Here is a great little video that explains about all of the different sounds with vowels, and just how the English language might be pronounced if all of the vowel sounds were actually consistent. By the end of the video, you will have to listen hard (and read along) to understand the sentences.
OK in my younger days I could never figure these two words that ment the same about a prison JAIL. You have the Anglo Saxon spelling. Gaol. You have the old French Normandy spelling not used in print for the last forty years but was used in my younger days How would you pronounce each of them?
Of course I would pronounce both Jail... because I know that's how you're supposed to pronounce them This piece from the Spectator... Those who love the spelling gaol, which combines characteristics of being very English yet outlandish, might be surprised to find that the Oxford English Dictionary prefers jail. There is a logical explanation. Both spellings derive indirectly from the Latin cavus, ‘a hollow’, from which came Latin cavea, ‘a dungeon or cage’, and thence French cage and Italian gaggia (like the coffee machine). The changing of cavea into cage is paralleled by the Latin salvia developing into sage, or the late Latin rabia into rage. So far, so good. But from the Latin diminutive caveola came two different forms in Old French: gaiole or gayole in Northern French and jaiole in Parisian French. So by the Middle Ages, English possessed two forms of the word: gayol, or the striking variant gayhole; and jaiole or jaile. It should be realised that the form gayol was pronounced with a hard g. In the spoken language, the form with a soft g triumphed. Nevertheless, in writing, thanks to legal language and official conservatism, the spelling gaol was preserved, even though everyone said ‘jail’ when they read the word aloud. In America, official documents favoured jail, which is why it still seems to us American, although the pronunciation, derived from Parisian French, was identical on both sides of the Atlantic. Whatever the OED said, the Oxford University Press style remained gaol. The Guardian long persisted with gaol too but changed to jail in the 1980s, like the other English papers. The Economist Style Guide lists its preference for jail under the letter S, for ‘spellings’. What we can never know is how documents from the 16th, 17th and 18th century expected readers to pronounce the spelling goal (in the sense of prison). Was it just a mix-up (like Jhon, a common medieval English spelling of John) or did it reflect a pronunciation parallel to the French geôle? Only some rhyming poetry or explicit discussion from those times can unlock that little mystery. https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/04/why-did-we-ever-spell-jail-gaol/
An interesting fact about me. I am English but in my childhood was brought in RHYL north Wales The Y is pronounced as an I but also in certain other words can be a W A double L in a lot of place names is pronounced as Clan but with a more L for the C toung on top of the mouth and like clearing the back of your throat. Just watched a Welsh program titled Keeping Faith on BBC which is in English But they also had repeats of the Welsh language version with subtitles which I watched and understood about 1 word in 10 but could follow JUST and brought memories of the Welsh language. they tried to teach me in my youth As stated the English was titled Keeping Faith. The Welsh title was...Un Bore Mercher which translates to One Morning Wednesday instead of one Wednesday morning I still at times pronounce ONE as UN.
I always won the Spelling Bees in grammar school, but never did well on the Spelling Wasps or the Spelling Hornets. Hal
When I lived in the Eastern U.S., we sometimes pronounced it as "boy", but here in the West, we always use the "booey" pronunciation.