Pronunciation rules for the vowel combination ea
Combination of vowels Pronunciation Example words Example word pronunciation My own example words
ea ／ē／ eat /ēt/
／ě／ bread /brěd/
／ā／ great /grāt/
／ǐ／ ear /ǐr/
／ə／ no·tice·a·ble /’nō-ti-sə-ba/
／¢／beau·ty/’bū-tē/
The vowel letter combination ea can pronounce the long vowel /ē/ of the vowel e in a word, as in the word ēat; the short vowel /ě/ of the vowel e can be pronounced, as in the word brěad; it can be pronounced The long vowel /ā/ of the vowel letter a, such as in the words greāt, breāk and steāk①; the short vowel sound of the vowel letter i /ǐ/, such as in the words ear, hear and near (ǐ), At this time, ea is mainly located in the r-syllable letter combination ear; it can also be pronounced with the universal light vowel /ə/, as in the words no·tice·a·ble and o·cean (ə). In a few words, it can also be silent, such as in the word beau · ty (¢) ②. At this time, the pronunciation of the letter combination eau is /ū/, namely beaū·ty.
It should be pointed out that when ea belongs to the V·V syllable structure, the vowel e is pronounced as the long vowel /ē/, such as in the words i·dē·a, ar·ēa and crē·ate③.
The following sentence includes the five pronunciations of the vowel letter combination ea, namely /ē/, /ě/, /ā/, /ǐ/ and /ə/, as well as its silence, please memorize this sentence:
Oats are great health food with their noticeable beauty benefits, so I eat oats for breakfast nearly every morning.
① At this time, the pronunciation /ā/ of the vowel combination ea falls on the vowel a. Therefore, it can also be said that the vowel letter combination ea is a combination of letters formed by the vowel letter a.
② At this time, it can also be said that the combination of the vowel letter ea and the vowel letter u forms the vowel letter combination eau, and the pronunciation of this letter combination falls on the vowel letter u, and the long vowel /ū/ is pronounced.
③ At this time, in English pronunciation, the vowel e is pronounced as a short vowel /ǐ/, namely i·de·a, ar·ea and cre·ate(ǐ).
