The 'ah' as in 'father' Sound

If you want more information on the photos in this video, which have parts of the mouth drawn in, see this video on the parts of the mouth.

How to make this sound:

Video Text:

The 'ah' as in 'father' vowel sound. This is a back vowel, which means the sound feels more like it comes from here, ah, than from further up. The jaw drops more on this sound than it does on any other sound in American English. Ah. And with the jaw, the tongue also comes down and presses, ah, so that it is laying on the bottom of the mouth. Ah. The tip of the tongue is forward, lightly touching behind the bottom - ah - of the front teeth. Father. The lips, as you can see, remain very neutral and relaxed. Ah.

Here is the 'ah' as in 'father sound on the right compared with the mouth at rest on the left. Notice how much the jaw has dropped in the 'ah' as in 'father' sound. Here, inside parts of the mouth are drawn in. Notice that, as in all vowels, the soft palate is raised. But more importantly, notice that the tongue has pressed down and is flatter. I feel this especially towards the back.

Sample words: mom, collar, bother, bottle. Sample sentence: You can see my apartment from the Top of the Rock when there's no fog. Now we'll see this sentence in zoom, straight on and from an angle and in slow motion, so you can really study this sound within a word and within a sentence.

You. Now, the word 'can' here is reduced, so it's cn. The teeth come together for 'see'. My. The next word, apartment, has an 'ah' in the second syllable. Now, you're saying here perhaps, the tongue is not flat, and the lips are not relaxed. That is because the 'ah' sound here is followed by an R consonant sound []. And the R consonant sound takes over this ah vowel. So the jaw drops for this vowel, but even as you are beginning this vowel sound, the lips and the tongue start moving into position for the R consonant sound. Apar-, ar. It's almost more like one sound than two separate sounds ah-rr. The -ment of 'apartment'. From the, two very quick words. Teeth come together for the tt, and the jaw drops for the 'ah' as in 'father' in 'top". Of the Rock. Again, the 'ah' as in 'father' sound. And you can see the lips are relaxed, the tongue is down. When there's. Tongue comes up for the N, and down, no. And the lip comes up - ff - for the F sound, fog. Another 'ah' as in 'father' sound. And you can see, the lips are relaxed, the jaw is dropped, and the tongue is flat.

You, lips forming this tight circle for the second part of the 'ew' as in 'few' [] diphthong. Can, now here it is pronounced kn, it is reduced. Tongue up to make the N. Teeth together to make the S. See. Lips together to make the M. My. And the 'ai' as in 'buy' diphthong []. Apartment. 'Ah' as in 'father' followed by the R consonant, so just as before you can see that the tongue is back somewhat, preparing for the R consonant sound, and the lips have begun to round as well in preparation for that. You can see how far back the tongue is. Apartment. Lips together to make the M. From, lips together to make the F. The Top, teeth together to make the T and here is the 'ah' as in 'father', very relaxed drop. Now here you can see that the tongue is relaxed and laying on the bottom of the mouth. Top, lips together to make the P, of the Rock, lips make the R and open again to the 'ah' as in 'father' sound. And you can see the tongue moving up in the back to make the kk sound. When there's no fog, bottom lip up to make the F. And again the 'ah' as in 'father' vowel sound. And again you can see the tongue moving up in the back to make the gg sound.