Unlike Russian, which has 33 letters ( letters), English contains only 26. However, even with this number of letters, there are 44 sounds in English ( sounds). All letters of English are divided into two groups: vowels ( vowels) and consonants ( consonants). Quantitatively, the first group is much smaller than the second. There are 20 consonants and only 6 vowels. This article is about vowels in English. Here are the letters that represent the vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u, y. It should also be remembered that a sound is what we hear, and a letter is a sign by which we represent a certain sound. To write down how a particular word or letter is read, there is a phonetic. This is a system of signs, each of which expresses one sound.

Features of the pronunciation of vowels in English

Vowels in English pronounced with an open mouth, they can be sung. Also, vowels in English can be long ( long vowels) and short ( short vowels). There are five short vowels, five long vowels, and eight more diphthongs ( dipthongs). is a combination of two vowels in one syllable. In English, it is very important to observe the brevity and longitude of vowel sounds, since the meaning of the word may depend on the length of the sound. For example: ship – sheep. Sound in the first word i short, and in the second combination of vowels ee is also a sound i, only long. The translation of the first word is a ship, and the second is a sheep.

Short vowels in English are truncated stressed vowels. Long vowels in English are monophthongs. They are pronounced with constant articulation. In diphthongs, one of the sounds is stressed and forms a syllable. And the second is only its brief element.

Examples of short vowels in English:

• pot- bowler hat
• cup- Cup
• pensil- pencil
• map- map
• mother- mother

Examples of long vowels in English:

• father- dad
• bee– bee
• dawn- dawn
• soon– soon

Examples of diphthongs in English:

• fine- good
• bow- bow
• coat– coat
• fuel- fuel

If we are talking about letters, the reading of vowels in English is directly affected by the type of syllable ( syllable). As you know, syllables are open ( open syllable) and closed ( closed syllable). The first one ends in a vowel, the second one ends in a consonant. Moreover, in English, a syllable ending in a mute is also considered an open syllable. e. Usually short vowels are presented in closed syllables, and long in open ones. But this is not an axiom and not a rule.

The phonetic system of many European languages generally the same type, has a certain structure.

Of course, a big role in the pronunciation of vowels in English words intonation plays. There are certain rules for leading it up and down, as well as for individual revolutions, for example, there is and there are.

However, in phonology of English language the presentation of English letters and their corresponding phonemes is properly ordered.

Let's try to process and structure the existing extensive material for compact and easy assimilation, applying the principle of comparative studies - comparison with the phonetics of the Russian language, where possible.

There are 6 vowels in English:

If you look closely at the capital and uppercase versions of the same one, you can see that vowels such as O and U have identical spellings.

Transcription of vowels in English

Absolutely everyone who has encountered the study of English phonetics has difficulty in correctly understanding the transcription of vowel sounds.

The fact is that in the transcriptional incarnation, the pronunciation of English vowels is not similar to, for example, identical Russian vowels. This fact is explained primarily different history origin.

Thus, the system of English vowel phonemes goes back to diphthongic combinations of sounds.

Graphically, a transcribed sound is indicated by enclosing it in either square brackets () or slash brackets (/ /)

Consider the transcription of English letters:

The sign ":" after the vowel indicates the so-called longitude. This means that the sound must be pronounced with a somewhat drawn-out continuation.

Read also

Rules for reading vowels in English

However, the table above does not yet indicate that all sounds denoted by five English letters are transcribed in the same way.

As you know, there are only six vowels, but there are much more sounds that can graphically denote these letters - about 24.

No homework. Without teeth. Without textbooks

From the course "ENGLISH BEFORE AUTOMATIC" you:

• Learn how to write good sentences in English without learning grammar
• Learn the secret of a progressive approach, thanks to which you can reduce learning English from 3 years to 15 weeks
• Will check your answers instantly+ get a thorough analysis of each task
• Download the dictionary in PDF and MP3 formats, learning tables and audio recording of all phrases

Long vowels in English, examples

There are much more long vowels in the language. For the most part, they are pronounced in monophthongs - the articulation does not change during the entire time the sound is played.

As already mentioned, in transcription such vowels are indicated by the sign ":".

For example:

• Good
• Arduous

They are not pronounced the way they are spelled. For correct reading, you need to follow the transcription. It shows how vowels are read in English.

History of the English alphabet

According to the official version, the English alphabet is 500 years older than the Russian one. Before the arrival of Christians, the ancestors of modern English used runic writing. In the 9th century, the Anglo-Saxons officially began to use Old English Latin script, which consisted of 20 Latin letters, 2 runes and 2 modified Latin graphemes.

Until the 11th century, there were attempts to streamline the English alphabet, but they were unsuccessful, because the Saxons, along with the new letter, also used the old one - runic.

Today the English alphabet includes 26 characters:

• English vowels - 5 letters;
• English consonants - 21 letters.

It is worth noting that the letters Y and R stand apart, since, depending on the position in the word, they can denote both a consonant and

Why do you need to know the English alphabet?

Knowledge of not only spelling, but also pronunciation of letters is an important condition for learners of English. Why? The fact is that the spelling and words do not match, since their recording does not follow any rules. Therefore, carriers often resort to the so-called spelling (from the word spell) - spelling. This difference in the English language is easy to understand on the spelling of the surname Smith (Smith), which, in addition to the popular spelling, can also have the following options:

• Smith;
• Smythe;
• smyth,
• Psmith.

The pronunciation of all surnames is the same.

The spelling skill is necessary for all English-speaking people, therefore, from school, the formation of the ability to quickly spell words begins. For example, in geography lessons, the teacher, without requests from the students, names new words for them. geographical names. Any other teacher does the same if a word is difficult or unfamiliar to the students in the lesson.

Therefore, when learning English, one should pay due attention to the formation of the spelling skill, in which one cannot do without knowledge of the alphabet.

How are vowels pronounced in English?

English vowels, depending on the position in the word, can be short or long. This means that short ones are simply pronounced and similar to Russian vowels, while the second ones need to be pronounced longer, almost sung or pronounced as if you need to know where to put the stress. When pronouncing it, it is extremely important to observe this rule, since the meaning of the word depends on it. For example, in the word ship (ship), the sound [and] is pronounced as in the word “willow”. In the word sheep (sheep), the phoneme [and] is pronounced drawlingly, as if it needs to be stressed.

English vowels are divided into:

• short vowels - mother (mother, mother), map (map), pencil (pencil), cup (cup), pot (bowler).
• long vowels - father (father, dad), soon (soon, soon), dawn (dawn), bee (bee).
• diphthongs - 2 vowels English letters that are pronounced as one phoneme - fuel (fuel), bow (bow), coat (coat), fine (good).

What are the rules for reading vowels?

English vowels, unlike consonants, follow a variety of reading rules:

• closed and open syllables(c.s. and o.s.);
• vowel + r;
• vowel + r + vowel;
• combinations of vowels under stress.

Knowing these rules, you can develop the skill of almost error-free reading without knowing transcription. Consider the rules for reading 5 vowels and the letter Y with examples of words with transcription in Russian letters.

Open - a syllable that ends in a vowel, even if it is mute. The mute in English is the letter E, which is not readable at the end of the word. In this case, the vowel is pronounced as it is called in the alphabet. Closed - a syllable that ends in a consonant.

• note ([note]) - note;
• nose ([nose]) - nose;
• rice ([rice]) - rice;
• type ([type]) - print;
• shy ([shay]) - shy, modest;
• he ([hee]) - he;
• name ([name]) - name;
• same ([seim]) - the same;
• nine ([nein]) - nine;
• fume ([fume]) - smoke;
• cap ([cap]) - cap;
• pen ([pen]) - pen;
• lot ([lot]) - a lot;
• sit ([sit]) - sit, sit down;
• my ([May]) - mine, mine, mine, mine;
• nut ([nat]) - nut.

Vowel + r - the vowel is pronounced drawlingly.

• card ([ka:d]) - card;
• fork ([fo:k]) - fork;
• turn ([tö:n]) - turn, turn;
• girl ([gö:l]) - girl, girl;
• Byrd ([be:d]) is an English surname.

Vowel + r + vowel - the letter r is not pronounced, and the vowels are pronounced together, like one sound.

• rare ([rea]) - rare;
• pure ([pyue]) - pure;
• here ([hie]) - here;
• fire ([fire]) - fire;
• store ([one hundred:]) - store;
• tire ([taye]) - tire.

A separate group is made up of English vowels, which come in pairs and are called diphthongs. Diphthongs with examples are shown in the picture below.

In the article, we examined the basic rules for how vowels are read in English. The main thing when learning a language is practice, and in order to learn how to read English well, you need to pay attention to the formation of reading and spelling skills every day.

Long gone are the days when runic signs were used in English, like “thron” - “thorn”, “wynn” - “wynn”, “eth” - “et”, “ethel” - “ethel” or “ eng" - "eng". Then the question arises - how many letters were there in the English alphabet in ancient times, if there were others besides those that we know today? Old English had 23 letters of the alphabet. Over time, the English language, like any other, has undergone significant changes, and the modern generation will certainly not understand the meaning of the word "feohtan" (fight - struggle). Letters that look quite modern could previously have a completely different sound and be transmitted, say, with only one sound (unlike the vowels that we have today).

How many letters are in the English alphabet today?

The modern alphabet of the English language is based on the Latin alphabet (26 letters in total). Each of the 26 letters can be represented by one or more sounds. The name of a letter can also serve as one of its sounds. For example, the letter A can sound like a long a, ah, or ae. It can occupy different positions in a word. For example, A in various positions: ape (monkey), cat (cat), zebra (zebra).

A letter can be used more than once in the same word. If this happens, then the sounds in this word can be either the same or different from each other. Words that have repeated letters: clock (wall or table clock), kettle (kettle), airplane (airplane), apartment (room).

How many letters are in the English alphabet: how many vowels, how many consonants?

There are two types of letters: consonants and vowels. The main difference is in the articulation. When pronouncing consonants, the airflow is interrupted or restricted by the position of the tongue, teeth, or lips. Most of them are transmitted with only one sound and rarely sound like the name of the letter itself. Based on the knowledge of how many letters are in the English alphabet, we can conclude that most of the letters are consonants (21 letters).

Consonants with examples

B: boy (boy), bear (bear), ball (ball), blow (blow), boat (boat), boot (boot), back (back), bed (bed), bird (bird), bread (bread ), begin (start), breakfast (breakfast), bright (bright).

С: car (machine), candle (candle), centipede (centipede), cause (cause), cloth (fabric), container (container), cow (cow), crowd (crowd), city (city), command (order ).

D: dance (dance), date (date), describe (describe), destroy (destroy), dictionary (dictionary), difficult (difficult), direction (direction), district (district), dream (to dream).

F: face (face), fact (fact, event), finger (finger), fail (fail to do something), farm (farm), fear (fear), field (field), fight (fight), fire (the fire).

G: game (game, party), garden (garden, vegetable garden), gather (gather), glass (glass), goods (goods), government (government), grass (grass), greet (greet), ground (earth) , guest (guest).

H: hair (hair), handle (pen), half (half), happen (happen), hard (hard), hate (hate), health (health), heavy (heavy), holiday (holiday), hunger (hunger ).

J: job (work), join (connect), joke (joke), journey (trip, journey), jump (jump), just (just).

K: keep (keep, store), key (key), kill (kill), kind (kind), kiss (kiss), kitchen (kitchen), knife (knife), knock (knock), know (know), knowledge (knowledge).

L: labor (work), lamp (lamp), language (language), last (last), laugh (laugh), lazy (lazy), learn (learn), dufma (leave), lesson (lesson), lie (lie ), luck (luck).

M: make (do), manage (be able, succeed), map (map), mark (mark), marry (marry / get married), master (master any skills, knowledge), mood (mood).

N: narrow (narrow), native (native), neighbor (neighbor), news (news), next (next), night (night), noon (noon), nose (nose), note (note), notice (notice ), now (now).

P: page (page), parent (parent), pass (pass / pass / take the exam), patient (take the exam), perfect (perfect), pick (pick), pillow (pillow), press (press).

Q: quantity (quantity), quality (quality), quarrel (quarrel), quarter (quarter), question (question), quiet (calm), quick (quick), quite (quite / completely);

R: rain (rain), raw (raw), reach (reach out for something), receive (receive), refuse (refuse), repair (repair), reply (answer), rest (rest), roof (roof ).

S: safe (safe), sand (sand), seem (seem), sense (feeling), servant (servant), serve (serve), several (several), sheet (sheet), shut (close), skin (skin ), spoon (spoon), supper (dinner).

T: talk (to speak), term (term); thank (thank), title (title), tonight (today), train (train), translate (translate), trip (trip), trouble (care), turn (rotate).

V: vacation (vacation), value (value), various (various), vegetable (vegetable), victory (victory), visit (visit), voice (voice).

W: wait (wait), walk (walk), wall (wall), warm (warm), weak (weak), weigh (weigh, weigh), wet (wet), whistle (whistle), wool (wool), worth (standing).

X: xylophone (xylophone), x-ray (X-rays).

Y: yellow (yellow), year (year), yesterday (yesterday), yet (still / yet), young (young).

Z: zero (zero), zoo (zoo).

Vowels with examples

When vowels are sounded, the airflow flows freely through the mouth. How many letters are in the English vowel alphabet? Five of the 26 letters of the alphabet are vowels: A, E, I, O, and U. The letter Y is sometimes considered sixth on this list because it can sometimes sound like vowels.
Unlike consonants, each of the vowels is conveyed by more than one sound, or, conversely, may convey no sound at all. Let's take a closer look at how many letters are in the English alphabet (vowels, in our case), and study them with examples.

A: able (to be able), abroad (abroad), action (action), advice (advice), afterwards (later / subsequently), agree (agree), aim (aim / intend), allow (allow).

E: earth (earth), ear (ear), easy (light), enemy (enemy), enter (enter), event (event), except (except), exist (exist), explain (explain), eye ( eye), examine (examine).

I: ice (ice), idea (thought), ill (sick), important (important), indeed (really), interest (interest), interval (break), introduce (introduce), invite (invite), island (island ).

O: occupy (occupy), old (old), open (open), opposite (opposite), oral (oral), order (order), own (own).

U: uncle (uncle), unemployed (unemployed), unless (if not), useful (useful), usual (usual).

By adding consonants and vowels, you can calculate how many letters in the English alphabet - 26.

When the pronunciation of vowel sounds coincides with the name of the letters, then in this case we are talking about long sounds. Vowels can also be short. Whether a vowel is conveyed by a long sound, a short sound, or no sound at all depends on the position of the letter in the word and its proximity to other letters.

26 or 44?

Those who are just starting to learn a language, when reading, often get confused between the names of letters and the sounds that these letters are transmitted. It is worth distinguishing how many letters in the English alphabet and how many sounds - 26 letters and 44 English sounds (19 vowels and 25 consonants).