This is a short podcast episode (Influency Podcast) by Hadar Shemesh teaching three American English vowel sounds through articulatory guidance and practice: the front /æ/ (as in cap), the central /ʌ/ (as in cup), and the back /ɑ/ (as in cop). Hadar explains tongue, jaw, and lip positions for each sound, gives example word lists and short practice sentences that contrast the three vowels, and ends with a call-to-action to subscribe and follow her on Instagram (Hadar Accentsway).
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and today we are going to focus on one of the sounds in American English. I'm going to teach you how to pronounce it and then we'll practice it together. Are you ready? Warm up your tongue because this is going to be fun. Let's get started.
I got a lot of questions on how to pronounce the pair. Cap and cup. And also cup and cop. So today we're going to talk about my favorite triplet, cap and cop, also known as the three sounds in American English. The front, A central and back Ah. What defines the sound is the tongue position. For the front ah sound, the tongue pushes forward and the sound resonates in the front part of the mouth. Cat. Hat. Cap. Alright, so to make this sound, drop your jaw, push the tongue forward and pull the lips to the sides a bit. The tongue is flat in the front and high in the back. You can also think of it as a sound that is right in the middle between. And Hat. Last. Cap. All right, so it's not cup or lust. These are different words. It's cap and last. For the central of the tongue is you figured in the center. Alright, so it's like a stress chua. The mouth is pretty much in neutral pose and the jaw drops a bit. Cup. You push the air out and create sound. Cup. Love. Fun month. And then you have the back. Ah. Ah. For that you drop your jaw, relax your lips and pull the tongue back a bit. Ah. Father. Cop. Lost and hot. So although it's spelled with an O, it's not hot or lost. It's a lost. It's also not lust. Because then it's going to sound like the central sound. Lust. Lost. All right, so again, cap A front A usually associated with the letter A. Then we have the central cup, usually associated with O, O, U or U. Cup. Love. Country. And then we have the back ah. Usually spelled with O. A W, A U or O U. Aw. Aw.
Cop.
Alright, good. Now let's try it in a few sentences. So first let's practice the three words. Last. Lust. Lost. Last night I lost my lust for chocolate. I hope this never happens to you. But just for the sake of practice, let's try it last night. La A A. Okay, it's not last night. Then it's going to sound like the central. Last night I lost my lust. Central for chocolate. Cap. Cup. Cup. The cop took off his cap and drank from the cup. The cop open. Ah. Took off his cap. Right. Not his cup. Right. His cap and drank from the cup. Central up hat, Hut. Hot stack, Stuck stalk backs, Bucks box. All right, so remember, what defines the sound is the tongue position and the jaw drops. So to make the distinction between these words, make sure that you use your entire face, the tongue, and the jaw to make the sounds. All right? So keep on practicing. And that's it for today.
Okay, that was your how to Pronounce episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you next time.
