Short vowel sound list

Short vowels video — Pronuncian: American English Pronunciation

See all of Pronuncian's videos!

Welcome to Seattle Learning Academy's video pronunciation series.

Of the 26 letters of the alphabet, 5 letters--a, e, i, o, and u--are considered vowels. Those 5 letters (a, e, i, o, and u--plus the letters w, y, and gh) are used in the spelling of the 15 vowel sounds of English.

To make the 15 vowel sounds easier to learn, we break them into the categories of

• long vowels
• short vowels
• and the "other" vowels

When talking about the sounds of English, I'll use a name (such as long a or short a), and the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol.

We're including the names for sounds because non-native English speakers often can't hear the difference between sounds. For instance, (long e) and (short i)--that was the long e sound and the short i sound--or (short e) and (short u)--the short e and short u sound--are easily confused. So we use the sound's name, long e, short i, short e, and short u, and not just the sound itself (long e, short i, short e, short u).

We include the symbols because that's what pronunciation dictionaries use, and those specialized dictionaries can be very helpful when talking about pronunciation.

Today, we're going to talk about the 5 short vowel sounds and the most common spelling pattern of those sounds.

Before we begin, let me clarify that short vowel sounds aren't said for less time than long vowel sounds, though it certainly would be convenient if that were the case. These are just names historically given to these sounds.

The 5 short vowel sounds are:

1. short a: /æ/ cat
2. short e: /ɛ/ bed
3. short i: /ɪ/ sit
4. short o: /ɑ/ top
5. short u: /ʌ/ sun

We begin the study of vowel sound pronunciation by using key words. The five words I just used as examples are key words for the short vowel sounds. All 5 of our short vowel key words--cat, bed, sit, top, and sun--follow the most common phonetic pattern for short vowel sounds.

Phonetics is the connection between letters and sounds. It's the relationship between a word's spelling and its pronunciation. Our short vowel key words follow the consonant-vowel-consonant phonetic pattern. When a vowel occurs alone between two consonants we can expect a short vowel sound.

In the word 'cat,' c-a-t, the vowel letter a is between two consonants, the 'c' and the 't.' It isn't surprising, then, that the word 'cat' is pronounced with a /æ/ sound (/æ/).

If a word begins with a vowel letter that's followed by one or more consonants, we can still expect a short vowel sound pronunciation. If I take the 'c' off of the word 'cat,' I get the word 'at,' still pronounced with a short vowel sound.

If there's only one consonant after the vowel, and that consonant is followed by the letter 'e,' the formula changes, and we can expect a long vowel sound instead. For instance, if I take the word 'hat' h-a-t, and add the letter e I'll get the word 'hate' instead. The change in pronunciation from the word 'hat' to the word 'hate' is caused by the addition of the letter 'e.'

While common phonetic patterns like consonant-vowel-consonant (as in the word 'hat') and vowel-consonant-e (as in the word 'hate') and can help learners understand the pronunciation of English words, individual spelling patterns often exist for each sound.

There are also words that aren't pronounced in a way that we'd expect based on their spelling. We call these non-phonetic words . Common phonetic patterns and non-phonetic words are covered in each sound's individual video lesson.

Now that you know what the five short vowel sounds are, and their common phonetic pattern, it's worth studying each sound individually.

Thank you for watching this Seattle Learning Academy video lesson.

EXIT: (short a, short e, short i, short o, short u) cat, bed, sit, top, sun.

List of Short Vowel Words

The English language provides a list of short vowel words that seem to be never ending. A short vowel word is any word that doesn't allow the vowel within it to generate that vowel's long vowel sound.

List of Short Vowel Words

For example, the word "bug" is a short vowel word because there's no long "U" sound. A word doesn't necessarily have to have three letters to be a short vowel word, but it makes for the easiest example and three-lettered words make up the bulk of any list of short vowel words. Let's take a look.

Advertisement

Short Vowel Sounds in Words

Here's the reason why words with only three letters typically make the short vowel sound. Three letters usually don't allow for a second vowel to force the long vowel sound out. Exceptions include words like "bee" or "tea."

These words use a second vowel to force the long vowel sound from the first one, while other words like "ant" or "mat" use the placement of consonants to force a short vowel sound.

But, here's an important point to keep in mind. The words listed below are short vowel sounds, not short vowel spellings. That is, just because a word is short, doesn't mean it will automatically have a short vowel sound. And vowel as written doesn't always correspond with the sound it makes. Take the word "pretty." The E is sounded like a short I, and the Y is sounded like a long E. Phonetically, it sounds more like "prit-tee," not "pret-tai."

Likewise, we can't assume a long word will automatically have a long vowel sound. Let's look at the word "business." The U and E in "business" are also sounded like a short I, and the I is silent altogether. Phonetically speaking, we don't pronounce it "buss-eye-ness." It's more like "biz-niss." With that in mind, let's explore more short vowel words, sorted by letter.

Short "A" Words

The short A sound is what you hear in words like "bat" or "map." Here are some other great examples of words with the short A sound.

Advertisement

Short "E" Words

The short E sound is what you hear in words like "gem" or "hem. " Here are some other great examples of words with the short E sound.

Short "I" Words

The short I sound is what you hear in words like "dim" or "fib." Here are some other great examples of words with the short I sound.

Short "O" Words

The short O sound is what you hear in words like "con" or "nod. " Here are some other great examples of words with the short O sound.

Short "U" Words

The short U sound is what you hear in words like "bus" or "hum." Here are some other great examples of words with the short U sound.

View & Download PDF

Advertisement

Using Short Vowel Sounds

Though the above list of words with short vowels is incomplete, you can use it to understand the basic usage for the short vowel sounds. These short vowel sounds are often used in larger words as well. You might see them in words that also contain long vowel sounds, or even in two-lettered words, like "in," "it," and "at." Longer words, such as "magistrate" or "fascinate," use both short long vowel sounds.

Some words use the short vowel sound and the long vowel sound, depending on the tense of the word. Words like "read," for example, are pronounced as the long vowel sound when the tense is present. For example, "We are reading this list of short vowel words."

However, when the tense is changed from present to past tense, the long vowel sound is taken away and the short vowel sound is introduced in the same word. For example, "I read the list of short vowel words, and understand much better now."

Pronunciation Pros

If you're teaching short vowel sounds to little learners, practice makes perfect. If you're teaching ESL students, here are some tips and resources for teaching ESL pronunciation. And, when you're ready for the flip side of the coin? Take a look at these examples of long vowel words too. You might also want to explore when "y" is a vowel.

Vowels and consonants and sounds

Russian alphabet

1. A a
2. B b be
3. in ve
4. y y ge
5. D d de
6. E e e
7. Yoyo yo
8. F zhe
9. W w ze
10. Both and
11. th and short
12. K to ka
13. L l el
14. M m em
15. N n en
16. O o about
17. P p pe
18. R r er
19. C es
20. T t te
21. at
22. F f ef
23. x x ha
24. C c ce
25. h h che
26. W w sha
27. u u shcha
28. b hard sign
29. s s
30. b soft sign
31. uh e
32. Yu Yu yu
33. I am i

How letters differ from sounds

Sound is elastic oscillations in any medium. We hear sounds and can create them, among other things, with the help of the speech apparatus (lips, tongue, etc.).

The letter is a symbol of the alphabet. It has an uppercase (excl., ь and ъ ) and a lowercase version. Often a letter is a graphic representation of the corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. So that the pronunciation features do not affect the letter, spelling rules have been developed that determine which letters should be used in the word in question. The exact pronunciation of a word can be found in the phonetic transcription of the word, which is shown in square brackets in dictionaries.

Vowels and sounds

Vowel sounds (“voice” is the Old Slavonic “voice”) are sounds , [e] , in the creation of which the vocal cords are involved, and no barrier is erected on the path of the exhaled air. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa] , [iiiiii] . ..

Vowel sounds are indicated by letters A , E , Yo , and , O , U , s , E , U , I . The letters e , e , o , and are called iotated . They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th'] , when

1. come first in a phonetic word

    barely [y'el'e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) more [y'isch'o] (3 letters, 4 sounds) hedgehog [y'osh] (2 letters, 3 sounds) Julia [y'ul'a] (3 letters, 4 sounds) apple [y'ablaka] (6 letters, 7 sounds) testicle [y'iich'ka] (5 letters, 6 sounds) 

2. followed by vowels

    tarantula [pt'itsy'etʹ] (7 letters, 8 sounds) her [yi'oʹ] (2 letters, 4 sounds) cabin [kai'uta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [s'in'iy'a] (5 letters, 6 sounds) 

3. followed by - and -

    entry [vy'est] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise [fall'om] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lew [l'y'u] (3 letters, 3 sounds) wings [wing'y'a] (6 letters, 6 sounds) 

The letter and also denotes two sounds, the first of which is [th'] when

1. comes after

    nightingales [salav'y'iʹ] (7 letters, 7 sounds) 

In a word, vowels highlighted during pronunciation are called stressed , and not highlighted - unstressed . Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check what kind of letter you need to put in a word, you should choose a single-root word in which the desired unstressed sound will be stressed.

 running [b'igushch'y'] - running [b'ek] mountain [gara] - mountains [mountains] 

Two words united by a single stress make one phonetic word.

 to the garden [fsat] 

There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. The division of a word into syllables may not correspond to the division during transfer.

 e-yo (2 syllables) to-chka (2 syllables) about-de-va-tsya (4 syllables) 

Consonants and sounds

Consonant sounds are sounds that create a barrier in the way of exhaled air.

Voiced consonants are pronounced with voice, and voiceless consonants without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants , for example, [p] - [b] , when pronouncing which the lips and tongue are in the same position.

Soft consonants are pronounced with the participation of the middle part of the tongue and are indicated in transcription with an apostrophe ', which occurs when the consonants

1. are always soft

    ai [ai'] (2 letters, 2 sounds) beam [beam '] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l'eshch'] (3 letters, 3 sounds) 

2. follow the letters E , Yo , and , U , I , b (Territory, always hard [g] , [c] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [c] and in loanwords)

    mehl [m'el'] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t'otʹa] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l'udʹi] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zhyz'n'] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [circus] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sheya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [temp] (4 letters, 4 sounds) 

3. followed by soft consonants (some cases)

    pancake [bl'in'ch'ik] 

The rest of the consonants will be mostly hard .

hissing consonants include the sounds [w] , [w] , [h '] , [w'] . Speech therapists rule their pronunciation penultimately: the tongue must be strong and flexible in order to resist exhaled air and be held against the palate in the shape of a cup. Vibrating 9's are always last in line.0272 [p] and [p'] .

Do schoolchildren need phonetics?

Without dividing into vowels, consonants, stressed, unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But transcription is a clear overkill.

Speech therapists are required to know the phonetic parsing of words and probably it can be useful to foreigners.

For students (from grade 1!), who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a rather in-depth study of phonetics only interferes, confuses and contributes to incorrect memorization of the spelling of words. It is “back” that the child will associate with the pronounced “run”.

Recommended materials:

• E. I. Litnevskaya "Russian language: a short theoretical course for schoolchildren" [gramota.ru]
• L. A. Yasyukova "Pedagogy of illiteracy" [center-psychology.ru]
• Students' file archive [studfiles.ru]
• Soviet textbooks [fremus.narod.ru]

Consonants: hard and soft, voiced and deaf. Letter and sound Y

• Hard and soft consonants
• Voiced and voiceless consonants
• Hissing and whistling consonants
• Letter and sound Y

In Russian 21 Consistent letter and 37 consonant sounds:

Letters	Sounds		Sounds
	[b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], [b' b], [b 'b], B.		[p], . [p']
B	[in], . [in']		Р	[р],   [р']
Г	[г],   [г']		С	[с],   [с']
D	[D], [D ']		T	[T], [T']
F	[F ']			[f], . [f']
W	[w], . [w']		x	[x], [x ']
G	[th']		[c]
to	h		[h']
l	[l ']		Sh	[Sh]
W	[W']
N	[n], , [n']