Pronounce the Vowel Sounds

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.