American English Sounds - UH [ʊ] Vowel - How to make the UH as in PUSH Vowel

In this American English pronunciation

video, we’re going to learn how to pronounce

the UH as in PUSH vowel.

To make this sound, the corners of the lips

come in a little so the lips flare away

from the face, UH.

The back of the tongue lifts towards the back

of the roof of the mouth. The front of the

tongue remains down, but it might be pulled

slightly back, so it’s not quite touching the

back of the bottom front teeth.

Let’s look at this sound up close and in

slow motion.

The lips flare and the tongue inside the

mouth is a little darker than on other

vowels because the tongue is pulled back.

Here’s the word ‘took’. The corners of the

mouth come in to flare the lips. The back

of the tongue lifts, and the front pulls

back a little.

In a stressed syllable, the vowel curves up

then down. Took, uh. In an unstressed

syllable, it’s lower and flatter in pitch,

as well as quieter and quicker. The vowel

is unstressed in the word ‘good-bye’, uh, uh.

Let’s look at this word up close

and in slow motion.

Again, the lips flare and the tongue lifts in the

back, pulling back the front of the tongue.

Let’s compare the stressed version on

top with the unstressed version on

the bottom. Notice the lips flare a little

less for the unstressed vowel, hiding the

bottom teeth.

Generally, the unstressed version of a vowel

or diphthong is more relaxed and doesn’t

take the full mouth position, in this case,

a little less lip flare, and possibly less jaw

drop. This is because unstressed syllables

are shorter, so we don’t take the time to

make the full mouth position.

The stressed UH: took, UH

Unstressed: good-bye, uh

UH, uh. UH, uh.

Example words. Repeat with me: