Short and long vowel

sounds (positions)

Ma. Erika Hernandez

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/vowels/

What are vowels?

Letters and speech sounds are divided into two categories: sounds where the air is blocked
by the lips, tongue, or throat before leaving the mouth and sounds where the air is not
blocked. Consonants represent sounds that are blocked; vowels represent sounds that are
not blocked.
While consonant sounds are differentiated by how the air is blocked—such as sticking the
tongue behind the front teeth for d and t, or closing the lips for b, m, and p—vowel sounds
are differentiated by pitch, accent, volume, and duration.
So, what are the vowels? The letters a, e, i, o, u—and sometimes y—are vowels. However,
some consonants, like h, r, and w, can also make vowel sounds. In grammar, these letters
are still considered consonants and don’t follow the vowel rules.
When do you need a vowel?

Unlike consonants, every word needs at least one

vowel. There are a small number of exceptions, but in
general, this is the rule. In fact, the shortest words in the
English language are one letter, and they’re both vowels:
the article a and the pronoun I.

Moreover, every syllable also needs a vowel sound. If a

word has more than one syllable, it then needs more
than one vowel.
Even though there are only five (sometimes six) vowels in the alphabet, they can be
combined in a variety of ways to change their sounds, which results in more than a
dozen distinct vowel sounds in American English. Without getting too confusing,
we can divide these vowel sounds into two categories: short vowels and long
vowels.
Short vowels are the standard pronunciation of vowels—usually when there is
only one vowel in the word—especially in short words.
Long vowels are a little more complex. Generally, they’re created by combining
two vowels, where one is typically silent. Often, they’re pronounced like the name
of the vowel; for example, the long vowel sound in eat is pronounced like the name
of letter e.
 Short
vowels
sounds

R-colored Long
vowel vowels
sounds sounds
Vowels

Diphthongs Monophthongs
 Short vowel
sounds
The term short vowel is used to refer to the
sounds that most often correspond to the
letters 'a,' 'e,' 'i,' 'o,' and 'u' when the vowel
occurs individually between consonants
(Consonant-Vowel-Consonant, or CVC
pattern). It is important to note that the
term short is not referring to the length of
time the vowel sound is pronounced—it is
merely a label.

• https://pronuncian.com/introduction-to-short-vowels#:~:text=Podcasts%2F-
,Learn%20About%20English%20Short%20Vowel%20Pronunciation,vowel%20occurs%20individually%20between%20consonants.
 Long vowel
sounds
Long vowel is the term used to refer to
vowel sounds whose pronunciation is the
same as its letter name. The five vowels of
the English spelling system ('a', 'e,' 'i,' 'o,' and
'u') each have a corresponding long vowel
sound /eɪ/, /i/, /ɑɪ/, /oʊ/, /yu/. Long vowels
are generally the easiest vowels for non-
native English speakers to distinguish and j j
pronounce correctly.

• https://pronuncian.com/introduction-to-long-
vowels#:~:text='Long%20vowel'%20is%20the%20term,o%CA%8A%2F%2C%20%2Fyu%2F.
vowel space chart

Front low-mid
unrounded vowel
known as
cardinal vowel
no. 3. This is
transcribed as

high-mid
unrounded
vowel known
as cardinal
vowel no. 2.
https://soundsamerican.net/
At the beginning In the middle At the end
/i/ spelled:
Eat mean he
Eel Need bee Lips tense “e” “ee” “ea” “ie” “ei”
and in a
smile He See Is Niece Either
position

ˈpræktɪs
1. si ju ðɪs wik.
2. si ju ðɪs ˈivnɪŋ.
Jaw
3. plizd tu mit ju. completely
4. stiv its krim ʧiz. raised
5. ʃi rəˈsivd hɜr ˈtiʧɪŋ dɪˈɡri. /Reɪzd/

Practice
1. See you this week.
2. See you this evening. Tongue
high near
3. Pleased to meet you. the roof of
the mouth
4. Steve eats cream cheese.
5. She received her teaching degree. https://youtu.be/PIu5WDIco0I
At the beginning In the middle
/ɪ/ spelled:
Is Pin
If Lift Lips “y” – “ui” “i”
relaxed and
slightly Gym Build Sin
parted.
ˈpræktɪs Less frequent spelling patterns :
1. ðɪs ɪz ɪt. “o”, “e”, “u”, “ee”
2. wɑt ɪz ðɪs? Women – pretty – busy – been
3. brɪŋ ðɪs ɡɪft tu ʤɪm.
4. aɪ wɪl sɪt ɪn ə ˈmɪnət.
5. wɪʧ kwɪlt dɪd ju pɪk?. Jaw slightly The most common
lower than spelling pattern for /ɪ/
for /i/ is the letter ‘i’
followed by a final
consonant.
Practice
1. This is it.
2. What is this? Tongue is
3. Bring this gift to Jim. high, but
4. I will sit in a minute. lower than
5. Which quilt did you pick? for /i/

https://youtu.be/Ok_HG-0lNCA
 Repeat the pairs of words and sentences
/i/ /ɪ/
/list/ • List /lɪst/
• Least
/sit/ /sɪt/
• Seat • Sit /fɪt/
/fit/
• Feet • Fit /hɪt ɪt naʊ/
/hit ɪt naʊ/
• Heat it now /ʧeɪnʤ ðə wil/ • Hit it now /ʧeɪnʤ ðə wɪl/
• Change the wheel • Change the will
At the beginning In the middle
Any Bed
Spelled:
Lips are
Edge West
slightly
spread and
unround
Less frequent spelling pattern
“a”, “ai”, “ie”, “ue”, “eo”
any, again, friend, guest, leopard

Jaw is
open more
than for
/eɪ/
Practice
1. Head of lettuce.
2. Breakfast is ready at ten.
3. The weather is better in September.
Tongue is
ˈpræktɪs midlevel in
1. hɛd ʌv ˈlɛtəs. the mouth
2. ˈbrɛkfəst ɪz ˈrɛdi æt tɛn.
3. ðə ˈwɛðər ɪz ˈbɛtər ɪn sɛpˈtɛmbər.
https://youtu.be/OLG3cCLcNiI
At the beginning In the middle
Spelled:
At Back
And Happy
Lips are
spread.
Less frequent spelling pattern
“au”
Laugh – laughter

Jaw is
open wider
than for
/ɛ/.
Practice
1. Last chance.
2. Ralph can’t stand carrots.
3. Happily married.
Tongue is
low near
ˈpræktɪs the floor of
1. læst ʧæns. the mouth.
2. rælf kænt stænd ˈkærəts. - https://youtu.be/mynucZiy-Ug
3. ˈhæpəli ˈmɛrid.
- https://youtu.be/-i7-DDAW-ok?list=RDCMUCvn_XCl_mgQmt3sD753zdJA