Vowels
| Vowels | |||||
| front | near-front | central | near-back | back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| close | i • y | 1 • } | M • u | ||
| near-close | I • Y | U | |||
| close-mid | e • 2 | @\ • 8 | 7 • o | ||
| mid | @ | ||||
| open-mid | E • 9 | 3 • 3\ | V • O | ||
| near-open | { | 6 | |||
| open | a • & | A • Q | |||
Vowel modifiers:
- after a vowel indicates that it is nasalised (e.g. French bon ).
- after a vowel indicates that it is lengthened (e.g. Japanese shōshō, English see ).
- after a vowel indicates rhoticity (e.g. US English bird ).
- non syllabic vowel (IPA subscript arch)
| SAMPA: simplified list of vowels | |||
| SAMPA | IPA | Description | Examples |
| i | i | front closed unrounded vowel | English see, Spanish sí, French vite, German mi.e.ten, Italian visto |
| I | ɪ (small capital I) | front closed unrounded vowel, but somewhat more
centralised and relaxed |
English city, German mit |
| e | e | front half closed unrounded vowel | US English bear, Spanish él, French année, German mehr, Italian rete, Catalan més |
| E | ɛ | front half open unrounded vowel | English bed, French même,German Herr, Männer,
Italian ferro, Catalan mes, Spanish perro |
| { | ae ligature, æ | front open unrounded vowel | English cat |
| y | y | front closed rounded vowel | French du, German Tür |
| 2 | slashed o, ø | front half closed rounded vowel | French deux (hence '2'), German Höhle |
| 9 | oe ligature, œ | front half open rounded vowel | French neuf (hence '9'), German Hölle |
| 1 | overstroked i, |
central closed unrounded vowel | Russian мыс 'cape' |
| @ | ə (turned down e) schwa | central neutral unrounded vowel | English about, winner,German bitte |
| 6 | ɐ (turned down a) open schwa | central neutral unrounded vowel | German besser |
| 3 | ɜ (Greek epsilon mirrored to the left) | front half open unrounded vowel, but somewhat more
centralised and relaxed |
English bird |
| a | a | central open vowel | Spanish da, barra, French bateau,
lac, German Haar, Italian pazzo |
| } | overstroked u, ʉ | central closed rounded vowel | Scottish English pool, Swedish sju |
| 8 | overstroked o, ɵ | central neutral rounded vowel | Swedish kust |
| & | small capital OE ligature, ɶ | front open rounded vowel | American English that |
| M | ɯ (upside-down m) | back closed unrounded vowel | Japanese fuji, Vietnamese ư Korean 으 |
| 7 | ɤ (squeezed Greek gamma) | back half closed unrounded vowel | Vietnamese ơ Korean 어 |
| V | ʌ (turned down v) | back half open unrounded vowel | RP and US English run, enough |
| A | ɑ ('d' with no upper tail) | back open unrounded vowel | English arm, US English law, standard French âme |
| u | u | back closed rounded vowel | English soon, Spanish tú, French
goût, German Hut, Mutter, Italian azzurro, tutto |
| U | ʊ (turned down small capital Greek omega) | back closed rounded vowel somewhat more centralised
and relaxed |
English put, (non-US)Buddhist |
| o | o | back half closed rounded vowel | US English sore, Scottish English boat, Spanish yo, French beau, German Sohle, Italian dove, Catalan ona |
| O | ɔ (c mirrored to the left) | back half open rounded vowel | British English law, caught, Italian cosa, Catalan dona, Spanish ojo, German Wort |
| Q | ɒ ('b' with no upper tail) | back open rounded vowel | British English not, cough |
Stress is indicated by for primary stress, and for secondary stress, placed before the stressed syllable.
Read more about this topic: Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet Chart
Famous quotes containing the word vowels:
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“As no one can tell what was the Roman pronunciation, each nation makes the Latin conform, for the most part, to the rules of its own language; so that with us of the vowels only A has a peculiar sound.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Playing “bop” is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)