American English Phonetics
Another American English Faculty Project
2.4 Spelling-pronunciation rules for tense vowels
/iː/ Examples of spellings that represent the vowel /iː/
Rule: /iː/ never occurs before /r/: hearing, near are /hɪrɪŋ/, /nɪr/.
neat – /niːt/
complete – /kəmˈpliːt/
see – /siː/
receive – /riˈsiːv/
police – /pəˈliːs/
(n)either – /(ˈn)iːðər/
theory – /ˈθiːəri/
idea(l) – /aɪˈdiːə(l)/, NOT /aɪˈdiː(l)/
museum – /mjuˈziːəm/
/uː/ Examples of spellings that represent the vowel /uː/
Rule: /uː/ never occurs before /r/: touring, cure are /tʊrɪŋ/, kjʊr/. This is the same rule as for /i:/ above.
soon – /suːn/
lose – /luːz/
group – /gruːp/
shoe – /ʃuː/
chew – /tʃuː/
nude – /nuːd/
fruit – /fruːt/
blue – /bluː/
/eɪ/ Examples of spellings that represent the vowel /eɪ/
ace – /eɪs/
plain – /pleɪn/
may – /meɪ/
veil – /veɪl/
grey – /greɪ/
Exceptional spelling with ea
break – /breɪk/
great – /greɪt/
steak – /steɪk/
Yeats (Irish poet, 1865 – 1939) – /jeɪts/
Reagan (40th U.S. President, 1981 – 1989) – /ˈreɪgən/
/oʊ/ Examples of spellings that represent the vowel /oʊ/
old – /oʊld/
shoulder – /ˈʃoʊldər/
goes – /goʊz/
though – /ðoʊ/
/ɑ:/ Examples of spellings that represent the vowel /ɑ:/
Set 1
collar – /ˈkɑːlər/
contest (noun) – /ˈkɑːntɛst/
bomb – /bɑ:m/
Set 2
coffee – /ˈkɑːfi/
lost – /lɑːst/
daughter – /ˈdɑːt̬ər/
Exceptional spelling with -other
bother – /ˈbɑːðər/
All other words have /-ʌðr̩/ (You know: mother, brother, smother, other…).
Note: speakers from the East Coast and parts of the Midwest use /ɒː/ in set 2.
Foreign words
As observed by Lindsey (1989) GA tends to use tense vowels in foreign words. (British English often has a lax vowel in these cases.) Thus,
Costa Rica – /ˈkoʊstə ˈriːkə/
Piedro – /ˈpjeɪdroʊ/
Los Gatos – /loʊs ˈgɑːtoʊs/
Voltaire – /voʊlˈtɛr/
However, this is not a hard-and-fast rule. So do look words up.
/aɪ/ Examples of spellings that represent the diphthong /aɪ/
line – /laɪn/
mind – /maɪnd/
fight – /faɪt/
die – /daɪ/
eye – /aɪ/
Rule: /aɪ/ rarely occurs before r: hire, higher are /ˈhaɪər/.
/ɔɪ/ Examples of spellings that represent the diphthong /ɔɪ/
loin – /lɔɪn/
boy – /bɔɪ/
/aʊ/ Examples of spellings that represent the diphthong /aʊ/
down – /daʊn/
mouth – /maʊθ/
Rule: In the speech of most speakers, /aʊ/ does not occur before r: hour /ˈaʊər/, scour(ing) /ˈskaʊərɪ(ŋ)/ (clean or brighten the surface of (something) by rubbing it hard; to search thoroughly).