English Language · Lesson 13

Vowel sounds

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: Oral forms: vowels (monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs)

WAEC: WAEC/NECO English Language Paper 3 (Test of Orals) and Paper 1 Section on vowels: pure vowels (monophthongs), diphthongs, triphthongs; vowel contrasts; words with the same vowel sound; rhymes

NECO: WAEC/NECO English Language Paper 3 (Test of Orals) and Paper 1 Section on vowels: pure vowels (monophthongs), diphthongs, triphthongs; vowel contrasts; words with the same vowel sound; rhymes

What you will learn

Identify all 12 pure vowels and 8 diphthongs by symbol and example word.
Distinguish commonly confused pairs: /ɪ/–/iː/, /ʌ/–/ɒ/, /ɔː/–/əʊ/, /æ/–/ɑː/, /ɜː/–/ɑː/.
Recognise the schwa in unstressed syllables.
Identify triphthongs.
Answer WAEC and JAMB items on same vowel sound and rhyme.
Ignore misleading spellings and listen for the sound.

Key points

20 vowel sounds: 12 pure (7 short, 5 long) + 8 diphthongs; triphthongs add /ə/ to a closing diphthong.
Spelling misleads: always say the word and compare sounds.
Key contrasts: /iː/–/ɪ/, /ɒ/–/ɔː/, /ʊ/–/uː/, /ɜː/–/ɑː/, /æ/–/ʌ/.
Schwa /ə/ appears only in unstressed syllables.
Closing diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /əʊ/; centring: /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/.
"oo", "ow", "ear" and "ough" have several pronunciations; learn the lists.
Rhyme = same final stressed vowel plus following consonants.
Trap words: women, busy, said, blood, does, heart, colonel, sew, broad, knowledge.

Start here: Letters versus sounds

Say the word women aloud. The first letter o is pronounced /ɪ/, the sound in sit. Now say busy: the u is again /ɪ/. In blood, the double o is /ʌ/, the sound in cup. These examples show the golden rule of this topic.

Golden rule: trust your ear, not the spelling. A phonetic symbol between slashes, like /iː/, always stands for one sound, no matter how it is spelt.

Why is English like this? Its spelling was fixed centuries ago, but pronunciation kept changing. English also borrowed words from French, Latin, Greek and many other languages, each with its own spelling habits. So the same sound can be written many ways: the /iː/ sound appears in see, sea, key, field, receive, people, machine and quay.

Nigerian languages such as Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa have fewer vowel sounds than English and usually no difference between long and short vowels. That is why many Nigerian speakers say ship and sheep the same way, or cot and caught the same way. The exam rewards the British model (RP), so we train the ear to hear these differences.

Worked example 13.1

Which word has a different vowel sound from the others: key, quay, people, bread?

Say each slowly: key /kiː/, quay /kiː/, people /ˈpiːpl/, bread /bred/. We say them because the spellings are all different.
Three have /iː/; bread has /e/.

bread

⚠️ Common mistake: choosing answers because they share letters. Food and flood share "oo", but food has /uː/ and flood has /ʌ/.

Try it yourself. Which vowel sound is in the first syllable of busy?

Show solution

/ɪ/, as in sit: /ˈbɪzi/.

How to use this lesson

Each sub-lesson introduces a small family of sounds, shows the spellings that usually produce them, and then lists the trap words examiners love. Do not try to memorise every list at once. Read a section aloud, practise the minimal pairs, answer the quick check, and come back the next day to revise. Pronunciation is a physical skill like dancing or football: short daily practice beats one long session. If you have a dictionary app on your phone, tap the British audio for any word you are unsure of and copy it. Over two weeks you will notice your listening improving, and the oral questions in WAEC, NECO and JAMB will become some of the quickest marks on the paper.

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Practice questions

1. Choose the word that has the same vowel sound as the underlined letters in seat.

key
set
sit
said

Show answer

A: key
/iː/ as in seat and key.

2. Choose the word with the same vowel sound as bird.

beard
bed
bud
word

Show answer

D: word
/ɜː/: bird, word, work.

3. Choose the word with the same vowel sound as the underlined in cup.

cook
cope
blood
cop

Show answer

C: blood
/ʌ/: cup, blood, son.

4. Which word contains the vowel sound /ɔː/?

coat
caught
cot
cut

Show answer

B: caught
/ɔː/: caught, law, court.

5. Which word contains a diphthong?

boy
bit
book
bud

Show answer

A: boy
"Boy" has /ɔɪ/, a diphthong (gliding vowel).

Key words

Vowel sound: A speech sound made with the air flowing freely, without blockage.
Monophthong: A pure vowel: the tongue stays in one position, e.g. /iː/.
Diphthong: A vowel that glides from one position to another in one syllable, e.g. /aɪ/.
Triphthong: A glide through three vowel qualities, e.g. /aɪə/ in fire.
Schwa: The weak central vowel /ə/ heard in unstressed syllables.
Phonetic symbol: A sign in slashes that stands for exactly one sound.
Minimal pair: Two words that differ in one sound only, e.g. ship and sheep.
Long vowel: A vowel held longer, marked ː.
Short vowel: A vowel said quickly with no length mark.
Rhyme: Words whose final vowel and following consonants sound the same.
Lip rounding: Pushing the lips forward into a circle, as for /uː/.
Silent letter: A letter written but not pronounced, e.g. b in climb.

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