Vowels: short i sound /ɪ/

Listen to the short i sound

How to pronounce the short i sound

The lips are relaxed and the central/front area of the tongue is in the central/high area of the mouth for this sound. The overall neutrality and relaxed tongue and lip position is why it is one of the pronunciations used in an unstressed vowel position.

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Common short i spellings

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
-i-(CVC)[1]	it lip spin		none
consonant-y-consonant	myth symbol system		long i (cycle)

[1] i spelling followed by the letter r
When the consonant following the letter i is the letter r (as in the words stir and girl), the sound is usually pronounced as the schwa+r instead of the short i sound followed by the r sound.

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The short i sound in suffixes

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
-ate[2]	accurate passionate unfortunate		long a (celebrate)
-ive	active excessive alternative		none
-ed[3]	landed skated celebrated		no vowel

[2] -ate suffix
The -ate suffix is pronounced with a short i sound when the word is being used as a noun or an adjective. When the -ate suffix is being used as a verb, a long a pronunciation is more common (as in the words celebrate and evaluate).

[3] -ed ending
The vowel sound of the -ed ending is pronounced with a short i sound when the sound before the -ed is a t sound or a d sound.

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Non-phonetic short i words
The short i sound is underlined in the following words:
been give busy building

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Pronuncian Lessons

  

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long e sound /i/

Compare long a/long e/long i

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Introduction to Approximant Sounds

l sound /l/

velar l sound /ɫ/

Introduction to Stops

t sound /t/

b sound /b/

g sound /ɡ/

k sound /k/

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