Monophthongs

The story of Betty Botter and the butter - short vowels

Betty Botter had some butter, "But," she said, "this butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, It would make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter- Better than the bitter butter- That would make my batter better." So she bought a bit of butter, Better than the bitter butter, And she put it in her batter, And it made her batter better. So it was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

The cold old house - long vowels and diphthongs

I once knew a house, A cold, old house, A cold, old house by the sea. If I were a mouse, In a cold, old house, What a cold, old mouse I would be!

I joined the navy - long vowels and diphthongs

I joined the navy, To see the sea. And what did I see? I saw the sea.

The wild rover - long vowels and diphthongs

I've been a wild rover for many a year, And I've spent all my money on whisky and beer, But now I'm returning with gold in great store, Now I never will play the wild rover no more And it's no, nay, never, No nay never, no more, Will I play the wild rover? No, never, no more.

Diphthongs

Diphthong is a complex sound consisting of two vowel elements pronounced so as to form a single syllable. The first element of an English diphthong is called the nucleus. The second element is called the glide (it is weak). There are 8 diphthongs in English:

[ei], [uə], [ai], [au], [oi], [iə], [eə], [əu].

Types of diphthongs

Falling diphthongs

Falling (or descending) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ̯] in eye, while rising (or ascending) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the [ja] in yard. The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant, thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard. However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme, both elements are often transcribed with vowel letters (/aɪ̯/, /ɪ̯a/).