V o w e l s

The following table displays and describes the different IPA vowels and
diphthongs. Click on a vowel to hear an audio clip. (Note: The audio clips
may not play well in the media bar of Internet Explorer. Use another
player or download the links to disk.)
Vowel Description Example

forward vowel as in beet

forward vowel as in bit

forward vowel as in chaotic

diphthong as in bait

forward vowel as in bet

diphthong as in bat

forward vowel
as in Boston
(as spoken by New
Englanders)

diphthong as in by

diphthong as in house

back vowel as in boot

diphthong as in abuse

back vowel as in book

back vowel as in pillow

diphthong as in boat

back vowel as in awe

diphthong as in boy

back vowel as in father

central vowel, stressed as in bud

central vowel, unstressed (schwa) as in appeal

central vowel with r, stressed as in burr

central vowel with r, unstressed (hooked
schwa)
as in butter

central vowel, r-less as in bird
k
Back Vowels
All material in this site
from:
Your Voice and
Articulation by Ethel C.
Glenn, Phillip J. Glenn, and
Sandra Forman
4th edition, Allyn and
Bacon, 1998
This page is dedicated to the production of the BACK VOWEL sounds.
Click on symbols below to go to practice area.

lowest back vowel

low back vowel

pure vowel, middle back vowel

high back vowel

highest back vowel



is the lowest back vowel
To form the phoneme , drop the jaw to its lowest position. Open the mouth
wide and slightly tense the back of the tongue.
click for sound
Orthographic spellings:
a = charm


o = hot


e = sergeant


ua = guard


ea = hearth


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is a low back vowel.
To form the phoneme , raise the back of the tongue toward the soft palate
slightly more than for . There is minor tension in the tongue and a beginning
of lip rounding.
click for sound
Orthographic spellings:
a = fall


aw = crawl


au = taught


ou = ought


o = cost


oa = broad


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is a pure, middle back vowel.
The phoneme is comparable to the diphthong . Be sure to read the
entire explanation on page 176 of the textbook.
click for sound
Orthographic spellings:

obey



okay



opaque



old



oak



oar


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is a high back vowel.
To form the phoneme , arch the back of the tongue high toward the soft
palate. The lips are rounded, but slightly less than for the highest back vowel.
click for sound
Orthographic spellings:
u = pull


oo = cook


ou = should


o = wolf


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is the highest back vowel.
To form the phoneme , open mouth slightly, round the lips as much as
possible, and arch the back of the tongue high, nearly touching the soft palate.
click for sound
Orthographic spellings:
oo = pool


o = do


oe = shoe


ou = soup


ew = grew


ue = due


ough = through


ous = rendezvous


ui = fruit


wo = two


u = gnu


eu =
bleu
cheese



1 Back Vowels
produced by shifting the body of the tongue back from central position
tip of tongue remains at level of lower teeth
5 back vowels: 2 tense, 2 lax, 2 rounded
high, mid and low
2 /u/
key word: hoot
highest boundary for back vowel
3 DESCRIPTION
height: high
advancement: back
lip rounding: rounded
tense/lax: tense
4 Orthography
29 different spellings
oo - boot
u - truly
u-e - rule
o - do
oe - shoe
ew - crew
ough - through
5 Characteristics
90% of kids have mastery at 2 to 3.0
16th in frequency in vowels; 35th in frequency of all sounds
rarely in initial position (exception - opps)
middle and final: noon, two
one of the vowels most frequently correct
little problem for non-native speakers
6 Uniqueness
joins with a glide /j/ in words that sound like the letter
example:you - /ju/, few - /fju/
7 / /
key word: hood
tongue body slightly lower than /u/
never occurs in final position of English wordsback vowels 2
8 Description
height: high
advancement: back
lip rounding: rounded
tense/lax: lax
9 Orthography
12 different spellings
most common: u as in put
oo as in foot
ou as in could
10 Characteristics
90% of kids have mastery at 3 to 4 years
15th in frequency in vowels; 35th in frequency of all sounds
rarely in initial position (exception - opps) and final position
one of the most often incorrect in kids with phonological disorders
a problem sound for non-native speakers
11 /o/
key word: owed
very common in world languages
/o/ establishes mid-space for back vowels
tongue retracted at mid-plane
12 Description
height: high- mid
advancement: back
lip rounding: rounded
tense/lax: tense
13 Orthography
23 different spelling
most common - o - no
o-e - note
oa - coal
ew - sew
ow - know
oe - hoeback vowels 3
14 Characteristics
occurs in initial, middle and final positions in words: oatmeal, boat, toe
90% of kids master by 2 to 3
8th in vowel frequency
infrequent problem with kids and non - native speakers
15 Uniqueness
may be produced as a diphthong in stressed syllable
contrast vowel in prohibit vs slow
transcribed as /o/ as monothong
transcribed as /o / as diphthong
text refers to this as allophonic variation
16 / /
key word: dog, ought
many speakers do not have this sound as part of their dialect
prevalent for eastern and southern speakers
tongue retracted and almost flat in mouth
17 Description
height: low- mid
advancement: back
lip rounding: rounded
tense/lax: tense (others lax)
18 Orthography
17 different spellings
most common - o - cloth
a - fall
au - caught
aw - yaw
augh - taught
ough - thought
19 Characteristics
occurs in initial, middle and final positions in words: office, cross, jaw
90% of kids master by 5 to 6
14th in vowel frequency
infrequent problem with kids
non - native speakers are OK if sound in their dialect: otherwise, have to drillback vowels
4
20 / /
key word: hot
only back vowel that is unrounded
among the last to appear in kids
most common vowel in the languages of the world
21 Description
height: low
advancement: back
lip rounding: retracted
tense/lax: tense
22 Orthography
16 different spellings
most common (99%of the time) - o
aa - bazaar
ua - guard
23 Characteristics
occurs in initial, middle and final positions in words: olive, clock, shah
90% of kids master by 3
5th in vowel frequency
infrequent problem with kids and non - native speakers