English Vowels
English vowel sounds are sometimes the hardest to
learn and remember. The vowel sound in "and" (æ),
the
vowel sound in "caught" (ä), and the vowel sound in "rut" (the "schwa" or
)
are the most important to learn well.
æ
This isn’t as common a sound as some vowel sounds, but it is very American, so if you are trying to sound as much as possible as a native speaker, and be clearly understood, you need to learn it. Notice that the phonetic symbol (æ) is a combination of "a" and "e". When you pronounce this, drop your jaw like you do when you say "ah", then without moving your jaw, try to say "eh". The sound you get should not be two separate vowel sounds, but a combination of both. Have you every heard a goat bawl? “maaaaaaah” That is very like the sound you should be making for "æ ". Pinch your nose as you say it if the sound is too nasal.
Annie, cat, bat, matter, chat, rap, flap, satin, ratify, man.
ä
"ä" is a very common sound in English. To say it, drop your jaw down and relax your tongue. If you put your hand under your chin, and say "ahhh", your hand should be pushed down by your lower jaw. “Ahhhhh” is the sound you make when the doctor looks at your throat.
Fought, not, shot, bought, convince, honest, farmer.
(the schwa,
pronounced "uh")
This is the most common vowel sound in American English. It can be any vowel, or a combination of vowels. It can be stresses, although it is usually unstressed. If you have a word where a vowel can be left out, and the pronunciation doesn’t change, that is probably a schwa. Since the schwa is in so many words, if you can’t learn to pronounce it, you will have a strong accent. If it is important to you to have as little an accent as possible, you need to learn to pronounce the schwa.
The schwa is a neutral sound without any distinct characteristics, but it is an actual sound (uh). It is never silent (see Silent ‘E’). To make this sound, push on your diaphragm until you produce small grunt—UH. You don’t move your lips or tongue or jaw. Be sure it is ‘uh’ and not ‘ahhh’.
undecided, fun, hum, under, bunny, position, come.
silent ‘E’
When "e" is at the end of a word, it isn’t pronounced. It is silent. The "‘e" is there to indicate that the preceding vowel is a "long" vowel. A long vowel is one that says the name of the letter: A, E, I, O, U. Without that silent "e", the word is pronounced and means something quite different.
Pine would be pin Rate would be rat One would by on
Hide would be hid Pale would be pal Rode would be rod