Kool Study

How to Pronounce NG

When you see the letters ‘ng’ in a word, how is it pronounced? There are four options.

1. The first and most common is as the NG, ng, sound [?]. As I’ve already explained previously, to make this sound, the middle part of the tongue, ng, comes up and touches the roof of the mouth/back of the throat. Ng, ng, ng. Example words: sing, among, thing, fling, along, bang, sibling. All of these have this ng, ng sound.

2. The second option for pronunciation is actually two separate sounds: the nn, nn sound [n], followed by the jj, ‘jj’ as in ‘jar’ [?] sound. ‘Binge’ is an example. Binge is a one syllable word, and nn-jj are the pronunciations for the N-G. Binge. However, it can also occur in a two-syllable word, or more, where one syllable ends with the nn sound, and the second syllable begins with the ‘jj’ as in ‘jar’ sound. For example: angel. An-gel. Two syllables. Danger, dan-ger, danger.

3. The third option is when the N-G is followed by an S-T, and they take up just one syllable of a word. The pronunciation is the ng, ng sound, and the G then takes a kk, k sound. Examples of this: angst, amongst.

4. The fourth option for pronunciation is the ng, ng sound, but the g is also enunciated, because it begins another syllable. Examples of this: fungus, anger, bingo, angle

N vs. NG

I recently got an email asking me to make a video on the difference between the nn, N, and ng, NG sound. The nn sound: This sound feels more foward, it feels here, because the part of the tongue that raises is more forward. This forward part of the tongue raises and touches the roof Nn, nn, nice. On the ng, NG sound, it feels further back because the part of the tongue that raises is further back. For here, it is this part of the tongue, ng, ng, that raises and touches the throat / back part of the mouth. Nn, ng, nn, ng. Also, the jaw makes a small shift, but that is only to accomodate the part of the tongue that is moving. Nn, ng. It drops a little bit more, nn, ng, and moved back a bit. It’s a down and back motion. Some words: Sin, nn, sing, ng. Sin, nn, touches here. Sing, ng, touches here. Fun, fun … fung-ng-ng-us. Fun, fungus*. Sun, nn, sung, nn. [x2] The word running has both sounds in it. Run, nn, is the forward sound. Running is the back sound. So watch how my jaw moves on this word: Running.

[ŋ] ‘ng’ as in ‘sing’

The NG consonant sound. To make this sound, the back part of the tongue reaches up and touches the soft palate, which remains down in this sound, ng, ng.

The front part of the tongue is lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth. The teeth are parted and the lips as well, ng, ng, while the vocal cords make sound, ng, ng. Here we see the NG sound on the right compared with the mouth at rest. You can see that the mouth is open and the jaw is dropped. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. The tip of the tongue is down behind the bottom front teeth, while the back of the tongue stretches up and touches the soft palate, which is not raised in this sound. It is in the relaxed position. This is one of the few sounds in American English where the soft palate is down and relaxed. This allows air to pass up and over it, causing the sound to feel somewhat in the nose. It is a nasal consonant along with M and N. Sample words: sing, think, running. Sample sentence: Studying English and practicing speaking is rewarding. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

Studying, teeth together for the ST sounds, opening into the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’, tongue up for the D, studying, and the ING with the NG sound. You see the front part of the tongue here coming back down. English. Tongue through the teeth for the L. SH mouth position. And practicing, lips together for the P. Tongue up for the T, c-t sound, practice, very quick ING sound, practicing. Speaking, lips together for the P. Again you see the front part of the tongue coming down from the NG position. Is, teeth come together for the Z sound and the lips form the R sound. Rewarding. W, tongue tip up for the D and back down. And it’s the front part of the tongue you see coming down from being raised at the back in the NG position.

And now from an angle. Studying, teeth together for the S-T sounds opening into the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’. Tongue tip up for the D. -ing, you see the front part of the tongue coming back down from being raised in the back, for the ING sound. English, tongue through the teeth here to make the L. The SH lip position. And practicing, lips together for the P. Tongue in the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ position. Up to make the T sound. Together for the S, and here again the tongue is in the ING position quickly. Speaking, lips together for the P, ING position. Is, teeth together for the Z sound. Rewarding, lips forming the R consonant sound, and now the W consonant sound. Tongue tip up to make the D. And now you see the NG position as it is raised in the back, tip coming down in the front. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

ZZ vs. JJ Sounds

Buzz, budge. Can you say these two words, or does the ending confuse you? In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over these two sounds.

Today we’re comparing the ZZ and the JJ sound. One of the differences is that the zz sound can be held continuously, zzzz. The JJ sound, on the other hand, has a stop component, jj, jj, jj, jj. So I have to pulse that because there’s a stop in the airflow. But the difference between these two sounds doesn’t stop there. There’s a difference in the tongue position and also the lip position. Let’s look at some pictures.

First, let’s look at the lip position. You can see in the left, in the zz sound, that the lips are more relaxed. The corners are actually pulling out a little bit. But in the jj sound, on the left, there’s more tension in the lips. The corners of the lips are coming in, bringing the lips into a circle, while the lips themselves flare out. For the Z sound, the tongue tip touches lightly behind the bottom front teeth while the front part pushes up a bit. In the jj sound, the tongue tip isn’t touching. So it’s pulled slightly back while the front part of the top of the tongue is lifting towards the roof of the mouth.

Now let’s look at a minimal pair up close and in slow motion.

Jest. you can clearly see how the lips come in but also flare for the jj sound. And now, zest, where the corners of the lips remain wide for the Z sound.

More minimal pairs: jealous, zealous. Joan, zone. Jenn, zen. Fridge, frizz. Budge, buzz.

If you have difficulties with these two sounds, you’re probably going to have to practice them over and over in isolation. Then bring them into just a word part, and then eventually the whole word. You’re going to have to do it slowly, thoughtfully, and repetitiously in order to get the correct sound into your habit.

Take, for example, the word ‘enjoy’, with the jj sound. First, practice just the sound. Jj, jj, jj, jj. Then the sound as part of a syllable. joy. joy. joy. joy. joy. Then bring it into the entire word. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

Or, the word ‘dozen’, with the zz sound. First, isolate just the sound. Zz, zz, zz, zz, zz. Then, that sound as part of a syllable. zen. zen. zen. zen. zen. zen. zen. And then, as part of the whole word. Dozen. Dozen. Dozen. Dozen. Dozen.

I hope this video has helped to make it more clear: the difference between these two sounds.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

[ʒ] ‘dj’ as in ‘jump’

The SH and DJ consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. Sh is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth. And dj is voiced, meaning you make sound with your vocal cords. To make this sound, the teeth come together, the corners of the lips come in, and the rest of the lips flare. Sh, dj. The tongue raises a bit in the middle. It doesn’t touch the roof of the mouth, but it does press against the inside corner of the top teeth. Sh, dj. The front part of the tongue comes down, but it’s far enough back that it’s not touching anything in the mouth. Sh, dj.

Here we see the sh/dj sound on the right compared with the mouth at rest on the left. The corners of the lips do come in, but rather than rounding, the lips come away from the face, so more of the teeth are exposed. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft palate is raised for these sounds. The tongue reaches up towards the roof of the mouth without touching. The tip of the tongue comes back down behind the teeth, which are closed, but it’s a little too far back to be touching. Sample words: ship/measure, dish/decision, wash/mirage. Sample sentence: She made the decision to get a beige bed spread with chic striped sheets. both straight on and from an angle, so you can really see how the mouth moves when making this sound.

She, lips take the SH position, corners somewhat in but lips away from the face. Teeth closed. Made, lips together for the M. Tongue through the teeth for the TH, the decision. Tongue up and teeth closed for the D sound. Decision, here’s the dj mouth position. To get, T pronounced as a D here. Tongue up to make that D. A beige, lips together for the B, and it ends in the voiced dj sound. Teeth together, and note the lip position. Lips together for the B, bedspread. Tongue for the D, teeth together for the S, lips together for the P. Spread. Tongue up again for the D. With, lips form the W sound, tongue through the teeth for the TH. Chic, SH sound. Teeth together and the SH lip position. CStriped, teeth together for the S, lips take the R position. Lips together for the P. And sheets, with the SH sound, teeth together, lips away from the face.

And now from an angle. She, teeth together and lips out away from the face, sh. Made, lips together for the M. The, tongue through the teeth for the TH and to the roof of the mouth for the D sound. Teeth together for the S, decision. Here is the voiced dj mouth position. To get a, all unstressed and quick words. Beige, lips together for the B, and here again the voiced dj mouth position. Lips together for the B in bedspread, ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel, tongue up for the D. Teeth together for the S and lips together for the P. Spread, tongue up for the D. With, lips form the tight W. Chic, the sh, SH mouth position. Striped, teeth together and tongue forward to make the S. There’s the R position in the lips. Lips together for the P. Sheets, the SH mouth position, ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel, corners of the lips pull back, and the teeth together for the TS sound. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

[g] ‘g’ as in ‘gap’

The G and K consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. K is unvoiced, kk, meaning, only air passes through your mouth. And G is voiced, gg, gg, meaning, you’re making a sound with your vocal cords. These consonants are stop consonants, which means there are two parts to the sound. First, a stop of the airflow, and second, a release. To stop the airflow, the back part of the tongue reaches up and touches the soft palate, cutting off the air, gg. The second part: the tongue pull away and the air is released, gg, kk.

The lip position of these consonants is influenced by the sound that comes next. For example, the word gas. The sound that comes after the G is the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ vowel, gas, and you can see the corners of the lips are pulling back. The top lip is pulling up, exposing the top teeth, gas, gas, even before the G is made. Another example, grape, grape, you can see the lips taking the rounded position of the R, grape, even before the G sound is started.

Here we see the g/k consonant sounds on the right compared with the mouth at rest. Here parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft palate is raised on this sound, and the tongue stretches in the back all the way up towards it, touching the raised soft palate. The tip of the tongue remains down and forward, lightly touching the bottom front teeth. Sample words: cap/gap, curl/girl, kill/gill. Sample sentence: Chris carried the gray crate to the gate. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

Chris with the C-R so the lips are taking the position of the R as the back of the tongue is raised. Chris, teeth together and up towards the front for the S. Carried, there you see the front part of the tongue coming down as the back is raised. Tongue tip up for the D. Tongue tip through the teeth for the TH, the. Gray, again, the lips are taking the position of the R as the back of the tongue is raised. And here again, crate, tongue is back touching the soft palate and the lips are rounded for the R. Tongue tip up for the T. To the, tongue tip quickly through the teeth for the TH in the. Gate, you see the front part of the tongue as it is coming back down from it being raised in the back for the G consonant sound in gate.

Chris, again, you see the tongue moving back, but the lips are coming forward for the R position. Chris. Tongue forward again for the S and the teeth together. Carried, lips form the R position. Tongue tip up for the D. And through the teeth for the TH. The gray, again the tongue is moving back to raise at the back while the lips form the R. Crate, watch the tongue move back as the lips close over it. Crate. Tongue up and teeth together to make the T. To the, tongue tip through the teeth for the, gate. Now here the back of the tongue is raised, touching the soft palate, and then the tongue tip comes forward to make the T sound. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

VERY: Word of the Week

This week’s Word of the Week is ‘very’. ‘Very’ is a two-syllable word with stress on the first syllable. Ver-y, ver-y, very, very. It begins with the V consonant sound. If you come from India, look out. You might want to make it a [w], ww, where your lips round. But it’s a V, vv, where the bottom lip comes up and makes contact with the top teeth. Vv, vv, ve-. Then we have the EH as in BED vowel. The jaw needs to drop for that. Ve-, ve-. Next we have the R consonant. That can be tough. And in this word a lot of people will want to flap the R, where the front part of the tongue bounces off the roof of the mouth. We do not want this position. We want this position, where the middle part of the tongue stretches up and touches the roof of the mouth, about here. Ver-. The front part of the tongue doesn’t touch anything, and you should be able to hold out that sound. Very. And finally, the EE as in SHE vowel, unstressed, to finish the word. Very, very. I’m very sorry.

That’s it, you’re Word of the Week. Try it out yourself. Make up a sentence with the word, record it, and post it as a video response to this video on YouTube. I can’t wait to watch it.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

Lesson: V Sound

In this video, I’m working with my friend from Turkey on the vv, V sound: ‘…the most beloved king ever’ Ok, beloved. ‘Beloved’. Ok, it’s another V. ‘Beloved.’ Good, one more time, and just make it a little bit longer. ‘Beloved.’ I didn’t hear it at all that time. ‘Beloved.’ Vv, belo-vv-ed. ‘Beloved.’ Ok. ‘Beloved.’ Good.

Here, he mispronounces the V as a W, which I have previously noted in another blog entry. When lips do this, it’s not a V. The lips must do this: vv, vv. ‘…must have been…’ Have. ‘Have been very beautiful…very.’ Very. ‘Very’. Yes! ‘Very beautiful…’

Here in the word “carved,” he stops his sound in the middle: carbed, carbed, it almost sounds like a B. Carbed. Car-vv-ed, carved. ‘…delicately carved as if…’ I didn’t hear the V, carved. ‘Carved.’ Umm-hmm.

Here in the word “every,” he pronounces the V sort of as a mix between a W and an R, and his lips take this position. E-r-y, E-r-y. Vv, vv. It’s really all about the lip position in this sound: e-vv-ry. ” …still as perfect in every detail as – as if they were new.’ I liked your “as if” but I didn’t hear the e-vv-ry. Every detail. ‘Every detail as if they were new.’ I still don’t hear a V. I hear a stop of the sound. ‘Every’, etc.

Here in the word “of,” he started to move his lip up into the correct position, but he stopped making sound with his vocal cords. If he had continued to pass air, it would have sounded like a ff, F. But he did not even do that. He didn’t continue to pass air, and he didn’t continue to make sound with his vocal cords, which meant that the sound just kind of tapered off at the end of the word: o… Of – vv. Very important to keep making sound here. ‘…of printing…’ Of. ‘Of printing-‘ So, vv.

There’s a vv. Of. ‘Again?’ Of. ‘Of’ (etc.). Of -vv. Not o-ff, o-vv. Here again his habit showed of not bringing the lip up. He was making more of a bb or pp form with his lips. Vv. ‘…movable type…’ Move. You hate V’s. Do you have a V in Turkish? ‘Yeah.’ You do? ‘Yeah, we have.’ But it’s different somehow. ‘It’s vey, not vv.’ Umm-hmm, ok. Moveable. ‘Moveable.’ Vv. ‘Moveable.’ Yeah. ‘Moveable.’ Good!

Here again the lips came into this position. The correct position of course is. So it’s important to note, when you’re making the V correctly, you will always see some teeth. ‘ …whose achievements…’ Achievements. ‘Achievements.’ Achievement, vv, vv. ‘Achievements.’ Mm-hmm. Vv, vv, vv. Achievements. Moveable. Carved. Every. Vv, vv.

As I noted in the blog F and V practice, this vv sound in word sometimes is extremely short, but it is very important to make sure you keep producing sound here with the cords and that you bring your lip up. Even if it’s just for a very brief uh, uh. As long as you have the lip coming up and the vocal cords making sound, you’ll be good.

V Sound … Not “W”!

As I am studying here in Germany I have noticed, many Germans, when they are speaking English while they have very good accents that many of them pronounce the V sound as a W. Vv as a ww, ww. For example, the word university. Vv. I hear it: uni-wer-sity. Which is stange because the German word, Universität, has the vv sound in it. It’s exactly the same in English: vv, university. Of course, it’s just a matter of changing the habit as the sound does not exist in the German language. Vv, vv. So, one just has to be carful when they’re speaking that their mouth does not go into the ww position but rather the vv. Other words: visit, very, volleyball.

[v] ‘v’ as in ‘van’

The F and V consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. FF is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth, and vv is voiced, meaning, uh, uh, vv, you’re making a sound with the vocal cords. To make this sound, the bottom lip raises and touches the very bottom of the top front teeth. Ff, vv. You don’t want to see your bottom lip disappear like that. It’s actually the back side of the lip that’s making contact with the teeth, ff, vv.

Here is a photo of the F and V consonant sounds on the right compared with the mouth at rest. Here parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft palate is raised for these consonant sounds. The bottom lip simply raises to touch the top teeth. The tongue touches lightly behind the bottom teeth. Sample words. Fan/van, fault/vault, photo/vote. Sample sentence: They served a very fresh oven-baked flounder fillet. Now you’ll see this sentence upclose and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound.

They, tongue comes through the teeth for the TH sound. Served, here is the R consonant sound, and now watch the bottom move up for the V. A very, again, the V sound, bottom lip up. Fresh. The bottom lip once again makes the F sound, and the SH lip position. Oven, with the V sound. Baked, lips together for the B. Flounder, bottom lip up for the F. And fillet. Again, the bottom lip up for the F position. The ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. They, tongue through the teeth for the TH sound, and the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. Served, R position and then the bottom lip for the V. A very, bottom lip up for the V. Fresh, bottom lip up to make the F sound, Fresh. Mouth takes the SH position. Oven, bottom lip up to make the V sound. Lips together for the B in baked. Back of the tongue up to make the kk sound. Flounder, bottom lip up for the F sound. The ‘ow’ as in ‘now’ diphthong. And again the bottom lip up to make the F in fillet. Fillet with the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.