Vowels

There are 15 vowel phonemes in Standard American English: 10 monophthongs (/i/, /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/, /ɑ/, /ə/ and /ʌ/) and 5 diphthongs (/eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /oʊ/ and /aʊ/).

15 vowel phonemes of Standard American English

Table of Contents

American vowels

Vowel definition
American elementary school classification
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

        Rhotic R

American vowels vs British vowels
15 vowel phonemes of standard American English

    Monophthongs
    Diphthongs

Vowel Diagram

Tongue height
Advancement
Vowel diagram
Tenseness
Similar sounding vowel pairs

Front high vowels: /i/ vs /ɪ/

/i/ words
/ɪ/ words
/i/ vs /ɪ/ minimal pairs
/i/ vs /ɪ/ in sentences

Front low vowels: /ɛ/ vs /æ/

/ɛ/ words
/æ/ words
/æ/ vs /ɛ/ minimal pairs
/æ/ vs /ɛ/ in sentences

Back high vowels: /u/ vs /ʊ/

/u/ words

/ʊ/ words

/u/ vs /ʊ/ minimal pairs

/u/ vs /ʊ/ in sentences

/ju/ sound

Yod dropping

Back low vowels: /ɔ/ and /ɑ/

The cot–caught merger
Homophones due to /ɔ/ and /ɑ/ merger
Pronunciation of /ɔ/
/ɔr/ words
/ɑ/ words
R-colored /ar/ words
/ɑr, /ɔr/ minimal pairs
/ar/, /ər/ minimal pairs
/ɔr/, /ər/ minimal pairs
/ɔr/ vs /ər/ vs /ar/ comparison sentences

Middle center vowels: /ʌ/ vs /ə/

/ʌ/ words
Schwa for de-emphasis

Multisyllabic words
Function words

/ər/ words
/ʌ/, /ər/ minimal pairs

Diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/ & /ɔɪ/

/eɪ/

/eɪ/ words 
/ɛ/, /eɪ/ minimal pairs

/aɪ/

/aɪ/ words
/aɪər/ words

/ɔɪ/

/ɔɪ/ words

/eɪ/, /aɪ/ & /ɔɪ/ sentences

Diphthongs /aʊ/ and /oʊ/

/aʊ/

/aʊ/ words

/aʊər/ words

/aʊ/ sentences

/oʊ/

/oʊ/ words
/oʊ/ homophones
/oʊ/ sentences

/oʊ/, /aʊ/ minimal pairs

/oʊ/, /ɔr/ minimal pairs