Vowels pronunciation with animal names

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Here is a vowels list with animal names to learn or teach the vowels for kids:

1- Long Vowels

A long vowel sound is the same as its name. Some dictionaries use the diacritical mark for a long vowel and it is called a macron (¯), which is in the shape of a line above the vowel.

When a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name), as in go and be. When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent. e.g., bake makes the /aɪ/ sound (long a) and the "e" is silent; goal makes the /oʊ/ sound (long o) and the "a" is silent. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, such as with irregular vowels.

When there are two adjacent vowels in a word, the first one is long and the second one is silent. The first vowel is marked with a long line and second one is crossed out. Examples of this rule are in coat, ride, read.

The following is a list of the 5 long vowel sounds in American English:

1- Long "a" (ā) sound /eɪ/ as in ape
2- Long "e" (ē) sound /i:/as in emus
3- Long "i" (ī) sound /aɪ/ as in ibis
4- Long "o" (ō) sound /oʊ/ as in okapi
5- Long "u" (ū) sound /ju/ as in unicorn

2- Short Vowels

When a vowel is followed by a consonant, the vowel is short. Some dictionaries use the diacritical mark for a short vowel and it is called a breve (˘), which is in the shape of a downturned arc.

A vowel is usually short when there is only one vowel in a word or syllable, as in cat, bed, hot. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as with irregular vowels.

The following is a list of the 5 short vowel sounds in American English:

1- Short "a" (ă) sound /æ/ as in antelope
2- Short "e" (ĕ) sound /ɛ/ as in elephant
3- Short "i" (ĭ) sound /ɪ/ as in inchworm
4- Short "o" (ŏ) sound /ɑ:/as in ostrich
5- Short "u" (ŭ) sound /ʌ/ as in umbrella bird

Schwa Sound: When you are speaking American English the vowel within the stressed syllables is longer, louder and higher in pitch. The vowel within the unstressed syllable is reduced and become a neutral, short vowel called Schwa and is pronounced with the tongue in the neutral or rest position as in the words /ə/   about, banana, collide

3- Complex Vowels

Besides long vowel sounds, short vowel sounds, and the schwa sound, there are some other special sounds in English that are represented by vowels.

There is both a long and short sound to “oo”. The short sound appears as in the words book, good, and took. The long sound appears as in the words booth, coo, and tooth.

With the complex "oo," there are others. They are as follows:

1- Complex short "oo" sound /ʊ/ as in woodpecker
2- Complex long "oo" sound /u:/ as in goose
3- Complex "aw" sound /ɔ/ (*) as in hawk
4- Complex "oi" sound /oɪ/as in oyster
5- Complex "ow" sound /aʊ/ as in cow


(*) 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.

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