American English Diphthongs IPA Pronunciation International Phonetic Alphabet
Take a look at these letters. They’re not
always pronounced the same. Take for example
the word ‘height’: here they are the ‘ai’
as in ‘buy’ diphthong. But in this word, weigh,
they make the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong sound.
This is why the International Phonetic Alphabet
does make it easier to study pronunciation. This
particular video focuses on diphthongs.
What is the International Phonetic Alphabet?
It’s a system of phonetic notation, and I
use it a lot on my website and when I teach
students. I’ve also used it a lot when I’ve
studied foreign languages. The IPA is especially
handy when studying English because English
is not a phonetic language. This means when
you see a letter or a group of letters, it
will not necessarily always be pronounced
the same in each word in which it occurs,
just as in the example at the beginning of
this video. The IPA has a written symbol
for each phonetic sound, so this makes it
easier to read about and write about pronunciation.
As a student of pronunciation, it’s important
that you become familiar with the symbols
that represent the sounds of American English.
Ow, say that with me, ow. This sound occurs in
the words town, round, bow. Oh. Say that with
me, oh. This sound occurs in the words though,
no, show. Oy, oy. This sound occurs in the
words toy, moist, joy. Ai, ai, This diphthong
sound occurs in the words my, height, buy.
Ay, ay. This sound occurs in the words fade,
maid, gauge. Yu, yu, this sound occurs in
the word beauty, union, feud.
Great. Familiarizing yourself with these symbols should make it
easier to study pronunciation. That’s it,
and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.