Hi everyone! In this video, you'll learn how to pronounce the OR as in door vowel.
The OR vowel is in the words door, your, and order. OR. I just described the OR
sound as a vowel. You may be thinking, there's an R in that vowel. Isn't the R
sound a consonant? Well, the R sound is both a consonant and
a vowel depending on where it occurs in the word. I discussed this concept in a
previous video called the Introduction to R-colored vowels, and if you want
more background information about the R-colored vowels, I recommend that you
watch that video first. You should feel movement in your articulators as you
say OR, OR, because the OR vowel is made up of two sounds: the AW vowel plus the R
sound. OR. OR. OR. But when I say the OR vowel, the first part, the AW vowel,
doesn't sound like the AW vowel at all. AW. OR. AW.
OR. This is because the R sound influences the way the AW vowel is
pronounced. That is why these vowels are called R-colored vowels - because the R
sound influences the vowel sound. You don't need to worry too much about why
this happens. Just focus on the correct pronunciation of the OR vowel, and it
will sound correct. Let's take a closer look at the OR vowel by itself and in
the word door. To make the OR vowel, the lips are rounded into a tight circle. The
jaw is in mid position, and the tongue is low and pulled back into the mouth. Then
as you progress to the second part of the vowel, the lips remain rounded but
they relax just a bit, and the tongue moves up into a wide shape. The sides of
the tongue push against the inside of the upper back teeth or along the upper
gum line. The tongue tip is neutral - it doesn't point up or down. It points
straight out. And this is important: the tongue tip doesn't touch anything in the
mouth. Now let's see the OR vowel in a word
like door. Notice the tight lip rounding for the first part of the vowel. You
can't see the tongue, but it is low and pulled back.
Then for the second part of the vowel, the lips remain rounded, but they relax a
bit. The tongue remains back in the mouth, but it moves up, and the sides of the
tongue push against the inside of the upper back teeth
or along the upper gum line. When OR is an a stressed syllable, the
pitch of the voice glides up and then down. OR. Door. But in an unstressed
syllable, the pitch of the voice is flatter, and the vowel is said faster. OR.
This is common in American English. Unstressed syllables are said faster and
at a lower pitch and volume than stressed syllables. The OR vowel is
unstressed in a word like encore. The pictures on the top are the stressed OR
vowel in the word door, and the pictures on the bottom are the unstressed OR
vowel in the word encore. The lip placement is very similar, but
the unstressed OR vowel has a little less tension, a little less rounding than
the stressed position. Stressed OR. Door. OR. Unstressed OR. Encore.
OR. Here are some practice words and sentences. Boring. OR. Boring. This movie is
boring. Turn it off!
Blackboard. OR. Blackboard. The teacher wrote on the blackboard. Explore. OR.
Explore. I love to explore new places.
Born. OR. Born. I was born in California. Downpour. OR. Downpour. We got soaked in
the downpour.
Order. OR. Order. Place your order at the counter. Thanks so much for watching, and
let me know how I can help you with pronunciation of the OR vowel.