Vowel Counts
A list of 24 vowels and 480 spellings
IPA - SAMPA & Broad Romic Vowel Notation 
6 checked,  6 unchecked,  5 -6 diphthongs, 4 -7 with shwa
6 Chekt - short 
6 Free - long 
Difthongs 
4-7 with schwa 
æ   {   (æ)  a. a:   A:  (a)  a ai   aI  (ay) 'y  a@   ar  aI@  yr
at, ax, ask,  cat alms, want, star  eye, ice, bite are, care  |  ire, fire
e    e    (e)  e c:   3: ()   'r ei   eI  (ey) ei  ec   e@    (e)  er
edge get, elbow  3 her, girl, urban ace, ape, vein air, care, there, barely
i     I     ( i )  i. i:   i:    (iy)     i oi   oI  (oy) oi i:c    I@    (i)   ir
it, in, index, ill eel, east, very oil, boy, loyal ear, fear, deer, mere
o turned a o. o:   o:  (ao)   o ou @U (oa) o' or    o@   (o)   or
ox, cot, otter awe, call, cost oh, oat, low for, four, floor, more
u       (u)  u. u:  u:  (uu)   u  ju  yU       iu uc   u@    (u)  ur
hook, put, could ooze, zulu, zoo you, few, fuse your,  sure, cure
^   V     ()  u' c turned e a' au aU  (a)  au auc  au@       aur
up, cut, putt ago, sofa, unit out, down our, flower, power
 SAMPA uses @ for the turned e symbol [schwa]
Broad Romic (IPA) identifies 21 essential vowel phonemes for RP English
This is a minimum set of phonemes.  It is always possible to identify more and this table includes 25
Dewey used 18 vowels in his analysis of spelling frequencies.
A more extensive set of key words is found below:
Traditional Arrangement but a complete set of phonemes
The typical vowel in the English writing system can be spelled 20 different ways
The 4 most frequent spelling patterns for each sound account for 85% of the spellings
 
[a] /a:/ 
ring-a 
ålms 
a:lmz 
want 
wander 
watch 
*aunt 
quantity 
squad 
*father
// 
schwa
a' ' 
a' @ 
a'go
sofa
fiesta'
a'thor'ti 
syl'nt 
pens'l 
unit
lem'n 
torta's
sirk's 
lim'zyn
camouflage
 
 
[i]  /i:/ 
epsilon 
eel 
i:l  il 
medium, ego 
each, clean 
grief, field 
seize, either 
key, money 
fa'tigue 
gasoline
 
[o]  /o:/ 
o-cap 
awe 
o:  o 
cross 
long 
author 
caught 
ought 
law, saw 
altar, tall
/u:/ 
ring-u 
ooze 
u:z uz 
truth 
flew, flu 
bruise 
youth 
move 
boot
/3:/ 
yogh 
urn 
3:n 'rn 
earth 
burn 
her, earn 
sir, irk 
first 
pearl 
occur
6 Long Vowels 

There are 3 not 5 e-sounds. One of the e shapes is associated with /i:/. The epsilon, a reversed 3, could be the new sound sign or grapheme.  
   One proposal for an a shape that sounds something like an o is ring-a.

42 29 29 Total No. of Spellings
/au/ 
ow
ou
power 
round 
saurkraut
/ei/ 
ape 
eigh
grea
way 
obey
['y] /ai/ 
eye ayin 
ice, fine aisle 
fly, cycle, buy 
high, guide 
height, seismic 
bayou, cayenne
[o'] /ou/ 
oak, court 
glow, owe 
oat, boat 
open, local 
though 
plateau
[iu] /ju/ 
use 
unit, you 
mule, yew 
fuel, juice 
feud 
beauty
/oi/ 
oi
boy 
loyal 
lawyer 
/loi'r/
6 blends 
Diphthongs 
I sA nU bQ gO Vt
I se nu boi go' aut
I say niu boy go out
/a/ 
ax 
at, and 
laugh 
plaid 
salve
/e/ 
etch 
edge 
their 
friend 
said 
death
/i/ 
itch 
tin 
verify 
cynik 
forfeit 
guilt
/o/ 
ox 
pot 
optic 
bother 
*father
[u'] /^/ 
up 
about 
cup, sun 
love 
rough 
double 
flood
[u.] /u/ 
hook 
foot, put 
would 
good 
wolf 
woman
 6 Short Checked
 
are 
/ar/ 
heart 
carve 
par, car
air 
/er/ 
care 
their 
pear
ire 
/yr/ 
fire 
lyre 
pyre
or 
/or/ 
for 
lore, more 
pour, four
door, oar
your 
/iur/ 
fury 
sure 
pure
ear 
/ir/ 
near 
deer 
fierce
8 R-blends. 
ar2 
paragraph 
parachute 
character
error 
/e'r/
 
our 
/aur/ 
flower, flour
power, pout
dour, doubt
 
mower
/mo'r/
sower
floorer
poor 
/pur/ 
doer 
newer 
nu:r
pure 
/piur/
2. 
 
 
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