How to Read a Book and Why

Everything is Connected

At this point you might be feeling that this is getting quite complicated, but remember: all of the diphthongs and triphthongs are made from the monophthongs. For example, the diphthong ʌi, as in the word ‘guy’, is made from the two monophthongs ʌ and i. So, once you learn the monophthongs, the diphthongs and triphthongs are quite easy. Also, 4 of the monophthongs in English are simply shorter versions of other monophthongs. For example, we have a: (long, as in 'are') and ʌ (short, as in 'up'), ɛː (long, as in 'air') and ɛ (short, as in 'egg'). So, once you learn the long version, it’s easy to do the short version.

All the 24 vowel sounds are derived from only ten basic sounds. Every single word in English, regardless of its spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these ten sounds.

These ten basic sounds are: ɑː əː æː ɛː iː ɪ ʊː ʊ ɔː ɒ

All the 24 vowel sounds are derived from only ten basic sounds. Every single word in English, regardless of its spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these ten sounds.