Page 14 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Unit 1: Simple Rule for Pronunciation & Intonation

The 'aw' as in 'law' vowel sound, the jaw drops, but the tongue raises a bit, aw, not just the front Notes
or the back, but the whole thing really, aw, reaches slightly up towards the roof of the mouth. It
also shifts back a little bit, aw, which means the tip of the tongue is not touching anything in the
mouth, aw. You'll notice too that the corners of the lips come in a little bit, aw. Really it's almost
like the cheeks come in and shift forward a little bit, aw, to make this sound.
[ ] ... 'uh' as in 'pull'

The 'uh' as in 'pull' vowel sound, the back part of the tongue raises up towards the back part of
the roof of the mouth, uh. The front of the tongue remains down, touching lightly behind
bottom front teeth, uh. You can see also that the lips round a little bit for this sound, so the
corners come in a little bit.

[ ] ... 'uh' as in 'butter'

The 'uh' as in 'butter' vowel sound. This is a very relaxed vowel sound. You can see, uh, the jaw
drops but the rest of the mouth remains very neutral, uh, uh. The tongue is also very relaxed.
The back presses down just a little bit, and the tip is forward, lightly touching behind the bottom
front teeth. Uh, butter. Here we see the 'uh' as in 'butter' sound on the right compared with the
mouth at rest on the left.

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