DON'T Fall For These Diphthongs and Vowel Mistakes | Pronunciation Compilation | Rachel’s English

437,470 views ・ 2021-06-15

Rachel's English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Today, we’re putting together every video we have that focuses on the vowel and diphthong
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sounds of American English.
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This is your one-stop shop.
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You’ll see photos, up-close slow-motion words, valuable comparisons.
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We’re going to talk a lot about word stress too because that really affects vowel and
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diphthong sounds.
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You’re going to learn everything you need to know about these American English sounds.
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We’ll start with the vowel AH like in father and UH like in butter and we’ll see a comparison.
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AH as in FATHER.
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This vowel needs a lot of jaw drop.
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Ah.
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The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth, and the back part of the
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tongue presses down a little bit.
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Ah.
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The lips are neutral, very relaxed.
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Ah.
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Because the tongue presses down in the back, you can see further into the dark space in
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the mouth.
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Let’s see that by watching this vowel up close and in slow motion.
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The lips are relaxed, and the tongue is lowered in the back.
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The inside of the mouth is dark.
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The word ‘job’.
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The jaw drops, and the tongue presses down in the back.
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Ah.
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When this vowel is in a stressed syllable, the voice will go up and come down in pitch,
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ah, job, ah.
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When it’s in an unstressed syllable, it won’t be as long, and it won’t have the
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up-down shape of the voice, ah, ah.
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For example, in the word ‘blockade’, ah, ah, blockade.
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The mouth position looks the same: jaw drop, relaxed lips, and tongue pressed slightly
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down in the back.
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But because the pitch is flatter and the syllable is quicker, it sounds unstressed.
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Ah, ah.
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Stressed AH: job, AH.
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Unstressed ah: blockade, ah.
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AH, ah.
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AH, ah.
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Example words.
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Repeat with me:
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Honest AH, Honest
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Occupation, ah, occupation
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hot, AH, hot
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clock, AH, clock
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October, ah, October
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Soft, Ah, soft
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The UH as in butter vowel
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This is a very relaxed sound. 
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You can see, uh, the jaw drops but the rest of the mouth remains very neutral, uh.  
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The tongue is relaxed: the back presses down just a little bit, and the tip is forward.
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Uh.
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Keep your face really relaxed.
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Let’s look at this sound up close and in slow motion.
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A very relaxed jaw drop with relaxed lips.
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The tongue presses down just a bit in the back.
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Here’s the word ‘stuff’.
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Again, everything looks nice and relaxed.
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The tongue presses down just a bit in the back.
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In a stressed syllable, the vowel curves up then down.
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Stuff, uh.
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In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, and a little quieter and
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quicker, uh, uh.
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The vowel is unstressed in the word ‘undo’, uh.
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Let’s take a look at this word up close and in slow motion.
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Easy jaw drop.
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Lips and cheeks remain very relaxed.
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Tongue presses down slightly in the back.
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Compare the stressed vowel above with the unstressed vowel below.
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Notice the jaw may drop a bit more for a stressed syllable.
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This is typical.
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Unstressed vowels and diphthongs are shorter, so there isn’t as much time to make the
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full mouth position.
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The UH vowel, stressed: stuff, UH The UH vowel, unstressed: undo, uh
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UH, uh, UH, uh.
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Example words.
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Repeat with me.
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Sometimes, UH, sometimes
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money, UH, money
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above, UH, above
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untie, UH, untie
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uphill, UH, uphill
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Fun, UH, fun.
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Here we have the AH and uh vowels in profile.
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You can see for the Ah vowel the jaw might drop a little bit more.
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Also the tongue position has a little bit of tension in it.
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That’s because the tongue is flattened a little bit.
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In the uh vowel the tongue is completely relaxed.
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Now you’ll see the mouth from the front alternating between the AH and the uh sounds.
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Watch the subtle change in jaw drop.
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And see if you can notice the subtle change in tongue position as well.
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AH
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Uh
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AH
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Uh
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AH
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Uh
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Now we’ll do two other vowel sounds that I’ve noticed can be tricky for my students.
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Set.
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Sat.
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I’m talking about the EH as in bed vowel and the AA vowel like in bat.
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We’ll go over each sound in-depth and have a comparison.
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the EH as in BED vowel.
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To make this sound, the jaw drops, eh, and the tongue remains forward with the tip touching
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lightly behind the bottom front teeth.
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Eh.
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The mid/front part of the tongue lifts a little bit towards the roof of the mouth while the
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back of the tongue feels like it stretches wide.
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Eh.
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In a stressed syllable, the voice has a little curve up, then curve down.
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Eh, eh.
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It’s stressed in the word ‘said’.
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Let’s watch up close and in slow motion.
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The jaw drops.
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The tongue tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth, and the middle part arches up
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towards the roof of the mouth.
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Said, eh, said.
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In an unstressed syllable, the vowel is lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and
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quicker, eh, eh.
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The vowel is unstressed in the word ‘employ’, eh.
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Let’s take a look up close and in slow motion.
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Relaxed jaw drop.
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The middle part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.
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Here we compare the stressed EH from ‘said’, on top, with the unstressed version from ‘employ’
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on the bottom.
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Notice the jaw drops more for the stressed version of this vowel.
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Because the unstressed version of the vowel is shorter, there isn’t enough time to make
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the full jaw drop.
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EH stressed: said, EH
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EH unstressed: employ, eh
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EH, eh.
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EH, eh.
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Example words.
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Repeat with me:
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Red, EH, Red
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Never, EH, never
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embrace, Eh, embrace
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enter, EH, enter
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embody, EH, embody
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Desk, EH, desk.
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The AA as in BAT vowel.
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This is a sound that changes depending on the following sound.
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So, it can either be a pure vowel or a modified vowel.
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We’ll go over both in this video.
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To make the pure AA vowel, the jaw drops quite a bit, AA.
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The tip of the tongue stays forward; it’s touching the back of the bottom front teeth,
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AA.
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The back part of the tongue stretches up.
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The tongue is wide, AA.
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Because the tongue is high in the back and low in the front, you can see a lot of it.
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This is different from the 'ah' as in 'father' vowel, for example, where the tongue presses
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down in the back and you see more dark space in the mouth.
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AA, AH.
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You can also see the corners of the mouth pull back and up a little bit.
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AA.
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Let’s take a look at the pure AA vowel up close and in slow motion.
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The tongue tip is down and the back of the tongue lifts.
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Here’s the word ‘sat’.
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The tongue position is easy to see because of the jaw drop needed for this vowel.
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When AA is in a stressed syllable, the vowel will go up and come down in pitch, AA.
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Sat, AA.
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In an unstressed syllable, the vowel is flatter and lower in pitch, quieter, aa.
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This vowel is unstressed in the second syllable of ‘backtrack’.
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Let’s look up close and in slow motion.
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In the first, stressed syllable, the jaw drops, and we see the corners of the lips pull back
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and up for the stressed AA.
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In the unstressed syllable, the jaw drops less.
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Let’s compare them.
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On top is the stressed AA.
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You can see the jaw drops more.
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For the unstressed AA, the corners of the lips are a little more relaxed than in the
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stressed version, where they pull slightly back and up.
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Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is more relaxed and doesn’t
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take the full mouth position, in this case, a little less jaw drop, and relaxed lips.
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This is because unstressed syllables are shorter, so we don’t take the time to make the full
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position.
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At the beginning of this video, I said the AA vowel is not always a pure AA.
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This vowel changes when it’s followed by a nasal consonant.
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When it’s followed by the M or N sounds, the tongue relaxes in the back, making an
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UH sound after AA.
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AA-UH.
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It’s not a pure AA sound.
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Unfortunately, this change is not represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
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It’s still written with the same AA symbol.
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So, you just have to know when it’s followed by m or n, it’s different.
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We don’t say ‘man’, aa, ‘man’, with a pure AA.
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We say ‘man’, aa-uh, aa-uh, relaxing the tongue and corners of the lips before the
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consonant.
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You can think of this UH relaxation as the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’ sound or schwa
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sound.
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Let’s look up close and in slow motion at the word ‘exam’.
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First we see the familiar shape of the mouth, when the AA is in a stressed syllable.
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Watch how the relaxation that happens: the corners of the lips relax in.
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The tongue will relax down in the back.
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And the lips close for the M consonant.
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This relaxation of the corner of the lips and back of the tongue happens when the AA
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vowel is followed by the N consonant as well.
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For example, the word ‘hand’.
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Haa-uhnd.
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Hand.
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So, when you see this symbol followed by this symbol or this symbol, it’s no longer a
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pure AA.
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Think of relaxing out of the vowel, AA-UH.
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If the next sound is the NG consonant, it’s a little different.
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Rather than ‘aa-uh’, the vowel changes into AY.
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It’s really like the AY as in SAY diphthong.
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First, the middle part of the tongue lifts towards the roof of the mouth, then the front
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part of the tongue.
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Let’s watch ‘gang’ up close and in slow motion.
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The position for the first sound looks a lot like AA, but the part of the tongue lifting
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up is more forward.
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Gaaaang.
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Then the front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth, while the tongue
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tip remains down.
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When you see this symbol followed by this symbol, it’s no longer a pure AA.
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It’s more like AY.
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Gang.
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Thanks.
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Pure stressed AA: Sat, aa
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Pure unstressed AA: backtrack, aa
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AA, aa, AA, aa.
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AA vowel modified by M: exam, aa-uh
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AA vowel modified by N: man, aa-uh
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AA vowel modified by NG: gang, ay
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Example words.
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Repeat with me:
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Chapter, AA, Chapter
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can, AA, can
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act, AA, act
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last, AA , last
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bank, ay, bank
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Bypass, aa, bypass
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Here you’ll see the EH as in bed vowel on the left and the AA as in bat vowel on the
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right.
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For the AA vowel, you can see that it’s the back part of the tongue that raises up
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towards the roof of the mouth.
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For the EH vowel, it’s the mid front part of the tongue that is stretching up.
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Also for the AA, you can see that the jaw drops just a little bit more.
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So, for the AA vowel, the tongue is raising here.
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AA
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And for the EH vowel, the tongue is raising more here.
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EH
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So here for the AA and here for the EH.
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AA
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EH
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When comparing the two sounds in isolation, you’ll also notice that the jaw does not
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drop as much for the EH sound as the front part of the tongue is raising towards the
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roof of the mouth.
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AA
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EH
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There’s a difference in the lip position as well.
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For the AA vowel, you may find that you may get a more accurate sound if you lift a little
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bit here with the top left.
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AA, AA.
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Whereas for the EH sound the lips remain very relaxed and neutral.
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EH, EH.
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Now we’ll see the two alternating upclose.
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AA
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EH
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AA
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EH
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To close, a few minimal pairs.
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Bat
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Bet
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Capped
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Kept
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Jam
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Gem
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Tack
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Tech
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Rack
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Wreck
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Next we have another pair that’s tricky for my students.
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EE like in seat and IH like in sit.
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We’ll go over each sound in depth and then I’ll talk about length when it comes to
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vowel sounds.
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The EE as in SHE vowel.
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This vowel is common to many languages.
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To make it, the jaw drops just a little bit.
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The tongue tip stays behind the bottom front teeth.
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The middle/front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth, diminishing
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the space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
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The corners of the lips pull a little wide, ee.
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21:21
They’re not quite relaxed.
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21:24
Let’s see this sound up close and in slow motion.
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21:29
A little jaw drop, tongue tip down and forward while the top front of the tongue arches towards
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7210
21:36
the roof of the mouth.
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1910
21:38
The corners of the lips pull out.
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1298150
3510
21:41
In the word ‘please’, the EE vowel is stressed.
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21:47
Same position.
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21:50
When stressed, the vowel has the up-down shape of a stressed syllable: EE.
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21:58
When unstressed, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, quieter, and faster, ee.
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8195
22:06
This is a very common ending unstressed vowel in American English because of all of the
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1326905
6385
22:13
words that end in Y, like the word ‘busy’.
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22:18
Let’s see this word up close and in slow motion.
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7350
22:25
Jaw drops, top front of tongue arches up, and the corners of the lips pull out.
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6530
22:32
Let’s compare the stressed EE in ‘please’, on top, with the unstressed EE in ‘busy’,
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8289
22:40
on the bottom.
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1381
22:41
You can see the mouth position for the unstressed EE is a little more relaxed.
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22:47
The jaw doesn’t drop as much.
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2315
22:51
A more relaxed mouth position for the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is very common
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22:58
because they are shorter.
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1378640
1280
22:59
So, there is less time to make the full mouth position.
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23:04
Stressed EE: need, EE Unstressed: busy, ee
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15339
23:21
EE, ee.
302
1401376
3574
23:25
EE, ee.
303
1405386
3575
23:29
Example words.
304
1409505
2295
23:31
Repeat with me:
305
1411800
2310
23:34
Keep, EE, Keep
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1414110
6019
23:41
Early, EE, Early
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5956
23:49
Police, EE, police
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1429953
6588
23:57
Coffee, ee, coffee
309
1437794
6374
24:05
meet, EE, meet
310
1445530
6278
24:13
Each, EE, each
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1453224
6444
24:19
The IH as in sit vowel.
312
1459668
4442
24:24
This vowel can be a challenge for non-native speakers.
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4060
24:28
The tendency is to replace it with the EE vowel.
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5370
24:33
But for the IH vowel, the jaw drops more, so the tongue isn’t as close to the roof
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7020
24:40
of the mouth.
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1140
24:41
Let’s study the mouth position.
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3160
24:44
There’s a relaxed jaw drop.
318
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3000
24:47
The tip of the tongue stays forward, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth.
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1487860
5990
24:53
The top, front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.
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4890
24:58
Let’s see this vowel up close and in slow motion.
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25:03
Relaxed jaw drop.
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2432
25:06
Tongue tip forward.
323
1506100
1640
25:07
Top, front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.
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5420
25:13
This vowel is stressed in the word ‘fix’.
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3995
25:17
Same mouth position.
326
1517700
2708
25:21
When this vowel is in a stressed word or syllable, like ‘fix’, it has an up-down shape, IH,
327
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10832
25:33
fix, IH.
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1533310
3016
25:36
When it’s in an unstressed syllable, it will be flatter and lower in pitch, quieter:
329
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6614
25:43
ih, ih.
330
1543375
2745
25:46
It’s unstressed in the word ‘office’, ih.
331
1546120
4760
25:50
Let’s take a look.
332
1550880
2704
25:53
The mouth position is the same, but a little more relaxed.
333
1553584
5276
25:58
Let’s compare the stressed IH in ‘fix’, on the top, to the unstressed IH in ‘office’.
334
1558860
9650
26:08
Notice that the jaw is more dropped for the stressed syllable.
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4619
26:13
For the unstressed IH, the jaw is less dropped.
336
1573129
4714
26:18
This is typical.
337
1578823
2517
26:21
Unstressed vowels are shorter, so there isn’t as much time to make the full mouth position.
338
1581340
6054
26:27
Stressed IH: fix, IH
339
1587394
6362
26:33
Unstressed IH: office, ih
340
1593756
5256
26:40
IH, ih, IH, ih
341
1600046
6542
26:47
Example words.
342
1607623
2277
26:49
Repeat with me:
343
1609900
1616
26:52
Which, IH, which
344
1612333
6524
26:58
instead, Ih, instead
345
1618857
9060
27:07
begin, IH, begin
346
1627917
7083
27:15
divorce, Ih, divorce
347
1635000
6997
27:21
busy, IH, busy
348
1641997
7128
27:29
Print, IH, print
349
1649125
6149
27:39
Here along the Hudson River for fleet week, they are bringing out some old-time replica
350
1659167
5354
27:44
ships.
351
1664521
1000
27:45
Like the ones taken in this photo by my friend Jovan.
352
1665902
4016
27:49
And this made me think about the vowels IH and EE.
353
1669918
3732
27:53
Ships has the IH as in sit vowel and fleet, week both have both have the EE as in she
354
1673650
7628
28:01
vowels.
355
1681278
891
28:02
Now I just did a video on the IH vowel versus the EE vowel, a comparison.
356
1682169
6017
28:08
And I didn’t talk about length at all.
357
1688186
2173
28:10
That’s because I don’t think length really comes into play when we’re talking about
358
1690359
3605
28:13
a vowel on its own.
359
1693964
1391
28:15
But since a lot of people teach length when they teach these two vowels, I thought I should
360
1695355
4630
28:19
talk about it.
361
1699985
1545
28:21
A lot of people will say that EE is a long vowel and Ih is a short vowel.
362
1701530
5420
28:26
But I feel like vowels themselves don’t have a length.
363
1706950
4040
28:30
To me the length of a syllable depends on is a distressed syllable or is unstressed.
364
1710990
4170
28:35
So if the Ih vowel is in the stressed syllable of a content word, then it would be long even
365
1715160
6940
28:42
though some people would call it short vowel.
366
1722100
2900
28:45
Another thing that can affect vowel length is the ending consonant.
367
1725000
3700
28:48
If everything else is the same and the ending consonant is voiced, then that vowel will
368
1728700
5750
28:54
be a little bit longer than if the ending consonant is unvoiced.
369
1734450
3550
28:58
So, for example the word cap will be a little bit shorter than the word cab.
370
1738000
6190
29:04
Cap
371
1744190
1885
29:06
Cab
372
1746075
1567
29:07
So in looking at the EE vowel and the IH vowel in the word beat.
373
1747642
5468
29:13
An unvoiced consonant there at the end, that EE vowel is short.
374
1753110
3922
29:17
Beat.
375
1757032
1163
29:18
But in the word bid, the ending consonant there is voiced so IH will be a little bit
376
1758195
5625
29:23
longer.
377
1763820
1000
29:24
So don’t think about the length of the vowel being tied to the vowel itself.
378
1764820
4020
29:28
It’s tied to the syllable and the sentence position and maybe the ending consonant.
379
1768840
6060
29:34
This ship was interesting.
380
1774900
1865
29:36
Because instead of raising their sails, they had people standing where the sails would
381
1776765
5285
29:42
have been.
382
1782050
3900
29:45
Notice how been spelled with two e’s is actually pronounced with the IH as in sit
383
1785950
6941
29:52
vowel.
384
1792891
1328
29:54
Listen again.
385
1794219
1484
29:55
where the sails would have been.
386
1795703
5406
30:10
Hey Jovan
387
1810968
1688
30:12
Yeah
388
1812709
954
30:13
Nice socks.
389
1813718
861
30:14
Thanks.
390
1814579
731
30:15
I really like them.
391
1815363
1216
30:16
Thanks, that means a lot.
392
1816633
3317
30:19
Now you’ll see videos that go into the details of all the remaining vowel and diphthong sounds.
393
1819950
5660
30:25
Then we’ll compare the mouth positions for the different sounds.
394
1825610
4450
30:30
the AW as in LAW vowel.
395
1830060
3691
30:33
This vowel sound, when pure, is quite similar to the AH as in FATHER vowel.
396
1833751
8079
30:41
In some areas of the United States, we don’t even make this sound.
397
1841830
5200
30:47
We always use the AH as in FATHER sound instead.
398
1847030
4966
30:51
Also, when this vowel is followed by the R consonant, it changes.
399
1851996
5754
30:57
We’ll go over that.
400
1857750
1885
30:59
First let’s study the mouth position.
401
1859635
3930
31:03
To make this vowel, the jaw drops and the tongue shifts back.
402
1863565
5205
31:08
The tip of the tongue doesn’t touch anything.
403
1868770
2769
31:11
The lips flare a bit.
404
1871539
2379
31:14
AW.
405
1874598
1612
31:16
One technique that might help you make this sound is to think of the cheeks coming in
406
1876210
6080
31:22
and shifting forward just a little bit, aw.
407
1882290
5264
31:27
This is a way to make it different from the AH as in FATHER vowel, where the lips and
408
1887554
7646
31:35
cheeks are totally relaxed.
409
1895200
2064
31:38
AW, AH.
410
1898571
4163
31:43
Let’s watch up close and in slow motion.
411
1903061
3648
31:46
The jaw drops, the lips flare out a little bit, and the tongue pulls back.
412
1906709
6241
31:52
Let’s compare with the AH as in FATHER vowel, on top.
413
1912950
6180
31:59
In AH, the lips are relaxed.
414
1919130
3170
32:02
In AW, the lips flare.
415
1922300
3393
32:05
Also notice how the tongue pulls back in the AW vowel.
416
1925693
6350
32:13
In a stressed syllable, this vowel has the up-down shape of stress.
417
1933840
5053
32:18
AW.
418
1938893
2077
32:20
AW.
419
1940970
1260
32:22
For example, in the word ‘saw’.
420
1942230
3919
32:28
Jaw drops, lips flare, tongue shifts back.
421
1948600
7010
32:35
In an unstressed syllable, the voice will be lower in pitch, quieter, and flatter.
422
1955610
6800
32:42
Unstressed syllables won’t be as long, aw, aw.
423
1962410
6970
32:49
AW, aw.
424
1969380
2740
32:52
The voice is unstressed in the word ‘on’, a function word, on.
425
1972120
7520
32:59
Function words are unstressed, aw, aw.
426
1979640
4820
33:04
Note, this word can also be pronounced with the AH as in FATHER vowel.
427
1984460
6910
33:11
The vowel here is extremely quick since it’s in an unstressed syllable.
428
1991370
5640
33:17
The tongue tip isn’t quite forward.
429
1997010
3690
33:20
The tongue is in position just an instant before the tongue flips up to make the N.
430
2000700
5810
33:26
Let’s compare the stressed AW in SAW, on top, with the unstressed AW in ‘on’, on
431
2006510
10971
33:37
the bottom.
432
2017481
2159
33:39
You can see the jaw drops less, the lips are more relaxed, and the tongue doesn’t shift
433
2019640
5591
33:45
back as much.
434
2025231
1484
33:46
Unstressed syllables are shorter than stressed syllables, so often the unstressed version
435
2026715
6665
33:53
of a vowel or diphthong doesn’t take the full mouth position of the stressed version.
436
2033380
5902
34:00
This vowel can be affected by following consonants.
437
2040000
4128
34:04
When the AW vowel is followed by the R consonant, the sound does change.
438
2044128
6242
34:10
The lips flare more, and the tongue pulls back more, and up a little bit.
439
2050370
5901
34:16
This is because we blend the position for the R with the position for the AW when the
440
2056271
6769
34:23
R follows the AW.
441
2063040
2372
34:25
Instead of AW, the sound is aw, core, aw, aw, AW.
442
2065412
12735
34:38
Let’s look at another word.
443
2078637
2268
34:40
Sore, aw, aw, sore, aw, AW.
444
2080905
10912
34:51
Let’s compare the pure AW with the AW followed by R, in the word ‘quarter’, on the bottom.
445
2091817
9310
35:01
You can see for the AW followed by R, the lips round more and the jaw drops less.
446
2101127
7448
35:08
Because of the lips, it’s hard to see the tongue, but it pulls back and up more than
447
2108575
5885
35:14
in a pure AW vowel, above.
448
2114460
3470
35:17
Pure stressed AW: saw, AW
449
2117930
6338
35:24
Pure unstressed AW: on, aw
450
2124268
7044
35:31
AW, aw, AW, aw
451
2131312
6187
35:37
AW modified by R: core, aw, aw.
452
2137825
8415
35:46
Example words.
453
2146893
2107
35:49
Repeat with me.
454
2149000
1406
35:51
Boss, AW, boss
455
2151060
6669
35:58
long, AW, long
456
2158383
7322
36:06
runoff, aw, runoff
457
2166740
6061
36:13
lifelong, aw, lifelong
458
2173836
6048
36:20
login, AW, login
459
2180591
6668
36:29
wrong, AW, wrong
460
2189329
6079
36:37
Daughter.
461
2197423
2244
36:39
AW, daughter
462
2199667
3443
36:43
The schwa vowel sound.
463
2203110
2808
36:46
This vowel is always unstressed.
464
2206284
3338
36:49
The mouth position is a lot like the UH as in BUTTER vowel, but that vowel can be and
465
2209622
8158
36:57
usually is stressed.
466
2217780
2526
37:00
But just like that vowel, everything in your lips, jaw, and neck should be relaxed for
467
2220306
6754
37:07
this sound.
468
2227060
1066
37:08
Just slightly drop your jaw to make this sound.
469
2228126
4414
37:12
The trick is to keep everything else relaxed.
470
2232540
3240
37:16
Let’s look at the vowel up close and in slow motion.
471
2236292
4048
37:20
It’s possible to make this sound on its own with just the slightest jaw drop.
472
2240340
6260
37:26
But in actual words, you will likely see a bit more jaw drop, like here, on the word
473
2246600
5651
37:32
‘sofa’.
474
2252251
1281
37:33
Lips relaxed, cheeks relaxed, tongue forward and relaxed.
475
2253532
6661
37:40
As I said, this vowel can only be in an unstressed syllable.
476
2260193
5717
37:45
All other vowel and diphthong sounds can either be stressed or unstressed.
477
2265910
6484
37:52
So the schwa will always be really fast and low in pitch.
478
2272394
5306
37:57
Uh, uh.
479
2277700
1970
37:59
Sofa, uh.
480
2279670
2351
38:02
Ability, uh.
481
2282839
2460
38:05
The schwa goes with the syllabic consonants L, M, N, and R. That means when you have a
482
2285680
9320
38:15
syllable with a schwa followed by one of these consonants, you don’t need to make the schwa.
483
2295000
6510
38:21
It gets absorbed by the next sound.
484
2301510
3300
38:24
For example, the word ‘father’: th-rr, th-rr.
485
2304810
6046
38:30
Just go from the TH sound right into the R sound without trying to make a separate schwa.
486
2310856
8194
38:39
Father, -ther.
487
2319050
3390
38:42
The schwa: always unstressed.
488
2322440
3740
38:46
Uh, sofa, uh, uh, ability, uh.
489
2326180
9601
38:55
Example words.
490
2335781
2259
38:58
Repeat with me:
491
2338040
1378
38:59
Allow, uh, allow
492
2339418
5542
39:05
extra, uh, extra
493
2345940
5928
39:13
data, uh, data
494
2353285
5774
39:20
again, uh, again
495
2360964
5931
39:28
visa, uh, visa
496
2368474
5564
39:35
About, uh, about
497
2375890
6076
39:41
The OO as in BOO vowel.
498
2381966
4046
39:46
This sound is a little different from all of the other vowel sounds.
499
2386012
4622
39:50
Other vowel sounds have one mouth position, EE, for example.
500
2390634
6876
39:57
And it’s the position of the tongue, lips, and jaw that make the sound.
501
2397510
5400
40:02
For this vowel, the movement into and out of the position is just as important as the
502
2402910
5470
40:08
position itself, ih-oo.
503
2408380
3868
40:12
We’ll talk about that in a second.
504
2412248
2532
40:14
First, let’s take a look at the mouth position.
505
2414780
3604
40:18
To make this sound, the back part of the tongue stretches up towards the soft palate.
506
2418384
5856
40:24
The front part of the tongue remains down, lightly touching, or just behind, the bottom
507
2424240
6010
40:30
front teeth.
508
2430250
1480
40:32
I'm sure you can see the lips round a lot.
509
2432002
4268
40:36
We want to begin this sound with lips that are more relaxed to move into this tighter
510
2436270
5450
40:41
lip position.
511
2441720
1420
40:43
Let’s take the word ‘do’ as an example.
512
2443140
4440
40:47
The lip position doesn’t matter for the D sound.
513
2447580
3810
40:51
The lips can start moving into the position for the next sound when making the D, like
514
2451390
5820
40:57
in the consonant cluster ‘drop’.
515
2457210
3161
41:00
Did you see how my lips were already forming the R when I made the D?
516
2460970
5266
41:06
Drop.
517
2466563
2347
41:08
So what happens when we make the lip position for OO as we make the D sound?
518
2468910
7140
41:16
Du, du.
519
2476050
3236
41:19
That’s not the right sound, do, du.
520
2479286
6744
41:26
To make the right American OO sound, the lips have to start out, more relaxed, and then
521
2486030
6510
41:32
come into this tight circle.
522
2492540
2650
41:35
This transition into position for the sound is just as important as the position itself.
523
2495190
5590
41:40
Let’s see up close and in slow motion.
524
2500780
4260
41:45
Lips start in a bigger flare, more relaxed, before moving into the tighter circle.
525
2505040
5750
41:50
Look at how much the corners of the lips come in for this sound.
526
2510790
4099
41:54
Now let’s take a look at the word ‘do’.
527
2514889
3769
41:58
Remember, we don’t want to start with the lips in a tight circle, but in a more relaxed
528
2518658
5742
42:04
position so they can move into the tight circle.
529
2524400
3258
42:07
Then lips move from the flare into the tighter circle.
530
2527658
4122
42:11
It might help to think to think of this sound as ih-oo, starting with a more relaxed lip
531
2531780
6250
42:18
position.
532
2538030
2060
42:20
Ih-oo.
533
2540090
1560
42:21
In a stressed syllable, you have an up-down shape in the voice, OO, OO.
534
2541650
8634
42:30
In an unstressed syllable, the pitch will be flatter and lower, and it will be quieter
535
2550284
6076
42:36
and quicker, oo, oo.
536
2556360
3234
42:39
The OO vowel is unstressed in the word ‘visual’, oo.
537
2559594
6606
42:46
Let’s take a look up close and in slow motion.
538
2566200
4570
42:50
Often, unstressed vowels have a more relaxed lip position.
539
2570770
4564
42:55
Notice that, for the oo vowel, the lips do still come into a tight circle.
540
2575334
6916
43:02
The OO vowel stressed: do, OO
541
2582250
5386
43:07
The OO vowel unstressed: visual, oo
542
2587636
7394
43:15
OO, oo, OO, oo.
543
2595030
6525
43:21
Example words.
544
2601555
2155
43:23
Repeat with me:
545
2603710
1521
43:25
Blue, OO, Blue
546
2605231
5969
43:31
issue, oo, issue
547
2611962
5360
43:38
suit, oo, suit
548
2618357
5751
43:44
move, OO, move
549
2624599
6195
43:51
influence, oo, influence
550
2631611
6031
43:58
Two.
551
2638350
2346
44:00
OO, two
552
2640696
3414
44:04
The UR as in BIRD sound.
553
2644110
4480
44:08
I sometimes say this is the vowel version of the R consonant.
554
2648590
5980
44:14
It's always followed by R, and there's no distinction between the sounds in American
555
2654570
5270
44:19
English.
556
2659840
1179
44:21
This sound will always be written with two different International Phonetic Alphabet,
557
2661019
5551
44:26
or IPA, symbols, but will be pronounced rrrrrr, just one sound, bird.
558
2666570
9283
44:36
To make this sound, the corners of the lips come in, pushing the lips away from the face.
559
2676292
6128
44:42
The middle part of the tongue lifts towards the roof of the mouth in the middle.
560
2682420
4460
44:46
The front of the tongue hangs down, but it's drawn back a bit.
561
2686880
4310
44:51
So, it's not touching anything.
562
2691190
2749
44:54
As the tongue lifts in the middle, it may be close to the roof of the mouth without
563
2694376
5534
44:59
touching it, or it may touch the sides of the roof of the mouth, or the insides or bottom
564
2699910
7080
45:06
of the top teeth, here, ur, ur.
565
2706990
5570
45:12
This, along with the R consonant, is one of the hardest sounds to make in American English.
566
2712560
7760
45:20
It’s especially hard because the lip position hides the tongue position.
567
2720320
5660
45:25
Let’s take a look.
568
2725980
1855
45:27
From the side, we can’t even see the tongue.
569
2727835
3625
45:31
The front view doesn’t help much either.
570
2731460
2820
45:34
This is because the tongue goes back, but the lips flare forward.
571
2734280
4930
45:39
Here’s the word ‘hurt’.
572
2739537
2746
45:42
Watch the tongue pull back and up
573
2742283
2717
45:50
before coming forward for the T.
574
2750718
3253
45:54
In a stressed syllable, the UR vowel curves up then down.
575
2754709
5291
46:00
Hurt, ur.
576
2760000
3494
46:03
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker, ur,ur.
577
2763494
7966
46:12
The vowel is unstressed in the word ‘research’, ur.
578
2772660
5595
46:18
Let’s take a look at this word up close and in slow motion.
579
2778255
4571
46:22
The lips flare, but the jaw doesn’t drop as much.
580
2782826
4344
46:27
Let’s compare the stressed UR in ‘hurt’, on the top, with the unstressed vowel in ‘research’,
581
2787170
8490
46:35
on the bottom.
582
2795660
1400
46:37
The lips flare for both, but in this case, there was much more jaw drop for the stressed
583
2797060
5740
46:42
version of this vowel.
584
2802800
1993
46:44
This is typical.
585
2804793
2102
46:46
Unstressed vowels are shorter, so there isn’t as much time to make the full mouth position.
586
2806895
7116
46:54
The UR vowel, stressed: hurt, UR
587
2814011
7941
47:01
Unstressed: research, ur
588
2821952
5937
47:08
UR, ur, UR, ur
589
2828434
6982
47:16
Example words.
590
2836233
2097
47:18
Repeat with me:
591
2838330
2830
47:21
Earth, UR, Earth
592
2841160
6894
47:29
search, UR, search
593
2849198
6622
47:37
circle, UR, circle
594
2857073
6577
47:45
thirteen, us, thirteen
595
2865883
6731
47:54
return, UR, return
596
2874575
6621
48:02
Outburst, ur, outburst.
597
2882939
6031
48:09
The UH as in PUSH vowel.
598
2889514
4528
48:14
To make this sound, the corners of the lips come in a little so the lips flare away from
599
2894042
7837
48:21
the face, UH.
600
2901879
2831
48:24
The back of the tongue lifts towards the back of the roof of the mouth.
601
2904710
4656
48:29
The front of the tongue remains down, but it might be pulled slightly back, so it’s
602
2909366
5994
48:35
not quite touching the back of the bottom front teeth.
603
2915360
4100
48:39
Let’s look at this sound up close and in slow motion.
604
2919460
4999
48:44
The lips flare and the tongue inside the mouth is a little darker than on other vowels because
605
2924459
6641
48:51
the tongue is pulled back.
606
2931100
2120
48:53
Here’s the word ‘took’.
607
2933819
2641
48:56
The corners of the mouth come in to flare the lips.
608
2936460
3360
48:59
The back of the tongue lifts, and the front pulls back a little.
609
2939820
4629
49:06
In a stressed syllable, the vowel curves up then down.
610
2946042
5498
49:11
Took, uh.
611
2951540
3860
49:15
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker.
612
2955400
7340
49:22
The vowel is unstressed in the word ‘good-bye’, uh, uh.
613
2962740
6080
49:28
Let’s look at this word up close and in slow motion.
614
2968820
4040
49:32
Again, the lips flare and the tongue lifts in the back, pulling back the front of the
615
2972860
5440
49:38
tongue.
616
2978300
888
49:40
Let’s compare the stressed version on top with the unstressed version on the bottom.
617
2980440
6370
49:46
Notice the lips flare a little less for the unstressed vowel, hiding the bottom teeth.
618
2986810
6761
49:54
Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is more relaxed and doesn’t
619
2994170
6050
50:00
take the full mouth position, in this case, a little less lip flare, and possibly less
620
3000220
6600
50:06
jaw drop.
621
3006820
1121
50:07
This is because unstressed syllables are shorter, so we don’t take the time to make the full
622
3007941
6279
50:14
mouth position.
623
3014220
1540
50:16
The stressed UH: took, UH
624
3016740
7080
50:23
Unstressed: good-bye, uh
625
3023820
5612
50:30
UH, uh.
626
3030140
3012
50:33
UH, uh.
627
3033152
3720
50:37
Example words.
628
3037798
1952
50:39
Repeat with me:
629
3039750
2051
50:41
Could, UH, could
630
3041801
6743
50:49
Book, UH, book
631
3049470
7070
50:57
Firewood, uh, Firewood
632
3057629
5971
51:03
Sugar, UH, sugar
633
3063600
5930
51:11
Childhood, uh, Childhood
634
3071218
6312
51:19
Woman, UH, woman
635
3079490
5834
51:25
The AY as in SAY diphthong.
636
3085324
4094
51:29
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds, so they have a starting position and an ending
637
3089418
6302
51:35
position.
638
3095720
1000
51:36
In the first position, the jaw drops and the tongue tip touches the back of the bottom
639
3096720
5610
51:42
front teeth.
640
3102330
1690
51:44
The top of the tongue pushes forward and lifts a bit.
641
3104020
4210
51:48
The second sound is the IH as in SIT vowel.
642
3108230
4760
51:52
To transition into this position, your jaw will lift as the top, front part of the tongue
643
3112990
6560
51:59
arches towards the roof of the mouth.
644
3119550
2330
52:01
Let’s look at a word with this sound, ‘pay’.
645
3121880
4496
52:06
The jaw drops, and you can see a lot of tongue as the front and middle push up and forward.
646
3126376
7593
52:13
As the top, front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth, the jaw
647
3133969
5951
52:19
comes up.
648
3139920
1640
52:21
Lips are relaxed for this diphthong.
649
3141560
3900
52:25
AY, pay.
650
3145460
4830
52:30
In a stressed syllable like ‘pay’, the AY diphthong curves up then down.
651
3150290
7610
52:37
Pay, ay.
652
3157900
3719
52:41
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quicker and quieter,
653
3161619
8091
52:49
ay, ay.
654
3169710
3500
52:53
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘driveway’, ay.
655
3173210
5700
52:58
Let’s take a look at this word.
656
3178910
3800
53:02
Just as before, the jaw drops, and you can see a lot of tongue as the front and middle
657
3182710
5700
53:08
push up and forward.
658
3188410
2900
53:11
Then the top, front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth, and the
659
3191310
4720
53:16
jaw comes up.
660
3196030
2370
53:18
Jaw drop may be a little less when this diphthong is in an unstressed syllable, as we tend to
661
3198400
6010
53:24
simplify mouth movements in unstressed syllables, which are shorter.
662
3204410
5590
53:30
The AY diphthong, stressed: Pay, AY
663
3210000
7976
53:38
Unstressed: driveway, ay
664
3218575
6012
53:45
AY, ay, AY, ay.
665
3225241
7170
53:52
Example words.
666
3232901
2479
53:55
Repeat with me:
667
3235380
1701
53:57
Okay, AY, Okay
668
3237081
6320
54:04
Play, AY, Play
669
3244871
6691
54:12
Operate, ay, Operate
670
3252760
5775
54:20
Gain, AY, Gain
671
3260060
6370
54:27
Separate, ay, Separate
672
3267465
6473
54:36
Pain, AY, Pain
673
3276008
6248
54:42
the AI as in BUY diphthong.
674
3282746
3963
54:46
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds, so they have a starting position and an ending
675
3286709
6521
54:53
position.
676
3293230
1460
54:54
In the first position, the jaw is more dropped than the second position.
677
3294690
4980
54:59
The back of the tongue stretches up a little bit.
678
3299670
3670
55:03
As the mouth moves into the second position, the jaw drops less as the front part of the
679
3303340
5257
55:08
tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.
680
3308597
4063
55:12
For both the beginning and the end of this diphthong, the tongue tip touches the back
681
3312660
5449
55:18
of the bottom front teeth.
682
3318109
1871
55:19
Let’s watch up close and in slow motion, where you can really see the front part of
683
3319980
5920
55:25
the tongue arching up.
684
3325900
2450
55:28
The jaw drops and the front part of the tongue stays down, with the tip touching the back
685
3328350
5530
55:33
of the bottom front teeth.
686
3333880
1960
55:35
Immediately the tongue moves into the second position, the top front arching up towards
687
3335840
5510
55:41
the roof of the mouth.
688
3341350
1710
55:43
As the tongue arches up, there’s less jaw drop.
689
3343060
3190
55:46
Here’s the word ‘hi’.
690
3346250
3250
55:49
Jaw drops with the front of the tongue down, then the jaw lifts as the front of the tongue
691
3349500
7020
55:56
arches towards the roof of the mouth.
692
3356520
3390
55:59
In a stressed syllable, the AI diphthong curves up then down.
693
3359910
5890
56:05
Hi, AI.
694
3365800
3540
56:09
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quicker and quieter,
695
3369340
7490
56:16
ai, ai.
696
3376830
2950
56:19
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘idea’, ai.
697
3379780
5270
56:25
Let’s take a look at this word.
698
3385050
3850
56:28
The jaw drops, but just a little bit less than it would in a stressed syllable.
699
3388900
6050
56:34
Then the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth before the tip goes to the roof
700
3394950
4630
56:39
of the mouth for the D.
701
3399580
5450
56:45
The AI diphthong, stressed: hi, AI
702
3405030
7550
56:52
The AI diphthong, unstressed: idea, ai
703
3412580
8830
57:01
AI, ai, AI, ai.
704
3421410
5434
57:07
Example words.
705
3427116
2614
57:09
Repeat with me:
706
3429730
1531
57:11
Exercise, AI, Exercise
707
3431261
7099
57:18
Wine, AI, Wine
708
3438632
6434
57:26
Bright, AI, Bright
709
3446264
6456
57:34
Guy, AI, Guy
710
3454408
6902
57:42
Allies, ai, Allies
711
3462780
7120
57:50
Sky, AI, Sky
712
3470989
6749
57:58
The OH as in NO diphthong.
713
3478064
4655
58:02
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds.
714
3482719
3711
58:06
They have a starting position and an ending position.
715
3486430
4040
58:10
The jaw drops for the beginning position, tongue shifts back a little bit.
716
3490470
5710
58:16
The lips may start relaxed, or may start rounding right from the beginning.
717
3496180
5290
58:21
After dropping the jaw, immediately start moving into the ending position: the lips
718
3501470
5860
58:27
round, and the back part of the tongue stretches up.
719
3507330
3650
58:30
Focus on the movement of the jaw and the lip rounding.
720
3510980
4040
58:35
Let’s see this sound up close and in slow motion.
721
3515334
4156
58:39
Jaw drop for the first position, and rounded lips for the second.
722
3519490
6869
58:46
The word ‘slow’.
723
3526359
2361
58:48
Notice how the lips are not relaxed in the first position of this diphthong, with the
724
3528720
5220
58:53
jaw drop.
725
3533940
1320
58:55
They’re flared, which does not affect the sound, as they prepare to round for the ending
726
3535260
5500
59:00
position.
727
3540760
1314
59:02
Rounded lips.
728
3542074
2886
59:04
In a stressed syllable, the OH diphthong curves up then down.
729
3544960
5842
59:10
Slow, oh.
730
3550802
4338
59:15
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker,
731
3555140
7339
59:22
oh.
732
3562479
1981
59:24
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘okay’, oh.
733
3564460
5850
59:30
Let’s take a look at the word ‘okay’.
734
3570746
4144
59:34
The jaw drops, but not quite as much as it did on the stressed syllable of ‘slow’.
735
3574890
6560
59:41
The lips begin to round for the transition into the ending position.
736
3581450
4570
59:46
The lips round, but not quite as much as for the stressed OH in ‘slow’.
737
3586020
6994
59:53
Here we compare the first position of the stressed OH on top with the unstressed version
738
3593831
6829
60:00
on the bottom.
739
3600660
1110
60:01
Less jaw drop for the unstressed version.
740
3601770
3940
60:05
And here, the second position.
741
3605710
2280
60:07
You can see that for the stressed OH, on top, the lips round more than they do in the unstressed
742
3607990
7030
60:15
version.
743
3615020
1110
60:16
Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is more relaxed and often doesn’t
744
3616130
6390
60:22
take the full mouth position, in this case, less jaw drop and less lip rounding.
745
3622520
6774
60:29
This is because we don’t take as much time for unstressed syllables, they’re shorter,
746
3629294
6346
60:35
so we simplify the mouth movements.
747
3635640
3710
60:39
The OH diphthong, stressed: slow, OH
748
3639350
8110
60:47
Unstressed: okay, oh
749
3647460
5960
60:53
OH, oh, OH, oh.
750
3653420
6580
61:00
Example words.
751
3660225
2495
61:02
Repeat with me:
752
3662720
2235
61:04
Alone, OH, Alone
753
3664955
6444
61:12
Tomorrow, oh, Tomorrow
754
3672597
6339
61:20
Home, OH, Home
755
3680897
6943
61:29
Window, oh, Window
756
3689583
5701
61:37
Phone, OH, Phone
757
3697571
6030
61:44
Social, OH, Social
758
3704581
6786
61:51
The OW as in NOW diphthong.
759
3711367
4301
61:55
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds, so they have a starting position and an ending
760
3715668
6602
62:02
position.
761
3722270
2043
62:04
To start this sound, drop the jaw.
762
3724313
3317
62:07
The first sound is similar to the AA as in BAT vowel.
763
3727630
5450
62:13
The tongue is wide and flat, the back stretches up a little bit.
764
3733080
5340
62:18
The tongue tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth.
765
3738420
4240
62:22
The upper lip might lift a little, or it will be relaxed.
766
3742660
5170
62:27
To transition into the second position, the lips round and the jaw drops less.
767
3747830
6540
62:34
The back of the tongue stretches up more.
768
3754370
3499
62:37
This second position is considered the same as the UH as in PUSH vowel.
769
3757869
7731
62:45
But when it’s a part of a diphthong, the lips round more than when it occurs as a pure
770
3765600
5660
62:51
vowel.
771
3771260
1120
62:52
Let’s see this sound up close and in slow motion.
772
3772380
4830
62:57
Jaw drops.
773
3777210
1170
62:58
Here, the upper lip pulls a little bit.
774
3778380
3420
63:01
The tongue lifts in the back.
775
3781800
1840
63:03
Now the lips come in and round as the jaw comes up.
776
3783640
5650
63:09
The word ‘wound’.
777
3789290
2160
63:11
The lips start in a tight circle for the W, but then open out for the first position of
778
3791450
6180
63:17
the diphthong before rounding again for the second position of the diphthong.
779
3797630
7750
63:25
In a stressed syllable, the OW diphthong curves up then down.
780
3805380
5670
63:31
Wound, OW.
781
3811050
3140
63:34
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker,
782
3814190
7470
63:41
ow, ow.
783
3821660
2840
63:44
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘shutdown’, ow.
784
3824500
5720
63:50
Let’s take a look at this word.
785
3830492
2846
63:54
Jaw drops, but notice the top lip is relaxed, it doesn’t pull up.
786
3834591
6579
64:01
Tongue is lifted in the back.
787
3841170
2570
64:03
In the ending position, the lips aren’t quite as rounded as they were in the stressed
788
3843740
5230
64:08
version of this diphthong.
789
3848970
2364
64:11
Here you see the jaw drop in the first position of the diphthong, stressed version on top.
790
3851334
7026
64:18
Notice that the jaw doesn’t drop as much for the unstressed diphthong.
791
3858360
4130
64:22
Here’s the second position.
792
3862490
3290
64:25
The lips don’t round as much for the unstressed diphthong; they’re more relaxed.
793
3865780
6410
64:32
Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is more relaxed and often doesn’t
794
3872190
6970
64:39
take the full mouth position, in this case, less jaw drop and less lip rounding.
795
3879160
7470
64:46
This is because we don’t take as much time with unstressed syllables.
796
3886630
4010
64:50
They’re shorter, so we simplify the mouth movements.
797
3890640
5459
64:56
The OW diphthong, stressed: wound, OW
798
3896099
7088
65:03
Unstressed: shutdown, ow
799
3903732
5902
65:09
OW, ow, OW, ow.
800
3909961
7289
65:17
Example words.
801
3917740
2350
65:20
Repeat with me:
802
3920090
1170
65:22
About, OW, About
803
3922349
6137
65:29
Sound, OW, Sound
804
3929194
6310
65:36
House, OW, House
805
3936484
6600
65:43
Letdown, ow, Letdown
806
3943955
5426
65:50
Blackout, ow, Blackout
807
3950579
5876
65:58
Found.
808
3958250
2122
66:00
OW, Found
809
3960372
3919
66:04
The OY as in TOY diphthong.
810
3964890
4138
66:09
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds, so they have a starting position and an ending
811
3969028
6192
66:15
position.
812
3975220
1334
66:16
This diphthong begins with the AW as in LAW [ɔ] vowel.
813
3976554
5906
66:22
As a part of the diphthong, the lips round more than they do for the pure vowel by itself,
814
3982460
7222
66:29
like in the word ‘law’.
815
3989682
2483
66:33
Oy.
816
3993255
1635
66:34
The tongue is slightly lifted and shifted a bit back, so the tip of the tongue is not
817
3994890
5440
66:40
touching anything.
818
4000330
1850
66:42
The ending position is the 'ih' as in 'sit' vowel.
819
4002180
4679
66:46
The lips relax and the tongue comes forward.
820
4006859
3000
66:49
The tip lightly touches the back of the bottom front teeth, and the top, front part of the
821
4009859
5531
66:55
tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.
822
4015390
3270
66:58
This brings the jaw back up.
823
4018660
2216
67:01
Let’s look at this sound up close and in slow motion.
824
4021918
4502
67:06
At the beginning of the diphthong, the lips are rounded.
825
4026420
3630
67:10
The space inside the mouth is dark because the tongue has shifted back.
826
4030050
4950
67:15
For the second position, the corners of the lips have relaxed out and the front, top part
827
4035920
5670
67:21
of tongue reaches up towards the roof of the mouth.
828
4041590
3690
67:25
There is still some jaw drop.
829
4045280
2190
67:27
Here’s the word ‘toy’.
830
4047470
2520
67:29
Again, lips round for the first sound, and relax for the second sound as the tongue arches
831
4049990
6670
67:36
towards the roof of the mouth in the front.
832
4056660
3209
67:40
In a stressed syllable, the OY diphthong curves up then down.
833
4060459
5855
67:46
Toy, OY.
834
4066314
4056
67:50
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker,
835
4070370
7729
67:58
oy, oy.
836
4078099
2971
68:01
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘tabloid’, oy.
837
4081070
5340
68:06
Let’s take a look at this word.
838
4086900
2990
68:09
The diphthong looks the same: lips rounded for the beginning position, then relaxing
839
4089890
5738
68:15
out for the ending position, before the tongue tip flips up for the D.
840
4095628
5414
68:22
But because the pitch is flatter and the syllable is quicker, it sounds unstressed.
841
4102209
7003
68:29
The OY diphthong, stressed: toy, OY
842
4109539
7849
68:37
Unstressed: tabloid, oy
843
4117388
5945
68:43
OY, oy, OY, oy.
844
4123878
7968
68:52
Example words.
845
4132445
2375
68:54
Repeat with me:
846
4134820
1358
68:57
Oil, OY, Oil
847
4137158
7132
69:06
Coin, OY, Coin
848
4146251
7023
69:14
Joyful, OY, Joyful
849
4154636
6042
69:21
Steroid, oy, Steroid
850
4161822
6665
69:30
Loyal, OY, Loyal
851
4170000
6266
69:38
Boy, OY, Boy
852
4178336
5624
69:43
The EW as in FEW diphthong.
853
4183960
4332
69:48
Diphthongs are a combination of two sounds.
854
4188594
3628
69:52
They have a starting position and an ending position.
855
4192222
4568
69:56
The first sound is the Y consonant.
856
4196790
4300
70:01
Diphthongs are normally made up of two vowel sounds, but in this case, the Y consonant
857
4201090
5820
70:06
is acting as a vowel.
858
4206910
2140
70:09
For example, in the word ‘music’ the Y sound goes with the OO vowel to make a diphthong
859
4209540
8110
70:17
rather than with the M consonant to make a consonant cluster, music.
860
4217650
6350
70:24
To make the Y sound, the jaw drops a little bit.
861
4224000
3880
70:27
The lips may be relaxed, or they may begin rounding for the ending position.
862
4227880
5570
70:33
The tongue tip is down, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth.
863
4233450
4880
70:38
The mid/front part of the tongue lifts and touches the roof of the mouth about here.
864
4238330
5690
70:44
It pushes forward against the roof of the mouth before pulling away.
865
4244020
5250
70:49
As we move the tongue on the roof of the mouth, we close the vocal cords to get this sound:
866
4249270
7190
70:56
yy, which we add to the sound.
867
4256460
6290
71:02
Yy, yy.
868
4262750
2989
71:05
We release it the same time we release the tongue.
869
4265739
3361
71:09
To transition into the next sound, we release right into the position of OO as in BOO vowel.
870
4269100
8510
71:17
The tongue tip doesn’t need to move; it remains touching the back of the bottom front
871
4277610
5030
71:22
teeth.
872
4282640
1010
71:23
The back part of the tongue lifts towards the soft palate.
873
4283650
4470
71:28
The lips round.
874
4288120
1950
71:30
Let’s study a word with this sound, ‘use’.
875
4290070
6050
71:36
Jaw drops just a little bit as the tongue lifts and presses forward against the roof
876
4296120
5790
71:41
of the mouth.
877
4301910
1160
71:43
The lips flare in preparation for the rounding at the end of the diphthong.
878
4303070
5930
71:49
Tongue releases, lifts in the back, and the lips round.
879
4309000
6440
71:55
In a stressed syllable, the EW diphthong curves up then down.
880
4315440
5990
72:01
Use, ew.
881
4321430
3690
72:05
In an unstressed syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker,
882
4325120
7550
72:12
ew, ew.
883
4332670
3049
72:15
The diphthong is unstressed in the word ‘interview’, ew.
884
4335719
5471
72:22
Let’s take a look at the word ‘interview’.
885
4342007
3411
72:26
A little bit of lip rounding in the first position of the diphthong.
886
4346730
5480
72:32
But in the ending position, the lip rounding is subtle.
887
4352210
4630
72:36
Not like in a stressed EW diphthong.
888
4356840
2480
72:39
Let’s compare the ending position of the stressed EW diphthong, above, with the unstressed
889
4359320
6160
72:45
diphthong, below.
890
4365480
2040
72:47
In the stressed version, the lips round much more.
891
4367520
4050
72:52
Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel or diphthong is more relaxed and doesn’t
892
4372387
5903
72:58
take the full mouth position, in this case, less lip rounding.
893
4378290
4988
73:03
This is because we don’t take as much time for unstressed syllables, they’re shorter,
894
4383278
6372
73:09
so we simplify the mouth movements.
895
4389650
2948
73:13
EW stressed: use, EW
896
4393360
8220
73:21
Unstressed: interview, ew
897
4401580
6160
73:27
EW, ew, EW, ew.
898
4407740
6804
73:35
Example words.
899
4415089
2121
73:37
Repeat with me:
900
4417210
1770
73:38
Music, EW, Music
901
4418980
5667
73:45
Continue, ew, Continue
902
4425573
6826
73:53
Review, EW, Review
903
4433543
6457
74:01
Unite, ew, Unite
904
4441253
6326
74:08
Union, EW, Union
905
4448886
6520
74:16
Future, EW, Future
906
4456822
6521
74:23
In this video, we’re going to do side by side comparisons of vowel and diphthong sounds
907
4463343
6747
74:30
that are similar.
908
4470090
1850
74:31
Seeing how similar sounds are different should help you solidify the individual sounds.
909
4471940
6126
74:38
Let’s get started.
910
4478066
2217
74:45
Notice how the lips are completely relaxed for AH, but the corners pull back and up for
911
4485584
6716
74:52
AA.
912
4492300
2107
74:58
Ah, aa, ah, aa.
913
4498543
16791
75:21
Notice how there’s more jaw drop for ah.
914
4521395
4009
75:25
Press your tongue down in the back for this vowel.
915
4525404
4140
75:34
ah
916
4534174
3604
75:38
uuh
917
4538704
2708
75:42
Ah
918
4542011
2989
75:46
uh
919
4546353
3470
75:55
Notice how the corners of the lips pull back and up just a bit for the AA vowel.
920
4555314
7006
76:02
This is the word ‘sat’.
921
4562320
2940
76:05
The lips are more relaxed for EH.
922
4565260
3380
76:08
This is the word ‘said’.
923
4568640
2420
76:15
Sat
924
4575090
3918
76:19
said
925
4579825
2787
76:23
sat
926
4583865
2654
76:28
said
927
4588370
2599
76:37
Notice how the lips are totally relaxed for ‘ah’, but flared a bit for ‘aw’.
928
4597251
8075
76:49
ah
929
4609792
3452
76:54
aw
930
4614006
3307
76:58
ah
931
4618294
2708
77:02
aw
932
4622200
3416
77:11
IH has more jaw drop.
933
4631668
2539
77:14
The tongue arches closer to the roof of the mouth in EE.
934
4634207
5924
77:25
ih
935
4645359
2950
77:28
ee
936
4648581
3889
77:33
ih
937
4653723
2817
77:37
ee
938
4657248
3906
77:47
EH has more jaw drop.
939
4667668
2930
77:50
This is the word ‘said’.
940
4670598
3042
77:53
In IH, the front part of the tongue arches closer to the roof of the mouth.
941
4673640
6660
78:00
This is the word ‘fix’.
942
4680300
2939
78:08
Fix
943
4688794
3550
78:12
Said
944
4692562
3496
78:17
Fix
945
4697746
3223
78:21
Said.
946
4701731
3853
78:31
The jaw drops less for EE.
947
4711590
2120
78:35
Here, EE is in the word ‘please’.
948
4715344
3878
78:39
Notice how much the jaw drops for the first sound of AY.
949
4719549
5161
78:44
This is the word ‘pay’.
950
4724710
2667
78:52
pay
951
4732660
3799
78:57
please
952
4737450
3009
79:01
pay
953
4741628
3470
79:06
please
954
4746569
2849
79:15
The jaw drops more for the first sound of the diphthong in the word ‘pay’.
955
4755367
5533
79:20
But the tongue is forward for both sounds.
956
4760900
2730
79:23
Here, the IH vowel is in the word ‘fix’.
957
4763957
4733
79:29
The second half of the diphthong is the same sound as the IH vowel.
958
4769670
5041
79:35
But here the jaw drops a little less.
959
4775092
3745
79:44
pay
960
4784610
3225
79:49
fix
961
4789142
3253
79:54
pay
962
4794137
3198
79:59
fix
963
4799024
3519
80:08
The mouth position for the EH vowel in ‘said’ looks identical to the first half of the diphthong
964
4808436
7204
80:15
in ‘pay’.
965
4815640
1520
80:17
But look at the jaw for the second position of the AY diphthong.
966
4817160
5730
80:22
Less jaw drop.
967
4822890
1387
80:31
pay
968
4831684
3984
80:36
said
969
4836267
2599
80:41
pay
970
4841099
2926
80:45
said
971
4845664
2763
80:54
Notice how the lips and mouth are totally relaxed for the UH as in BUTTER vowel, but
972
4854780
6380
81:01
for the UR vowel, the lips flare and the tongue is pulled back.
973
4861160
5106
81:12
uh
974
4872039
3408
81:16
ur
975
4876427
2762
81:20
uh
976
4880333
3089
81:24
ur
977
4884185
3483
81:32
There’s more jaw drop for the UH as in BUTTER sound, which is usually stressed, than for
978
4892983
7127
81:40
the schwa, which is always unstressed.
979
4900110
3590
81:43
Here, it looks like there is no jaw drop.
980
4903700
3402
81:51
Uh,
981
4911676
3433
81:55
uh
982
4915109
2610
81:58
Uh
983
4918318
3035
82:01
uh
984
4921680
1907
82:09
The lips round much more for the OO vowel.
985
4929759
3895
82:13
Flare them for the UH as in PUSH vowel.
986
4933654
4791
82:21
UH
987
4941930
3880
82:26
oo
988
4946300
2773
82:30
UH
989
4950000
3089
82:33
oo
990
4953360
2817
82:42
The lips flare a bit for the UH as in PUSH vowel, but are totally relaxed for the UH
991
4962420
7730
82:50
as in BUTTER vowel.
992
4970150
2643
82:56
Uh
993
4976420
14845
83:16
Remember to start your lips in a relaxed position for OO.
994
4996874
5526
83:22
For the OH diphthong the jaw drops a lot for the beginning sound.
995
5002400
5950
83:28
Then the lips make a tight circle for OO, and round, but not as much, for the second
996
5008350
6340
83:34
sound of OH.
997
5014690
1742
83:47
oo
998
5027269
3274
83:51
oh
999
5031088
2436
83:54
oo
1000
5034776
2654
83:58
oh
1001
5038410
2599
84:07
The beginning position of OH looks a lot like the AH vowel, but the tongue pushes down in
1002
5047460
6810
84:14
the back for the AH vowel.
1003
5054270
2880
84:17
The ending position of the OH diphthong has lip rounding, but the lips are always relaxed
1004
5057150
6540
84:23
for the AH vowel.
1005
5063690
2269
84:31
OH
1006
5071405
2761
84:35
AH
1007
5075037
2762
84:38
OH
1008
5078998
2654
84:42
AH
1009
5082686
2871
84:51
Notice how the corners of the lips pull back for the first sound of the OW diphthong, but
1010
5091835
7045
84:58
the lips flare for the AW vowel.
1011
5098880
3750
85:02
The jaw drops much less and the lips flare a little for the second half of the OW diphthong.
1012
5102630
7280
85:09
The mouth position doesn’t change for the AW vowel.
1013
5109910
4545
85:29
OW
1014
5129105
3187
85:33
AW
1015
5133000
2980
85:37
OW
1016
5137287
2545
85:40
AW
1017
5140921
2926
85:45
Now we’ll see and say all those sounds and words again, mixed up in a different order.
1018
5145300
6370
85:52
Say them with me, in slow motion.
1019
5152650
2945
85:57
Aa
1020
5157501
2585
86:02
ah
1021
5162086
2436
86:06
aw
1022
5166101
3579
86:10
ah
1023
5170171
2926
86:13
aa
1024
5173914
3416
86:18
sat
1025
5178528
3253
86:22
said
1026
5182979
2762
86:26
aa
1027
5186543
3198
86:31
ah
1028
5191226
2708
86:35
uh
1029
5195934
2599
86:39
aw
1030
5199484
2943
86:43
uh
1031
5203516
2824
86:46
uh
1032
5206939
2272
86:49
uh
1033
5209865
2980
86:53
oo
1034
5213390
2708
86:57
uh
1035
5217405
2000
87:00
uh
1036
5220549
3144
87:04
ur
1037
5224455
2817
87:08
uh
1038
5228362
2490
87:12
uh
1039
5232159
2381
87:15
uh
1040
5235248
2336
87:18
sat, , , , , ee, ih, fix, said, ee, ih, pay, please, fix, ur, uh, oo, uh,
1041
5238183
3015
87:22
said
1042
5242211
2654
87:25
aa
1043
5245751
3688
87:30
ah
1044
5250535
2926
87:34
aw
1045
5254823
3253
87:38
ee
1046
5258784
3852
87:43
ih
1047
5263834
3634
87:48
fix
1048
5268938
2980
87:52
said
1049
5272680
3093
87:56
ee
1050
5276263
3575
88:01
eh
1051
5281472
2926
88:06
pay
1052
5286195
3056
88:10
please
1053
5290558
2945
88:15
fix
1054
5295000
2636
88:19
ur
1055
5299651
2413
88:23
uh
1056
5303138
2000
88:26
oo
1057
5306608
3392
88:30
Uh
1058
5310689
2566
88:33
uh
1059
5313963
2000
88:36
oh
1060
5316577
2079
88:40
oo
1061
5320072
2768
88:45
I'm so glad you’ve taken the time to watch this video.
1062
5325726
4694
88:50
Really understanding the mouth positions for the sounds of American English can help you
1063
5330420
4500
88:54
gain greater clarity in your spoken English.
1064
5334920
2570
88:57
We’ll have another video coming out in few weeks, a compilation of all the consonant sounds.
1065
5337490
5925
89:03
For now, keep your learning going with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications,
1066
5343415
4775
89:08
I love being your English teacher.
1067
5348190
2290
89:10
That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
1068
5350480
3980
About this website

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