4.6 How to Teach Articulation: Vowels, Diphthongs, and Vowel-r
Articulation Skill Explainer
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Morgan Walton: I am going to demonstrate how to pronounce the vowel sounds. I'm going to start with the short vowel sounds. Vowels spell the short sound when they're enclosed-syllable words ... /ă/ as in apple ... /ĕ/ as in edge ... /ĭ/ as in itch ... /ŏ/ as in octopus ... /ŭ/ as in up. The next group of vowel sounds are long vowels. Vowels spell the long sound when they're found in an open syllable. The silent 'e' syllable, and some vowel teams ... /ā/ as in acorn ... /ē/ as in eagle ... /ī/ as in ice ... /ō/ as in oval ... /ū/ as in unicorn. The next group of vowel sounds are spelled with vowel teams or diphthongs. They make a distinct sound that is neither long or short ... /aw/ as in "saw" ... /o͞o/ as in ooze ... /o͝o/ as in book ... /ow/ as in house ... /oi/ as in oink. The next set of vowels are called r-controlled vowels ... /ar/ as in "arm" ... /er/ as in bird, fern, and turn ... /or/ as in horn. The last sound is called schwa. Schwa is the sound that we say in an unstressed syllable ... /ə/ as in balloon.
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Antonio Fierro: On the vowel valley, I have all the vowel sounds of the English language. And we can start from a very tight smile, /ē/. Alright? And think about how is that sound made? How is that phoneme made? That's a tight smile, /ē/ ... I drop my chin just a little bit more /ĭ/, /ā/, /ĕ/, /ă/, /ī/, /ŏ/, /ŭ/, /aw/, /ō/, /oo/, /ōō/, and /ū/. But what about my diphthongs? /oy/, /ow/ ... And then my vowel-r's as well ... /er/, /ar/, /or/. And then there's that pesky schwa, /ə/, that can sound like a short 'i', I'm sorry, short 'u' ... /ŭ/ or this short 'i' ... /ĭ/.
| Vowel Sound | Description | Example Word |
|---|---|---|
| /ă/ | The mouth is slightly open and the tongue is at the bottom of the mouth. | cat |
| /ā/ | The mouth is open and the tongue is in the bottom of the mouth. | cake |
| /ĕ/ | The mouth is slightly open and the tongue is relaxed in the middle of the mouth. The tip of the tongue rests on the back of the bottom teeth. | bed |
| /ē/ | The mouth is spread wide in a smile and the tongue is lifted. | me |
| /ĭ/ | The mouth is spread wide and the teeth are slightly apart. The tongue is lifted slightly. | itch |
| /ī/ | The mouth is partially open and the tongue is in the bottom of the mouth. | ice |
| /ŏ/ | The mouth is open wide and the tongue is in the bottom of the mouth. | fox |
| /ō/ | The mouth is open in a circular shape. | go |
| /ǔ/ | The mouth is mostly open and the tongue is in the middle of the mouth and pulled back | up |
| /ū/ | The mouth is puckered in a circular shape and the tongue is lifted. | fuse |
| /o͝o/ | The mouth is slightly puckered in a circular shape and the tongue is lifted. | book |
| /o͞o/ | The mouth is puckered in a circular shape and the tongue is lifted. | ooze |
| /aw/ (also spelled /au/) | The mouth is open wide. The pronunciation differs by region. | saw |
| schwa | The mouth is slightly open and the tongue is in the center of the mouth. It is an unstressed syllable. | (a)bout |
| Sound | Description | Example Word |
|---|---|---|
| /oi/ (also spelled /oy/) | Produced with two sounds. The mouth starts with the tongue in the middle of the mouth and pulled back, with rounded lips and jaw lowered. Then the tongue moves upward and forward as the jaw closes and lips move to a slight smile. One sound slides into the other. | toy |
| /ow/ (also spelled /ou/) | Produced with two sounds. The mouth starts open; then the lips purse in a circular shape. One sound slides into the other. | cow |
| Sound | Description | Example Word |
|---|---|---|
| /er/ (also spelled /ir/ and /ur/) | /er/ is a blended sound shaped by the ‘r’. Use example words to teach this sound. | her, bird, burn |
| /or/ | /or/ is a blended sound shaped by the ‘r’. Use example words to teach this sound. | horn |
| /ar/ | /ar/ is a blended sound shaped by the ‘r’. Use example words to teach this sound. | arm |
