Tense Vowels

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Tense Vowels

Diphthongs: /aɪ/,/aʊ/,and /oɪ/

(a) /aɪ/ sky
(b) /aʊ/ loud
(c) /oɪ/ choice

Many languages don't have diphthongs. English has three. They are double vowels with two equal parts that require a lot of mouth, tongue, and jaw movement. As a result, they are quite long.

/i:/

(a) easy
(b) leaving
(c) she
(d) needy
(e) piece

This is a very tense vowel. It is the highest front vowel. It has a pure /i:/ sound but very long and moves even closer to the top of your mouth at the end.

There are several spellings for this sound: e, ee, ea, ie.

/eɪ/

(a) payday
(b) raise
(c) shape
(d) neighbor

This is a tense, long, mid-front vowel. It has a gliding movement of the tongue upward and forward, from pure /e/ to /ɪ/, giving it a diphthong-like quality.

Some common spellings for this sound are ai, ay, eigh.

/u:/

(a) do
(b) food
(c) suit
(d) soup
(e) use
(f) new

This is the highest back vowel, and like the other tense vowels of English. It is not pure. It is a long /u/.

/oʊ/

(a) no
(b) most
(c) broke
(d) snow
(e) boat

The /oʊ/ sound is a tense, mid-back vowel. Many language use the shorter, pure /o/, but the English /oʊ/ is glide up into a /ʊ/.

Some common spellings for the sound are o, ow, oa.

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