MAKALAH PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUND

This Paper Is Prepared To Fulfill Group Assignments

Subject : Pronunciation
Supporting Lecturer   : YANI LUBIS,S.Ag,M.Hum

Arranged by :
Groups 2 TBI 3

 ARYA WIRANDA (0304213049)

 DWI FATIMAH (0304213074)
 FADLAH PUTRI SABILA (0304213037)
 NAZWA AIZUHDA (0304213096)
 NOVI YANTI (0304213106)

ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
ISLAMIC STATE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATRA
MEDAN
2021
 FOREWORD
Alhamdullilahirobbil’alamin, praise is merely to the Almighty Allah SWT for
the gracious mercy and tremendeous blessing that enables us to accomplish this
paper. Thanks to Him for helping and giving us chance to finish this assignment
timely. Sholawat and salam are alwaysdelivered for the Sublimest, the Biggest
Prophet Muhammad SAW, who has brought us from the darkness to the lightness, the
world that full of knowledges.
This assignment is one of English task in English Educational Program at
UINSU MEDAN of Pronounciation Lesson. We would like to say thank you to Sir
YaniLubis,S.Ag,M.Hum as the lecturer that always teaches us and gives much
knowledge about Pronounciation. Hopefully, this paper can help the readers to
expand their knowledge about English Pronounciation. And we also hope, we as a
students of UINSU MEDAN can work more professional by using English as the
second language whatever we done.
The last, writers wish to express his deep and sincere gratitude for those who
have helped in completing this paper morality and materiality. We realized that this
assignment is not perfect. But we hope it can be useful for us, especially for the
students of UINSU MEDAN . Critics and suggestion is needed here to make this
assignment be better.

                                                                                                
                                                           
Medan, November 16th 2021

Author
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD................................................................................................ i
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................ ii
CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY
A. Background Of The Study.....................................................................4
B. Statements Of The Problem................................................................. 4
C. Objectives Of The Study...................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION
1. Definition Of vowel sound................................................................... 5
2. Vowel Chart......................................................................................... 7
3. Types of Vowel sound.......................................................................... 8
CHAPTER III CLOSING
A. Conclusion.......................................................................................... 14
B. Suggestion.......................................................................................... 14
REFERENCE............................................................................................. 15
 CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY

A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Every vowel sound without exception has different value in british English and
American English in addition,the next problem which cause the mistakes in
pronunciation is most learners of English always make generalization of all vowel
sound. Vowels are articulated when a voiced airstream is shaped using the tounge
and the lips to modify the overall shapes of the mouth. From a phonetic point of
view, vowels are articulated with a relatively open configuration of the vocal tract
: no part of the mouth is closed and none of the vocal organs come so close
together that we can hear the sound of the air passing between them. In English
vowels all oral vowels and take on a nasal quality only when they are bring
influenced by adjacent nasal consonant as in no, long and man.

B. STATEMENTS OF THE PROBLEM

a) What is the vowel sound?
b) What kinds of sound?
c) What is correct way to read?

C. OBJECTIVITAS OF THE STUDY

a) To know defenition of vowel sound
b) To know kinds of sound
c) To know correct pronunciation
 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. VOWELS SOUNDS
1. DEFINITION OF VOWELS SOUNDS
A vowel is a sound made by the relatively free movement of air through the
mouth, usually forming the main sound of a syllable.
You need to understand the basic conceptual separation of letters and sounds in
English.

The letter vowels are:

A, e, i, o, and u.

Many languages have pure vowels, when the tongue and lips are relatively
stationary while these vowels are being pronounced. But many of the vowels in
English are not pure. This means they are lengthened and spoken with the tongue
moving from one sound into another sound.

There are 15 vowels sounds in English:

1. /i:/ eat, bead, bee

2. /ɪ/ id, bid, pit
3. /eɪ/ eight, wade, bay
4. /ɛ/ bet, fed
5. /æ/ ask, bat, glad
6. /ʌ/ under, putt, bud
7. /ɑ:/ cot, bomb
8. /u:/ boot, two, tube
9. /ʊ/ foot, should, put
10. /oʊ/ oat, own, zone, blow
11. /ɔ/ caught, paw, port
12. /ɚ/ merge, bird, further
Diptongs:
13. /aɪ/ ice, bite, tie
14. /aʊ/ out, gown, plow
15. /oɪ/ oyster, coil, boy

All 12 main vowel sounds in English and the three diphthongs are organized and
described in terms of the following characteristics:

The American English vowel sounds are described in terms of height (high,
middle, low); backness (front, central, back); lip position (rounded, spread or
unrounded); length (short, long, complex); and tenseness (lax, tense).

1- HEIGHT: Tongue Position in the mouth:

High (/i:/, /ɪ/, /ɚ/, /u:/, /ʊ/)
Middle (/eɪ/, /ɛ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /oʊ/)
Low (/æ/, /ɑ:/, /ɔ/)

2- BACKNESS: Far front or back the tongue is in the mouth:

Front (/i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/)
Central (/ɚ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/)
Back (/u:/, /ʊ/, /oʊ/, /ɔ/)

3- LIP POSITION: Whether the lips are rounded (O-shape) or

spread (no rounding) when the sound is being made:
Unrounded (/i:/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɚ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɑ:/
Rounded (/u:/, /ʊ/, /oʊ/, /ɔ/)

4- LENGTH: Represents vowel sound has one or two parts:

 Short (/ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/)
Long (/i:/, /eɪ/, /ju/, /oʊ/, and the diphthong /aɪ/)
Complex (/u:/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/, and the diphthongs /aʊ/, /oɪ/)

5- TENSENESS: Refers to the amount of muscular tension around

the mouth when creating vowel sounds:
Lax ( /i/ and /u/ *, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/, /ʊ/)
Tense (/i:/, /eɪ/, /ɚ/, /u:/, /ɔ/, /oʊ/, and the diphthongs /aɪ/, /aʊ/, /oɪ/)*/i/ and
/u/ weak sounds

2. VOWELS CHART
This chart show the height, backness, and tenseness of the vowels:

VOWELS Tense/Lax FRONT CENTRAL BACK

Tense i: ɚ u:

HIGH

Lax ɪ ʊ

Tense eɪ oʊ

MIDDLE

Lax ɛ ʌ (ə) (**)

Tense
LOW
Lax æ ɑ ɔ (*)
(*) Not in all dialects. In this website, the /ɔ/ vowel sound is changed by the /ɑ:/
vowel sound because it was decided not to indicate the contrast between words
like tot /ˈtɑ:t/ and taught /ˈtɔ:t/, since this contrast isn’t made by a large number of
American native speakers, and isn’t necessary for non-native speakers to learn,
using as reference the Merriam-Webster's Learner Dictionary.

The neutral vowel sound

(**) Transcription symbols that are generally used to represent the neutral sound
are /ʌ/ - vowel No. 6 (caret symbol) in stressed syllables as in gun /ˈgʌn/, son
/ˈsʌn/, undone /ˌʌnˈdʌn/; and vowel sound /ə/ (schwa symbol) in unstressed
syllables as in away /əˈweɪ/, article /ˈɑɚtɪkəl/, minus /ˈmaɪnəs/. In American ESL
materials, the schwa symbol /ə/ is very often used for the neutral sound in both
stressed and unstressed syllables: gun /gən/, son /sən/, undone /ənˈdən/, away /ə
ˈweɪ/, article /ˈɑɚtɪkəl/, minus //ˈmaɪnəs/. For your information, the caret looks
like a triangle without a base (or turned v), and the schwa looks like inverted "e".

3. TYPES OF VOWEL SOUNDS

a) Monophthongs
Also known as pure and stable vowels because the monophthong articulated
as one sound just like the original form of the letter.

Below are some of the pronunciation symbols of the monophthong vowel

letters and the example for each.

Hit [i]
Lick [I]
Beg [e]
 Fed [ɛ]
Glad [æ]
Two [u]
Should [ʊ]

b) Diphthongs
The diphthong is a sound formed by two vowels that are articulated like a
single syllable. Usually it begins with a vowel, then moves on to other vowels
as we spell out the syllable.

We use the digraph symbol to represent a diphthong vowel. These are the list
of the examples:

Sight [aɪ]
Mouse [aʊ]
Toy [ɔɪ]
Make [eɪ]
Fur [ʊə]

c) Close Vowel
Close vowel occurs when our tongue raises towards the roof of our mouth.
Because of that, our mouth will be closed, so it’s called a close vowel.
However, the close vowel category can be more specific based on the
intensity of more high or more low our tongue is.

We can use the vowel chart to make it easier for us to identify the close
vowels. Here are the examples:
 Close :
[i] See
[i:] Any
[u] Ooze

Near close :
[ɪ] Lit
[ʊ] Book

Close mid :
[e] Bait
[o] Hope
[θ] Thing

d) Open Vowel
When we spell the open vowel, our tongue will move down towards the lower
jaw that makes our mouth open, so it’s called an open vowel.

Let’s look to the word that include an open vowel in it.

Open mid :
[ɛ] Head
[ɔ] Small

[ʌ] Fun

Near open :
[æ] Laugh
[ɒ] Lot
 Open :
[a] Snake
[ä] Ethiopic
[ɑ] Spa

e) Front Vowel
When we placed our tongue in the front section of our mouth as we spelled a
word, it makes the vowel called the front vowel. However, it must not create
any constriction with its pronunciation that can turn it into a consonant.

These are the vowel that include in the front vowels:

Island [i]
East [e]
Have [a]
Pin [ɪ]
Cake [eɪ]
Cat [æ]

f) Central Vowel
Central vowel or later known as a mixed vowel (schwa), is a type of vowel
that positioned your tongue halfway, between the front and back section of
your mouth.

The following are the examples of central vowel:

Earth [ɛ]
 Teacher [ə]
Nut [ʌ]

g) Back Vowel
When we placed our tongue at the back section of our mouth as we spelled a
word, it makes the back vowel sounds.

Examples of back vowel:

Book [u]
Egyptian [ỉ]
Go [o]
Oops [U]
All [)]

h) Rounded Vowel
In this case, our mouth will form like a circle when we articulate a syllable
with a rounded vowel in it.

Examples of rounded vowels:

Note
Look
Rule
Boot
Well (semivowel)
i) Unrounded Vowel
When we spell a word with an unrounded vowel, our mouth will be open
sideways.
 Examples of unrounded vowels:

Milk
Sew
Desk
Ask
Wave

j) Tense Vowel
We need to give more effort and use more muscle to articulate this kind of
vowel. And also, our tongue slightly goes to a higher position and doing its
job for more duration than the lax vowels.

Below are the examples of tense vowel:

Palm
Thought
Nurse
Goose
Fleece

k) Lax Vowel
This kind of vowel needs consonants to follow it. They do not occur alone at
the ends of the word. Lax vowels are also shorter than tense vowels.

Below are the example of lax Vowels:

 Ink
 Red
 Said
  Sand
 Brother
 Gone
 Pull
 Teacher

CHAPTER III
CLOSING
A. Conclusion
Vowels are sounds in spoken language characterized by open vocal cords so that no air
pressure collects above the glottis. Vowels in contrast to consonants are characterized by
the closure of one or more points of articulation along the vocal tract.
Pure vowels are also known as monophthongs because they give a single sound when
pronouncing words
It's interesting to hear the different accents of English speaking people around the world.
There are many differences between American and British English.
Even in America itself, there will be many variations of accent depending on the region.
Always pay attention to language variations.
and vowel sounds have many variants or different ways of reading that we have to learn

B. Suggestion
The auther gives advice to all readers to really read the material and
understand the material that has been described above in order to add insight into
knowledge about vowel sounds.
 REFERENCE

https://engoo.id/app/lessons/vowels-%C9%99-%C3%A6/w6WadCnFEeeW01-36cd-JA

http://ingles-americano.blogspot.com/2011/07/vowel-sounds.html

https://www.englishbix.com/types-of-vowels-in-english/