IPA Vowels

International Phonetic Alphabet

VOWEL SPACE

(see picture)

i

close front unrounded vowel (sheet)

y (paired with i)

close front ROUNDED vowel (french “eou”)

I

near-close near-front unrounded vowel (sit)

e

close-mid front unrounded vowel (spanish - que)

ɛ

open-mid front unrounded vowel (bed)

æ

near-open front unrounded vowel (cat)

a (fancy a)

near-open near-front unrounded vowel (robot - “ah”)

ə (schwa)

mid central vowel, unstressed (uh)

ɜ

open-mid central unrounded vowel (bird - “er”)

u

close back rounded vowel (tool)

ʊ

near-close near-back rounded vowel (bool)

o

close-mid back rounded vowel (Minnesota)

ʌ

open-mid back unrounded vowel, stressed (fuck)

ɔ (paired with ʌ)

open-mid back ROUNDED vowel (troth, tone - “oh”)

ɑ (regular a)

open back unrounded vowel (father)