How to pronounce GIRL 👧

20 Oct 2024 · 1 min

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0:56

A short spoken tutorial by Hadar Shemesh explaining how to pronounce the word "girl." The speaker uses the word "bigger" to demonstrate the G→R transition ("ger/gur"), explains there is effectively no vowel between G and R, and instructs listeners to round the lips, keep the tongue up, then finish with a "dark L" produced toward the back of the tongue. She also gives corrective tips (if it sounds like a W, bring the tongue tip to touch the upper palate).

Chapters

To pronounce this word. I actually want you to start with the word bigger. Bigger. Listen to the ending. Bigger. You go from the G to the R ger gur. That is actually the beginning of the word girl. Listen, girl, there is no I. There is no vowel. Really. You go from the G to the r ger gur G round your lips, keep the tongue up. Then you transition to the dark L. Girl. So you add a little extra tension here. You don't have to bring the tip of the tongue to touch the upper palate. It's not girl. Okay? Girl. The dark L is kind of like hollow and all the way in the back of the tongue. Girl. If it sounds too much like a W, girl, bring the tip of the tongue to touch the upper palate. Girl. Okay, but that's the word girl.