#80: American English pronunciation of other u The spelling and frequency of use cause pronunciation problems with this sound.
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation podcast.
My Name is Mandy, and this is our 80th podcast, and our 10th video podcast. Today's show is an excerpt of Pronuncian's entire "other u" sound video lesson.
The other u is the ( other u ) sound. This vowel causes incredible difficulty, both because of its spelling, and because of it's frequency. This video explains how the letter u between two consonants can be pronounced as either the other u sound as in the word put , or the short u sound, as in the word sun . The oo spelling causes even more trouble however. Usually, the oo spelling is pronounced as the oo sound ( oo sound ), as in the word soon , but it can also be pronounced as the other u sound, as in the words good and look . Regarding frequency of use, this sound does not occur in very many different English words.
However, the words it does occur in are used very often in everyday speech. Like it or not, the other u is an important vowel sound. Let's watch a piece of the video. Pronunciation The other u sound is pronounced like ( other u ) and is the vowel sound in the word put . ( other u ), put The other u sound is considered a back vowel because the sound occurs in the rear of the mouth, using the back of the tongue. Listen to the sound: ( other u )
The back of the tongue is raised to a mid-high position, the jaw is slightly closed, and the lips are made into a loose circle.
The sides of the tongue may touch the top teeth toward the back of the mouth. Listen to the sound again:
( other u ) ( other u ) Spelling As mentioned earlier, the other u sound can be spelled as a single letter u between two consonants, and as oo. It should be noted that both of these spellings have other, more common pronunciations. The letter u between two consonants is more likely to be a short u sound, as in the word sun . The oo spelling is more commonly used for the oo sound , as in the word soon . Examples Here are examples of words that are pronounced with the other u sound when the letter u is between two consonants: put bush full pull sugar Here are examples of words that are pronounced with the other u sound when the word is spelled with the letters oo good look book foot cookie Non-phonetic words There are three words ( could , should , and would ) that are pronounced with the u is in put sound that are spelled - oul . In these words, there is no l sound , and the vowel sound is the other u sound. In other English words spelled - oul it should be assumed that the vowel sound is a not the other u sound, and that the l is also necessary. The three words spelled - oul that are pronounced with a other u sound are: could should would Practice Let's practice some high-frequency words that contain the other u sound. Please repeat these words after me. I hope the other u sound is now clearer for you. Remember, Pronuncian subscribers have access to the entire video. Just go to the Material tab, and click video lessons. Along with the video, subscribers also can take the associated quiz. The quizzes are a great way to train your ear to hear and identify similar, confusing sounds. After taking the quiz, go to your account information page to find recommendation based on all your quiz results. If you aren't a Pronuncian subscriber yet, go to www.pronuncian.com/join.
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