How to Pronounce GIRL in American English
In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to go over the pronunciation
of the word ‘girl’.
This is a really tough word, and I get a lot
of requests for it. Like other difficult words,
world, and curl, for example, it’s hard
because it has an R followed by a dark L.
So let’s go sound by sound and figure out
how to say this word.
First, this is a one syllable word and it’s
a content word, so it will be stressed and
have a vocal shape like this. Uhhh. Try that,
just on ‘uh’, uhhh. In this word in particular,
because of the Dark L, focusing on the shape
of the voice will help your pronunciation.
Uh, uh.
We start with the G consonant, gg. Make the
G by lifting the back of the tongue to the
soft palate, gg, and engage the voice, gg,
gg. Girr-. Now we have the UR vowel followed
by R. Two symbols in IPA, but just one sound.
The R sound. Grr, gr. So it’s just like
a GR consonant cluster, like in ‘great’,
or ‘grow’. Grr, grr. To move from G to
R, the front and back of the tongue move at
the same time. The back of the tongue was
here and the tip was here for the G: gg. Gr.
To make the R we release the back of the tongue,
and at the same time we pull the tip of the
tongue up. It doesn’t touch anything. If
you want to focus on something, focus on the
tip of the tongue. Think of it as doing this.
So now the middle part touches the roof of
the mouth lightly, rr, rr, back here. And
you should be able to hold that sound out,
grr.
Let’s practice just those first sounds with
the right shape: grrrr. So the pitch of the
voice needs to go down. Grr. Ok, now
the Dark L. First, how does it fit into the
shape? Your voice is coming down in pitch.
The Dark L should just fit into that line.
It’s also going to come down in pitch. And,
because it’s at the end of the curve, some
of the energy of the voice is gone. Listen
to just the dark L, uhl [3x].
How to make it. The tongue can be in two different
positions. It can either come back down, so
it’s touching the back of the bottom front
teeth. Or, the tongue tip can come up to the
roof of the mouth. The middle part is no longer
touching the roof of the mouth. It’s also
down. The part that really matters is the
back of the tongue. It shifts back, uhl, uhl.
It’s still low. Uhl, uhl. Because of the
back part of the tongue, we get this strange,
dark sound, uhl. Does it feel strange? That’s
okay. If it’s new to you, it should definitely
feel strange. If you only pay attention to
the front part of the tongue, what the tip
is doing, you can never get the right sound
for the Dark L. Focus on the back.
Let’s just try transitioning from the R
to the Dark L. Rrrlll. Rrrlll. And now the
whole word, but do it slowly. And use your
hand, it can’t hurt. Girl, girl, girl.
There it is, you’ve got it. Practice it
slowly, with your hand, lots of times. Practice
it in sentences. This is a tough word, and
you’re going to get really good at it if
you practice.
Now let’s look at it up close in and slow
motion.
Can you tell that the tongue has started to
pull back and up here? It’s not forward.
For the L, I flip my tongue tip to the roof
of the mouth. And then back down at the end
of the word.
Let’s watch that again.
If there’s a word or phrase you’d like
help pronouncing, please put it in the comments
below.
Also, I’m very excited to tell you that
my book is now on sale. If you liked this
video, there’s a lot more to learn about
American English pronunciation, and my book
will help you step by step. You can get it
by clicking here, or in the description below.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using
Rachel’s English.