Page 17 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Advanced Communication Skills

Notes a, a, ai. Also, you may find that the corners of the lips pull out a little bit, and the top lip raises
a bit, exposing some of those front teeth, a, a. The tip of the tongue remains forward in this
sound, lightly touching behind the bottom front teeth. The second sound of the diphthong is the
'ih' as in 'sit'. In this sound, the tip of the tongue is also forward, touching just behind the bottom
front teeth. So that does not move in this diphthong. However, the front/mid part of the tongue
does raise towards the roof of the mouth, ai, ai. So as it reaches up towards the roof of the mouth,
the jaw will close somewhat, ai, ai, buy.

[ ] ... 'ay' as in 'say'

The 'ay' as in 'say' diphthong, the tongue will push forward and press behind the bottom front
teeth, e, e. The front part will be wide, ay, ay. The second half is the 'ih' as in 'sit' vowel. So to
make this part of the diphthong, the front/mid part of the tongue will raise towards the roof of
the mouth, ay, ay. As the tongue raises, the jaw will close somewhat. Ay, say.

[ ] ... 'ew' as in 'few'

The 'ew' as in 'few' diphthong. The first sound of this diphthong is the Y consonant. Diphthongs
are normally made up of two vowel sounds, but in this diphthong, the Y consonant is acting as
a vowel. To make this sound, the front part of the tongue will push behind the bottom front
teeth, yy, yy, while the mid/front part of the tongue will raise and actually make contact with
the roof of the mouth. YY, yy, yyuu. Also, there's a sort of pinching off here in the throat that
gives the Y sound that quality. Yyuu, yyuu. The second half of the diphthong is the 'oo' as in
'boo' vowel, yyuu. You may find that the lips start to form that tight circle of the vowel oo, even
as you're making the Y consonant sound, yyuu, yyuu. In the 'oo' as in 'boo' vowel, the back part

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