In phonetics, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used to provide transcriptions of actual speech. It uses a combination of letters from the Latin alphabet, letters from other alphabets and some invented symbols. You will need to have at least a rough knowledge of the IPA.
A full account of the vowels of English is provided in the readings (see Roach chapters 2 & 3). They are summarised below with reference to so-called Received Pronunciation
There is one final vowel which typically occurs in context when other vowels are reduced or skipped over in relatively fast, connected speech. We find, it for example, in words such was in fast speech or in ed endings of the past participle - `You know what I wuz going to do?'; He loadud the gun.
