How to Say MOUNTAIN and SENTENCE American English
In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to go over the pronunciation of
the word ‘mountain’, ‘sentence’, and other
similar words.
I’ve had a few requests for words where we
have the T, schwa, and N sound. For example,
the word ‘mountain’, or the word ‘curtain’.
First, let’s take a look at the word ‘mountain’.
So here, the T is coming after an N, and before
a schwa. Normally, when the T is in a consonant
cluster, like ‘mount’, we would say a true
T. But often, when it follows the N, we actually
live it out altogether, like in the word ‘center’.
Center. I say no T there.
But this is an exception. When we have the
T sound, the schwa sound, and the N sound,
most native speakers will make that T a Stop
T. So rather than ‘mountain’, with a True
T, we get mountain, mountain. Do you hear the
stop?
So, to make this word, my tongue
is coming to the roof
of the mouth for the N, mount-n. Then I just
leave it there. I stop the flow of air with
my throat, to make the Stop T, mount-ain,
then I release and let it go again into the
schwa-N sound.
Mountain. [3x]
Let’s take a look at the word ‘curtain’. Now
here the T comes after an R and before a vowel
sound, the schwa. So normally, that would
be a Flap T, like in the word ‘party’. But
again, because we have a T-schwa-N sound,
it’s an exception. So, it’s a Stop T. Cur-tain.
Cur-tain. So, to make this word, my tongue
is going from the R, pulled back, cur-, to
a position where the front part of the tongue
is touching the roof of the mouth. Then again,
I cut off the airflow here to signify the
Stop T. Cur-tain. Then I don’t need to move
my tongue, it’s already in position for the
schwa-N sound. Curtain.
The word ‘sentence’ doesn’t end with a T-schwa-N
sound, but it’s the same rule. Because we
have those three sounds together, many people
will say sen-tence, making a Stop T there.
So again, my tongue is already in the right
position because it came up for the first
N. Sen-tence. So, I just cut off the airflow,
and then jump right back into the schwa-N
sound.
One final example, the word ‘cotton’. So here,
the T is coming between two vowel sounds.
Normally, that would be a Flap, like in the
word ‘cutting’. There, it’s a Flap T where
the tongue just bounces agains the roof of
the mouth and there’s no stop of sound. But
in the word ‘cotton’, it’s the T-schwa-N,
so we’re going to make that a stop instead.
Cotton. So, my tongue is going up into position
for the T, it’s the same as the position for
the N. I never move the tongue once it’s there.
I just cut off the airflow, nn, and then make
the N sound.
Other example words with the Stop T-schwa-N
sound: fountain, kitten, button, written,
Clinton, Manhattan. So don’t forget: move
your tongue into position for the N, stop
the sound, and then make the N sound. That’s
how you should pronounce T-schwa-N.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s
English.