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The Main Sounds of English

Nov 13, 2023, 5 min read

There are 15 main vowel sounds in English^[Ohata, K. (2004). Phonological differences between Japanese and English: Several potentially problematic areas of pronunciation for Japanese ESL/EFL learners. Asian EFL Journal, retrieved on 20th, July, 2012, from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/ december_04_KO.php], while Chinese has only 5^[San, D. (2007). The phonology of standard Chinese (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press.]. This is why Chinese speakers, like me, tend to pronounce English using only the sounds familiar in our native language.

This sometimes results in similar words being pronounced the same way. For example: “heel” and “hill”, “sale” and “sell”. But don’t worry, this can be practiced by listening to and speaking the two sounds simultaneously.

Pronunciation symbols

The pronunciation symbols below are all from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used in the Cambridge Dictionary.

/iː/ (heat) and /ɪ/ (hit)

Tutorial [1]

We learn that the sounds /iː/, and /ɪ/ differ not only in length but also in other aspects. When pronouncing /iː/, we use more tension in our lips and tongue, whereas when pronouncing /ɪ/, it’s relaxed and neutral with relaxed lips and tongue. (You can place your fingers on your jaw and cheeks to feel the difference) After understanding the techniques, you can proceed to the practice below.

  1. heel - hill
  2. feel - fill
  3. sheet - shit
  4. seat - sit
  5. eat - it
  6. beach - bitch

/e/ (sell) and /eɪ/ (sale)

Tutorial [1]

We should pronounce /e/ with tense lips, a narrow mouth opening, and a short vowel sound. For /eɪ/, use a more open mouth and a longer vowel sound.

  1. bed - bade
  2. tell - tale
  3. men - main
  4. test - taste
  5. pen - pain
  6. sent - saint

/æ/ (bad) and /e/ (bed)

Tutorial [1] [2]

We learn that /æ/ involves the back part of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth, a more pronounced jaw drop, and a slight lift of the top lip. In contrast, /e/ uses the mid/front part of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth, with less jaw drop and relaxed lips.

  1. man - men
  2. sad - said
  3. sat - set
  4. dad - dead
  5. land - lend
  6. band - bend

/æ/ (hat) and /ɑː/ (hot)

Tutorial [1]

To pronounce /æ/, you should relax your mouth and open it slightly. On the other hand, to pronounce /ɑː/, your mouth should be quite open and loose.

  1. bag - bog
  2. Dan - Don
  3. caps - cops
  4. cat - cot
  5. sack - sock

/ɑː/ (calm) and /ʌ/ or /ə/ (come)

Tutorial [1]

The /ʌ/ or /ə/ sound is easily produced by initially closing the mouth and vibrating it, followed by opening the mouth without altering the shape of your mouth and tongue.

  1. sob - sub
  2. hot - hut
  3. got - gut
  4. rot - rut

Note

“In English, the only real difference between these two is that [ʌ] occurs in stressed syllables, and [ə] occurs in unstressed syllables.”

/æ/ (bat) and /ʌ/ or /ɘ/ (but)

Tutorial [1]

  1. cap - cup
  2. mad - mud
  3. ban - bun
  4. stack - stuck

/ɔː/ (law) and /oʊ/ (low)

Tutorial [1] [2]

To pronounce words like ‘law’ with the /ɔː/ sound, open your mouth as wide as possible, round your lips, and pull your tongue slightly toward the back of your mouth. To pronounce words like ‘low’ with the /oʊ/ sound, begin with a relaxed mouth, create protruding lips, and close the mouth into a u-type sound.

  1. bought - boat
  2. caught - coat
  3. lawn - loan

There are also some word pairs for /ɔːr/ and /oʊ/ ([1])

  1. morning - moaning
  2. more - mow
  3. or - oh
  4. for - foe

/ʊ/ (full) and /uː/ (fool)

Tutorial [1] [2] [3]

/ʊ/ is a short ‘oo’ sound and can be pronounced like ‘uh.’ When you pronounce /ʊ/, your mouth is very relaxed, and your throat is vibrating. By contrast, /u/ is a long ‘oo’ sound and pronounced like ‘oo’. When you pronounce /u/, round your lips, move your mouth a lot, and make the sound longer.

  1. soot - suit
  2. could - cooed
  3. foot - food
  4. pull - pool
  5. should - shoot
  6. look - Luke

Tip for pronouncing the L sound

When transitioning to the L sound in words like pull or full, make sure to touch the back of your top teeth.

/ɑːr/ (hard) and /ɝː/ (heard)

Tutorial [1] [2]

When we say /ɑːr/, making it sound like “ARE”, and make your mouth wider. When we say /ɝː/, making it sound like “ER” by rounding lips slightly and pulling tounge toward the back of your mouth.

  1. star - stir
  2. bar - burr
  3. heart - hurt
  4. barn - burn
  5. farm - firm
  6. par - per

/ɝː/ (work) and /ɔː/ (walk)

Tutorial [1]

The “walk” sounds similar to the word “wok,” like a frying pan, with an “aw” sound. In contrast, “work” requires the correct pronunciation of the “r” sound by pointing the tongue at the alveolar ridge behind the front teeth.

/aɪ/ (time, nine, dry, etc.)

/aʊ/ (south, house, cow, etc.)

/ɔɪ/ (oil, choice, voice, etc.)

References

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