ä Italian, like _ah,_ as in _far, father,_ etc.
Double o has two sounds different from long or short _o_ alone:
Ow has a sound of its own, as in _how, crowd, allow,_ etc.; and _ou_ sometimes has the same sound, as in _loud, rout, bough,_ etc.
(_Ow_ and _ou_ are also sometimes sounded like long _o,_ as in _own, crow, pour,_ etc., and sometimes have still other sounds, as _ou_ in _bought_).
Oi and oy have a distinct sound of their own, as in _oil, toil, oyster, void, boy, employ,_ etc.
_Ow_ and _oi_ are called proper diphthongs, as the two vowels combine to produce a sound different from either, while such combinations as _ei, ea, ai,_ etc., are called improper diphthongs (or digraphs), because they have the sound of one or other of the simple vowels.
3. In the preceding paragraphs we have given all the distinct vowel sounds of the language, though many of them are slightly modified in certain combinations. But in many cases one vowel will be given the sound of another vowel, and two or more vowels will combine with a variety of sounds. These irregularities occur chiefly in a few hundred common words, and cause the main difficulties of spelling the English language. The following are the leading substitutes:
ew with the sound of _u_ long, as in _few, chew,_ etc. (perhaps this may be considered a proper diphthong);
e (_ê, é_) with the sound of _a_ long, as in _fête, abbé,_ and all foreign words written with an accent, especially French words;
i with the sound of _e_ long, as in _machine,_ and nearly all French and other foreign words;
o has the sound of double _o_ long in _tomb, womb, prove, move,_ etc., and of double _o_ short in _wolf, women,_ etc.;
o also has the sound of _u_ short in _above, love, some, done,_ etc.;
u has the sound of double _o_ long after _r,_ as in _rude, rule_;
it also has the sound of double _o_ short in _put, pull, bull, sure,_ etc.;
ea has the sound of _a_ long, as in _great_; of _e_ long, as in _heat_; of _e_ short, as in _head_; of _a_ Italian (ah), as in _heart, hearth,_ etc.;
ei has the sound of _e_ long, as in _receive_; of _a_ long, as in _freight, weight_; sometimes of _i_ long, as in _either_ and _neither,_ pronounced with either the sound of _e_ long or _i_ long, the latter being the English usage;