The apostrophe indicates that the consonant preceding a soft vowel is not palatalized, when it otherwise would be.

So in many loanwords, the soft vowel e is written but read as if it was э.

Evening, ma-am," dragging out the soft vowels.

Siona heard it then, the way he carried his venom in a sleeve of soft vowels and she was suddenly alerted.

Terrora: Extensive market research on pills and cars has shown decisively that the soft vowel ending greatly increases trust.

This feature, quite consistent with Russian orthography, promulgated a confusion between palatalization and iotation, especially because "ь" usually precedes so named soft vowels.

The voice was warm and musical, with careful diction and soft vowels.

He speaks in the soft vowels of what passes for the American aristocracy.

His accent was full of soft vowels.

His accent is no longer the upper-class drawl of his youth, but his soft vowels and formal diction still hint at a privileged lineage.