Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:07
The N consonant sound. This sound is made
by the front/top part of the tongue raising
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and touching the roof of the mouth, nn, nn.
The teeth part a bit, the lips are open, nn,
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nn, and the vocal cords make sound, nn, nn.
Here is the N consonant sound on the right
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compared with the mouth at rest. You can see
that the lips are parted and the jaw is slightly
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dropped for this sound. Here, parts of the
mouth are drawn in. The tongue raises in the
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front and touches the roof of the mouth just
behind the teeth. So actually the tip of the
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tongue is touching the front teeth. This is
one of the few sounds in American English
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where the soft palate remains down. This allows
air to pass over the soft palate, and causes
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it to feel somewhat in the nose. It is a nasal
consonant along with M and NG. Sample words:
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01:08
nice, can, dinner. Sample sentence: Now I
don't know when I can come. Now you will see
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this sentence up close and in slow motion,
both straight on and from an angle, so you
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can really study how the mouth moves when
making this sound. Now, jaw drops and the
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tongue goes to the roof of the mouth just
behind the teeth for the N. Down for the 'ow'
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as in 'now' diphthong. I, with the 'ai' as
in 'buy' diphthong. Don't, the lips are rounded
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here, so you can't really see the tongue goes
up behind the teeth and back down. Know when,
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lips make the tight circle. Tongue up for
the N. I can come with the 'uh' as in 'butter'
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vowel sound and the lips together for the
M consonant sound. And now from the angle.
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Jaw drops while the tongue goes to the roof
of the mouth just behind the teeth. Now, 'ow'
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as in 'now' diphthong. I don't, tongue up
to the roof of the mouth for the N, and again
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for the N in know. When, lips make the tight
circle for the W and the tongue up to the
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roof of the mouth for the N. I can, tongue
raises in the back for the K sound. Come,
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with the 'uh' as in 'butter' and the lips
close for the M consonant sound. That's it,
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and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
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