Oral English: Vowels · 5 min read
Pure vowels (monophthongs)
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Kedu nwanne! Today, we're diving into something super important for your Oral English exams: vowels!
Understanding how to pronounce words correctly will help you score big in WASSCE, NECO, UTME, and NABTEB.
Pure Vowels: The Single Sounds
Think of vowels as the engine of a word. They are sounds made without any blockage in your mouth. Your tongue doesn't touch anything, and your lips don't close. Today, we're looking at pure vowels, also known as monophthongs.
A pure vowel (or monophthong) is a single, unchanging vowel sound. When you say it, your tongue stays in one position, and the sound doesn't change from beginning to end. It's like a steady note in music.
In English, we have 12 pure vowel sounds. Some are short, some are long. We represent them with special symbols called phonetic symbols.
Short Vowel Sounds (7 of them):
/ɪ/ as in 'sit', 'Chidi', 'fill'. Imagine saying 'ee' very quickly. For example: 'The fish was tasty.'
/e/ as in 'bed', 'men', 'egg'. Like the 'e' in 'enter'. For example: 'Please send the message.'
/æ/ as in 'cat', 'man', 'Lagos'. This is like a wider 'a'. For example: 'The man bought a new bag.'
/ɒ/ as in 'hot', 'not', 'stop'. A short, open 'o' sound. For example: 'Don't stop at the shop.'
/ʌ/ as in 'cut', 'run', 'money'. Like the 'u' in 'umbrella'. For example: 'I love to run in the morning.'
/ʊ/ as in 'put', 'book', 'good'. A short 'oo' sound. For example: 'He took a look at the book.'
/ə/ as in 'about', 'teacher', 'ago'. This is the schwa sound, a very common, weak vowel sound. For example: 'Aisha went about her duties.'
Long Vowel Sounds (5 of them):
/iː/ as in 'sheep', 'feel', 'eat'. A long 'ee' sound. For example: 'Chidi likes to eat beans.'
/ɜː/ as in 'bird', 'girl', 'learn'. Like the 'er' in 'teacher'. For example: 'The girl wanted to learn.'
/ɑː/ as in 'car', 'father', 'park'. A long, open 'a' sound. For example: 'My father drove a far distance.'
/ɔː/ as in 'door', 'ball', 'walk'. A long 'or' sound. For example: 'Don't walk near the door.'
/uː/ as in 'moon', 'food', 'blue'. A long 'oo' sound. For example: 'Tunde likes to chew his food slowly.'
Key points
- •Pure vowels (monophthongs) are single, unchanging vowel sounds.
- •There are 12 pure vowels in English: 7 short and 5 long.
- •The schwa sound (/ə/) is the most common and weakest vowel sound.
- •Phonetic symbols help represent vowel sounds accurately.