Hi everyone! In this video, you'll learn how to pronounce the AA in bat vowel.
The AA in bat vowel occurs frequently in American English, but it is relatively
rare in other languages. And the AA vowel can also change its pronunciation
depending on the sounds that occur next to it in a word. Because of this, I almost
always target the AA vowel with my clients. I'll first discuss how to
pronounce the AA vowel when it is in its pure form AA. The lips are pulled back,
and the jaw is dropped low. The tongue is forward in the mouth, and the back of the
tongue is pulled up. The tongue tip is behind the bottom front teeth. The pure AA
sound is in the word cat. Here's a close-up of my mouth as I say the word
cat. The corners of the lips are pulled back. The tongue is in a wide shape and
pulled forward in the mouth. The tongue tip is down. The jaw drops low. When AA
is in a stressed syllable like in cat, the pitch of the voice glides up and
then down. Cat. AA. But in an unstressed syllable like in the word daypack, the
pitch of the voice is flat, and the AA vowel is said faster. AA. Daypack. This is
common in American English. Native speakers will reduce or simplify the
pronunciation of unstressed syllables because unstressed syllables are said
faster and with a lower pitch than stressed syllables. Let's take a look at
the stressed AA compared to the unstressed AA. The picture on the left is
the stressed AA in cat, and the picture on the right is the unstressed AA in daypack.
The mouth position in both pictures is very similar, but the
unstressed AA has slightly less jaw opening and is a little bit more relaxed
than the stressed AA. The unstressed AA is also said with a lower pitch and a
flatter shape, so it will sound unstressed compared to the stressed
AA vowel. An important feature of the AA bowel is how it sounds when it comes
before a nasal consonant like M, N, or NG. When any vowel comes before a nasal
consonant in the same syllable, like in the words fan, window, and pond, the vowel
has a more nasalized quality to it. More air escapes out of the nose then when
the vowel is said by itself. This happens because when two sounds occur next to
each other, they may influence the way the other sound is pronounced. When a
vowel is followed by a nasal consonant, the muscles of the mouth anticipate that
a nasal consonant is coming up next, so the muscles change their placement
slightly for the vowel. For some vowels, you can't hear the difference, but for
the AA vowel the difference in pronunciation is noticeable. When AA comes
before N or M, like in the words man and ham, the back of the tongue will relax
just a bit so that the AA sounds more like AA + UH, AA + UH, AA + UH. Man. Ham. Listen
to how it sounds when I pronounce man and ham without the effects of the nasal
consonant. Man. Ham. It doesn't sound right. Man. Ham. You need to relax the back of
the tongue. This will help you to make the correct sound.
Man. Ham. When AA comes before NG like in the word rang, the AA vowel sounds more
like the AY vowel. Rang. AY. Rang. Listen to how it sounds when I pronounce rang
without the effects of the nasal consonant. Rang, rang. Again
it doesn't sound correct. Think of saying the AY vowel
instead. Rang. Rang. Here's a close up of the word rang. The tongue is forward in
the mouth, and the mid part of the tongue comes up to the roof of the mouth for
the vowel, and then into the NG sound. The tongue tip stays low, behind the bottom
front teeth. Stressed AA. Cat. AA. Unstressed AA. Daypack. AA. AA when
followed by nasal consonants. The N consonant. Man.
AA+UH. Man. The M consonant. Ham. AA+UH. Ham.
The NG consonant. Rang. AY. Rang. Here are some
practice words and sentences. Dad. AA. Dad. I have the world's greatest dad. Contact.
AA. Contact. Contact me when you know the answer.
Land. AA.
Land. The sailors cried when they reached land. Crammed. AA. Crammed. The space was
small, so he crammed in. Sang. AY. Sang. She sang beautifully. Thanks so much
for watching, and let me know how I can help you with pronunciation of the AA vowel.