound within it. This knowledge is an important element in developing our phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge as we start to learn how to read and spell words.
There are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) Language, usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made, the sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted, such as the /e,(e)/ in me, pea and tree
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation, these can often be held without distorting their sound, such as the /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words:boy, coin and buoy
Here at Teach Phonics we split the ‘long’ vowel sounds category into ‘long’ vowel sounds and ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The ‘long ’R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them for example the /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The English Phoneme Chart (https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonics-phoneme-chart.html ), which uses the unique symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), splits the 20 vowel sounds into two groups based on mouth position:
- Monophthongs which have one mouth position throughout the sound for example /e,(e)/ in me.
- Diphthongs, where the mouth position changes, giving a 2 sounds quality to the phoneme for example, /oi,(ɔI)/ inboy.
Phonics, Phonological AwarenessDiphthongs, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), Long Vowel Sounds, Monophthongs, Short Vowel Sounds, Vowel Sounds
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
The English Language is created through the different combinations of 44 sounds (phonemes), 20 vowels and 24 consonants.
In our written language we refer to the letters of the alphabet as being consonant or vowel letters depending on which type of sound they are representing.
Vowel sounds allow the air to flow freely, causing the chin to drop noticeably, whilst consonant sounds are produced by restricting the air flow.
Vowel sounds are usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made. The sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation. These can often be held without distorting their sound.
The letters of the alphabet that we normally associate as being the vowel letters are: a, e, i, o and u. The letter ‘y’ is sometimes referred to as an honorary or semi vowel as it is used to replace one of the other vowel letters in words such as: fly, shy, why or my.
All words in the English language have at least one vowel sound in them so the written version must have at least one vowel letter in it.
Consonant sounds are made (produced) when the air flow is being restricted in some way, for example, changes in tongue position resulting in the mouth not opening as wide. This means that the jaw doesn’t drop noticeably, which is different to vowel sounds.
The letters of the alphabet that usually represent the consonant sounds are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
Phonological AwarenessAlphabet Knowledge, Consonant Letters, Consonant Sounds, Consonants, Long Vowel Sounds, Short Vowel Sounds, Vowel Letters, Vowels
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
A couple of weeks ago we explained that there are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) sound system and a after that we looked at the 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds. This week we are taking a look at the remaining 13 ‘long’ vowel sounds.
Here at Teach Phonics we split them in to two groups: 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds and 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds areso calleddue to the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ai,(eI)/ sound found in the words: train, tray, cake and break.
The /oa,(ǝƱ)/ sound found in the words: boat, hotel, toe and bone.
The /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy.
The /ow,(aƱ)/ sound found in the words: owl, house, drought and hour.
The /ee,(іː)/ sound found in the words: tree, pea, me, and pony.
The /I,(aI)/ sound found in the words: iron, fly, pie and light.
The /oo,(uː)/ sound found in the words: spoon, blue, screw and you.
The 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them along with the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ar,(ɑː)/ sound found in the words: car, father (southern UK accent) and art.
The /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The /ear,(Iǝ)/ sound found in the words: ear, here, deer and pier.
The /er,(ɜː)/ sound found in the words: bird, kerb, nurse and worm.
The /re,(Ʊǝ)/ sound found in the words: manure, tour and mature.
The /air,(eǝ)/ sound found in the words: chair, pear, square and where.
Phonics, Phonological AwarenessLong ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Vowels
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
The English Language is created through the different combinations of 44 sounds (phonemes), 20 vowels and 24 consonants. In our written language we refer to the letters of the alphabet as being consonant or vowel letters depending on which type of sound they are representing.
Vowel sounds allow the air to flow freely, causing the chin to drop noticeably, whilst consonant sounds are produced by restricting the air flow.
Vowel sounds are usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made. The sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation. These can often be held without distorting their sound.
The letters of the alphabet that we normally associate as being the vowel letters are: a, e, i, o and u. The letter ‘y’ is sometimes referred to as an honorary or semi vowel as it is used to replace one of the other vowel letters in words such as: fly, shy, why or my.
All words in the English language have at least one vowel sound in them so the written version must have at least one vowel letter in it.
Consonant sounds are made (produced) when the air flow is being restricted in some way, for example, changes in tongue position resulting in the mouth not opening as wide. This means that the jaw doesn’t drop noticeably, which is different to vowel sounds.
The letters of the alphabet that usually represent the consonant sounds are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
Phonics, Phonological AwarenessAlphabet Knowledge, Consonants, Letters of the Alphabet, Long Vowel Sounds, Phonemes, Short Vowel Sounds, Vowels
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
A couple of weeks ago we explained that there are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) sound system and last week we looked at the 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds. This week we are taking a look at the remaining 13 ‘long’ vowel sounds.
Here at Teach Phonics we split them in to two groups: 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds and 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds areso calleddue to the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ai,(eI)/ sound found in the words: train, tray, cake and break.
The /oa,(ǝƱ)/ sound found in the words: boat, hotel, toe and bone.
The /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy.
The /ow,(aƱ)/ sound found in the words: owl, house, drought and hour.
The /ee,(іː)/ sound found in the words: tree, pea, me, and pony.
The /I,(aI)/ sound found in the words: iron, fly, pie and light.
The /oo,(uː)/ sound found in the words: spoon, blue, screw and you.
The 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them along with the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ar,(ɑː)/ sound found in the words: car, father (southern UK accent) and art.
The /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The /ear,(Iǝ)/ sound found in the words: ear, here, deer and pier.
The /er,(ɜː)/ sound found in the words: bird, kerb, nurse and worm.
The /re,(Ʊǝ)/ sound found in the words: manure, tour and mature.
The /air,(eǝ)/ sound found in the words: chair, pear, square and where.
For more examples of long vowel sounds follow this link to our website: https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonics-phoneme-chart.html
PhonicsLong ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Phonics
lucyteachchildren1 Comment
Learning to hear and differentiate the vowel sounds from consonant sounds is an important skill in understanding how words are formed. Every word in the English Language has to have a vowel sound in it and every syllable in a word also has to have a vowel sound within it. This knowledge is an important element in developing our phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge as we start to learn how to read and spell words.
There are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) Language, usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made, the sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted, such as the /e,(e)/ in me, pea and tree
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation, these can often be held without distorting their sound, such as the /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words:boy, coin and buoy
Here at Teach Phonics we split the ‘long’ vowel sounds category into ‘long’ vowel sounds and ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The ‘long ’R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them for example the /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The English Phoneme Chart, which uses the unique symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), splits the 20 vowel sounds into two groups based on mouth position:
- Monophthongs which have one mouth position throughout the sound for example /e,(e)/ in me.
- Diphthongs, where the mouth position changes, giving a 2 sounds quality to the phoneme for example, /oi,(ɔI)/ inboy.
Phonics, Phonological AwarenessDiphthongs, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), Long ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Monophthongs, Phonics, Phonological Awareness, Short Vowel Sounds, The English Phoneme Chart
lucyteachchildren2 Comments
The English Language is created through the different combinations of 44 sounds (phonemes), 20 vowels and 24 consonants.
In our written language we refer to the letters of the alphabet as being consonant or vowel letters depending on which type of sound they are representing.
Vowel sounds allow the air to flow freely, causing the chin to drop noticeably, whilst consonant sounds are produced by restricting the air flow.
Vowel sounds are usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made. The sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation. These can often be held without distorting their sound.
The letters of the alphabet that we normally associate as being the vowel letters are: a, e, i, o and u. The letter ‘y’ is sometimes referred to as an honorary or semi vowel as it is used to replace one of the other vowel letters in words such as: fly, shy, why or my.
All words in the English language have at least one vowel sound in them so the written version must have at least one vowel letter in it.
Consonant sounds are made (produced) when the air flow is being restricted in some way, for example, changes in tongue position resulting in the mouth not opening as wide. This means that the jaw doesn’t drop noticeably, which is different to vowel sounds.
The letters of the alphabet that usually represent the consonant sounds are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
PhonicsConsonant Sounds, Consonants, Letters of the Alphabet, Long Vowel Sounds, Phonemes, Short Vowel Sounds, Vowels
lucyteachchildren1 Comment
A couple of weeks ago we explained that there are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) sound system and last week we looked at the 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds. This week we are taking a look at the remaining 13 ‘long’ vowel sounds.
Here at Teach Phonics we split them in to two groups: 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds and 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds.
The 7 ‘long’ vowel sounds are so called due to the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ai,(eI)/ sound found in the words: train, tray, cake and break.
The /oa,(ǝƱ)/ sound found in the words: boat, hotel, toe and bone.
The /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy.
The /ow,(aƱ)/ sound found in the words: owl, house, drought and hour.
The /ee,(іː)/ sound found in the words: tree, pea, me, and pony.
The /I,(aI)/ sound found in the words: iron, fly, pie and light.
The /oo,(uː)/ sound found in the words: spoon, blue, screw and you.
The 6 ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them along with the length of their pronunciation; these can often be held without distorting their sound.
The /ar,(ɑː)/ sound found in the words: car, father (southern UK accent) and art.
The /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The /ear,(Iǝ)/ sound found in the words: ear, here, deer and pier.
The /er,(ɜː)/ sound found in the words: bird, kerb, nurse and worm.
The /re,(Ʊǝ)/ sound found in the words: manure, tour and mature.
The /air,(eǝ)/ sound found in the words: chair, pear, square and where.
PhonicsEnglish Language, Long ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Phonics, Short Vowel Sounds
lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment
Learning to hear and differentiate the vowel sounds from consonant sounds is an important skill in understanding how words are formed. Every word in the English Language has to have a vowel sound in it and every syllable in a word also has to have a vowel sound within it. This knowledge is an important element in developing our phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge as we start to learn how to read and spell words.
There are 20 vowel sounds in the English (UK) Language, usually (in the UK Education System) split into two main categories based on sound quality:
- ‘Short’ vowel sounds, due to the short duration of the sound being made, the sound cannot be held onto without becoming distorted, such as the /e,(e)/ in me, pea and tree
- ‘Long’ vowel sounds, due to the length of their pronunciation, these can often be held without distorting their sound, such as the /oi,(ɔI)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy
Here at Teach Phonics we split the ‘long’ vowel sounds category into ‘long’ vowel sounds and ‘long ‘R’ controlled’ vowel sounds. The ‘long ’R’ controlled’ vowel sounds are so called because of the slight /r,(r)/ sound quality that can be heard in them for example the /or,(ɔː)/ sound found in the words: fork, door, walk and sauce.
The English Phoneme Chart, which uses the unique symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), splits the 20 vowel sounds into two groups based on mouth position:
- Monophthongs which have one mouth position throughout the sound for example /e,(e)/ in me.
- Diphthongs, where the mouth position changes, giving a 2 sounds quality to the phoneme for example, /oi,(ɔI)/ in boy.
PhonicsEnglish Language, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), Long ‘R’ Controlled Vowel Sounds, Long Vowel Sounds, Short Vowel Sounds, Vowels
Long and short vowels: difference and comparison
There are 26 alphabets in the English language that we use to create meaningful words. Did you know that out of these 26 letters, five letters, i.e. Do A, E, I, O, U count as vowels? But how do we define a letter as a vowel?
Language quiz
The language test helps us improve our language skills
1 / 10
What term is used to describe a word that is spelled the same forward and backward?
Palindrome
Antonym
Homonym
Synonym
2 / 10
Which word describes a noun?
Pronoun
Adverb
Adjective
conjunction
3 / 10
What is the study of speech sounds called?
Phonetics
Grammar
Semantics
Lexicology
4 / 10
I ______ reply to my letter in the next few days.
hope
expect
wait
receive
5 / 10
Choose a word that is synonymous with the word «steady»:
strong
9 0002 Fragile
Delicate
Brittle
6 / 10
What is the name of a word that has the opposite meaning of another word?
Synonym
Antonym
homophone
homonym
7 / 10
Put _______ bag on _______ table, then give me _______ apple and _______ chocolate bar .
… that … a … a
… that … a … a
a … a … that …
a … a … a …
8 / 10
Choose the opposite word for intense:
Relaxed
Time
soft
Gentle
9 / 10
What is the study of words and their meanings called?
Syntax
Grammar
Semantics
Lexicology
10 / 10
She is wearing a ________ dress.
long black beautiful
beautiful long black
black long beautiful
long beautiful black
your account
Vowels in the English alphabet are those letters that can be pronounced using our voice and opening our mouth.
Based on several parameters, the vowels are further differentiated into long and short vowels.
Summary
- Long and short vowels are two types of vowels in English that differ in length and pronunciation.
- Long vowels take longer to pronounce than short vowels and often have a different quality or tone. Examples of long vowels include «a» in «late» and «o» in «bone».
- Short vowels are pronounced shorter than long vowels and often have a harsher or flatter sound. Examples of short vowels include «a» in «cat» and «o» in «dog».
Long vowels versus short vowels s
A long vowel is a sound that takes relatively longer to pronounce than a short vowel. It is often denoted with a vowel followed by a silent «e» at the end of a word. A short vowel is a sound that is relatively shorter than a long vowel. It is often denoted by a single vowel without the «e» at the end of the word.
Would you like to save this article for later? Click on the heart in the lower right corner to save to your own block of articles!
The exciting and distinctive feature of long vowels is that the vowel sounds like their name.
For example, the vowel «U» forms the long «U» sound in the word «mute.»
Similarly, using two vowels at the same time can produce long vowels. Another way to make a long vowel is to add an ‘e’ at the end of a word, such as ‘cute’, ‘cute.bike’, etc.
Short vowels have a different identity because they produce a short vowel or are pronounced short. The vowel «I» in the word «clip» produces a quick and fast «I» sound.
Moreover, if any vowel in a word is not similar to their name, then it is a short vowel, as in «apple», «egg», etc.
What are long vowels?
Long vowels are those vowels that produce long sounds and sound the same as their original names. For example:
«A» in name
«E» in place
«I» in «Good»
«O» in oak
‘U’ in unity
Long vowels are mostly found in open syllables, ending in a vowel, or in words with two consecutive vowels between consonants.
In the case of two different vowels used consecutively in a word, the first vowel is emphasized over the next vowel, as in «BOAT», the vowel sound ‘O’ is noticeable.
Long word vowels have more complex spelling patterns than short vowels. Moreover, there are a few exceptions to writing long vowels.
For example, the «E» vowel at the end of words such as «baking», «lonely», etc. is not pronounced, but produces a long vowel sound.
As a rule, long vowels are diphthongs, which means that the combination of two short vowels makes a long sound. Therefore, the sound produced by long vowels gives an accurate pronunciation similar to the actual or original sound of the letter.
What are short vowels?
Vowels that produce a short or fast sound when pronounced are called short vowels. The pronunciation of short vowels is not like their name and sounds identical to the consonant before the vowel. For example:
«A» in bat
«E» in Run
«I» in «sit»
«O» in fog
you in cup
Short vowels make only one sound; therefore, they can be pronounced by relaxing the jaws.
But some short vowels may require additional stress when pronounced, as in stressed syllables.
Although in some cases, such as the tomato, the first O is less stressful than the last O.
The spelling of short vowels is complex, with many exceptions such as long vowels. But short vowels are mainly present in closed syllables, that is, between two consonants.
In some cases, short vowels appear to be isolated at the beginning of words, such as «up», «end», etc.
The pronunciation of short vowels revolves around several rules. The most common rules are the rules for one vowel, two vowels, and two consonants. With the above limitations, short vowels are easily recognized and pronounced.
Basic differences between long and short vowels s
- Vowel length differs between long and short vowels. As in the name, a long vowel produces a long sound, and a short vowel produces a fast vowel.
- Open syllables end in a vowel, forming a long vowel. In contrast, a closed syllable ends in a consonant, forming a short vowel.
- Pronouncing long vowels, we get the pronunciation of their names. In contrast, the pronunciation of short vowels is not similar to the name of a vowel.
- The position of vowels determines their type, for example two vowels between consonants or vowels at the end of a consonant are long vowels. In contrast, short vowels are mostly present between two consonants, i.e. consonant-vowel-consonant.
- During pronunciation, the use of the mouth and tongue is vital. When pronouncing long vowels, the speaker’s mouth moves from closed to open or vice versa, and the tongue occupies different positions. For short vowels, the jaws are relaxed and the tongue can be relaxed or move in several positions.
In contrast, a closed syllable ends in a consonant, forming a short vowel. Recommendations
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-24019-5_11
- https: //wwwww.cambrid.or G/Core/Journals/English- language-and-linguistics/article/on-the-recent-history-of-low-vowels-in-english/170D61A0B071ABE5DF597287E4CAB712
One query?
I put so much effort into writing this blog post to provide you with value.
It will be very helpful for me if you consider sharing it on social networks or with your friends/family. SHARE ♥️
Emma Smith
Emma Smith holds an MA in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, sports and law. More about me on her bio page.
Long and short vowels — English for all — LiveJournal
?
Previous entry | Next entry
Paired sounds.
In Russian, as we all remember from school days, there are paired consonants. Sounds [b] — [p], [h] — [s] and so on form pairs according to sonority-deafness. That is, the sounds are very similar, but one is pronounced with a voice, and the second without (by the way, this also happens in English). The sounds [b] — [b ‘], [h] — [h ‘] and so on form pairs of hardness-softness — one sound is hard in the park, the other is soft (which is not found in English at all).
Note two fundamental points: first, only sounds are paired. Letters cannot be paired, because letters are such squiggles on paper (dots on a Braille sheet), they cannot be combined into pairs by similarity (otherwise it turns out somehow stupid — what to combine? S and b on the basis of the absence-presence of a wand? ). Secondly, in Russian, only consonants are paired . Russian vowels are all very different, and it is impossible to combine them into pairs.
In English, vowels can also be paired. Sign for pairing — longitude-brevity of pronunciation. For masters of the Russian language, it can be difficult to understand that the longitude of a sound can completely change the meaning of the word . In Russian «mama» and «Maaaaamaaaaa!» will differ in loudness, but hardly in meaning. It’s not like that in English. Feel the difference:
bins [b ɪ nz] (short sound) — beans [b i: nz] (long by sound)
ship [ʃ ɪ p] (with a short sound) — sheep [ʃ i: p] (with a long sound)
Sometimes absolutely indecent incidents happen, for example, this one.
Which once again proves how important it is to distinguish between longitude and brevity of sounds.
The length of the sound in the transcription is indicated by a colon [:]
Pronunciation
Long vowels differ from short not so much by the time of their pronunciation (no need to pull them for half a minute), but by articulation — that is, how and with what we pronounce them.
[iː] — the sound is pronounced with strongly stretched lips — «Hollywood smile». Imagine that you are advertising chewing gum.
[ʊː] — unlike Russian [y], you do not need to stretch your lips. The corners of the lips are down! Imagine that you are having an afternoon snack in kindergarten, and in front of you is a plate of cold semolina: fuuu!
[ Like this ]
[ɔː] — reminiscent of Russian [o], but strongly pushed back. As if you have a lemon in your mouth — the tongue moves down and back, the sound is deep.
