In Part 1 I
told you about some of the short vowel sounds, namely [ə] as in doctor, [e] as in bed, [æ] as in bat, and [ʌ]
as in button. In this post I’ll tell you about the other short vowel sounds of
the Standard British Accent.
The short
vowel sound [ɪ] is produced closer
to the middle of the mouth and can be represented by the following letters:
- i, e.g. dig [dɪg]
- a, e.g. cottage ['kɔtɪʤ]
- e, e.g. defeat [dɪ'fiːt]
- y, e.g. symbol ['sɪmbəl]
To
pronounce this sound, raise the front of the tongue slightly back towards the
centre. Keep the lips loosely spread and the tongue relaxed. Please, see the video below to practise this sound (posted with kind permission by Anna Tyrie, the head vocal coach at www.elocutiononline.com).
[ɒ] as in lock
The sound [ɒ]
is a short vowel sound, which is produced at the back of the mouth. In writing
it can be represented by two letters:
- o, e.g. knock [nɒk]
- a, e.g. wander ['wɒndə]
To produce
the sound, slightly round your lips and put them a little bit forward
(actually, it’s the same action; you just physically can’t do one without the
other). Your jaw should be quite open, and the back of your tongue should be
rising slightly. You can use the video below to practice this sound (posted with kind permission by Anna Tyrie, the head vocal coach at www.elocutiononline.com).
[ʋ] as in wood
The short
vowel sound [ʋ] is also pronounced at the back of the mouth. In writing you
will see one of the following:
- u, e.g. cushion ['kuʃn]
- o, e.g. wolf [wulf]
- oo, e.g. book [buk]
- oul, e.g. should [ʃud] (yet, for this word native speakers tend to pronounce the reduced forms [ʃəd ] or [ʃd] in their speech)
P.S. ... here's something to cheer you up ;)
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