This is the “Sounds American” channel.

In this video we’re going to talk about the American vowel sound /ɔ/,

as in the word “on”.

You can also hear this sound in words like

“off,”

“cause,”

“all,”

or “saw”.

We’ll be using a special phonetic symbol - /ɔ/ - for this sound.

The /ɔ/ can be hard to reproduce for many people and it often gets mispronounced

Keep watching to learn how to avoid shortening this vowel and to practice it in words.

Let’s find out how to make this sound.

OK.

To pronounce the /ɔ/ sound, you should focus on the position of your jaw, lips, and tongue.

Open your mouth as wide as possible,

and round your lips.

Flatten your tongue and pull it back.

Place your tongue very low in your mouth.

The tip of your tongue should be touching the back of your bottom front teeth.

Remember, the /ɔ/ is a very open sound,

so your jaw should be as open as possible.

Let’s try saying it:

/ɔ/

/ɔ/

/ɔ/

Now, let’s practice this sound in some words.

You’ll see a word on a screen and hear its pronunciation.

Like this:

You’ll have a few seconds to pronounce the word, if you want to.

[sound prompt to start speaking]

Let’s begin!

You’re done!

Congratulations!

By the way, did you know that the /ɔ/ sound is represented by the letter “o” in only 30% of cases?

More on the spelling:

most often, the /ɔ/ sound is written as the letter “o,” as in the word “on.”

In the rest of the words with this sound, it’s written as the combination of letters

“au,” as in the word “cause,”

as a single letter “a,” as in the word “water,”

and also as the following combination of letters:

“al,” as in the word “call,”

“aw,” as in the word “saw,”

“ou,” as in the word “thought,”

and “oa,” as in the word “broad.”

Thanks for watching!

Hope you find it useful.

Stay tuned on our Sounds American channel!