In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over the pronunciation
of the word ‘question’.
This is a tough word, and I’ve gotten lots of requests for it. Thanks for putting in
your request, I’m glad to finally do it for you.
This is a two-syllable word with stress on the first syllable. Question, DA-da. The first
syllable is longer than the second syllable. Long-short, DA-da. Question. The first syllable
needs the intonation, the shape of a stressed syllable. A little curve up, then down. Uhh,
Que-. Ques-tion.
This word begins with the KW consonant cluster, kw. To make the K, the back part of the tongue
lifts and touches the soft palate. The lip position doesn’t matter, so they’re going
to start rounding already for the W. Kw, que-. For the W, the back part of the tongue is
lifted, so when it pulls away from the soft palate to release the K, it doesn’t have
far to go. Then we have the EH vowel. Que-. This is where we’ll have the curve down
in the voice. Que-. For the EH vowel, the jaw drops and the tongue tip is forward and
down, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth. The middle/front part of the
tongue lifts towards the roof of the mouth. Make the middle of the tongue wider as it
lifts. Que-.
The rest of the sounds happen as the voice drops off in pitch. Question. First comes
the S, the teeth come together, ss. Usually when I make the S, I leave the tongue tip
down. But here, since it needs to be up for the next sound, I actually point the tongue
tip up, ss, ss. Now, the CH sound. It’s the letter T, but it’s making the CH sound.
The tongue tip touches the roof of the mouth and releases and the lips flare, ch, ch. Then
we have the schwa and the N. The N is a syllabic consonant. It overtakes the schwa – don’t
try to make a separate schwa sound. So after the CH sound, go directly into the N. You
do need to release the tongue from the roof of the mouth, that’s part of the CH that
you can’t skip. But then, you put the tongue immediately right back up for the N, -tion,
-tion. And relax the lips. So the tongue will move like this in the last syllable: -tion,
-tion. Remember, all of these sounds happen as the voice falls in pitch. Question [3x],
–tion, -tion. There’s not a lot of energy in the voice here.
Let’s see this word up close and in slow motion.
See the lips come into a tight circle for the W. The space in the mouth is dark as the
tongue lifts in the back. Now it opens into the EH vowel, and you can see a lot more of
the tongue as the middle/front part lifts. The teeth come together for the S and CH and
the tongue goes to the roof of the mouth. The lips flare for the CH, then relax for
the N.
Let’s watch one more time.
See the lips come into a tight circle for the W. The space in the mouth is dark as the
tongue lifts in the back. Now it opens into the EH vowel, and you can see a lot more of
the tongue as the middle/front part lifts. The teeth come together for the S and CH and
the tongue goes to the roof of the mouth. The lips flare for the CH, then relax for
the N.
Question, question. If there’s a word or phrase you’d like help pronouncing, put
it in the comments below.
Also, I’m very excited to tell you that my book is now on sale. If you liked this
video, there’s a lot more to learn about American English pronunciation, and my book
will help you step by step. You can get it by clicking here, or in the description below.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.