Session 5: What Are the Vowel Phonemes of English?

Which of the following vowels require that the mouth shift position during production of the sound?

/oi/ and /ou/

TRUE / FALSE English vowels are easier for students to pronounce and write than consonants.

False

Vowel

One of a set of fifteen vowel phonemes in English, not including r-controlled combinations or schwa; an open phoneme that is the heart of every spoken syllable; classified by tongue position and height (e.g., high to low, and front to back).

Diphthongs

Single vowel phonemes that glide in the middle; the mouth position shifts during the production of the single vowel phoneme.

Schwa

The empty vowel in an unaccented syllable, such as the last syllable in wagOn or rebUs. Schwas are recognizable because they cannot easily be sounded out for spelling.

What makes r-controlled vowel sounds so confusing for students?

The r takes over the preceding vowel sound.

Which of the following sounds is considered a front vowel?

long a

Which of the following vowel sounds would be classified by a linguist as "tense" vowels?

long e and /yu/