\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nToday, we\u2019re putting together every video we have that focuses on the vowel and diphthong sounds of American English. This is your one-stop shop.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou\u2019ll see photos, up-close slow-motion words, valuable comparisons. We\u2019re going to talk a lot about word stress too because that really affects vowel and diphthong sounds. You\u2019re going to learn everything you need to know about these American English sounds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe\u2019ll start with the vowel AH like in father and UH like in butter and we\u2019ll see a comparison.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAH as in FATHER.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis vowel needs a lot of jaw drop.\u00a0 Ah.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth, and the back part of the tongue presses down a little bit.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAh. The lips are neutral, very relaxed.\u00a0 Ah.\u00a0 Because the tongue presses down in the back, you can see further into the dark space in the mouth.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see that by watching this vowel up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe lips are relaxed, and the tongue is lowered in the back.\u00a0 The inside of the mouth is dark.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018job\u2019.\u00a0 The jaw drops, and the tongue presses down in the back.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAh.\u00a0 When this vowel is in a stressed syllable, the voice will go up and come down in pitch, ah, job, ah.\u00a0\u00a0 When it\u2019s in an unstressed syllable, it won\u2019t be as long, and it won\u2019t have the up-down shape of the voice, ah, ah.\u00a0 For example, in the word \u2018blockade\u2019, ah, ah, blockade.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe mouth position looks the same:\u00a0 jaw drop, relaxed lips, and tongue pressed slightly down in the back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut because the pitch is flatter and the syllable is quicker, it sounds unstressed.\u00a0 Ah, ah.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nStressed AH:\u00a0 job, AH.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUnstressed ah:\u00a0 blockade, ah.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAH, ah.\u00a0 AH, ah.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHonest AH, Honest\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOccupation, ah, occupation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nhot, AH, hot<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nclock, AH, clock\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOctober, ah, October\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSoft, Ah, soft\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe UH as in butter vowel\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is a very relaxed sound.\u202f You can see, uh, the jaw drops but the rest of the mouth remains very neutral, uh.\u202f\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe tongue is relaxed:\u00a0 the back presses down just a little bit, and the tip is forward.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUh.\u00a0 Keep your face really relaxed.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at this sound up close and in slow motion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nA very relaxed jaw\u00a0drop\u00a0with relaxed lips.\u00a0 The tongue presses down just a bit in the back.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the word \u2018stuff\u2019.\u00a0 Again, everything looks nice and relaxed.\u00a0 The tongue presses down just a bit in the back.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn a stressed syllable, the vowel curves up then down.\u00a0 Stuff, uh.\u00a0 In an unstressed\u00a0syllable,\u00a0 it\u2019s\u00a0lower and flatter in pitch, and a little quieter and quicker, uh, uh.\u00a0 The vowel is unstressed in the word \u2018undo\u2019, uh.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look at this word up close and in slow motion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEasy jaw drop.\u00a0 Lips and cheeks remain very relaxed.\u00a0 Tongue presses down slightly in the back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCompare the stressed vowel above with the unstressed vowel below.\u00a0 Notice the jaw may drop a bit more for a stressed syllable.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is typical.\u00a0 Unstressed vowels and diphthongs are shorter, so there isn\u2019t as much time to make the full mouth position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe UH vowel, stressed:\u00a0 stuff, UH<\/span>
The UH vowel, unstressed:\u00a0 undo, uh<\/span>
UH, uh, UH, uh.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me.<\/span>
Sometimes, UH, sometimes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nmoney, UH, money<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nabove, UH, above<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nuntie<\/span>, UH, untie<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nuphill, UH, uphill<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFun, UH, fun.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHere we have the AH and uh vowels in profile.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou can see for the Ah vowel the jaw might drop a little bit more.\u00a0<\/span>Also<\/span>\u00a0the tongue position has a little bit of tension in it. That\u2019s because the tongue is flattened a little bit.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn the uh vowel the tongue is completely relaxed. Now you\u2019ll see the mouth from the front alternating between the AH and the uh sounds. Watch the subtle change in jaw drop. And see if you can notice the subtle change in tongue position as well.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAH<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUh<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAH<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUh<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAH<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUh<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow we\u2019ll do two other vowel sounds that I\u2019ve noticed can be tricky for my students.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSet.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSat.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m talking about the EH as in bed vowel and the AA vowel like in bat.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe\u2019ll go over each sound in-depth and have a comparison.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nthe EH as in BED vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTo make this sound, the jaw drops, eh, and the tongue remains forward with the tip touching lightly behind the bottom front teeth. Eh.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe mid\/front part of the tongue lifts a little bit towards the roof of the mouth while the back of the tongue feels like it stretches wide.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEh.\u00a0 In a stressed syllable, the voice has a little curve up, then curve down. Eh, eh.\u00a0 It\u2019s stressed in the word \u2018said\u2019.\u00a0 Let\u2019s watch up close and in slow motion.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe jaw drops.\u00a0 The tongue tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth, and the middle part arches up towards the roof of the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSaid, eh, said.\u00a0 In an unstressed syllable, the vowel is lower and flatter in pitch, as well as quieter and quicker, eh, eh.\u00a0 The vowel is unstressed in the word \u2018employ\u2019, eh.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRelaxed jaw drop.\u00a0 The middle part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHere we compare the stressed EH from \u2018said\u2019, on top, with the unstressed version from \u2018employ\u2019 on the bottom.\u00a0 Notice the jaw drops more for the stressed version of this vowel.\u00a0 Because the unstressed version of the vowel is shorter, there isn\u2019t enough time to make the full jaw drop.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEH stressed:\u00a0 said, EH<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEH unstressed:\u00a0 employ, eh\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEH, eh.\u00a0 EH, eh.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRed, EH, Red<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNever, EH, never\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nembrace,\u00a0Eh, embrace<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nenter, EH,\u00a0<\/span>enter<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nembody, EH, embody<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDesk, EH, desk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe AA as<\/span>\u00a0in BAT vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is a sound that changes depending on the following sound.\u00a0 So, it can either be a pure vowel or a modified vowel.\u00a0 We\u2019ll go over both in this video.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTo make the pure AA vowel, the jaw drops quite a bit, AA.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe tip of the tongue stays forward; it\u2019s touching the back of the bottom front teeth, AA.\u00a0 The back part of the tongue stretches up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe tongue is wide, AA.\u00a0 Because the tongue is high in the back and low in the front, you can see a lot of it.\u00a0 This is different from the ‘ah’ as in ‘father’ vowel, for example, where the tongue presses down in the back and you see more dark space in the mouth. AA, AH.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou can also see the corners of the mouth pull back and up a little bit.\u00a0 AA.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s take a look at the pure AA vowel up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe tongue tip is down and the back of the tongue lifts.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the word \u2018sat\u2019.\u00a0 The tongue position is easy to see because of the jaw drop needed for this vowel.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhen AA is in a stressed syllable, the vowel will go up and come down in pitch, AA.\u00a0 Sat, AA.\u00a0 In an unstressed syllable, the vowel is flatter and lower in pitch, quieter, aa.\u00a0 This vowel is unstressed in the second syllable of \u2018backtrack\u2019.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n