Monophthongs

1
Monphthong
  A monophthong is a single,
single, pure vowel
sound.
 While pronouncing a monophthong, the
positions of the mouth and tongue remain
fixed.
There are twelve (12) English diphthongs
altogether. They are:-
 /i:/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /u:/, /ɒ/, /ɔ:/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/, /e/,
 /ə/, /æ/ and /ɜ:/.
Short: ɪ e æ ɒ ʊ ʌ ə
Long: i: u: ɑ: ɔ: ɜ:
 ɪ - pit
 e - pet
 æ - pat
 ɒ - pot
 ʊ - good
 ʌ - luck
 ə - ago
 i: - meat
 u: - tool
 ɑ: - car
 ɔ: - door
 ɜ: - girl
 /ɪ / Lips loosely spread. Tongue lax
with less tension than / i: / - p i t
 /e/ Lips loosely spread and slightly
wider apart than / ɪ / - p e t
 /æ/ Lips neutrally open and slightly
wider apart than / e / - p a t
 /ɒ/ Open lip-rounding, wide open jaws, back
of tongue low - p o t
 /ʊ/ Lips loose, but closely rounded. Tongue
not as tense as in /u:/ - g oo d
 /ʌ/ Lips neutrally open. Open jaws.
Centralized quality - l u ck
 /ə/ Lips in neutral position. Centralized.
Tongue slightly higher than in /ʌ/ - a go
 /i:/ Lips spread. Tongue tense (front raised)
with sides touching upper molars - m ea t
 /u:/ Lips closely rounded. Back of tongue
high. Tense compared with /ʊ/ - t oo l
 /ɑ:/ Lips neutrally open and jaws far apart.
Centre to back of tongue fully open - c a r 
 /ɔ:/ Medium lip rounding. Tongue drawn
back making no contact with upper
molars - d oo r
 /ɜ:/ Lips neutrally spread. Tongue slightly
higher than /ə/ (no firm contact with upper
molars) - g i r l
Vowel Chart
Tongue Height
 If you repeat to yourself the vowel sounds in
 /æ/ , you will find that you
seat  /i :/  , set  /e/ , sat 
open your mouth a little wider as you change
from each sound, from close to open.
 These varying degrees of openness
correspond to different degrees of tongue
height: high, mid, low.
 High vowels are made with the front of the
mouth less open or close because the
tongue body is raised, or high.
 Mid vowels are produced with an
intermediate tongue height that causes semi-
close and semi-open.
 Low vowels are pronounced with the front of
the mouth open and the tongue lowered.
Tongue Advancement
 Besides being held high or mid or low,
the tongue can also be pushed forward
or pulled back within the oral cavity.
 For example, in beat  /i:/ , the body of the
tongue is raised and pushed forward so
it is just under the hard palate.
 In boot  /u :/ , however, the body of the tongue
is in the back of the mouth, toward the velum.
 The tongue is advanced or pushed forward
for all the front vowels, and retracted or
pulled back for the back vowels.
Lip Rounding
 Vowel quality also depends on lip
position. When you say two, your lips
are rounded.
 For tea, however, they are unrounded.
Tense vs. Lax
 Vowels that are called tense are
produced with an extra degree of
muscular effort.
 Lax vowels lack this extra effort.