American English Pronunciation Blog » american english consonants

American English Pronunciation: R Colored Vowels

susan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:00:41 +0000

The American English r is a very difficult sound for many non-native speakers to articulate correctly!

The American English r sounds like /ɚ/. The sound is made by bunching the middle of the tongue high in the back of the mouth and rounding the lips. The tip of the tongue curls up a bit, but it never touches the roof of the mouth.

When a vowel is followed by an r, the vowel sound changes. These are called r-controlled vowels, or r-colored vowels. Here are some of the phonemes you will hear.

The letters ar can sound like /ɑɚ/ as in: car, guitar & star.

The letters ear can sound like /iɚ/ as in: near, fear & beard.

The letters or usually sound like /ɔɚ/ as in: or, more & course.

The letters ir, er and ur, sound like /ɚ/ as in: bird, were, & fur.

Since the sounds of r-colored vowels are so complicated, many pronunciation books and courses simplify these. One great resource is the American English Pronunciation exercises from the Kelly brothers at Many Things.

The best book that I know of for learning the r-colored vowel sounds is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training. You can see the book by clicking on the link below.

American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

American English Pronunciation: The Importance of Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

susan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:00:32 +0000

In spoken American English there are many pairs of consonant sounds that are articulated using the same tongue and mouth shape. The difference between these pairs of sounds is that one sound is voiced and the other is voiceless.

Voiced sounds cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Voiceless sounds are softer and do not cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Here are a few examples:

In spoken English the /s/ & /z/ sounds employ the same tongue position and mouth shape but the /z/ is voiced and the /s/ is voiceless.

The English /k/ & /g/ sounds are both produced in the back of the throat but the /g/ is voiced and the /k/ is voiceless.

The /p/ & /b/ sounds are both made by pushing your lips together and then releasing them but the /b/ is voiced and the /p/ is voiceless.

Many non-native English speakers used the voiceless sounds /s/, /k/ & /p/ when they should use the voiced sounds /z/, /g/ & /b/. Making this type of pronunciation mistake will both contribute to your accent and cause misunderstandings.

Make Your American English Sound More Natural

susan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:21:00 +0000

In spoken English consonant and vowel sounds change depending on their location in a word or phrase. Learning some of the rules or patterns for these types of sound changes can make your pronunciation sound more natural.

Here is one pattern. When a /d/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound the result is a /dʒ/ sound. This sound occurs between these words:

could you sounds like couldjew
would you sounds like wouldjew

When a /t/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound the result is a /tch/ sound

can’t you sounds like cantchew
won’t you sounds like wontchew

Don’t think that articulating every sound exactly as it is written will improve your accent. In spoken English the letters in the alphabet take on different characteristics according to their position in a word or phrase.

American English:The Sounds of ed

susan — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:00:08 +0000

Several of the students that I am coaching have trouble hearing the ed that comes at the end of past tense verbs. One reason why they are having this problems is that ed does not always sound like /ed/. Sometimes ed sounds like /d/ and sometimes it sounds like /t/.

The other reason the word final ed can be difficult to hear is because native English speakers link words together so that the /d/ & /t/ sounds become part of the following word. That means that:

passed out sounds like pass dout

looked over sounds like look dover

talked about sounds like talk tabout

laughed at sounds like laugh tat

Click here to read my post on How to pronounce ed

American English Pronunciation:Consonant Clusters

susan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:00:31 +0000

On her blog this week Lisa Mosjin, author of Mastering the American Accent writes about the pronunciation of the words months and clothes. These words contain the difficult consonant cluster th+s.

She says that you should always pronounce the th + s as in words like strengths and Smiths. In order to do this you must quickly move your tongue from the th position (slightly between your teeth) to the s position (slightly behind your teeth).

She notes, however that when pronouncing the words months and clothes most American English speakers drop the th and just say mons and close.

You can read more of Lisa’s posts here. http://accurateenglish.blogspot.com/

American English Pronunciation for Portuguese Speakers

susan — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:00:02 +0000

Here is an accent reduction tip for Portuguese speakers who want to improve their spoken American English.

Be careful when you pronounce the letter P. Portuguese speakers often pronounce the American English /p/ sound like a /b/ sound. This can be confusing to American listeners because when you do that:

pill sounds like bill

pull sounds like bull

poor sounds like boor

Peter sounds like beater

The /p/ and /b/ sounds are articulated almost the same way in spoken American English. To make both sounds place your lips lightly together and then push the air out of your mouth in a short burst.

The difference is that /p/ is a voiceless sound and /b/ is a voiced sound. When you make the /p/ sound you should not feel a vibration in your throat. When you make the /b/ sound you should feel a vibration in your throat.

Pronunciation Problems for Korean Speakers-American English Consonant Sounds

susan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:00:38 +0000

Here are two American English consonant sounds that are problematic for Korean speakers. The first is the /f/ sound. This sound does not occur in Korean.

Korean speakers often pronounce the /f/ sound as a /p/ sound . That means that the word stuff sounds like stop, the word coffee sounds like copy and the word laugh sounds like lap to American listeners.

To make the /f/ sound touch your upper teeth to your lower lip as the airflow leaves your mouth.

Another consonant problem is the S.

In American English the S is frequently found at the end of both verbs and nouns. Korean speakers tend to omit this sound but they must remember to say the letter S whenever they see it. Keep in mind that the consonant S at the end of words is pronounced as a /z/ sound more often than it is pronounced as an /s/ sound.

Word initial S is often pronounced as /ʃ/ by Korean speakers so that the name Sue sounds like shoe and the word city sounds like shitty or sheedy to American listeners.

To see how the /f/, /p/, /s/,/z/ & /ʃ/ sounds are articulated you can use the online pronunciation software developed by the University of Iowa.

Pronouncing the Voiced th Sound

susan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:00:42 +0000

The voiced th sound is one of the most problematic sounds for non-native English speakers to pronounce.

To make the sound place your tongue slightly between your teeth. Vibrate your vocal chords as you push the air through your throat.

While there are not that many words that have the voiced th sound, the words that do have this sound are frequently used. Here are a few examples:

the, there, their, this, that, these, those, brother, mother, father, together

Read more about voiced and voiceless sounds in American English.

Best Accent Training American English Audio Course

susan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:00:16 +0000

This week I found an excellent American English Pronunciation Audio Course on the web. In this audio course instructor Charles Becker teaches you American English vowel & consonant sounds, syllable stress & intonation as well as linking and connected speech.

This is a very complete course and I advise you to check it out! You can even download the course immediately if you want to get started now. You can listen to a demonstration audio on the website.

Click here to visit Best Accent Training mp3s.

American English Pronunciation Problems for Filipinos

susan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:11 +0000

American spoken English frequently causes problems for English speakers in the Philippines.

Specific pronunciation problems include the schwa vowel sound, and voiced and voiceless sounds such as the /s/ & /z/ sounds, the /p/ & /b/ sounds and the /f/ & /v/ sounds.

Here is an article from the Manila Bulletin that explains more about these pronunciation differences.

American English Pronunciation Problems for Filipinos

You can also click here to check out my earlier post on voiced & voiceless sounds.