Master the American accent! How to Pronounce the American English OOR /ʊɹ/ Vowel

The OOR /ʊɹ/ vowel is in words like "lure", "cure", and "tour". It's a lesser-known R-colored vowel, and not all native speakers of American English use it!
Learn how to pronounce the OOR /ʊɹ/ R-colored vowel in this video, and practice with me at the end!
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[@MasambaKalaba-xo4oi]

Oh my gosh!!! You're our English Godesse when it comes to pronouncing!!!

[@ramzy-6566]

today for practice.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Ramzy! Great - keep up the good work :)

[@chazm3]

Hey Julie! i’ve been searching everywhere for someone who can explain why so many people even in America pronounce ‘tour’ as if it were ‘tore’. I even watched a couple of British KZbin channels on the exact same topic as this video, and when they demonstrate the diphthong in isolation it sounds more like an /o/ than a /u/. There is a similar confusion and pronunciation of ‘sure’ and ‘shore’. UPDATE: I see that you did answer my question in a different comment below; thank you very much.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi chazm3 - You are right - some people pronounce "tour" as "tore"...and some don't! Same with "sure" and "shore" - sometimes "sure" sounds like "shore", and sometimes it doesn't! It depends on the preference of the speaker. I made a video about how to pronounce "tour" - maybe it will help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipK6mKqcZrJ_icU.

[@d.k.1465]

04:08 01:55

[@tauqeerahmed4850]

Finally i have found out a good teacher . thank you so much

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Tauqeer! Thank you for your comment - I'm so glad my videos have been helpful! :)

[@alexsalychev9324]

You're an amazing teacher! Thank you!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks so much! :)

[@ramzy-6566]

I watched all videos for R-colored today, great videos, Thank you.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

That's awesome! I'm very impressed by how much you practice :-)

[@ramzy-6566]

​@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent I watched all videos for R-colored today again, Thank you.

[@razigul6266]

Good my best teacher

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks, Razi! I'm so glad my videos are helpful! :)

[@tobiasariastoya1485]

Very good video 🎉🎉🎉

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks, Tobias! :)

[@hibbertjahlil4512]

The /ʊr/ sound is tricky. The IPA and Mereiam-Webster dictionary transcription for this sound is/ʊr/, a short oo sound /ʊ/ plus er, not the long oo sound /u/. But I do feel when American pronounce the words your tour tourist jury, the/ʊr/ sounds like / u(w) er/, an /u/ sound plus er, and with a slight/w/ sound gilde.It doesn't sound like a/u/. Am I right?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! The /ʊr/ sound is very tricky, and native speakers don't use it consistently. I pronounce some words with /ʊr/, some words with ER /ɝ/, and some words with OR /ɔr/. It's not that common of a sound in American English, so I don't usually target it with most of my accent clients. However, it is an R-colored vowel, so I decided to make a video about it. Yes, you are right about the /ʊr/ sounding like OO + W + ER. There is a small glide in the middle as you transition from /ʊ/ to /r/. But the W is quick - you don't want to fully pronounce a W sound because then you will force another syllable to occur, and the /ʊr/ vowel occurs in the same syllable. I hope this helps!

[@siddhantkapoor8079]

Why does the 'E+r' sounds more like 'ei+r' vowel? Like in the words 'chair', 'pair', 'care'. I thought this particular detail was missing in the video when you talked about 'Er' sound.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Thanks for your question! I answered this in your comment from this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnXJhJ2AqJd4kJY

[@richardfrangie3518]

👍

[@hibbertjahlil4512]

Here are two links for how to pronounce that sound. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pavLY5h-e9qHrbM kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGTXnqJ8gpeYmdk I feel they are not sound same. The lady pronounce it with a /ʊ/ sound, lips are rounded less. The man pronounce it with a /u/ sound, lips are rounded more and tense more. I don't know which one is correct. Could you give me some idea? I am very appreciate it.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you for the links! You are correct - the woman and the man pronounced the /ʊr/ sound slightly differently! There is a lot of variability with how native speakers pronounce this vowel, even within the General American accent. But in my opinion (I'm from California), I think more people pronounce /ʊr/ closer to how the man pronounced it...BUT...he used a lot of lip rounding, and I thought that sounded unnatural. To my ears, the woman used the /ʊr/ vowel in "tour" (with less lip rounding than the man, but it still sounded like /ʊr/ to me). Then she used the ER /ɝ/ vowel in "jury", but she tried to round her lips as if she was saying /ʊr/! Most people pronounce "jury" with the ER /ɝ/ vowel: /ˈdʒɝ.i/, JER-ee (even though the dictionary transcribes this word using the /ʊr/ vowel). Her production sounded like ER, but her lips tried to force the /ʊr/ placement. So to answer your question...both ways were correct, but I think the man's version sounded better...but I use less lip rounding and less tension than he uses. I hope this makes sense! Let me know if you have other questions! :)

[@hibbertjahlil4512]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent You are awesome and very professional!Now I can pronounce the word your in three different ways.( /jʊr/ /jɚ/ /jɔr/) with your help!Thank you so much! I have another pronunciation question about phonic ong or onk sounds,such as in the words long and honk.The IPA symbols for this two sounds are /lɔŋ/ (aw sound plus ng) and honk /haŋk/or /hɔŋk/(short o or aw sound plus ng),/ɔ/ and /a/two different vowles .But when they before the /ŋ/,I feel they sound similar.I watched a lot of American phonic lessons(onk ong word families),I feel the O in ONG and ONK more like a rounded /a/ as in water.Many American says It's a short O sound, but I feel It's not a short O and an aw sound either, t's a sound between them. Here are some links, 1.kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoeuiYCIdpZ2rKs When this lady pronounce the long ,the O in long sounds like a /ɔ/ sound ,even the IPA symbol in this video is/laŋ/.Her jaw drops ,lips flare ,tongue shifts in back. 2.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rF6QhKx9a5ysb9E When this lady pronounce the O in ONK,The O sounds like an /a/ sound,her jaw drops,but lips not flare,the lips and cheeks are totally relaxed . Could you tell me which one is correct?Which one is more standard?I am very appreciate it!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@hibbertjahlil4512 Hi! That's great you're able to pronounce "your" using the three different vowels! I'm so glad I was able to help! And thank you for your questions about the /ɔ/ and /ɑ/ vowels in the words "long" and "honk" :) The AW /ɔ/ vowel and the AH /ɑ/ are made in almost the same place in the mouth - the tongue, jaw, and lips are almost in the same position. This means they also sound very similar. However, the biggest difference is the AW /ɔ/ vowel has rounded lips, and the AH /ɑ/ vowel doesn't. In some parts of the US, these vowels have merged into the AH /ɑ/ vowel. This is called the cot-caught merger, and it means that words that used to use the AW /ɔ/ vowel are now pronounced using the AH /ɑ/ vowel. Generally speaking, the western US follows the cot-caught merger, and the northeastern coast (New York, Boston) does not follow the cot-caught merger. This is what has happened with the word "long". It was originally pronounced using the AW /ɔ/ vowel, /lɔŋ/, but now in the western part of the US, many people pronounce it with the AH /ɑ/ vowel, /lɑŋ/. That is why you see two IPA transcriptions in some dictionaries - because some areas of the US use /ɔ/ and some use /ɑ/. The same is true for the word "honk". Some pronounce it like /hɔŋk/ and some pronounce it like /hɑŋk/. I agree with you about the videos you sent me. The first woman rounds her lips more, so it sounds closer to the AW /ɔ/ vowel, even though the IPA transcription says AH /ɑ/, which has no lip rounding. Maybe she is from the northeastern part of the US! And the second woman doesn't use any lip rounding when she says "honk", so I think she is using the AH /ɑ/ vowel. And not to make this more confusing, but in some areas of the US, these vowels are in the process of merging together. So a person might use a vowel that is somewhere in between the AH /ɑ/ and the AW /ɔ/ - maybe an AH vowel with just a little bit of lip rounding. As for your questions about which one is more correct and standard: Both pronunciations are correct, and right now both are standard, it just depends on where you live in the US. I'm from California, and I use the AH /ɑ/ vowel for everything - long, honk, water, talk - all of those words use the AH /ɑ/ vowel, which means no lip rounding. So that is the standard vowel for me. But if you live in New York or some areas of Connecticut (the northeastern part of the US), you might use the AW /ɔ/ vowel in all of those words, and that vowel would be standard for you. When I work with accent clients, I don't teach the pure AW /ɔ/ vowel because I don't use it in my Californian accent. To my ears, when a person pronounces "long" with the AW /ɔ/ vowel, /lɔŋ/, it sounds like a regional accent. I've read that the cot-caught merger is becoming more popular in the US, and more and more people are using the AH /ɑ/ vowel instead of the AW /ɔ/ vowel. So if you had to pick one, I'd choose the AH /ɑ/ vowel! I think more people use AH /ɑ/ instead of AW /ɔ/, and maybe one day the AW /ɔ/ vowel will be merged completely with the AH /ɑ/ vowel. I hope this wasn't too confusing! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

[@hibbertjahlil4512]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thank you for your help and your patience, you help me a lot. I don't know how to thank you enough. I am learing linguistics, I hope one day we can work together after I graduated. Cuz you're so nice, professional, I love the way you teach. I think you are an awesome English advisor.😉😉😉

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@hibbertjahlil4512 Thank you for your comment! I'm happy to help, and I hope we can work together one day as well :) Good luck with your linguistic studies!!

[@joelmasamba6762]

My God 🙏🙏🙏

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks, Joel! Glad you liked the video! :)