Topic-007: Introduction to English Vowels There are 44 sounds in English RP (BBC) accent. Out of them, 20 are vowels which, in turn, are further divided into pure vowels and diphthongs. Pure vowels or monophthongs are 12 out of which 5 are long and 7 are short vowels. Examples for these vowel sounds are given here Short vowels • ɪ pit • e pet • æ pat • ʌ putt • ɒ pot • ʊ put • ǝ another Long vowels • i bean • ɑː barn • ɔː born • u boon • ɜː burn Topic-008: Introduction to English Diphthongs English diphthongs are divided into two categories centering (which end with ‘ǝ’ sound) and closing (which end with either ‘ ɪ’ or ‘ʊ’ sounds respectively. Examples for these diphthongs are given below Diphthongs • ɪǝ peer • e pair • ʊǝ poor • e bay Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
