[m] ‘m’ as in ‘map’
The M consonant. This sound is simply made by pressing the lips together lightly, mm, mm, while making a sound with the vocal cords, mm, mm. In speech, the teeth may begin to part a little in preparation for the vowel in the word, mm, mm, Mom, map. Pulling the lips a bit. Here we see the M consonant sound on the right compared with the mouth at rest. You can see the lips press slightly together. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. The M consonant sound is one of the few sounds in American English where the soft palate remains down like the mouth at rest. This allows air to pass up over the soft palate, which results in the sound feeling somewhat in the nose, which is why it is categorized as a nasal consonant along with N and NG. Sample words: map, hammer, bottom. Sample sentence: My mom might come tomorrow morning. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really see how the mouth moves making this sound.
Lips press lightly together for the M in my, open into the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Down again for the first M in mom, and for the second M in mom. Might, with the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Back of the tongue makes the K sound, come. Lips together for the M in come. Tomorrow, teeth closed for the T and the lips together for the M. ‘Oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong and together again for the M in morning. Tongue up to make the N, and then the back of the tongue raises for the NG sound. Lips press lightly together for the M in my. ‘Ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, together again for the first M in mom and for the second M in mom. Might with the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Back of the tongue making the kk sound, come. Lips together for the M in come. Tomorrow. T sound, lips together for the M. R consonant sound and the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. together again for the M. Morning. Tongue up in the front for the N and then up further back for the NG. That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.