In this section we give representative examples of spellings for each of the GA vowel phonemes. In a number of cases, exceptional spellings are noted. Regularities are given as rules.
Exceptional spellings with e:
Exceptional spellings with u:
Exceptional spellings with o:
Exceptional spellings with a:
Exceptional spellings with ay, ai:
Exceptional spellings with ai
Rule: In GA, though not in all varieties of American English, /æ/ does not occur before /r/. That is, marry = merry = Mary: /ˈmɛri/.
Exceptional spellings with oo:
Rule: /ʌ/ does not occur before /r/: hurry /ˈhɜri/, worry /ˈwɜri/, thorough /ˈθɜroʊ/.
Rule: The spelling oo only represents /ʊ/ in: foot, good, hood (also the suffix), soot (roet), stood, wood, wool and in all words spelled –ook such as cook, took, except spook (AmE for ghost) and snooker (BrE biljartspel), which have /u:/.