014 OW as in How
3: The 13 Compound Vowels: 8 Diphthongs, 5 Triphthongs
•
3m 12s
When you see this sound transcribed phonetically, it is written as the first half of the symbol for A as in “cat” followed by the symbol for oo as in “book”. This might encourage us to produce quite a harsh sound. Something like “A-oo” - the sort of sound Henry Higgins hears from his poor student Eliza Doolittle whenever he frightens or upsets her. To make a less harsh and more open sound, make your starting position closer to AH as in “heart”. Don’t linger on it - move straight on to the short “oo” sound as quickly as you can:
Up Next in 3: The 13 Compound Vowels: 8 Diphthongs, 5 Triphthongs
-
015 OY as in Voice
The third lip diphthong is OY as in “voice” which is made by combining AW as in door and I as in sit:
Aw-i OY
I often refer to this as the classic English greeting when abroad: “OY! Can I get chips with this?!”
This is fairly straightforward but again, when this sound is followed by an “L” it ...
-
016 EAR as in Here
This is I as in “hit” plus the neutral “uh” as in actor. A good way to hear the full vowel is to say “eater” and then say it again but without the “T”: EAR. Often, this vowel can be cut in half so “here” becomes “he”.
-
017 AY as in Say
The next sound is AY as in “say” which is “E” as in “Glen” plus “I” as in “hit”. Some accents can substitute “I” as in “eye” for this sound - Eliza Doolittle, for example!
