American English Vowels

Inquisitor: "How many vowels are there in English?"

American: "Five. Or, six if you count the letter 'y'."

Inquisitor: "Ok, those are the vowels of written English. But I'm interested in the spoken language. How many vowels are there in spoken English?"

After some reflection, the American responds: "There are ten. A, E, I, O, and U can be either short or long."

This, the hypnogogic truth we are taught in grade school, is often where the conversation ends. But, unfortunately for would-be spelling reformists, language learners, and other inquisitive types, this is technically wrong and generally misleading.

So what would I answer? Probably something like this:

"You mean simple vowels, that is, those which may be sung out and identified at any point during the singing? Well then there are nine --- or ten if you count the 'errr' sound. But if you allow complex vowels, those combinations of simple vowels sometimes called 'diphthongs', then there are between 14 and 19 --- again depending on how you handle 'errr' sounds."

I put together a General American Vowel Cheat-Sheet (PDF) that enumerates each vowel, provides example English words, includes tips for French speakers to produce English sounds properly, and contains notes on vowel length and tensing --- underappreciated aspects of accent, useful to any student of spoken American English.

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Originally published on Quasiphysics.