American English - AH [ɑ] Vowel - How to make the AH Vowel

In this American English pronunciation

video, we’re going to learn how to

pronounce the AH as in FATHER vowel.

This vowel needs a lot of jaw drop. Ah.

The tongue tip lightly touches behind

the bottom front teeth, and the back

part of the tongue presses down a little bit.

Ah. The lips are neutral, very relaxed.

Ah. Because the tongue presses down

in the back, you can see further into the

dark space in the mouth. Let’s see

that by watching this vowel up close

and in slow motion.

The lips are relaxed, and the tongue is

lowered in the back. The inside of the

mouth is dark.

The word ‘job’. The jaw drops, and the

tongue presses down in the back.

Ah. When this vowel is in a stressed

syllable, the voice will go up and come

down in pitch, ah, job, ah. When it’s in

an unstressed syllable, it won’t be as

long, and it won’t have the up-down

shape of the voice, ah, ah. For example,

in the word ‘blockade’, ah, ah, blockade.

The mouth position looks the same: jaw

drop, relaxed lips, and tongue pressed

slightly down in the back. But because

the pitch is flatter and the syllable is

quicker, it sounds unstressed. Ah, ah.

Stressed AH: job, AH.

Unstressed ah: blockade, ah.

AH, ah. AH, ah.

Example words. Repeat with me: