Solo pronunciation lesson by Hadar Shemesh comparing American English pronunciations of 'murder' and 'martyr'. The episode provides step-by-step articulation guidance (lip/tongue placement, vowel quality, r-colored vowels), notes stress placement (primary stress on first syllable), contrasts 'mer' (schwa/R-coloring) vs. 'mar' (open 'ah' then r), and ends with practice, an invitation to subscribe/rate, and a prompt to follow Hadar on Instagram (@HadarAccentsway).
Chapters
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is your how to Pronounce Friday. 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. Today I want to compare the two words murder and martyr. Murder. Martyr. Now, I know both words are spelled totally different, but they are pretty similar. The beginning is different, but the ending is exactly the same. All right, so we shouldn't think of the word as it's spelled, but as it sounds. Murder. Martyr. Let's begin with the word murder. The first syllable is mer. Mer. So you close the lips for the N, and then you pull the tongue in for the R. Mer. There is no vowel in the middle. It's the R, as in stir, as in first mer. M. Then you bring the tongue up for the D sound, and then you pull it in for the R. D. So basically, it sounds like it's the same vowel. Murder. The primary stress falls on the first syllable. That's why it's a little higher in pitch. Murder. The D is very light. Murder. Murderer. Murder. Murderer. You're adding another R at the end when you're talking about a murderer. Murder. The word martyr begins with an M sound, but then you have the R as in car. So you drop your jaw for the ah sound. Ma. And only then you bring the tongue up for the r. Mar. The ending is the same again. Der. Der. Der. Marder. So it's mer versus mar. No vowel in the middle. Mer. Open ah sound in the middle. Mar. Murder. Martyr. The martyr was murdered. The marder was murdered by the murderer. Marder. Murder. All right, that's it. Very positive and optimistic video today, but I hope it was helpful. Okay, that was your how to Pronounce Friday 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 and how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you next time.
