LONG AND SHORT VOWELS
In unit 1 the short vowels were introduced. In this
unit we look at other types of English vowel sounds. The first to be introduced
here are the five long vowels; these are the vowels which tend to be longer
than the short vowels in similar
contexts. The five long vowels are different from the six
short vowels, not only in length but also in quality. Many long vowel sounds are diphthongs, which combine two short vowel sounds into one long sound. Long vowel sounds require the speaker to move the mouth from a closed position to an open one or vice-versa. The speaker's tongue glides into position during pronunciation and is often tense. When pronounced, long vowel sounds share the same pronunciation as vowels when they are pronounced as part of the alphabet.
DIPHTHONGS
BBC pronunciation has a large number of diphthongs (sounds which consist of a
movement or glide from one vowel to another).
In terms of length, diphthongs are similar to
the long vowels; perhaps the most important thing to remember about all the diphthongs
is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part.
TRIPHTHONGS
The most complex English sounds of the vowel type are the triphthongs. They can be rather
difficult to pronounce, and very difficult to recognize. A triphthong is a
glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and
without interruptions. In other words; triphthongs are the combination of three vowels in the same
syllable: A strong vowel in between two weak vowels. "a",
"e" and "o" are strong vowels. They never form diphthongs
together. They may form diphthongs and triphthongs only in combination with
"I" and "U".
