How to Pronounce the TR Consonant Cluster American English
If you first started studying English in China,
there’s a good chance that you learned that
the TR consonant cluster should be pronounced
CH. Well, that’s not quite right. In this
American English pronunciation video, we’re
going to make an important adjustment to that
concept.
I made a video a while back explaining that
the T in the TR consonant cluster can sound
like a CH. You’ll hear native speakers do
this all the time: try, true. But I’ve noticed
with my Chinese students that they will pronounce
this cluster with just the CH, and no R sound
at all. But the R needs to be just as strong
as the CH in this consonant cluster.
Let’s take for example the word ‘try’. Now
if I replace that T with the CH, try, try,
I get an acceptable pronunciation. But if
I replace it with the CH and drop the R, chai,
chai, then I get a different word. Now, I
love a chai tea latte just as much as much
as the next person. But when we’re trying
to use the word ‘try’, the word ‘chai’ is
no good.
When I say the word ‘chai’, my tongue tip
is in the front of my mouth the whole time.
It’s here for the CH, cha-, down here for
the first half of the diphthong, chai. And
then the tip is still here, but the front
part reaches forward, towards the roof of
the mouth for the second half of the diphthong.
Chai, chai, chai, chai. So, we’re not getting
the R. The R involves a pull-back of the tongue.
So, in order to get an R sound, chr-, chr-,
chr-, it has to come back from that initial
forward position for the CH. Chr, chr, chry.
It will then come back forward for the diphthong
sound. Try. Try.
Another way to make sure that you’re making
an R sound is to watch your lip position.
So, the lips will need to come in to an even
tighter circle to make the R in this cluster.
Let’s take a look in up-close and slow motion.
First, try, with the R. See how much the lips
come in to make that R sound. Now, chai, without
the R. After the CH sound, the lips do not
round. So, in the top you have the R position
after the CH. And below you have just the
position for the CH. The top position is correct
to get the R sound in the TR cluster.
Now, we’ll watch from the side to try to see
the tongue position. In the word ‘chai’, the
tongue is just coming down from being up for
the CH position. No pull-back of the tongue.
In the word ‘try’, it’s harder to see that
tongue has pulled back because the lips come
into a more tightly-rounded position. But
you can see that the tongue here at the end
is coming forward for the diphthong from being
back for the R.
As you practice the TR cluster, slow it down
and hold out the R. Trrrrrrry. Make sure that
you’re feeling and seeing the correct tongue
position. Do this over and over, drill it
repetitively. Eventually, speed it up so that
you’re putting the R sound in at a normal,
conversational pace. This is how you will
turn it into habit. Other words: train, trade,
truth, trouble, trust.
I hope this video has helped.
That it, and thanks so much
for using Rachel’s English.