Phát âm
RSSPosts: 112
[ʃ] ‘sh’ as in ‘ship’
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.
How to Make the TS Sound
Today I’m going to talk about the TS sound. I’ve noticed, working with my students, that many people have problems putting the T into the TS sound. So, it ends up sounding like “less”. So what is the difference between the S and the TS? A stop, the T stop. So, to make the S, the tip of the tongue is forward, here, ss, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth. Corners of the lips will be pulled a little wide, teeth are closed, and the lips are parted, letting out the sound. To make the T, one would ordinarily lift the tongue to the roof of the mouth, tt, and release.
However, in the TS sound, there’s actually a short cut that the tongue does. Rather than lifting the tip for the T, the tip stays down here, ss, ss. And it’s further back, the front part of the tongue, but not the tip, that will raise and touch the roof of the mouth, to cut off the air flow. Sst, sst. So rather than the tip coming up, it’s simply the front part raising. And still, that contact with the roof of the mouth makes the stop because it cuts off the airflow. So to work on this sound, we’re actually going to begin by practicing an S sound with a stop T at the end rather than a TS sound. So the first sound, the S. Ss, ss, tip of the tongue down low. Sst, and the stop. Bringing the front of the tongue to the roof of the mouth while leaving the tip in its place. Sst, sst, sst, sst. Practice that along with me. Sst, sst, sst.
So as the tongue moves up, it cuts off the airflow. Now let’s practice alternating the S with the stop T a little quicker this time. Sst, etc. So to make the TS sound, it’s simply starting with the stop T, and moving into the S: ts, ts, ts, ts. So you want to start with the front part of the tongue raised, the tip down, and air in a cut-off manner. Ts. You the pull the tongue back down with the tip still forward, releasing the air out for the S. So let’s take a look at the two words from before. Let’s, and less. Let’s, the tongue is raising in the front part, cutting off the airflow. Let’s, and, less, less, less. No stop in the sound. Let’s, less. So as you’re practicing this, make sure you hear that pause. Let’s. You might even want to exaggerate it like that to make sure you’re getting it in.
The TS sound is very common in English. It’s, what’s, let’s. Also, any noun in plural form that ends in a T, for example, cats. And the conjugation of some verbs that end in a T, like sits. So let’s look at some more examples. It’s raining, it’s, ts, ts, it’s raining. That’s what I said. Tha-ts-, that’s what I said. He fights with his boss a lot. He fights, ts, fights, he fights with his boss a lot. That takes some guts, guts, that takes some guts. Let’s go. Let’s, let’s go. That’s ts, ts, that’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
Plural Nouns
Today I’m going to go over how to pronounce plural nouns. A noun is made plural when an S or ES is added to the end of the word. For example, cat, cats. Church, churches. The way this ending is pronounced depends on the last sound of the noun in singular form. In determining how to pronounce the S or ES of a noun, there are three different cases.
First, when the last sound of the noun in singular form is voiced, second, when it is unvoiced, and third, both voiced and unvoiced, special cases. When the last sound of the noun in singular form is voiced, then the ”s’ is pronounced as a [z], as in, beds, zz, zz, zz.
What would be a voiced sound? First, any vowel or diphthong. So let’s take for example the word ‘tree’. This noun ends in the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. It is voiced. So, the ‘s’ in the word ‘trees’, zz, zz, zz, is pronounced as a [z]. Zz. Example with a diphthong: the word ‘cafe’ ends in the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. As a diphthong, it is voiced. Therefore, the ‘s’ will be pronounced as a [z]. Cafes, zz, zz, zz, cafes.
Also, a consonant can be voiced. But not every voiced consonant is in that category. That is because some are in the third category for special cases. The ending consonants in this category, where the plural will be pronounced as a Z, are: [B t g v m n ŋ L ɹ ð]
An example, the word ‘apple’. ‘Apple’ ends in the L consonant sound, which is one of the ending voiced consonant sounds in this category. Therefore, it will be pronounced as a [z] when it is in plural form. Apples, zz, zz, apples.
When the final sound of the noun in singular form is unvoiced, then the S will also be unvoiced, pronounced as an
In the third category, the plural is made not simply by adding an -S, but by adding an -ES. Therefore it is pronounced with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel followed by the Z consonant sound: -es, -es,-es. There are 6 ending sounds that make up this category:
Because this category adds a vowel sound and a consonant sound, the IH and the ZZ sound, words in this category will have an extra syllable added on when they are made plural. In the other two categories, we were simply adding one sound, and it did not change the number of syllables in the word. Let’s take an example. The word ‘wish’. It ends with sh, which is one of the sounds in this third category. Therefore, the plural will be spelled with an -ES, nd it will be pronounced ‘wishes’, zz, with the ‘ih’ sound followed by the Z sound. Wishes. So, ‘wish’, one syllable, ‘wishes’, two syllables. The extra syllable added by the plural will always be unstressed. So it will be lower in pitch than the stressed syllable in the word. Wishes.
Now, let’s look at some example nouns and determine how the plural will be pronounced. Age. It ends with the ‘dj’ sound. This is in the third category. Therefore it is pronounced ‘ages’. Two syllables, with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel followed by the Z consonant sound. Ages. Time. It ends with the mm M consonant sound. It’s voiced, it’s not a special case, therefore, the S is pronounced as a [z]. Times, times, zz, zz. Box. The final sound in this word is the ‘s’ sound. ‘S’ falls in the third category. Therefore, we make it plural by adding an ‘e’ and an ‘s’. And it is pronounced with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ and the, zz, Z consonant sound.
Boxes, boxes. Dog. Dog. It ends with the G sound. That’s a voiced sound. It is not in the third category, therefore, the ‘s’ is pronounces as a [z]. Dogs, dogs. Cat. The final sound here is the T, which is unvoiced. It is not a special case, so the plural S will be pronounced simply as an
[s] ‘s’ as in ‘sip’
The S and Z consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. Ss is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth, and zz is voiced, meaning you make a sound with the vocal cords. To make the sound, the lips part and the corners pull back while the teeth themselves lightly touch, ss, zz. The tip of the tongue is down, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth, ss, ss, while further back, the top of the tongue raises and actually touches the roof of the mouth, ss, zz, about here. The tongue touches on either side of the roof of the mouth, but down the middle there’s a passage where it’s not touching. This is where the air comes, ss, zz.
Here is the S and Z consonant sound shape on the right compared with the mouth at rest. And with parts of the mouth drawn in. The soft palate is raised for these sounds. But more importantly, note the tongue position. It stretches forward and up. The important point of contact is where the tongue touches the bottom teeth. The sides of the tongue are raised, pressing against the sides of the roof of the mouth. The teeth are closed but the lips are parted. Sample words: sip/zip, see/zebra, bus/buzz. Sample sentence: Because it’s sunny and he’s fair-skinned, he has to wear sunscreen. 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.
Lips press lightly together for the B sound. Because, with the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’ sound. Teeth come together to make the Z, and you can see the tongue there right behind them. It’s, the S sound, teeth together with the tongue right behind. Sunny, ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’, tongue goes up to make the N. And, jaw drops for the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’, tongue up for the N and D. He’s fair-skinned, bottom lip up for the F, fair-skinned, teeth together for the S with the tongue just behind. Jaw drops a bit for the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’. Tongue up to the roof of the mouth for the ND sound. He has. Now here, has would normally be pronounced with a Z, but because it’s followed by an unvoiced consonant, the T, it is pronounced as an S. He has to wear. Lips form the W shape. Sunscreen. Teeth together for the S, sunscreen. And again for the S in -screen. Lips form the R position, ‘ee’ as in ‘she’, and tongue tip up to make the N.
Lips press together for the B in because, teeth come together to make the Z sound with the tongue just behind. It’s. TS sound. Sunny, the S sound, teeth closed. ‘Uh’ as in ‘butter’, tongue up for the N. And, jaw drops for the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’, tongue up for the ND. He’s, teeth together to make the Z sound. This Z sound also could come across as an S because it’s followed by an unvoiced consonant. Bottom lip up for the F, fair-skinned. Teeth together for the S, ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ sound, tongue up for the N. He, he has to, jaw drops for the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’, normally pronounced as a Z, here it is pronounced as an S because it is connected to the T, hast, has to wear. Teeth together for the S, sun-, and again for the S, -screen. Lips form the R consonant shape. The ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ and the tongue tip up for the N. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
[ʧ] ‘ch’ as in ‘char’
The CH and JJ consonant sounds. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. CH is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth, and JJ is voiced, meaning, uh, uh, jj, you’re making a sound with the vocal cords. These consonants have a stop consonant component, but unlike stop consonants, they’re always released. The stop consonant is when the front part of the tongue raises and touches the roof of the mouth in the front in the T/D tongue position. The mouth takes the position of the SH and DJ sounds, where the teeth are together, the corners of the lips are in, and the rest of the lips are flared. Ch, jj. So the tongue will move up and press the roof of the mouth, air builds up, and when the tongue releases, the air comes through, ch, jj, making the sound.
Here is the sound on the right, compared with the mouth at rest on the left. Notice how the lips in this sound come away from the face. Here parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft palate is raised in this consonant sound. Notice how high the tongue reaches. It presses against the roof of the mouth before pulling away to release the air. The ch/jj sounds. Sample words: char, jar, chump, jump. Sample sentence: I was on the edge of my seat watching each match of the major tournament. 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.
I, with the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, lips circle into the W, was. On the edge, now here we have the jj consonant sound. Watch the lips as the teeth come together. Of my seat. Lips pull wide for the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’. Watching, lips make the W. Ch, here is the ch sound. Watch the lips. Each, lips pull wide for the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ and again, the ch. Match, again it ends in the ch consonant sound. Of the major, with the jj consonant sound, jj. Tournament. Lips together for the M, tongue up for the N position, and the T.
And now from an angle. I, with the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Was on the edge, watch the jj sound. Jj. Of my seat, corners of the mouth pulled wide for the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’. Watching, lips make the W. Watch-, here’s the ch sound. Watching. Each, corners pull wide for the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’, and now form the ch. Match, again ends in ch. Of the major, watch for the jj – there we are – major, tournament. Lips together for the M, tongue up to make the N, and the teeth together for the T. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
International Phonetic Alphabet symbols: [ʧ], [ʤ]
As you can see, the IPA uses two symbols to represent each one of these sounds. For more information, and to see these sounds’ occurrences in other languages, see Wikipedias pages (voiced, unvoiced).
T, P, K: Final Consonants as Stops
I’d like to answer a question I recently received. When I’m linking words, I tend to voice unvoiced consonants if they are followed by a voiced consonant. For example, ‘I like that’. I say ‘lige’. My question is, is this right or not? The answer is no, it is not correct to voice the unvoiced consonant. However, the kk consonant sound [k] is one of three consonant sounds, the kk, pp, and tt, all unvoiced, that does something different when it is linked to a voiced consonant.
What these three sounds do when they are followed by voiced consonants in a linking situation, is they act more as stops than as consonants themselves. The sound is not fully pronounced voiced or unvoiced. So for example, the question that you posed, I like that. I like – everything in the mouth and tongue moves into position for the K sound without, kk, releasing air to make that K sound. I like that. Rather than releasing the air, the mouth simply forms the position then for the TH sound [ð] and goes into the next word. I like that. The reason for that is if there was a strong kk sound, there would be no way for it to link to the th following consonant sound. I like that. And of course as we know in American English, linking is very important. I like that.
I’ve already done some blog entries on this particular case with T, but I will throw just one more example out there: Doesn’t this look nice? Doesn’t – the tongue moves into the T position – Doesn’t this look nice? – without doesn’T, making that sharp T sound.
The third unvoiced consonant for which this is true is the P consonant sound. Pp. So when this sound is followed by and linked to a voiced consonant, ‘flip-‘, the mouth moves into position without releasing the air to complete the sound. Flip that card. Flip – that card. This is an excellent question and certainly something to keep in mind as you practice linking words.
[k] ‘k’ as in ‘cap’
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.
Stop Consonants
Today I’m going to talk a little more about stop consonants. The definition of a stop consonant has three parts. First, either the tongue or the lips close off the air flow entirely. Second, this closure causes a build up of pressure, and third, there is a release of this built up air. There are 6 different stop consonants. Pp, bb, where the pressure is built up by the lips being closed; tt, dd, where the pressure is built up by the tongue raising and closing off the air flow; and kk, gg, where the pressure is built up by the back of the tongue reaching up an touching the back of the throat, causing the pressure to build up there.
Let’s take for example, the word ‘what’, which ends with a T, to go over once again this three part definition of a stop consonant. Wha- So the tongue moves into position, and that is the stop, the airflow is cut off, pressure builds up, tt, and the release, to make the end tt, of the sound.
When I want to show that the release (#3) in a stop consonant is not pronounced, I write it in IPA with this symbol: | Examples: stop
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, the third part, the release part, of these consonant sounds can sometimes be left out. Take, for example, the word wait. If someone’s walking out the door, I might yell ‘wait, wait!’ You did not hear a tt, release of the T. Or, for example, I might say ‘stop! stop!’ Again, you did not see the pp, but also, I wasn’t simply going sto-. I was bringing the lips into position. I was doing everything, including the build up of air and pressure, I simply didn’t release it. Stop – the pressure is building up. And that mouth movement at the end, whether it’s the P or the T, and the build up of pressure, changes the sound enough that even though the release doesn’t happen, to a native ear it sounds enough like the sound that we recognize it as being the T or the P.
I’ve noticed for myself in speech that I tend not to do this with the K. Even though the K is a stop consonant, I’ve noticed, that if I’m finishing a word with K like ‘crack’, kk, there’s always, for me, a very light release of that K sound.
This is also true when you’re linking a word that ends with an unvoiced stop consonant to the next word in the sentence. For example, put your dishes in the sink. Put – tongue moves into position, stops the air, pressure builds up – your dishes in the sink. Put your dishes in the sink. I don’t, tt, release the T before I make the P sound. I’ve noticed that with the P and the K sounds, I don’t entirely skip the release. It’s almost like I go through the motion of the release with my mouth, but almost no air passes through. It’s like a small release happens as I’m moving in to the next consonant sound. Instead of pp, a P sound, it’s more simple the sound of my lips releasing. For example, stop the car. Stop the car. There is just that very subtle sound. Stop the car. But it’s certainly not stoppp the car with its own separate release for that. Stop the car. I love sock monkeys. Sock monkeys, sock kk, kk, kk monkeys. It’s a very quiet and subtle sound.
The reason why I’m talking about this again today is because I recently got an email from someone asking if this concept is true also for the voiced stop consonants dd, bb, and gg. And I would say the easy answer is, the short answer is, yes. Often the release is left out. But just like with the K and the P sounds, there is often a little bit more sound than with the T, where the sound is completely stopped. This may be because it is a voiced sound, uh, so the vocal cords are making sound anyway, but at any rate, most native speakers would not make a full release with that sound in speech.
Some examples: I went to the club with her. Very, very subtle B sound. I went to the club with her. Here we’re going to see the sentence in slow motion, and you will see that the lips are already rounding for the W when they tap together to quickly make the B sound. And the W is the sound that follows. Right here, rounded, quickly together for the B. So it’s already starting to make and form the next sound when it taps for that B. She did know. She did know. Very subtle, not didd, not a full release. She did know. Because you’re already moving into that NN, n consonant sound. We’re having a tag sale. Again, gg, a very subtle release back there at the back of the throat. Definitely not a gg, tagg, tagg, not a full G sound.
Now that I’ve explained that Americans will sometimes not complete these stop consonant sounds, I’m going to address another question I received in an email. Someone asked me to differentiate between the following 4 sets of phrases: We install the software, we installed the software. I like that, I liked that. He hit me, he hid me. I have a big pen. I have a Bic pen. Could you hear the difference as I read them out loud? At this point we’re getting into something very subtle. It might be the difference between — and no sound at all, or — and no sound at all, said very quickly between two words. I you don’t hear the difference between these sentences, don’t feel bad. As I said, it’s a very specialized sound, and I expect that only someone who has heard a lot of English, and hears it consistently by native speakers, would start to develop an ear to hear that difference. To a native speaker of course, the difference is clear, but to a non-native speaker, it will take a lot of very practiced listening to differentiate between the two phrases in these pairs. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut to that.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
[b] ‘b’ as in ‘bit’
he P and B consonants. These two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position. P is unvoiced, pp, meaning only air passes through your mouth. And B is voiced, bb, meaning, uh, uh, bb, you’re making a sound with your vocal cords. To make this sound, the lips will stay together while the teeth part a little bit, pp, bb. These are stop consonants. In stop consonants, there are two parts. There is a stop of the airflow, and a release. So the stop of the airflow happens, pp, as the lips remain closed, and the release when they part and the air comes through. Let’s look at the nature of a stop consonant in the sample word nap. Na–, the lips are together, cutting off the airflow, nap, pp, and they part, the air is released. Stop consonants at the ends of words or syllables are sometimes not released. In other words, there’s just the first part, the stop of air flow. Let’s take for example the sentence I’m going up later. I’m going up later. So the lips came together to make the P — I’m going up later — but when they opened and the sound continued, it simply went into the L consonant sound, which was next, without the release. I’m going up, I’m going up, I’m going up later.
Here is the sound from the front, where the lips are together but the teeth are slightly parted. That is why it doesn’t look relaxed. And here from the side. Again, you can see this tension in the chin as the teeth are slightly parted even though the lips are closed. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft palate is raised in this sound, and the tongue itself raises just a little bit, but the tip of the tongue is still touching the bottom front teeth. Sample words: pad, bad, pot, bought. Sample sentence: Pick a big print for the bedspread. Now you will see this sample 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.
Pick, the lips press together as the jaw drops slightly. A big, again, the lips press together as the jaw drops. Print, again the P sound. Tongue goes up to make the T. Lip comes up to make the F in ‘for’. The, lips together, bb, bedspread, and here again to make the P in spread. Jaw drops to make the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel sound, and the tip of the tongue up to make the D. And here from an angle. The lips press together even as the jaw drops and the teeth part. Pick, the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ sound. Pick a big, again the lips come together for the B, big. And again for the P, print. Tongue up for the T. For the. Lips together for the B in bed-, and again for the p in -spread. The ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ and the tongue up to make that D. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
International Phonetic Alphabet symbols: [p], [b]
For more detailed IPA information and to see these sounds occurrences in other languages, click here for [p] and here for [b].
[ɜ] ‘ur’ as in ‘her’
The ‘ur’ as in ‘her’ vowel sound. I sometimes say this is the vowel version of the R consonant. It’s always followed by the R, and there’s no distinction between the sounds. So it will always be written with two different IPA symbols, but it will be pronounced rr, just one sound. It’s the same sound, actually, as the schwa-R sound with one exception: the ‘ur’ as in ‘her’ vowel with the R may be in a stressed word, like a noun, like ‘earth’, for example. And the schwa-R sound will always be in an unstressed syllable, like ‘father’. But it’s the same sound. When it’s stressed, it will just be a little higher in pitch, maybe a little longer.
To make this sound, the lips will round a bit, rr, rr. So, the corners come in, and that brings this part away from the face, rr, rr. The middle part of the tongue raises towards the roof of the mouth in the middle, rr, and the tongue actually touches the top teeth on either side here, rr, rr. It presses against them. The front of the tongue hangs down then, rr, rr, but it’s drawn back a bit. So, it’s not touching anything, rr, her.
Here is the ‘ur’ as in ‘her’ sound on the right compared with the mouth at rest on the left. Notice that the corners of the mouth are pushed in somewhat, which brings the center part of the lips away from the face. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. As with all vowels, the soft palate is raised. But more importantly, note the position of the tongue. The mid-front part of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth. More than just raised, the mid part of the tongue is fattened up. This draws the tip of the tongue slightly back so that it is not touching anything. The ‘ur’ as in ‘her sound. Sample words: learn, third, earn, person. Sample sentence: She was served turkey at her first American Thanksgiving. 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.
She, the lips form the SH sound, sh. Was, the lips come together to make the W in the circle, was, the teeth come together to make the Z. You might actually hear the Z here simply as the S because it’s followed by an S. So the Z might just get dropped. Was served, was served. Served, here’s the UR shape. The lip comes up to make the V in served. Turkey, another ur. Tur-key. The corners of the lips pull out now, to make the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ in turkey. And they open up to the at, tongue comes up to make the T. Her, bottom of the lip comes up for the F, first, another ur. American, lips come together for the M, and the tongue comes up to make the N, American. Thanksgiving. Tongue through the teeth, tongue up to make the N, the K-S sound, the teeth come together to make the S, bottom of the lip up for the V sound in Thanksgiving.
And now from the angle. She, lips form that SH sound. Was, the lips make the W. Served. Here is our ur sound, -erved. The bottom lip comes up to make the V. Turkey, another ur sound. Ur. Now watch the corners of the lips pull back for the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’. The mouth opens into at, at. Tongue comes up to make the T. Her, another UR. First, another ur. American, lips form the M of American. The tongue comes up to make the N. Thanksgiving. Tongue through the teeth for the TH. Tongue up to make the N, the teeth together to make the S sound. -giving. Thanksgiving. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
International Phonetic Alphabet symbol: [ɜ]
This sound is tough! It functions as a vowel but its sound is more like a consonant. According to Wikipedia’s page on this sound, it occurs only in English and one other language that has only 5000 speakers! It’s always followed by the consonant ‘r.’