English Sounds Vowel and Diphthong Comparison

In this American English Pronunciation video,
we’re going to compare the vowel and diphthong

sounds of American English.

You’ve already seen my set of 33 videos,
The Sounds of American English.

In these videos, we went over the specifics
of the mouth position for each sound

including all of the vowel and
diphthong sounds in American English.

In this video, we’re going to do side by side
comparisons of vowel and diphthong sounds

that are similar.

Seeing how similar sounds are different should
help you solidify the individual sounds.

Let’s get started.

Notice how the lips are completely relaxed
for AH but the corners pull back and up for AA.

Notice how there is more jaw drop for AH.

Press your tongue down in the back for this vowel.

Notice how the corners of the lips pull back
and up just a bit for the AA vowel.

This is the word ‘sat’.

The lips are more relaxed for EH.

This is the word ‘said’.

Sat

Said

Sat

Said

Notice how the lips are totally relaxed for
AH but flared a bit for AW.

IH has more jaw drop.

The tongue arches closer to the roof of the mouth in EE.

EH has more jaw drop.

This is the word ‘said’.

In IH, the front part of the tongue arches
closer tot he roof of the mouth.

This is the word ‘fix’.

Fix

Said

Fix

Said

The jaw drops less for EE.

Here, EE is in the word ‘please’.

Notice how much the jaw drops for the first sound of AY.

This is the word ‘pay’.

Pay

Please

Pay

Please

The jaw drops more for the first sound of
the diphthong in the word ‘pay’ but the tongue

is forward for both sounds.

Here, the IH vowel is in the word ‘fix’.

The second half of the diphthong is the same
sound as the IH vowel.

But here, the jaw drops a little less.

Pay

Fix

Pay

Fix

The mouth position for the EH vowel in ‘said’
looks identical to the first half of the diphthong

in ‘pay’ but look at the jaw for the second
position of the AY diphthong.

Less jaw drop.

Pay. Said.

Notice how the lips and mouth are totally
relaxed for the UH as in Butter vowel

but for the UR vowel, the lips flare
and the tongue is pulled back.

UH
UR

There is more jaw drop for the UH as in Butter
sound which is usually stressed than for the

schwa which is always unstressed.

Here, it looks like there’s no jaw drop.

The lips round much more for the OO vowel.

Flare them for the UH as in Push vowel.

UH
OO

The lips flare a bit for the UH as in Push
vowel but are totally relaxed for the UH as

in Butter vowel.

Remember to start your lips in a relaxed positionfor OO.

For the OH diphthong, the jaw drops a lot
for the beginning sound.

Then the lips make a tight circle for OO and
round but not as much for the second sound of OH.

OO
OH

The beginning position of OH looks a lot like
the AH vowel but the tongue pushes down in

the back for the AH vowel.

The ending position of the OH diphthong has
lip rounding but the lips are always relaxed

for the AH vowel.

OH
AH

Notice how the corners of the lips pull back
for the first sound of the OW diphthong

but the lips flare for the AW vowel.

The jaw drops much less and the lips flare
a little for the second half of the OW diphthong.

The mouth position doesn’t change for the AW vowel.

OW
AW

Now, we’ll see and say all those sounds and
words again, mixed up in a different order.

Say them with me in slow motion.

AA
AH

Sat

Said

UH
UH

Sat

Said

Fix

Said

Pay

Please

Fix

This video is one of 36 in a new series, The Sounds of American English.

Videos in this set will be released here on YouTube

twice a month, first and third Thursdays, in 2016 and 2017.

But the whole set can be all yours right now.

The real value of these videos is watching them as a set, as a whole,

to give your mind the time to take it all
in and get the bigger picture.

Most of the materials you’ll find elsewhere

just teach the sounds on their own in isolation.

It’s a mistake to learn them this way.

We learn the sounds to speak words and sentences, not just sounds.

Move closer to fluency in spoken English.

Buy the video set today!

Visit rachelsenglish.com/sounds Available as a DVD or digital download.

在这个美式英语发音视频中，
我们将比较美式英语的元音和双

元音。

你已经看过我的 33 个视频，
美式英语的声音。

在这些视频中，我们详细
介绍了每种声音的嘴部位置，

包括
美式英语中的所有元音和双元音。

在本视频中，我们将并排
比较相似的元音和双

元音。

看看相似的声音有多么不同应该可以
帮助您巩固各个声音。

让我们开始吧。

注意 AH 时嘴唇是如何完全放松
的，但 AA 时角会向后拉。

啊啊

啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊

啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊

啊啊啊啊注意啊

把你的舌头在后面压下这个元音。

注意 AA 元音的唇角是如何向后
和向上拉一点的。

这是“坐”这个词。

EH 的嘴唇更放松。

这就是“说”字。

Sat

Said

Sat

Said

请注意，AH 的嘴唇完全放松，
而 AW 的嘴唇张开一点。

IH 有更多的下巴下垂。

在 EE 中，舌头拱起更靠近上颚。

EH 有更多的下巴。

这就是“说”字。

在 IH 中，舌头的前部
拱起更靠近上颚。

这就是“修复”这个词。

修复

说

修复

说

EE 的下巴下降较少。

在这里，EE 在“请”这个词中。

注意 AY 的第一个声音时下巴下降了多少。

这就是“付”字。

Pay

Please

Pay

Please 对于
“pay”这个词中双元音的第一个声音，下巴会下垂更多，但

对于这两个声音，舌头都会向前。

在这里，IH 元音在“修复”这个词中。

双元音的后半部分
与 IH 元音同音。

但是在这里，下巴的下垂少了一点。

Pay

Fix

Pay

Fix

‘said’ 中 EH 元音的嘴部位置
看起来与 ‘pay’ 中双元音的前半部分相同，

但要查看 AY 双元音的第二个位置的下巴
。

少下巴。

支付。说。

注意 UH 的嘴唇和嘴巴是如何完全
放松的，就像在黄油元音中一样，

但是对于 UR 元音，嘴唇张开
并且舌头向后拉。

UH
UR

UR UH 的下巴下垂更多，就像在
通常强调的黄油声音中一样，

而不是始终未强调的 schwa。

在这里，看起来没有下巴掉下来。

OO 元音的嘴唇更圆。

像推元音一样为 UH 发出喇叭声。

UH
OO

与 Push 元音一样，UH 的嘴唇稍微张开，
但与

Butter 元音一样，UH 的嘴唇完全放松。

记住在 OO 开始时嘴唇要放松。

对于 OH 双元音，开头声音的下巴下垂
很多。

然后嘴唇在 OO 和第二个声音 OH 时形成一个紧密的圆圈，
但没有那么圆。

OO
OH

OH 的开头位置看起来
很像 AH 元音，但舌头在

后面向下推为 AH 元音。

OH 双元音的结尾位置有
圆唇，但对于 AH 元音，嘴唇总是放松

的。

OH
AH

注意
OW 双元音的第一个声音时嘴唇的角向后拉

，而 AW 元音的嘴唇张开。

在 OW 双元音的后半部分，下巴的下垂要少得多，嘴唇也会
张开一点。

AW 元音的嘴巴位置不变。

OW
AW

现在，我们将再次看到并说出所有这些声音和
单词，以不同的顺序混合在一起。

用慢动作跟我说。

AA
AH

Sat

Said

UH
UH

Sat

Said

Fix

Said

Pay

Please

Fix

此视频是新系列 The Sounds 中的 36 个视频之一美式英语。

这套视频将

在 2016 年和 2017 年每月两次在 YouTube 上发布，第一个和第三个星期四。

但现在整套视频都可以归你所有。

这些视频的真正价值在于将它们作为一个整体观看

，让您有时间
全神贯注并获得更大的图景。

您可以在其他地方找到的大多数材料都

只是孤立地教授声音。

以这种方式学习它们是错误的。

我们学习声音来说出单词和句子，而不仅仅是声音。

更接近流利的英语口语。

立即购买视频集！

访问 rachelsenglish.com/sounds 以 DVD 或数字下载的形式提供。