This presentation is the second part of vowel sounds adapted from the book Pronounce it Perfectly in English by Jean Yate (2nd Edition). A description of seven vowel sounds appear here as well as examples.

1. English Vowel Sounds
Part II
Juan Soto, M. A.

2. NOTICE
Spelling is not a full trust worthy source for the
pronunciation of English words. Some vowels
can be placed in the same order in a word, but
that does not necessarily mean that they will be
pronounced the same way. For instance:
read (present tense) vs. read (past tense)
lead (present tense) vs. lead (metal)

3. /oiy/ (1 of 7)
• /oiy/ is a combination of to sounds (/o/ + /iy/
• Begin by rounding your lips for /o/, then spread
them for /iy/
• The sound is long
• Examples:
boy
coin
noise

4. /eə/ (2 of 7)
• Keep your jaw halfway open
• Tense your lips as you finish the sound
Examples:
ran
pass
craft
fat
laugh
map

5. /eiy/ (3 of 7)
• This is a combination of two sounds /e/ and /iy/
• Tense your lips toward the end of the sound
• The sound is long
Examples:
ate
face
prey
eight

6. /ɔ/ (4 of 7)
• Drop your jaw
• Tense your lips and round them forward halfway
• The sound is long
Examples:
off
on
call
daughter
bought
cough
awful
lawn
caught

7. /æow/ (5 of 7)
• This is a combination of two sounds /æ/ and /ow/
• Move your lips from a spread position into a
circle
• The sound is long
Examples:
how
house
loud
brown

8. /a/ (6 of 7)
• Drop your jaw until your lips are relaxed
• The sound is short
Examples:
option
father
honor
doll

9. /aiy/ (7 of 7)
• It is a combination of two sounds /a/ and /iy/
• Round your lips at the beginning and spread
them at the end
• It is a long sound
Examples:
pie
dried
height
buy

10. CREDITS
• Yates, J. (2005) Pronounce it Perfectly in
English (2nd Edition). Barron’s Educational
Services: China