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A vowel letter can represent different vowel sounds: hat [hæt], hate [heit], all [o:l], art [a:rt], any ['eni].
(Одна гласная буква может передавать разные гласные звуки: hat [hæt], hate [heit], all [o:l], art [a:rt], any ['eni].)
The same vowel sound is often represented by different vowel letters in writing: [ei] they, weigh, may, cake, steak, rain.
(Один и тот же гласный звук часто представлен разными гласными буквами на письме: [ei] they, weigh, may, cake, steak, rain.)
(Открытые и закрытые слоги)
Open syllable: Kate [keit], Pete [pi:t], note [nout], site [sait], cute [kyu:t].
Closed syllable: cat [kæt], pet [pet], not [not], sit [sit], cut (the neutral sound [ə]).
The vowels A, E, I, O, U, Y alone, in combination with one another or with R, W represent different vowel sounds. The chart below lists the vowel sounds according to the American variant of pronunciation.
(Гласные A, E, I, O, U, Y по отдельности, в комбинации друг с другом или с R, W передают различные гласные звуки. В таблице ниже указаны гласные звуки согласно американскому варианту произношения.)
Sounds | Letters | Examples | Notes |
[i:] |
e, ee ea ie, ei |
be, eve, see, meet, sleep, meal, read, leave, sea, team, field, believe, receive |
been [i]; bread, deaf [e]; great, break [ei]; friend [e] |
[i] |
i y |
it, kiss, tip, pick, dinner, system, busy, pity, sunny |
machine, ski, liter, pizza [i:] |
[e] |
e ea |
let, tell, press, send, end, bread, dead, weather, leather |
meter [i:] sea, mean [i:] |
[ei] |
a ai, ay ei, ey ea |
late, make, race, able, stable, aim, wait, play, say, day, eight, weight, they, hey, break, great, steak |
said, says [e]; height, eye [ai] |
[æ] | a |
cat, apple, land, travel, mad; AmE: last, class, dance, castle, half |
|
[a:] |
ar a |
army, car, party, garden, park, father, calm, palm, drama; BrE: last, class, dance, castle, half |
war, warm [o:]
|
[ai] |
i, ie y, uy |
ice, find, smile, tie, lie, die, my, style, apply, buy, guy |
|
[au] |
ou ow |
out, about, house, mouse, now, brown, cow, owl, powder |
group, soup [u:] know, own [ou] |
[o] | o | not, rock, model, bottle, copy | |
[o:] |
or o aw, au ought al, wa- |
more, order, cord, port, long, gone, cost, coffee, law, saw, pause, because, bought, thought, caught, hall, always, water, war, want |
work, word [ər]
|
[oi] | oi, oy | oil, voice, noise, boy, toy | |
[ou] |
o oa, ow |
go, note, open, old, most, road, boat, low, own, bowl |
do, move [u:] how, owl [au] |
[yu:] |
u ew eu ue, ui |
use, duty, music, cute, huge, tune, few, dew, mew, new, euphemism, feud, neutral, hue, cue, due, sue, suit |
|
[u:] |
u o, oo ew ue, ui ou
|
rude, Lucy, June, do, move, room, tool, crew, chew, flew, jewel, blue, true, fruit, juice, group, through, route; AmE: duty, new, sue, student |
guide, quite [ai]; build [i] |
[u] |
oo u ou |
look, book, foot, good, put, push, pull, full, sugar, would, could, should |
|
neutral sound [ə] |
u, o ou a, e o, i |
gun, cut, son, money, love, tough, enough, rough, about, brutal, taken, violent, memory, reason, family |
Also: stressed, [ʌ]; unstressed, [ə]. |
[ər] |
er, ur, ir or, ar ear |
serve, herb, burn, hurt, girl, sir, work, word, doctor, dollar, heard, earn, earnest, earth |
heart, hearth [a:] |
Note 1: The letter Y
The letter Y can function as a vowel or as a consonant. As a vowel, Y has the vowel sounds [i], [ai]. As a consonant, Y has the consonant sound [y] (i.e., a semivowel sound), usually at the beginning of the word and only in the syllable before a vowel.
[i]: any, city, carry, funny, mystery, synonym;
[ai]: my, cry, rely, signify, nylon, type;
[y]: yard, year, yes, yet, yield, you.
Примечание 1: Буква Y
Буква Y может функционировать как гласная или согласная. Как гласная, Y имеет гласные звуки [i], [ai]. Как согласная, Y имеет согласный звук [y] (т.е. полугласный звук), обычно в начале слова и только в слоге перед гласной.
[i]: any, city, carry, funny, mystery, synonym;
[ai]: my, cry, rely, signify, nylon, type;
[y]: yard, year, yes, yet, yield, you.
Note 2: Diphthongs
A diphthong is one indivisible vowel sound that consists of two parts. The first part is the main strong component (the nucleus); the second part is short and weak (the glide). A diphthong is always stressed on its first component: [au], [ou]. A diphthong forms one syllable. American linguists usually list five diphthongs: [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou].
Примечание 2: Дифтонги
Дифтонг это один неделимый гласный звук, который состоит из двух частей. Первая часть главный сильный компонент (ядро); вторая часть короткая и слабая (скольжение). Дифтонг всегда имеет ударение на первом компоненте: [au], [ou]. Дифтонг образует один слог. Американские лингвисты обычно приводят пять дифтонгов: [ei], [ai], [au], [oi], [ou].
Note 3: The sound [o]
The sound [o] is short in British English. In the same words in American English, the sound [o] is a long sound colored as [a:]. This sound is often listed as [a:] in American materials for ESL students. In some words, there are two variants of pronunciation in AmE: [o:] or [o].
[o]: lot, rock, rob, bother, bottle, college, comment, document, modern, popular, respond, John, Tom;
[o:] or [o]: gone, coffee, office, borrow, orange, sorry, loss, lost, want, wash, water.
Примечание 3: Звук [o]
Звук [o] краткий в британском английском. В тех же словах в американском английском, звук [o] долгий звук, окрашенный как [a:]. Этот звук часто дается как [a:] в американских материалах для студентов ESL. В некоторых словах два варианта произношения в AmE: [o:] или [o].
[o]: lot, rock, rob, bother, bottle, college, comment, document, modern, popular, respond, John, Tom;
[o:] или [o]: gone, coffee, office, borrow, orange, sorry, loss, lost, want, wash, water.
Note 4: The neutral sound
Transcription symbols for the neutral sound are [ʌ] (caret) in stressed syllables (fun, son) and [ə] (schwa) in unstressed syllables (about, lesson). In American ESL materials, the neutral sound is often shown as [ə] (schwa) in both stressed and unstressed syllables.
Примечание 4: Нейтральный звук
Символы транскрипции для нейтрального звука: [ʌ] (caret) в ударных слогах (fun, son) и [ə] (schwa) в безударных слогах (about, lesson). В американских материалах ESL нейтральный звук часто дается как [ə] (schwa) и в ударных, и в безударных слогах.
Read more about vowel letters and sounds in Spelling Patterns for Vowels in the section Writing.
Прочитайте еще о гласных буквах и звуках в статье Spelling Patterns for Vowels в разделе Writing.