Vowel Teams

Vowel teams are graphemes that consist of two or more letters representing a single vowel phoneme. There are a few other terms to learn when talking about vowel teams in English!

What are vowel digraphs and vowel trigraphs?

The terms digraph and trigraph refer to the number of letters in the vowel team. A vowel digraph is the term for a two letter vowel team representing a single vowel phoneme, such as the letters ee representing the vowel phoneme /i/, as in the word see. A vowel trigraph is a three letter vowel team representing a single vowel phoneme, such as the letters igh, which represent the vowel phoneme /aɪ/, as in the word light. Note that vowel digraphs and trigraphs can contain vowel as well as consonant letters, as long as the phoneme that is represented is a vowel phoneme.

What are monophthongs and diphthongs?

Vowel teams typically represent vowel phonemes known as monophthongs and diphthongs. These terms describe the way the vowel phoneme is pronounced. A monophthong (mono = single, phthong = sound) is a single, ‘pure’ vowel sound produced when the tongue and other speech organs maintain a single position throughout its pronunciation. Examples of monophthongs include the vowel sounds in "bean" (/i/) and "moon" (/u/). A diphthong (di = two, phthong = sound) is a combination of two vowel sounds produced within the same syllable, where the tongue and other speech organs change position smoothly from one potition to the next. Examples of diphthongs include the sounds in "coin" (/ɔɪ/) and "loud" (/aʊ/).

Click on the graphemes next to the mouth animations below to hear the most common vowel teams in Australian English. They are presented in the order they are taught in ReadingDoctor® Online.

Vowel teams representing monophthong vowel phonemes:

ee like in see:

Also found in words such as bee, reef and steep. The vowel digraph ee represents the monophthong vowel phoneme /i/ in these words.

ea like in sea:

Also found in words such as team, steam and beach. The vowel digraph ea represents the monophthong vowel phoneme /i/ in these words.

oo like in spoon:

Also found in words such as room, moon and stoop. The vowel digraph oo represents the monophthong vowel phoneme /u/ in these words.

aw like in paw:

Also found in words such as saw, pawn and straw. The vowel digraph aw represents the monophthong vowel phoneme /ɔ/ in these words.

After learning about the most common vowel monophthongs, students are taught to decode words, like:

bawl, beach, bee, beef, bleach, bleed, bloom, boo, boom, boot, booth, brawl, breeze, broom, cheap, cheat, cheek, cheery, claw, coffee, crawl, creek, creep, dawn, deep, draw, droop, each, earring, eel, feed, feel, flaw, fleet, food, free, freeze, goose, greed, green, groom, groove, heel, hoop, hoot, igloo, jaw, jeep, keel, keep, law, lawn, leash, leech, loo, loop, loose, moo, moon, moose, need, ooze, paw, pawn, peach, peek, peel, peep, pool, prawn, preach, queen, raw, reach, reed, reef, reel, roof, room, roost, root, saw, scoop, seed, seek, seesaw, shawl, sheen, sheep, sheet, shoo, shoot, sleep, sleeve, smooch, smooth, sneeze, speech, speed, spook, spoon, squawk, squeak, squeal, squeeze, steel, steep, stoop, straw, swoop, tattoo, teach, thaw, toot, tooth, wheat, yawn, zoo, zoom, abort, alarm, alert, apart, arc, arch, archer, arm, army, art, bar, barb, barber, bark, barn, bird, blur, born, burger, burn, burnt, burst, car, card, carp, cart, carve, charm, chart, chirp, church, churn, cork, corn, corner, curb, curl, curler, curly, curve, dark, dart, dirt, dirty, far, farm, fart, fern, first, fork, form, fort, forty, fur, girl, hard, harm, harp, harsh, her, herb, herd, horn, horse, hurl, hurt, jar, jerk, lord, march, mark, marker, mars, marsh, nerve, north, nurse, orb, orbit, order, organ, park, part, party, perch, perm, porch, pork, port, scar, scarf, scorch, scorn, serve, shard, shark, sharp, shirt, short, skirt, smart, snarl, snort, sort, spark, sport, spurt, squirm, squirt, star, start, stir, stork, storm, story, surf, swirl, tar, tart, third, thirst, thirty, thorn, torch, torn, turn, twirl, urn, whirl, yard, yarn,

Vowel teams representing diphthong vowel phonemes:

ai like in rain:

Also found in words such as main, train and brain. The vowel digraph ai represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /eɪ/ in these words.

ay like in play:

Also found in words such as day, stay and away. The vowel digraph ay represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /eɪ/ in these words.

igh like in light:

Also found in words such as fight, high and bright. The vowel trigraph igh represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /aɪ/ in these words.

oa like in boat:

oi like in coin

Also found in words such as join, point and boil. The vowel digraph oi represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /ɔɪ/ in these words.

oy like in boy

Also found in words such as toy, joy and enjoy. The vowel digraph oy represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /ɔɪ/ in these words.

ou like in around

Also found in words such as out, loud and found. The vowel digraph ou represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /aʊ/ in these words.

ow like in owl

Also found in words such as cow, now and fowl. The vowel digraph ow represents the diphthong vowel phoneme /aʊ/ in these words.

After learning the most common vowel teams representing diphthong vowel phonemes, students are taught to decode words like:

about, ahoy, annoy, avoid, blouse, boil, boy, brow, brown, browse, chow, cloud, clown, coil, coin, couch, count, cow, cowboy, crowd, crown, down, dowse, drown, enjoy, flower, foil, fowl, frown, gown, grouch, growl, hoist, hound, house, how, howl, join, joint, loud, mouse, mouth, noise, noisy, now, oil, oily, ouch, out, owl, oyster, point, pouch, powder, power, proud, prow, prowl, round, scout, shout, shower, slouch, sound, south, sow, soy, spoil, spout, towel, tower, town, toy, trout, wow,