The English Vowels

Each lesson on a simple vowel or diphthong demonstrates how that sound may vary in duration.  The sound is shortest when followed by a voiceless sonsanant and longest when it ends a word.  Listen to words with the sounds /i/ and /ei/ as examples.

 Vowel +   Vowel +   Vowel +
 Voiceless Cnsonant  Voiced Consonant  No Consonant

 beat          bead          be/bee
 safe           save          say

The Simple Vowels
 
The Schwa Vowel

To Produce: Keep your tongue relaxed in a central position.  The lips remain neutral.
 
The schwa is the shortest, the most simle, and the most frequent sound in English speech.  The schwa vowel regquires no movement of the tongue, the jaw, or the lipbs;  and there is no visible face movement.  The sound is felt onlyat the larynx as a short, voiced sound.
 
There are two versions of the schwa: one stressed and the one unstressed.
 
The Stressed Schwa /ʌ/

 -                 --            -      --         -        --
 but/butt   bud         cup cub       hunt hum
 
Notice how the consonant after the vowel affects the vowel's length.
 
Practice the stressed schwa.  Repeat:

 -          --       -        --
 mutt   mud  nut    non/nun
 tuck    tug    runt   run
 

The Unstressed Schwa /ə/
 
This sound is used in unstressed syllables.  The following words contain both the stressed and the unstressed schwa.  Listen:
 
 above sudden trouble

Repeat these words:
 
 adult      conduct    cousin
 adjust    enough     husband
 among   result        oven
 
Synonyms - Practice the schwa vowel, stressed and unstressed, in synonums.  After you hear A and B, repeat B.
 
 A                     B                  A                   B
 carpet            rug              allow for       budget
 confidence     trust           a pair            a couple
                                            difficulty       trouble
 
After you hear A, you say B.  Then listen to the model.
 
 A                      B                A                B
 amount           sum           fortune      luck
 amusement    fun             haste         rush
 finished           done