Vowels are letters that represent speech sounds where air leaves the mouth without any blockage

by the tongue, lips, or throat. The vowels in the alphabet are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. All
other letters in the English alphabet are consonants, which represent speech sounds where air is
blocked somehow before leaving the mouth.

Even though they’re only a few letters, vowels are important in spelling, pronunciation, and
grammar. Below we explain all the details and rules you need to know, but first let’s take a
deeper look at this question: What are vowels?

What are vowels?

Letters and speech sounds are divided into two categories: sounds where the air is blocked by the
lips, tongue, or throat before leaving the mouth and sounds where the air is not
blocked. Consonants represent sounds that are blocked; vowels represent sounds that are not
blocked.

While consonant sounds are differentiated by how the air is blocked—such as sticking the tongue
behind the front teeth for d and  t, or closing the lips for b, m, and p—vowel sounds are
differentiated by pitch, accent, volume, and duration.

So what are the vowels? The letters a, e, i, o, u—and sometimes y—are vowels. However, some
consonants, like h, r, and w, can also make vowel sounds. In grammar, these letters are still
considered consonants and don’t follow the vowel rules.

Vowels play a major role in both spelling and grammar. They also have a direct impact on how
consonants are used, such as spelling words with double consonants. Consider the difference
between hop and hope—which, as present participles, become hopping and hoping. The
presence of the silent e at the end changes the rules for how to conjugate certain words.

Short vs. long vowels

Even though there are only five (sometimes six) vowels in the alphabet, they can be combined in
a variety of ways to change their sounds, which results in more than a dozen distinct vowel
sounds in American English. Without getting too confusing, we can divide these vowel sounds
into two categories: short vowels and long vowels.

Short vowels are the standard pronunciation of vowels—usually when there is only one vowel in
the word—especially in short words.

 a as in cat

 e as in wet

 i as in big

 o as in clock

 u as in but

Long vowels are a little more complex. Generally, they’re created by combining two vowels,
where one is typically silent. Often, they’re pronounced like the name of the vowel; for example,
the long vowel sound in eat is pronounced like the name of letter e.

 a as in cake

 e as in street

 i as in like

 o as in phone

 u as in use

These are the basics of vowel pronunciation, but they are also the most common examples. If
you can master these vowel sounds, you can master most of the English words you’ll come
across, and it will also help your spelling when you write.
2

This is another class of vowel sounds. Like the simple vowels, there is no obstruction to the free
flow of air out of the mouth when a diphthong is pronounced or articulated. But unlike simple
vowels, they contain two vowel sounds, which are usually pronounced as a single sound. This is
why it is said that in spoken English, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) is a vowel combination
involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by
listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme.

While simple vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target tongue position, diphthongs
have two target tongue positions.

Furthermore, while simple vowels are represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by one
symbol: for example, the English "sum" as /s Λ m/, diphthongs are represented by two symbols,
for example English "same" as /seim/, where the two vowel symbols are intended to represent
approximately the beginning and ending tongue positions.

English diphthongs can be divided into two groups; falling diphthongs and rising diphthongs.
Falling (or descending) diphthongs start with a vowel of higher prominence (higher pitch or
louder) and end in a vowel with less prominence, like /aΙ/ in "eye", while rising (or ascending)
diphthongs begin with a less prominent vowel and end with a more prominent vowel, like /υә/ in
"your". In closing diphthongs, the second element is closer than the first (e.g. [aΙ]); in opening
diphthongs, more open (e.g. [Ιә]). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling, and opening diphthongs
are generally rising, because open vowels are louder and therefore tend to be more prominent.

Centring diphthongs begin with front vowels like /Ι, e, ʊ/ and end in a central vowel, the
schwa /ә/.

It is important to emphasise that for ‘two vowels’ to be regarded as a diphthong, they must
belong to the same syllable. A syllable is the smallest unit into which a word can be divided.
There are eight diphthongs in English, and their phonetic representations clearly indicate the
initial and final vowels represented in the diphthong sound. Remember that for an accurate
articulation, your tongue should glide from the first vowel in the diphthong to the second vowel
in the diphthong

See the following presentation of English diphthongs

aΙ - spice, pie

eΙ - wait, fate

Ι - toy, joy

әʊ - oats, note

aʊ - clown, vow

3
What is Phonation?

People make a lot of sounds. From shouting to singing to speaking in hushed tones, humans are
vocal creatures. Ancestrally and evolutionarily, this has been very important to the growth of the
human species. Making controlled vocalizations has allowed humans to communicate, form
ideas, and grow in a community. Phonation today is complex and tied to important physiological
structures that allow for the complex vocalizations heard today.

What is phonation? The definition of phonation is the production and utterance of speech sounds.
Phonation is also referred to as voicing, which is to express sounds like words or parts of words
that have meaning. This can be the use of sound in language, music, and other forms of verbal
communication. This lesson will discuss the causes of phonation, such as speaking and
producing other sounds. This lesson will also discuss the process of phonation, the mechanisms
used in phonation, and the various ways humans use sound to communicate.

The Phonation Process

Phonation is a physical process that includes several anatomical structures working together to
produce sound. The sound, quality, tone, and pitch of voicing are determined by the positioning
of various structures and the musical qualities of the different vocal parts. The different parts of
the vocal anatomy are the lungs and lower airway, the voice box or larynx, the vocal folds and
glottis, and the vocal track. The structures that adjust these anatomical parts include several
regions of cartilage such as arytenoid, thyroid, and cricoid cartilages.

The process of phonation begins when the lungs push air through the entire system. Put simply, a
sound is produced when air is pushed through the glottis and causes the vocal folds to vibrate.
The glottis is the space in between the two vocal folds, which stretch over the larynx like guitar
strings stretched over the soundhole. The vocal tract then uses various cartilages, muscles,
pallets, and various internal cavities to resonate the sound into controlled sounds used for
communication. The vocal tract includes the nasal cavity, the mouth cavity, the soft and hard
pallets, the tongue, the larynx, and the pharynx.