English has around 20 vowel phonemes like ee, ih, eh, aa, ay, ah, aw, oh, uh, and ooh. To qualify as a vowel, a sound must meet a few general criteria. First, it must be voiced, meaning your voice ...

A fada above a vowel means the vowel should be pronounced “long” – which is what fada means in Irish. Fadas are often dropped in English, but in Irish pronunciation they are crucial.

Renwick said one of the "oldest characteristic pronunciation[s]" of southern speech came from changes to the diphthong, or the sound spoken when two vowels are in the same syllable and the speaker ...