Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges

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[*] 24. Vowels.—Short α, ι, υ differed in sound from the corresponding long voweis only in being less prolonged; ε and ο probably differed from η and ω also in being less open, a difference that is impossible to parallel in English as our short vowels are more open than the long vowels. α^: as a in Germ. hat. There is no true ă in accented syllables in English; the a of idea, aha is a neutral vowel. ε: as é in bonté; somewhat similar is a in bakery. η: as ê in fête, or nearly as e in where. ι^: nearly as the first e in meteor, eternal. ο: as o in Fr. mot, somewhat like unaccented ŏ in obey or phonetic (as often sounded). ω: as o in Fr. encore. Eng. ō is prevailingly diphthongal (o^{u}). υ was originally sounded as u in prune, but by the fifth century had become like that of Fr. tu, Germ. thür. It never had in Attic the sound of u in mute. After υ had become like Germ. ü, the only means to represent the sound of the old υ (oo in moon) was ου (25). Observe, however, that, in diphthongs, final υ retained the old υ sound.