Chapter 7: Vowels

Useful links

• Single syllable OE, OU, and OEU words drill
• Single syllable AEU words drill
• Single syllable AOU words drill
• Chapter 7 test

Intro

Vowels are reportedly the most difficult part of learning steno. Part of this is due to the fact that vowels are pronounced differently in different dialects of English. Unfortunately, I grew up learning General American English. This is the accent that Lapwing is based on.

If you speak a different accent, you may have to subvocalize with an American accent (sorry).

I’m making an effort to include IPA with the hopes that they will be useful for some. However, I must make the disclaimer that I have never taken a formal linguistics course nor am I an enthusiast. I apologize for any errors that may be present in this page—do reach out to me if you have corrections!

OE, OU, and OEU

• OE is the long o vowel as in “tote”
  • /oʊ/

Linguistically, calling this a long vowel is incorrect (this is actually a diphthong), but it’s what most people would be familiar with (see here).

• OU is the “ow” sound as in “cow”
  • /aʊ/

• OUR is the sound as in “hour”
  • /aʊ ər/

• OEU is the sound as in “toy”
  • /ɔɪ/

Examples

• foe TPOE*
• sow SOE
• foul TPOUL*
• power POUR
• coil KOEUL
• soy SOEU

If you’re having trouble associating the OE and OU chords, I suggest remembering the words marked with *.

Mnemonics

Feel free to come up with your own or even suggest some!

1. The word “foe” is spelled with the letters OE.
   • Apply this to other words with the same vowel sound!
2. The word “our” is spelled with OU.
3. OEU can be thought of as O + EU or “oi” which resembles its pronunciation and spelling (as in the word “soil”)

Section practice

Single syllable OE, OU, and OEU words drill

AEU

• AEU is the long a vowel as in “pay”
  • /eɪ/

NOTE: be careful with words like “bag”, “tank”, and “sag”; these use A for /æ/ and not AEU. The difference is subtle, but try to convince yourself that these are different vowels.

• AEUR is the sound as in “pair”
  • /ɛr/

Examples

• day TKAEU
• lay HRAEU
• care KAEUR
• pair PAEUR

Mnemonics

Feel free to come up with your own or even suggest some!

1. AEU can be thought as A + EU or “ai” which resembles its pronunciation and spelling (as in the word “paid”)
2. If the notion of long vowels and short vowels (as described above) is familiar, AEU can be thought of as transforming the A key into a long a by combining it with the two keys on the other side
   • Long a = A + (vowel keys on other hand)

Section practice

Single syllable AEU words drill

AOU

• AOU represents two different sounds:

  1. The long u sound as in “cube”
     • /ju/
  2. The “oo” sound as in “glue”
     • /u/
     • Only when the sound is not spelled with “oo”
       • E.g., “loo” would not use AOU

• AOUR is the sound as in “cure”

  • /ʊər/

Examples

• ew AOU
• sue SAOU
• lure HRAOUR
• pure PAOUR

Mnemonics

Feel free to come up with your own or even suggest some!

1. If the notion of long vowels and short vowels (as described above) is familiar, the AOU chord can be thought of as transforming the U key into a long u by combining it with the two keys on the other side
   • Long u = U + (vowel keys on other hand)
2. The long u sound is also quite similar to the “oo” sound

Section practice

Single syllable AOU words drill

Chapter 7 test

This chapter’s test consists of all the practice drills you have done in this chapter. Make sure your settings are configured as such:

• Limit word count: 45
• Start from word: 1
• Repetitions: 3
• Sort: random
• Show hint for every word: unchecked
• Hide hint on last repetition: unchecked
• Show hint on misstroke: checked

Click here to access the chapter 7 test

Recommended completion goal

This is only a suggestion if you are unsure of when to move on to the next chapter; it is not a strict requirement!

Aim for 5-20 WPM with 90% accuracy.

You may use the test material as practice!

Chapter briefs

This section is completely optional, but recommended. If you prefer to learn these all at once, they will be covered in chapter 16.

NOTE: remember that these are briefs; the explanations are not applicable to any arbitrary word.

Practice sentences

1. can you say two?
2. I paid for a can!
3. I got a new car in the house.
4. if you trade, can I pay for the place?

Answers

1. K/U/SAEU/TWO/KW-PL
2. EU/PAEUD/TP-R/AEU/K/TP-BG
3. EU/TKPWOT/AEU/TPHU/KAR/TPH/-T/HOUS/TP-PL
4. TP/U/TRAEUD/KW-BG/K/EU/PAEU/TP-R/-T/PHRAEUS/KW-PL

Extra briefs