©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

SB SA PART I. “Pure Vowels” (no gliding tongue or lips during

phonation of the vowel; use forward facial orientation)
The Frontal Vowels * = Rhyming rules
1. “eeeeeeeee” [Lessac “y buzz”]
a. Pete’s sneeze squeaked and leaked.
b. Deep dreams seem real.
c. Greedy sheep eat green leaves.
d.

2. Terminal –y
a. It was really awfully silly of Mary to marry Harry.

3. Short i
a. Jill flicked bills with ill will!
b. Fish-fins swim and spin.
*c. Don’t SNEER my DEAR! Have no FEAR. Come over HERE and have
some CHEER!
*d. Yawn when you SING to feel the RING, which gives you the PING
(which is the THING!)
e. (MIXED Short I and long eeeeeee) Believe and receive, but be not
deceived.

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©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

SB SA
4. SHORT e
a. Eggs smell best when fresh.
b. Friends lend pens, (not pins!)
c. Beth’s seven-cents bet made sense, (not since!)
d. The BEAR did not CARE to braid her HAIR.*

6. SHORT a
a. Sally’s black cab banged in a bad crash.
b. The fat cat sat on a rat.
c. Ask to pack the canned ham.
d. The bells RANG and SANG and went CLANG!*

7. “Harvard A”
a. This sound used only in dialects: Boston, Irish, etc.

7. short a and BROAD a - differences in American and Standard British

a. I CAN’T ASK FRANCES to lend a hand with HALF the DANCE, but
AUNT Fanny can.
b. Her AUNT took a BATH AFTER the bad DISASTER in the CASTLE
c. The man will ASK the CLASS to stand and ANSWER. It’s a fair CHANCE
that HALF can and HALF CAN’T.

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©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

SB SA The Medial Vowels

1. ER (Stressed)
a. Bert learned to surf Thursday.
b. Purple Smurf’s curls unfurl and twirl!
c. Myrtle’s girls heard her words.
1.1 ER (Unstressed)
e. Stronger, Greater, Faster
f. Nicer, Kinder, Gentler
2. SCHWA (Stressed)
a. Gus hugged the duck!
b. Lucky Monday is fun!
c. Bub shrugged and clutched the jug.
d. Bumps and ruts bug grumpy bus drivers!
2.1 SCHWA (Unstressed)
a. Unfurl the little crimson umbrella.
b. Apologies unlock the prison doors of bitterness.
SB SA The Back Vowels
1. LONG u (ooooooo) - #1 LIP OPENING
NOTE * = “Liquid u” as in “few” = fyoo
a. The school pool is too cool in June* at noon.
b. The tutor* tooted the flute a few* toots.
c. The group reviewed the huge new * tulips* too cruelly.
2. U – as in Should, Could, Would

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©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

a. Captain HOOK PUSHED the BUSHES by the BROOK. From where he

stood, it LOOKED like an AMBUSH.
b. BOOKS and BULLETINS were read from the PULPIT for the
neighborHOOD.
c. We TOOK the RURAL FOOTpath beside the CROOKED BROOK.
d. Hey SUGAR! It’s YOUR not yore, and SURE not shore!

3. “Backwards C” as in “awe” - #3 LIP Opening!

a. Shaw ought to walk all the small halls.
b. War-lords can’t afford short swords.
c. The flawed clause in the law caused a pause.

SB SA
4. SHORT o - #4 LIP opening
a. Odd moths seek soft moss under frosty logs.
b. Stop! Stop! (Don’t) Hop on POP!
c. John’s not hot on popular rock.

6. Broad a - #5 LIP Opening

a. Calm is a balm to father.
b. Carl farmed in the barn yard.*
c. Barbara’s large, stark apartment is near Harvard’s market.
c. The stars shine between the palms, starkly guarding the balmy

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©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

harbor.

5. MIXED BACK VOWELS

1. Father (#5) threw the ball (#3) to John (#4)!

PART II. The Diphthongs – two shapes within one sound,

requiring a glide of the lips or tongue
1. LONG A
a. Kate stayed away to play. Late in the day she made her way to the
place where the ladies stayed.
b. Ray’s zany escapade paved the way to jail without bail.
c. The croquet game remained delayed.
d. The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.

2. LONG i
a. Kyle’s tiger frightened Mike’s prize python.
b. The night-riders’ daylight flight was a mild drive.
c. The wild child cried and sighed for ninety-five miles.

SB SA

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©Anita Jo Lenhart 2020 – Sentences for Standard American Vowels –Sources include Edith Skinner and Arthur Lessac.

3. OW– as in “cow” or
a. Fowler plowed the ground around his house for sauerkraut.
b. The foul Count flouted his power before the rowdy crowd.
c. I doubt the council will allow the Crown to step down!
d. When asked, “How now?” the brown cow did not know how to take a
bow. (How now, Brown COW!?)
4. LONG o
a. Don’t go home alone in the snow. You’ll be cold and soaked and half
frozen.
b. Jones had a toehold on the steep slope, but still had to hold onto the
rope.
c. The potent boat slowly towed the showboat down the Ohio,( but
those old boats don’t float!)
d. Moses supposes his “toes-es” are roses, but Moses supposes
erroneously. For nobody’s “toes-es” are posies of roses as Moses
supposes his “toes-es” to be.
5. OY – as in “Boil”
a. The boys toiled in the boiling sun. They enjoyed avoiding noisy Roy.
b. The convoy foiled the attempt to destroy Troy.
c. Anoint the royal heads with oil!
d. What noise annoys a noisy oyster? A noisy noise annoys a noisy
oyster!