English Pronunciation for Icelanders

7
1.2 TENSE VOWELS
1 5
There are five tense vowels (excluding diphthongs) in RP.
They are normally longer than the lax vowels, and we always
write them with the length mark (:).
Tense vowels can be unchecked.
Keyword
RP tense vowels. Listen and repeat (record your answers)
FLEECE sea seed seen seat I
PALM,START,BATH shah car card calm cart A
THOUGHT,NORTH law four lord lawn walk O
GOOSE blue rude moon hoot U
NURSE stir heard burn shirt E
Variations
1 In most accents other than RP and the South of England, BATH words have the
TRAP vowel. These are words like fast, grass, path, dance
2 In the United States, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and the South-West of
England, START NORTH and NURSE have an r-sound following the vowel. In RP,
the South-East of England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa,
the r is usually missing.
3 In Scotland, FOOT and GOOSE have the same vowel. Since FOOT is a difficult
vowel for Icelanders, you may prefer the Scottish pronunciation!
Here are some more examples of tense vowels. Notice the
different spellings.
FLEECE
Listen and repeat (record your answers)
I steam feed be magazine piece receive meal
PALM,START,BATH A ma far pass part heart calm half laugh*
THOUGHT,NORTH
GOOSE
NURSE
*Note on tape for American accents.
O horse saw daughter fault all talk water door
board four*
U glue crew feud moon who move through juice shoe
E err earth bird turn word worse journey colonel*