Hi everyone! In this video, you'll learn how to pronounce the AY as in day
diphthong.
The AY vowel is a diphthong vowel. Diphthong vowels are made of two
sounds, so that means each diphthong has a starting position and an ending
position, and you should feel your articulators move as you say the
sound. Something unique can happen to vowels when they are part of a diphthong.
They don't sound as pure as they do when they are said by themselves. The AY
diphthong is made up of these two vowels, but the final sound of AY doesn't sound
like a pure IH like in bit vowel. The jaw is a little more closed, and the tongue
is a little higher in the final sound of AY than when the vowel IH is said by
itself. AY. IH. AY. IH. You don't need to focus any of your time on why the IH vowel
sounds different in a diphthong. As long as your mouth position is correct as you
progress through the diphthong, then you'll be making the correct sound. Watch
my mouth position as I say the word day. At the beginning of the vowel, the mouth
is open. The tongue is forward, and the tongue tip is low, behind the bottom
front teeth. Then as I progress through the vowel, the jaw closes and the tongue
arches up closer to the roof of the mouth. The tongue tip stays behind the
bottom front teeth. When AY is in a stressed syllable, the pitch of my voice
glides up and then down. AY. Day. But in an unstressed syllable, the AY vowel is
pronounced at a lower pitch with a flatter shape, and it's said for a
shorter duration. AY. AY. Here's a close-up of what AY looks like in an unstressed
syllable like in the word always. The stressed AY diphthong is in the top
pictures, and the unstressed AY diphthong is in the bottom pictures. Notice the
difference in the jaw opening between the stressed and the unstressed
positions. When AY is an unstressed syllable, the jaw is more closed than in
the stressed syllable. The ending mouth position of the stressed and unstressed
syllables is similar. It is common to simplify or reduce the pronunciation of
diphthongs when they are in an unstressed syllable. Native speakers
simplify the pronunciation so that the unstressed syllable can be said quicker
than the stressed syllable. Stressed AY. Day. Unstressed AY. Always. Here are some
practice words and sentences. Tray. AY. Tray.
Place the tray in the upright position. Birthday. AY. Birthday. Today is my birthday.
Payment. AY. Payment. Your payment is past due. Away. AY. Away. The bird flew away.
Freeway. AY. Freeway Don't speed on the freeway. Monday. AY. Monday. Monday is a
holiday. Thanks so much for watching, and let me know how I can help you with
pronunciation of the American English diphthong vowels.