English How to Pronounce OH o diphthong American Accent
The ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. The first sound
of this diphthong does not occur on its own
as a vowel in American English, o, o, oh.
You can see the lips have a rounded position,
o, oh. The tongue raises up a bit in the back
towards the soft palate. In general, the tongue
raises some and shifts back a bit, o, o. This
means the tip of the tongue, pulled slightly
back, is not touching anything. The second
sound is the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel sound,
though, in this diphthong, the lips will round
more for the second sound than when the ‘uh’
as in ‘pull’ occurs on its own as a vowel.
Oh, you can see that tighter circle. The back
part of the tongue will stretch even further
towards the soft palate in the second half
of this diphthong. The tip of the tongue,
usually touching behind the bottom front teeth
for the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel, may be slightly
further back because it was further back in
the first half of the diphthong. Oh, no. Here
we see both sounds of the diphthong. In the
first sound, you can see the jaw is dropped
more. In both sounds the lips are rounded,
but they are more rounded in the second sound.
Here are the two sounds in profile. Again,
note that the jaw has dropped more for the
first sound. Here, parts of the mouth are
drawn in. In the first sound, the tongue is
pulled slightly back and up. In the second
sound, it stretches up even more towards the
soft palate. In both sounds, the tongue tip
is not quite touching the bottom front teeth.
Sample words: lonely, owner, telephone. Sample
sentence: The window of the hotel was blown
out and broken. 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.
The. Tongue through the teeth for the TH sound.
Window, lips make the W shape, tongue
up for the N. Teeth together for the D. And
here a quick ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. Of,
bottom lip up for the V, the hotel, again, ‘oh’
as in ‘no’, ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’, and the tongue
up for the L. Was blown, the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’,
you can see the lips rounding more at the
end. Out, with the ‘ow’ as in ‘now’ diphthong.
And broken. Lips together for the B, R, and
here is the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong. Broken.
And from an angle. Tongue through the teeth
for the TH. The window, lips make the W. Tongue
up for the N and D. And here is an ‘oh’ as
in ‘no’. You see the lips round more at the
end. Of the ho-, again ‘oh’ as in ‘no’, you
see the tongue move back, hotel. Lips together
for the T. ‘Eh’ as in ‘bed’ and the tongue
comes forward for the L. Was blown, lips together
for the B. Tongue up for the L and down, ‘oh’
as in ‘no’, again you see the tongue moving
back. Tongue up for the N. Out. Teeth together
for the T. And broken, lips together for the
B, again an ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong, forming
a tight circle at the end. Broken. Tongue
tip up to make the N. That’s it, and thanks
so much for using Rachel’s English.