Learn the American accent! How to Pronounce the UH /ʌ/ Vowel

[@ernestorevollar3632]

I've enjoyed this video a lot. It is super helpful. Thank you so much ❤.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

You're very welcome, @ernestorevollar3632! I'm glad this video was helpful :)

[@ramzy-6566]

Thank you so much for this video and for mentioned the sound /ʌ / stressed and unstressed syllables.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@ramzy-6566]

I've enjoyed a lot. Thank you.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Awesome! Glad you liked it! :)

[@Oscar-wi4bv]

Thank you. Your videos help me a lot .

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

You're very welcome, Oscar! I'm so glad that my videos are helpful :) And hey - it would be super helpful to all the other English learners if you would share your experience on my Google Business page: g.page/r/CRKVA27p84i0EB0/review This will help others to learn more about me and my videos! Thanks so much! :)

[@ronan2109]

your videos help a lot with my pronunciation! Thank you

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks so much for your comment, Ronan! I'm glad my videos are helpful! :)

[@aynasaynas6173]

Thank you thank you

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

You're welcome, Aynas! :)

[@davidbayona250]

Thank you, you are doing very job. Please continue doing additional video and complete vowel sounds.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you! And I will! :)

[@liumanseit-mametov5662]

Thank you for the video. Keep up the great work!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Liuman - Thank you for your comment! I'm so happy you liked my video! :)

[@richardfrangie3518]

👍

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks for your comment, Richard! I'm glad the video was helpful! :)

[@adelfadhel7506]

Hi, professor May this sound be used as the [ɐ] or [ʌ̟] allophones in narrow transcription or there are other symbols? ❤️

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Adel - Thanks for your comment and question! I'll have to do more research about how to use this symbol in narrow transcription :)

[@Jtube0101Mega]

What is the difference between the sounds /ə/ , /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ ? I can't notice any difference

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Jobson - Thanks for your question! This is a great question, and I'm sure other people have the same question as you. The answer is too difficult to describe in writing, so it would be better if I could give you an answer in real-time and demonstrate the differences in pronunciation of those vowels. If you join my live English class called Julie's Conversation Club (courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club), I can show you the pronunciation there! I hope to see you at the next lesson :)

[@berthagranados5772]

Is the unstressed same as the schwa?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you for this question :) And I apologize for that confusion - I should have done a better job of explaining this in the video! No, the unstressed UH /ʌ/ vowel isn't the same as the schwa UH /ə/ vowel. The "unstressed" UH /ʌ/ vowel that I talk about in this video isn't reduced like the schwa UH /ə/ vowel - it still has some stress. Typically, the "unstressed" UH /ʌ/ vowel will have the secondary stress in the word....which means it is still stressed, but not as much as the syllable that has the primary stress. Here's an example: "understand" /ˌʌn.dɚˈstænd/ . You'll see that the first syllable, UN, uses the UH /ʌ/ vowel, but the first syllable doesn't have the primary stress in this word - it has the secondary stress. The syllable with the primary stress (the syllable that is stressed the most) is the third syllable, STAND. The second syllable, DER, is the weakest syllable in this word, and it uses the unstressed ER /ɚ/ vowel. So to summarize: The UH /ʌ/ vowel can be in a syllable that has the primary stress, like in the word "cupcake" /ˈkʌp.keɪk/, or it can be in a syllable that has the secondary stress, like in the word "understand" /ˌʌn.dɚˈstænd/ . It will never be in a syllable that has the weak stress. If the UH /ʌ/ vowel is in the syllable with the secondary stress, it still has some stress...but not as much as the syllable with the primary stress. I attempted to make my explanation too simple in the video (only using the options of stressed vs. unstressed), but this was oversimplifying things! I should have made it more clear - I apologize for that! The schwa UH /ə/ vowel will always be unstressed and in the weak syllable of a word, and it will be said faster than the other syllables in that word. I hope this helped to clear up things! Please let me know if you need more help - I'd be happy to explain it again :)

[@berthagranados5772]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thank you so much everything is clear now:)))

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@berthagranados5772 You're welcome - glad I could help :)

[@HoangTran-xy1cv]

How to pronounce pluck

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Thank you for the comment! I'll add "pluck" to my next installment of the series "How to Pronounce Difficult Words in English" :)

[@lilrailshortrail608]

Uh or ah

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Thank you for your comment! I'm not quite sure if I understand your question correctly - are you asking if the /ʌ/ vowel is pronounced as UH or if it is pronounced as AH? The /ʌ/ vowel is pronounced as UH, like in the words "butter", "mother", and "luck". The /ɑ/ vowel is pronounced as AH, like in the words "hot", "blocks", and "father". I hope this helps! :)