Hi everyone! In this video, you'll learn how to pronounce the AIR as in chair
vowel.
The AIR vowel is in the words chair, bear, and airplane. AIR. I just
described the AIR 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 AIR. AIR. Because the AIR vowel is made up of two sounds: the EH vowel plus the R
sound. AIR. AIR. AIR. Let's take a closer look at the AIR vowel by itself and in
the word chair. First you'll see the AIR vowel by itself.
To make the AIR vowel, the mouth starts in an open position. The tongue is
forward with the tip down, and the middle part of the tongue arches up towards the
roof of the mouth. The back of the tongue stretches into a wide shape. Then when
you progress to the R sound, the lips come forward and flare out a bit. The
tongue pulls up and back, and the sides of the tongue push against the inside of
the upper back teeth or along the upper gum line. Now you'll see the vowel in the
word chair. Notice how the jaw opens and the tongue
is forward at the beginning of the vowel. Then as you progress to the R sound, the
lips come forward and flare out, and the tongue pulls up and back. When AIR is in
a stressed syllable, the pitch of the voice glides up and then down. The vowel
is also said louder and for a longer duration. AIR. Chair. But in an unstressed
syllable, the AIR vowel is set faster and at a lower pitch and volume. AIR. This is
typical in American English. Unstressed syllables are said faster than stressed
syllables. That is what helps to give American English its rhythm - the balance
between stressed syllables and unstressed syllables. The AIR vowel is
unstressed in a word like solitaire. The top pictures show the stressed AIR vowel
in the word chair, and the bottom pictures show the unstressed AIR vowel
in the word solitaire. Notice the difference in jaw opening. The stressed
AIR has more jaw opening at the beginning and end of the vowel. This is
common in American English. Unstressed vowels are said faster than stressed
vowels, so there isn't as much time to give them the full mouth position.
Stressed AIR. Chair. AIR. Unstressed AIR. Solitaire. AIR. Here are some practice
words and sentences. Dairy. AIR. Dairy. I'm allergic to dairy.
Unfair. AIR. Unfair. The rules are very unfair. Downstairs.
AIR. Downstairs. The basement is downstairs.
Bears. AIR. Bears. I'm deathly afraid of bears. Repair. AIR. Repair. I need to repair
the broken window. Shorthair. AIR. Shorthair. I have a shorthair cat. Thanks so
much for watching, and let me know how I can help you with pronunciation of the
AIR vowel.