Proto English Vowels

A chart of vowel correspondences in many English dialects. Uses an extended version of Well's lexical sets as necessary to make a keyword for every line. Includes significant allophones, and shows the sounds used in casual connected speech rather than carefully-annunciated speech. The IPA used, tho broad, is not phonemic and is designed to show differences, rather than similarities, between the dialects. Although diacritics are often used, the non-use of diacritics does not imply that a particular vowel is used in its cardinal sense.

Abbreviations

Table of abbreviations

GAmE	General American (pre-WWII TV/radio)
RP	Received Pronunciation
AusE	(General) Australian English
VAusE	(General) Victorian Australian English
NZE	(General) General New Zealand English
JNWE	Jonathan North Washington's (American) English
ABrE	Aaron Braver's (American) English

The Chart

Vowel correspondence chart

Keyword	ME	GAmE	JNWE	RP	AusE	VAusE	NZE
Short
KIT	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	i	i	ə
DRESS	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	e̞	e	e	e̝
LOT	ɔ	ɑ	ɑ	ɒ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ
CLOTH	ɔ	ɒ	ɒ	ɒ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ
STRUT	ʊ	ʌ̈	ʌ̈	ɐ	ä	ä	ä
FOOT	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	u	u	u
Short a
TRAP	a	æ	æ	a	æ	æ	ɛ
SANG	a		æɪ
SAG	a		æɪ
BAD	a	æ	æ	a(ː)	æː	æː	ɛ
TAN/PAM	a		Æ
DANCE	a	æ	Æ	ɑː	æː	æː	äː
CAN'T	a	æ	Æ	ɑː	äː	äː	äː
BATH	a	æ	æ	ɑː	äː	äː	äː
PALM	al	ɑ	ɑ	ɑː	äː	äː	äː
Short pre-r
START	ar	ɑɹ	ɒɹ	ɑː	äː	äː	äː
NORTH	ɔr	ɔɹ	ɔɹ	ɔː	oː	oː	oː
NURSE	ʊr	ɝ	ɹ̩	ɜː	øː	øː	øː
FIR	ɪr	ɝ	ɹ̩	ɜː	øː	øː	øː
HER	ɛr	ɝ	ɹ̩	ɜː	øː	øː	øː
HURRY	ʊ	ɝ	ɹ̩	ɐ	ä	ä	ä
MERRY	ɛ	ɛ	Æɹ	e̞	e	e	e̝
MARRY	a	æ	Æɹ	a	æ	æ	ɛ
Short pre-l
BELL	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	e̞	e	æ	ɛ
DOLL	ɔ	ɑ	ɑ	ɒ	ɔu	ɔu	?
CULT	ʊ	ʌ̈	ʌ̈	ɐ	ɔ	ɔ	?
BALD	a	ɒ	ɒ	ɔː	ɔʊ	ɔʊ	?
Long
FLEECE	eː, ɛː	i	i	iː	ɪi	ɪi	ɪi
FACE	aː, ɛː, ɛi, ai	eɪ	eɪ	eɪ	æi	æi	æɪ
THOUGHT	ɔu	ɒ	ɒ	ɔː	oː	oː	oː
GOAT	ɔː	o	ɤʊ	əʊ	ɐʉ	ɐʉ	ɐʉ
GOOSE	oː	u̟	u̟	uː	ʉ̟ː	ʉ̟ː	ʉ̟ː
PRIDE	iː	aɪ	ɑɪ	aɪ	ɑe	ɑe	ɑe
CHOICE	ɔi	ɒɪ	ɔɪ	ɔɪ	oi	oi	oɪ
MOUTH	uː	aʊ	aʊ	aʊ	æə	æə	æə
Long pre-unvoiced
PRICE	iː	aɪ	ʌɪ	aɪ	ɑe	ɑe	ɑe
Long pre-r
NEAR	eːr, ɛːr	ɪɹ	iɹ	ɪə	iː ~ iə	iː ~ iə	iə
SQUARE	aːr, ɛːr, ɛir, air	æɹ	Æɹ	ɛə	eː	eː	iə ~ ɪə
FORCE	ɔːr	oɹ	ɔɹ	ɔː	oː	oː	oː
CURE	iur, oːr	ʊɹ	ʲɹ̩/ʲɨɹ	ʊə	ʉ̟ːə	ʉ̟ːə	?
POOR	oːr, iur	ʊɹ	ɔɹ	ʊə	oː	oː	oː
Long pre-l
GOAL	ɔː	o	ɤ̹	əʊ	ɔʊ	ɔʊ	ɔʊ
FOOL	oː	u	u	uː	ʉ̟ː ~ uː	uː	uː
FUEL	iuə	uə	ʲu(ə)	ʊə	ʉ̟ː ~ uː	uː	?
PALE/PAIL	aː, ɛː, ɛi, ai	e(?)	Æ
Unstressed
HAPPY		i	i	ɪ	i	i	i
ABBOT		ə	ɨ	ə	ə	ə	ə
RABBIT		ɪ	ɨ	ɪ	ə	ə	ə
BOTTOM/SYSTEM		ə	ə
TURNIP/VICTIM		ɪ	ə

Disclaimer

(Disclaimer: This should be read as showing how diversity in pronunciation is not always an obstacle in comprehension. Not to be used as a source for anything. Some transcriptions based on the authors' own observations.)