Hi everyone! In this video, you'll learn how to pronounce the UH as in butter
vowel.
The UH vowel is in the words butter, trouble, and sun. This vowel is a relaxed
and neutral vowel in American English. The jaw drops to mid level, and the lips
and tongue are relaxed. The back of the tongue is in the middle of the mouth - not
arched up high and not pulled completely low - and the tongue tip is down behind
the bottom front teeth. The mouth is relaxed. UH. Here's a close-up of the
UH vowel. The jaw drops to a mid-level opening -not fully open and not fully
closed. The tongue is also at a mid-level in the mouth. The tongue tip is down
behind the bottom front teeth. The lips are relaxed. Here is the vowel UH in the
word cut. The jaw drops, and the tongue is relaxed and down. The tongue tip is also
down behind the bottom front teeth. The mouth is relaxed.
When UH is in a stressed syllable, the pitch of the voice glides up and then
down. UH. Cut. UH.
But when UH is in an unstressed syllable, the pitch of the voice is flatter and
the vowel is said faster and at a lower pitch. UH.
This happens often to unstressed syllables in American English. Unstressed
syllables are said faster than stressed syllables, so it is common to reduce the
pitch of the voice and simplify the pronunciation of an unstressed syllable.
The UH vowel is unstressed in a word like unlace. The picture on the left is the
stressed UH in the word cut, and the picture on the right is the unstressed
UH in the word unlace. Notice the difference in jaw drop between the
stressed and unstressed positions. Even though the stressed UH has more jaw
opening, the muscles in the mouth are relaxed for both the stressed and
unstressed UH vowels.
Stressed UH. Cut. UH. Unstressed UH. Unlace. UH. Here are some practice words and
sentences. Lucky. UH. Lucky. She was very lucky and won the jackpot. Hundred. UH.
Hundred. The jackpot was one hundred dollars!
Much. UH. Much. The cookies have too much salt.
Understand. UH. Understand. I don't understand the question.
Mother. UH. Mother. I love my mother. Color. UH.
Color. That color looks great on you. Thanks so much for watching, and let me
know how I can help you with pronunciation of the UH vowel.