Rachel美式音标学习

音标表

vowel: 元音; 母音;
diphthong: 双元音;
consonant: 辅音，子音; 辅音字母;

元音UH[ʌ]

发音技巧

嘴型：
This is a very relaxed sound. The jaw drops.The mouths remain natural.
舌头：
The tongue is relaxed. The back press down just a little bit,and the tip is forward.
轻重：
In a stressed syllable,the vowel curve up and then down(重读音节：先升后降).
In a unstressed syllable,it's lower and flatter in pitch and
a little quieter and quicker.(非重读音节：更低更平滑)

重读音节发音特点：The jaw may drop a bit more
非重读音节发音特点：unstressed vowels and diphthongs(双元音) 

元音AH[ɑ]

发音技巧

嘴型：
 This vowel needs a lot of jaw drop. The lips are relaxed,and the tongue is lowered in the back. The inside of mouth is dark.
舌头：
The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth,and the back part of the tongue presses down a little bit.
轻重
重：the voice will go up and come down in pitch.
轻：It won't be as long,and it won't have the up-down shape of voice

元音AW[ɔ]

嘴型：
 The jaw drops. The  lips flare a bit. Think of the cheeks coming in and shifting forward just a little bit.
舌头：
  the tongue shifts back,The tip of tongue doesn't touch anything
轻重：
stressed：the up-down shape of stress
unstressed：shorter,lower in pitch,quiet,and flatter,jaw drops less,the lips are more relaxed，the tongue doesn't shift back as much

区别：AW音的舌头是往后缩的，AH的舌头是碰到下牙齿

when R follows AW, the lips round more and the jaw drops less,it can't see the tongue, the tongue pulls back and up more. 

AA[æ]

嘴型：
  The mouth drops quiet a bit.
舌头：
  The tip of tongue stays forward.it's touching the back of the bottom front teeth,AA. The back part of the tongue stretches up. The tongue is wide. The tongue is high in the front,and low in the front,you can see a lot of it.
轻重：
 stressed: the vowel will go up and come down in pitch.
 unstressed: the vowel is lower and flatter in pitch 

变形1:Followed by M[m] o N[n],it changes,the tongue relaxes in the back.

• [æ]+[n] = aa-uh-n

• [æ]+[m] = aa-uh-m

• 单词：exam[ɪɡˈzæm] man[mæn]

变形2: Followed by NG consonant.it's a little different. Rather than uh，the vowel changes into AY,it's relly like the AY as in SAY diphthong. First the middle part of tongue lifts towards the root of the mouth,then the fromt part of the tongue.

• [æ]+[ŋ] = ay[eɪ]

• 单词：gang [ɡæŋ]

The position for the first sound looks alot like AA,but the part of the tongue lifting up
is more forward.

stressed: chapter [ˈtʃæptər] act [ækt] last [læst]

modified by n: can [kæn] bypass [ˈbaɪpæs]

modified by [ŋ]: bank [bæŋk]

EH [ɛ]

The jaw drops,and the tongue remains forward with the tip touch lightly behind the bottom 
front teeth, The mid/front part of the tongue lifts a little bit towards the root of the 
mouth,while the back of the tongue  feels like it stretches wide.
stressed:cur up,then curve down
unstressed:

stressed: said [sɛd] red [rɛd】 never [nɛvə] enter [ˈɛntə] desk[dɛsk]

The jaws drops more for the stressed version of this vowel.

unstressed: employ[ɛmˈplɔɪ] embrace[ɛmˈbreɪs] embody[ɛmˈbɒdi]

The vowel is lower and flatter in pitch,as well as quieter and quicker
The mid part of tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth

EE [i]

The jaw drops just a a little bit. The tongue top stays behind the bottom front teeth.
The middle/front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof  of the mouth,
diminishing the space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
The corner of the lips pull out
stressed: up and down
unstressed:lower and flatter in pitch,quieter and faster

stressed: please [pliːz] need[niːd] keep[kiːp] police[pəˈliːs] meet[miːt] each[iːtʃ]

unstressed:busy[ˈbɪzi] early[ˈɜːrli] coffee[ˈkɔːfi]

IH [ɪ]

Compare with EH [ɛ] vowel, the jaw drops more,so the
tongue isn't as close as the roof of the mouth.
There's a relaxed jaw drop. the tongue stays forward,lightly
touching the back of the bottom front teeth.The
top/front part of the tongue arches up the roof of the 
mouth. 

stressed:up down shape
unstressed: lower and flatter in pitch,shorted

stressed: fix [fɪks] which[[wɪtʃ]] begin[bɪˈɡɪn] busy[ˈbɪzi] print[prɪnt]

unstressed:office [ˈɑːfɪs] instead [ɪnˈsted] divorce[dɪˈvɔːrs]

OO [u]

The back part of the tongue strtches up towards the 
soft palate(下唇瓣).The front part of the tongue remains
down,lightly touching or just behind,the bottom front teeth.
Lips start in a bigger flare,more relaxed,before moving into
the tighter circle.

Tips:not a fixed lips position,but bigger,relaxed -> small tighter circle

stressed:up down shape
unstressed:flatter,lower,quieter

stressed: do [du] blue[bluː] suit[suːt]
move [muːv] two [tuː]
unstressed: visual[ˈvɪʒuəl] issue[ˈɪʃuː] influence[ˈɪnfluəns]

UH [ʊ]

The corner of the lips come in a little so the lips flare away from the face.
The back of  the tongue lifts towards the back of the root of the mouth. The front
of the  tongue remains down,but it might be pulled slightly
back,so it's not quiet touching the back of the bottom front teeth. 

stressed: curve up,then down
unstressed: lower and flatter in pitch,as well as quieter and quicker

stressed: took [tʊk] could [kʊd] book[bʊk] sugar[ˈʃʊɡər] woman [ˈwʊmən]

unstressed: goodbye [ˌɡʊdˈbaɪ] firewood[ˈfaɪərwʊd]
childhood[ˈtʃaɪldhʊd]

UH [ə]

alaways unstressed,fast and low in pitch.!!!!

sligghtly drop jaw to make this sound,the trick is to keep everything else relaxed.
It's possible to make this sound on its own with just the slightest jaw drop.

unstressed:sofa [ˈsoʊfə] ability[əˈbɪləti] allow [əˈlaʊ] extra [ˈekstrə]
data [ˈdeɪtə]

变形1：The [ə] goes with the syllabic(音节的) consonants（辅音） L,M,N,ann R.
We don't need to make the schwa. It gets absorbed by the next sound [əl],[əm],[ən],[ər]
Examples: father [ˈfɑðɚ] again [əˈɡen] visa[ˈvizə] about [əˈbaʊt]

UR [ɜ]

The corners of the lips come in,pushing the lips away 
from the face.The middle part of tongue lifts towards
the roof of the mouth in the middle.The front of the tongue
hangs down,but it's drawn back a bit. It's not touching
anything.

stressed:   curves up then down 
unstressed: lower in pitch,as well as quieter and quicker

this vowel always along with the R consonant,
when pronounce [ɜr] of hurt,the tongue goes back,but the
lips flare forward. The tongue pull back and up before 
coming forward for the T.

stressed: hurt [hɜːrt] earth[ɜːrθ] search [sɜːrtʃ] circle[ˈsɜːrkl] return[rɪˈtɜːrn]

unstressed: research [ˈriːsɜːrtʃ] thirteen [ˌθɜːrˈtiːn] outburst [ˈaʊtbɜːrst]

OY [ɔɪ]

OY as in TOY [tɔɪ] diphthong(双元音)

Diphthongs ara a combination of two sounds,so they have a
starting position and ending position. This diphthong begins with the AW as in LAW[ɔ] vowel. As part of diphthong,the lips round more than they do for the pure vowel by itself. Like in the word 'law".

The tongue is slightly lifted and shifted a bit back,so the tip of the tongue
is not touching anything. The end positon is the 'ih' as in 'sit' vowel.
The lips relax and the tongue comes forward. The tip lightly touches the back of the 
bottom front teeth,and the top,front part of the tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth. This brings the jaw back up.

stressed: up and down shape
unstressed: lower and flatter in pitch,as well as quieter and quicker

At the begining of the diphthong,the lips are rounded.
The space inside the mouth is dark,because the tongue
has shifted back.For the second position,the corner of the
lips have relaxed out,and the front,top part of tongue reaches up towards the roof of the mouth. There is still
some jaw drop.

stressed: toy[tɔɪ] oil [ɔɪl] coin[kɔɪn] joyful [ˈdʒɔɪfəl] loyal[ˈlɔɪəl] boy[bɔɪ]

unstressed:steroid [ˈstɪrˌɔɪd]

AY[eɪ]

The sound have a starting position and a ending position.
In the first position,the jaw drops and the tongue
tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth.
The top of tongue pushes forward and lifts a bit.
The second sound is the IH as in sit vowel.
To transition into this position,you jaw will lift
as the top,front part of the tongue arches towards
the roof of the mouth.
stressed:curve up then down
unstressed:flatter and lower in pitch,as well as quicker and quieter

stressed: pay [peɪ] okay['oʊ'keɪ] play [pleɪ] gain [ɡeɪn] pain [peɪn]

unstressed: driveway[ˈdraɪvweɪ]
operate [ˈɑːpəreɪt] seperate[ˈsepəreɪt]

AI [aɪ]

In the first position,the jaw is more dropped than in the second position, the back of 
tongue stretches up a little bit,as the mouth moves the second position the jaw drops less 
as the front part of tongue arches up towards the roof of the mouth. For both of 
the beginning and the end of this diphthong the tongue tip touches the back of the bottom 
front teeth.

stressed: up and down shape
unstessed: lower and flatter in pitch,as well as quieter and quicker

stressed: hi[haɪ] wine [waɪn] bright[braɪt] guy[ɡaɪ] sky [skaɪ]

unstressed:idea[ aɪˈdiːə] exercise[ˈeksərsaɪz] allies [ˈæ,laɪz]

OW [aʊ]

The first sound is similiar to the AA as in the bat.
The tongue is wide and flat,the back stretches up a little bit. The tongue tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth. The upper lip might lift a little,
or it will be relaxed

  To transition into the second position,the lips round
  and the jaw drops less.The back of tongue stretches up more. The second position is considered the same
as the UH as in PUSH

stressed: wound [waʊnd] about [əˈbaʊt] sound [saʊnd] house[haʊs] found [faʊnd]
unstressed: shutdown[ˈʃʌtˌdaʊn] letdow[ˈlɛtˌdaʊn] blackout[ˈblækaʊt]

OH [oʊ]

The jaw drops for the begining position,tongue 
shifts back a little bit. The lips may start relaxed
,or may start rounding right from begining.

After dropping the jaw,immediately start moving into
the ending position:the lips round,and the back part of the tongue stretches up.Foucs on the movement of the jaw and the lip rounding.

• 区别于OW,舌头需要往后缩

stressed: slow[sloʊ] alone [əˈloʊn] tomorrow [təˈmɑːroʊ] home[hoʊm] phone[foʊn] social[ˈsoʊʃl]
unstressed: okay [oʊkeɪ] window [ˈwɪndoʊ]

EW [ju] Diphthong

The consonsant is acting as a vowel. For example,in the 
word 'music'. The sound goes with the OO vowel to make a diphthong
rather than with M consonant to make a consonant cluster.

The jaw drops a little bit. The lips may be relaxed or they may begin
rounding for the ending position. 

The tongue tip is down, lightly  touching the back of the bottom front teeth. The mid-front part of the tongue lifts and touches the roof of the mouth about here. It pushes forward against the roof of the mouth before pulling away. As we move the tongue on the roof of the mouth,we close the vocal chords to get this sound,which we add to the sound,we release it  the same time as we release the tongue.

To transition into the next sound,we release right into the position
of the OO as in BOO vowel. The tongue tip doesn't need to move, It remains touching the back of the bottom front teeth. The back part of 
the tougue lifts towards the soft palette. The lips round.

• stressed: use[juːs] music [ˈmjuːzɪk] continue[kənˈtɪnjuː]
  review[rɪˈvjuː] union[ˈjuːniən]
  future [ˈfjuːtʃər]

• unstressed:interview [ˈɪntərvjuː] unite[juˈnaɪt]

Vowel and Diphthong Comparison

AH[ɑ] vs AA[æ]

father [ˈfɑːðər] vs bat [bæt]

Notice how the lips are completely relaxed for AH
but the corners pull back and up for AA.

AH[ɑ] vs UH [ʌ]

father[ˈfɑːðər] vs butter[ˈbʌtər]

Notice how there is more jaw drop for AH.
Press your tongue down in the back for this vowel.

AA vs EH

bat[bæt] sat[sæt] vs said [sed] bed[bed]

Notice how the corners of the lips pull back

and up just a bit for the AA vowel.

AH vs AW

father[ˈfɑːðər] vs law[lɔː]

Notice how the lips are totally relaxed for AH but

flared a bit for AW.

EE vs IH

she[ʃiː] vs sit[sɪt]]

IH has more jaw drop. The tongue arches closer to the roof of the mouth in EE.

IH vs EH

sit [sɪt] fix[fɪks] vs bed [bed] said [sed]

EH has more jaw drop. This is the word 'said'. In IH,the front part of the tongue
arches closer to the roof of the mouth.

EE vs AY

please[pliːz] vs say[seɪ] pay[peɪ]

The jaw drops less for EE.EE in the word please.
Notice how much the jaw drops for the first sound of
the AY.

AY vs IH

say[seɪ] pay[peɪ] vs sit [sɪt] fix[fɪks]

The jaw drops more for the first sound of the diphthong

in the word 'pay' but the tongue is forward for both 

sounds. The IH vowel is in the word 'fix'. The second

half of the diphthong is the same sound as the IH vowel.

The jaw drops a little less.

AY vs EH

say [seɪ] pay [peɪ] vs bed[bed] said [sed]

The mouth position for the EH vowel in 'said' looks
identical to the first half of the diphthong in 'pay' but
look at the jaw for the second position of the AY diphthong. Less jaw drop.

UH vs UR
butter[ˈbʌtər] vs bird [bɜːrd]

Notice how the lips and mouth are totally 
relaxed for the UH as in butter vowel.But for the 
UR vowel, the lips flare and the tongue is pulled back.

B[b] and P[p] Consonants

P is unvoiced,meaning only air passes through the mouth.
And B is voiced,bb,meaning you make a sound with the vocal
cords. 

The lips stay together while the teeth part a little.The tongue position doesn't matter for these consonants.So the tongue can start to get into position for the next sound.

The lips press together,ans then release. These are stop
consonants.
1) stop in airflow
2) release
The stop of the airflow happens as the lip close.


p:unvoiced
b:voiced

Tip: sometimes native speakers don't release stop consonants
when they come at the end of sentence,or when next word
begins with a consonant.

• What's up? [wɒts ʌp]
• nap time [næp] [taɪm]

The lips came together for the P,but they didn't
release the air. Stop the air with my lips,then released
it with the next sound,the T consonant.

best [best]

The lips press together,and ther release into the EH as in BED
vowel

spot[spɑːt] rip [rɪp]

The lips press together,and then release into the AH as 
in father vowel.

voiced:bring[brɪŋ] baby[ˈbeɪbi] job[dʒɑːb]
unvoiced: peace[piːs] price[praɪs] up[ʌp]

S [s] and Z [z] Consonants

These two sounds take the same mouth position.

S is unvoiced,meaning only air passes through the mouth.
Z is voiced,make a sound with the vocal cords. To make the 
sounds, the lips part and the corners pull back a little,
while the teeth themselves likely touch.

With the tip of the tongue down,lightly touching the back
of the bottom front teeth. Or by pointing the tip of the 
tongue up.

unvoiced: sip [sɪp] miss[mɪs] some[sʌm]] must[mʌst ] less[les]
]

• The letter s can make S sound
  voiced: fizz[fɪz] zip [zɪp] cousin [ˈkʌzn] easy [ˈiːzi]

F [f] and V [v] Consonants

These two sound take the same mouth position.
F is unvoiced,meaning only air passes throuth the mouth,
V is voiced,meaning you make a sound with the vocal cords.
To make these sounds, the bottom lip lifts and touches the very bottom
of the top front teeth.

Remember it's the inside of the lip that make these sounds.

very[ˈveri] flavor[ˈfleɪvər] enough[ɪˈnʌf]

live[lɪv] value [ˈvæljuː] provide [prəˈvaɪd] fresh[freʃ]

offer[ˈɔːfər] tough[tʌf]

T [t] and D [d] Consonants

 These two sounds take the same mouth position.
 T is unvoiced,meaning only air passed through the mouth.
 D is voiced,make a sound with the vocal chords.

 These are stop consonants.
 1) A stop in the airflow
 2) release

We stop here by closing the vocal cords and lift
the tongue so the flat,top part is at the roof of the mouth.
It's far forward, almost touching the back of the top front teeth. 
The teeth come together and we release all three parts at once. 
The tongue comes down from the roof of the mouth,the teeth part and release the air in the throat.

Case1: True D and T

desk[desk] stick [stɪk] expect [ɪ*kˈspekt]

best[best] time[taɪm] do[du]

Case2: stop T [t |] and D [d |]

If the T or D at the end of a sentence, or if the next word begins with
a consonant,.then we make a stop T or stop D. We stop the air,but we don't
release it.

End of a sentence: mad [mæd|] what[wɑːt|] odd [ɑːd|] cut[kʌt|]

followed by a consonant: not for me [nɑːt| fər mi ]

The beginning of the D,dd-,with the vocal chords engaged because it's a voiced
consonant. Leving the tongue up,not release.

Difference between True and Stop Consonants

The stop T and D relate to the True T and D.
We simply skip the release. 

Case3:Flap T and D[d]

When T or D come between 2 vowels or diphthongs,
or after an R or before a vowel or diphthong. We make a different sound.

If the T or D starts a stressed syllable,then it's  a true T or D. But in other cases,when the T or D consonants come between two vowels or 
diphthongs.or after an R or before a vowel or diphthong. We make a flap sound.

This is different from the True and Stop T and D.
because we don't stop the sound,we don't hold anything. We simply let the front part of the tongue bounce against the roof of the mouth without stopping the flow of the air. The flap 
T and Flap D sound the same. The T in matter,is the same as the D in madder.

flap T: matter [ˈmætər] => [ˈmædər] city[ˈsɪti] => [ˈsɪdi] party[ˈpɑːrti] => [ˈpɑːrdi] better [ˈbetər] => [ˈbedər]

flap D: madder ['mædə] tidy[ˈtaɪdi]

Case4: dropped T and D

Sometimes,we drop the T and D completely. This is American habit.
We leave the sounds out. There are two cases when you might hear
and American drop a T or D. First, when the T or D comes between 
two consonant sounds.

between two consonant sounds: exactly [ɪɡˈzæktli] => [ɪɡˈzækli]
after an N: center [ˈsentər] => [ˈsenər] interview [ˈɪntərvjuː] => [ˈɪnərvjuː]

L[l] consontant

Case1: The light L sound

The L is a light L when it comes before the vowel or diphthong in a syllable. One way is to lift the tongue so the tip is touching
the roof of the mouth just behing the front teeth.

let's[lets] flake[flek] release[rɪˈliːs] lack[læk] slow[ [sloʊ]] love[[lʌv] hello [həˈloʊ] flat [flæt]

Case2: The dark L sound

This is the sound that happens when L comes after the vowel or diphthong
in a word or syllable like  'real' or 'Google'.
This sound has two parts but many Americans leave out to the second part 
in most cases. The first and most important part of the Dark L is the 
dark sound. This defines the Dark L. To makse this sound ,don't lift tongue
tip.Instead,it's down touching the back of the bottom front teeth.The back
part of tongue pulls back towards the throat. Theres isn't much jaw
drop and the lips are relaxed.

The dark L has two parts.The first and most important part,the tongue
pulls back or presses down in the back. The second part,which is often 
left out,either option for the ligth L.

The relaxation of the lips is important in the dark L. 
Many non-native speakers want to round or flare the lips which brings
the sound forward and changes it.But the dark sound is make back here.
Leave the lips relaxed,so the sound can be made in the back of mouth.

real [ˈriːəl] google['ɡuɡl] feel [fiːl] recall [rɪˈkɔːl] table[ˈteɪbl] people[ˈpiːpl]

R [ɹ] Consonant

This consonant is voiced. There are two ways to make this sound.
In the first way,the front part of the tongue pulls back and up
The tongue can be stretched so it's long and skinny.
Or it can be pulled into itself so it's fatter and thicker so it's not as long.
The back doesn't move. This is happening with the front and middle of tonuge.

The middle part of tongue lifts up towards the roof of the mouth. You can touch the sides of the tongue to the sides of the roof of the mouth here. Or to the inside or bottom
of the side teeth here. The front part of tongue is hanging in the middle of the mouth
not touching anything. This sound is forward and focused because of the position of lips.
The corners come in,pushing the lips away from the face. The lip position will be 
a little more relaxed when the R comes at the end of the syllable. We will compare 
this way on the left,with the other way to make an R on the right. The R can alse
be made by flipping the tongue tip up. The lips flare the same way.

Notice how little jaw drop there is.We don't need to drop the jaw to pull the tongue
back and up.

rest[rest]

When the R is at the begining of the word,we tend to make the lips a tight circle.
Again,little jaw drop as the middle of the tongue lifts to the roof of the mouth.

proud[praʊd]

When R is in a beginning consonant cluster,the lips may not be as tight as in the beginning R.

mother[ˈmʌðər]

At the end of the syllable,the lip position for the R is definitely more relaxed than the begining R. But the lips still flare.

The ending R lip position is much more relaxed. 

Summary

Thinking about the lip position will help you make a better R sound. As you work on this consonant,practice very slowly. Thinking about all 3 things at once.Very little
jaw drop,the tongue position,and the lip position. Remeber,you can hold out this 
sound. So that's how you want to practice it. Hold it out for 5 or 10 seconds.

rest [rest] pround [praʊd] mother[ˈmʌðər]

great[ɡreɪt] try[traɪ] later[ˈleɪtər] right[raɪt]] other[ˈʌðər]

H [h] Consonant

Passing air through a very slightly constricted passage. Either between 
the tongue and the roof of the mouth,or in the throat. This is an unvoiced consonant.

part the lips and press the tongue down in the back just a little.
If you don't constrict the air passage at all,there is no sound.
If you lift the back of your tongue and constrict too much,you will
feel the vibration of the soft palate bonuncing on the tongue.
This is too heavy. 

The lips and jaw don't affect the sound.So you mouth can be in position for the next sound when you're making the H.

how[haʊ]

The lips,jaw,and tongue,take the beginning position
of the OW as in Now diphthong.
The jaw relax,and the lips part.

hi[haɪ]

There is nothing to see at the beginning of this word.
The H sound happens without changing what the lips do
for the AI as in  Buy diphthong.

who [huː]

There is nothing to see at the beginning of this word.
The H sound happens without changing what the lips do
for the next sound ,the OO in Boo voewl.

This sound is most common at the beginning of this word,and never
occurs at the end of a word in American English.

who[huː] hope[hoʊp] history [ˈhɪstri] ahead [əˈhed]

behind[bɪˈhʌɪnd] here[hɪr] somehow[ˈsʌmhaʊ]

English Sounds - W [w] Consonant

To make this sound,the lips form a tight circle,

The back part of the tongue stretches up towards the soft palate.
while the front part of the tongue lightly touches the back of the bottom front teeth. To give this sound  right quality,
you have to close the vocal cords to get this sound.You 
release the vocal cords as you release the lips,coming out
of the W sound.

With the tight circle for the lips,you can't see the tongue at all.
But it lifts in the back.

why[waɪ] west[west] unwind[ˌʌnˈwaɪnd]

This sound is most common at the beginning of words.
It doesn't occur at the end of any words,though the letter W does.

water[ˈwɔːtər] welcome[ˈwelkəm] rework [ˌriˈwɜrk] away[əˈweɪ]

between[bɪˈtwiːn] will[wɪl]

Y [j] Consonant

To make the Y sound,the jaw drops a little bit. The lips
may be relaxed,or they may begin to take the position of the next 
sound. The tongue tip is down,lightly touching the back of the bottom 
front teeth. The middle part of the tongue lifts and touches the roof of the mouth. It pushes forward against the roof of the mouth before
pulling away. As we push the tongue forward on the roof of mouth,we close the vocal cords to get this sound.

yes[jes]

The word 'yes'. The tongue tip is down.While the middle of the tongue
presses forward against the roof of the mouth. The tongue releases into teh EH as in Bed vowel.

youth[juːθ]

Notice how the lips begin to round for the next sound. The OO as in 
Boo vowel.

yell[jel]

The tongue tip is down while the middle of the tongue presses forward
against the roof of the mouth. relase int the EH as in Bed vowel.

This sound is most common at the begining of the words. It doesn't 

occur at the end of any words. Though the letter Y does.

yeah[ˈjɛə,] unusual[ʌnˈjuːʒuəl] senior[ˈsiːniər] you[jə]

yesterday[ˈjestərdeɪ] yellow [ˈjeloʊ]

NG [ŋ] Consonant

To make this sound,the jaw drops a little bit. The lips part and 
the back part of the tongue stretches all the way up to the soft 
palate.Because the soft palate is lowered,air comes up through 
the nasal passages. This makes it a nasal consonant. You can 
feel the vibration in your nose.

There are three nasal consonants in American English:N[n],NG[ŋ] M[m]

nasal passage [ˈnezəl ˈpæsɪdʒ] ：鼻道

A relaxed,lower jaw. Since this sound is made at the back of the mouth,
it's hard to get a clear picture of it. The tongue lifts in the 
back,while the tip stays down and forward. Lips are relaxed.

alone[əˈloʊn] finger[ˈfɪŋɡər]

This sound can occur in the middle or at the end of the word in American
English,But not at the begining

ring[rɪŋ] alone[əˈloʊn] finger [ˈfɪŋɡər] anger[ˈæŋɡər] song[sɔːŋ]

wing[wɪŋ] English[ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ] single[sɪŋɡl] beginning[bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ]

N [n] Consonant

To make this sound,jaw drops a little and the lips 
part. The front flap of the tongue goes to the roof
of the mouth. Make sure to keep you tongue wide as 
you do that. The soft palate is lowered. Air comes up through teh nasal passage.This makes it a nasal consonant. You can feel the vibration in your nose.

There are three nasal consonants.
It's very important that the tongue be relaxed. If there is tension in the back of 
the tongue,it will sound somewhat like the NG sound. If there is tension in the back of the tongue,it will sound somewhat like the NG sound.Even if the tongue is in the 
right position. One thing that will help
relaxation is to think about keeping the tongue really wide.

Lips relaxed,tongue wide and lifted to the roof of the mouth.
If you see any darkness on the sides of the tonuge when you practice
That means there is tension in the tongue. Try to release that tension and 
keep the tongue wide. The word no

no[noʊ]

Tongue soft,relax,and wide.

snag[snæɡ]]

Front of the tongue to the roof of the mouth. 

on[ɑːn]

Wide tongue to the roof of the mouth. to finish the word

nice[naɪs] one[wʌn] number[ˈnʌmbər] win[wɪn]

any[ˈeni] end[end]

English Sounds - G [g] and K [k] Consonants

These two sounds are paired together because take the same mouth position. k is unvoiced and g is voiced,meaning you make sound with the vocal cords. These consonatns ara stop consonants. Means there are two parts to each word.

1) stop in airflow
2) release

We stop the flow of air here,closing out the vocal cords while the back part of tongue reaches up to the soft palate.

The back of tongue reaches up to touch the soft palate which is closed. The tip of 
tongue can remain forward,lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth.
The jaw drops a little abit and the lips is open. The lip position doesn't matter 
for these sounds. So the lips might start forming the next sound like in the 
word great.

great[ɡreɪt]

Case1：skip the release of the stop consonant.

Sometimes,to make a sentence smoother,the words more linked together.
native speakers will skip the release of the stop consonant.When the next word 
begins with the next consonant. 
I'm holding the air for a fraction of the second with my throat making that 
stop,then I go right into the release of the T consonant. Without the relese of 
the K in 'back',the two words flow together more easily.making it smoother.

back to work [bæk| tu wɜːrk]

unvoiced:keep[kiːp] cry[kraɪ] key [kiː] black[blæk]

voiced:green[ɡriːn] egg [eɡ] go[ɡoʊ] again[əˈɡen] big [bɪɡ]

The M Consonant [m]

Refercence

Sounds of American English Course(视频教程)

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