The Vowel Sound Chart

Interactive IPA Vowel Chart with Audio: Learn British English Vowel Sounds

The Purpose of the Vowel Sound Chart

The vowel sound chart specifies the position of the tip of the tongue for each vowel.

Let’s compare the words ‘sheep’ /ʃiːp/ and ‘ship’ /ʃɪp/.

It is often assumed that the vowel sounds /ɪ/ and /iː/ differ only in length. However, according to the chart, we can see that the position of the tip of the tongue also differs. The /iː/ sound is a front vowel sound, while the /ɪ/ sound is a near-front vowel sound.

This chart is useful for linguists, academics, languages learners, accent coaches and actors, etc.

Note that this interactive chart only works in desktop mode.

Click on the IPA symbols below to playback the sounds.

Close vs Open

The height of the tongue affects the opening of the jaw. As the tip of the tongue is raised, the jaw tends to become more closed. As the tip of the tongue drops, the jaw tends to become more open.

A vowel sound can be categorized as:

Open
Near-open
Mid
Close
Near close

Front vs Back

Vowel sounds in which the tip of tongue pushes forward are known as front vowels. Vowel sounds in which the tip of the tongue pulls back are known as back vowels.

A vowel sound can be categorised as:

Front
Near-front
Back
Near-back

Rounded vs Unrounded

Vowel sounds can be categorised according to the shape of the mouth:

Rounded
Unrounded

Examples

The /ɒ/ sound appears in words such as ‘hot’, ‘got’ and ‘not’. The /ɒ/ sound is defined as an open-back rounded vowel.

The schwa sound /ə/ is a mid-central vowel. It is neither rounded nor ungrounded. It is neither an open vowel nor a close vowel. The schwa sound commands a neutral position which reflects the relaxed facial posture of the mouth.