/i:/ is the vowel that we find in the word FLEECE. I put that word in capitals because that is how that vowel is often referred to by linguists: the fleece vowel - or FLEECE for short. (This is not random, the word was specifically chosen for a number of specific reasons.) It is the vowel sound at the end of the word guarantee. In transcriptions of British English it has a colon [ : ] in the symbol to describe the length.
/ɪ/ is the vowel in the word KIT. It is known as the kit vowel - or KIT for short. It is the vowel we find in prefixes and suffixes, the bits we stick onto the beginnings and ends of words. So, for example it is the vowel we hear in --ing verb endings.
The vowel represented by /i/ at the ends of words in dictionaries is usually referred to as the happy vowel - HAPPY. This vowel may sound like either FLEECE or KIT, but is always short in duration.
If you say the < y > sound that we find in the word yes, and then say the < e> we find in the word end, the kit vowel is somewhere between the two sounds. This is the first vowel in the word infinitely. This word would sound very odd to a native speaker if it was said with a fleece vowel, /i:/! It would sound like a made-up word: eenfinitely.
The Original Poster asks if there is a big difference between these vowels. If we are talking about the physical difference between the sounds, the answer is: no. In fact, it is very unusual to have two vowels that are so similar in one language. They are very close together. In most languages these would count as one vowel. However, if we are talking about the meaning, or the effect on a listener, the answer is: yes! There is a big difference. There are very, very, very many words that we can be confused about if you say the wrong vowel. For example, the words peace and piss. Nobody wants to say Piss man!, when they mean Peace man!.
If you want to type IPA script, this website is very useful
Hope this helps,
Peace!
The letter 'J' usually represents the sound /ʒ/ in French. In English this sound is most often represented by the letter 'S'. A large number of the words that have this sound in actually came to us from Old French. Many of them end in -sure. Here are some examples:
- leisure, treasure, pleasure. closure, exposure, seizure (yes, that last one is spelled with a 'Z'!)
There are also many nouns originally from Latin which came to us from old French which end in sion. These endings are pronounced /ʒn/. Here are some examples of these:
- abrasion, adhesion, version, , allusion, aversion, circumcision, cohesion, collision, collusion, conclusion, confusion, conversion, corrosion, decision, delusion, derision, erosion, evasion, exclusion, explosion, fusion, infusion ...
There are also two adjectives ending -sual which usually have the /ʒ/ sound; casual and visual.
Lastly there are many words from ancient Greek with the ending -sia, often pronounced /ʒə/. Here are some examples of some of these:
- ambrosia, amnesia, kinesthesia, euthanasia, synaesthesia
The /ʒ/ sound is actually the rarest consonant sound in English. It nearly always occurs in the middle of a word. There is only one common noun in English ( - so I was told at university) which begins with the sound /ʒ/. This is the word /ʒɒnrə/, "genre".
Hope this is helpful!
Best Answer
Your question is not silly.
Both words you've mentioned have two syllables or sounds.
Each syllable in English contains a vowel or a letter that gives a vowel sound. Some syllables are very short and quiet ( we call this sound minor stress because we hardly hear it). Often we cant sound a syllable clearly because it has a very short/low (unstressed) sound we call schwa'but it is still a vowel.
The word castle can be divided into two syllables = cast + le
Notice each syllable contains a vowel
The word seven also has two syllables = sev+ en
Notice both syllables have a vowel .
Now look at this word: photography.
This word has four syllables and each syllable can be seen if we break it up to see on this page.
Ex pho to gra phy
This has four syllables but the last doesn't have a vowel. However it does contain a vowel sound (from the y).
The word Canada has three syllables = Ca na da. Each syllable does contain a vowel as seen on paper, but the last sound is hardly pronounced (this is unstressed and doesn't sound like a vowel , so be careful).
One silly way to count out syllables and to find which sounds are major or minor is to pronounce the word as if you are calling your dog back.
Source Teaching American English Pronunciation by Peter Avery/ Susan Ehrlich