This is the i: sound. As in the words:
- be /biː/
- me /miː/
- need /niːd/
It is a Vowel sound and its technical name is the ‘Close Front Unrounded Vowel’.
How to Pronounce the /i:/ Phoneme
Remember that the key to pronunciation is physical and the name tells us about how the sound is made physically. In this case your tongue is high and at the front of your mouth. The word ‘Unrounded’ refers to your lips because they are stretched out as if you are smiling and not rounded.
All vowels are made through the mouth and are voiced so you vibrate your vocal cords to make the sound.
It is similar to the /ɪ/ sound, but the two little dots mean that it is a longer sound.
/i:/ not /ɪ/.
To produce the sound put your tongue high and at the front of your mouth and stretch out your lips, then make a long voiced sound.
It is quite a common sound that we use in many words and it can be spelled in many different ways.
How the i: Sound is Spelled
The /i:/ phoneme is normally spelled with the letter ‘e’ or e-e’ as in the words:
- three /θriː/
- see /siː/
- these /ðiːz/
But it can also be spelled with the letters ‘e-a’. As in the word:
- leave /liːv/
Examples
Here are some words that start with the /i:/ phoneme:
- each /iːtʆ/
- easy /ˈiːzi/
- eat /iːt/
- east /iːst/
Here are some words that have the sound in the middle:
- feel /fiːl/
- keep /kiːp/
- seem /siːm/
- between /bɪ’twiːn/
Here are some words with the /i:/ at the end:
- he /hiː/
- she /ʆiː/
- we /wiː/
- free /friː/
So that is it for this sound, but we have made additional videos on each of the groups of sounds Vowels, Diphthongs, Single Consonants, or Consonant Pairs as well as a video explaining the phonetic chart.