Vowel Sound / ɔ / as in "on" - American English Pronunciation

Learn how to pronounce the vowel sound / ɔ/ used in words like "bought," "dog," or "call."
Improve your American accent with exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the / ɔ / vowel sound in everyday words.
Find out about the essential spelling rules for the / ɔ/ vowel.
Enjoy a surprise bonus at the end of the video! :)

By the way, we have a website: https://soundsamerican.net/

Quick Links:
• Vowel sound /ɔ/, as in "on:" 00:00
• How to make the /ɔ/ sound: 00:54
• Pronunciation exercise: 02:13
• Most common spelling for the sound /ɔ/: 04:27

Related videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #VowelSounds #BackVowels
►Vowel sound /oʊ/, as in "go":    • Vowel Sound / oʊ / as in "go" - American E...  
►Vowel sound /ɑ/, as in "got":    • Vowel Sound / ɑ / as in "got"- American En...  
►Contrasting sounds /oʊ/ vs /ɔ/, as in "low" and "law":
   • Low or Law? Row or Raw? Boat or Bought? Am...  


[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT

Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the American vowel sound /ɔ/, as in the word "on." You can also hear this sound in words like "off," "cause," "all," or "saw."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol — /ɔ/ — for this sound.

The /ɔ/ can be hard to reproduce for many people and it often gets mispronounced. Keep watching to learn how to avoid shortening this vowel and to practice it in words.

Let's find out how to make this sound.
OK, to pronounce the /ɔ/ sound, you should focus on the position of your jaw, lips, and tongue.
Open your mouth as wide as possible, and round your lips.
Flatten your tongue and pull it back. Place your tongue very low in your mouth.
The tip of your tongue should be touching the back of your bottom front teeth.
Remember, the /ɔ/ is a very open sound, so your jaw should be as open as possible.
Let's try saying it: /ɔ/, /ɔ/, /ɔ/.

[Pronunciation exercise]
Now, let's practice this sound in some words.
You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation. Like this.
You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word, if you want to.
Let's begin.
• all
• ball
• blog
• boss
• bought
• broad
• brought
• call
• called
• caught
• cause
• claw
• cloth
• cost
• cough
• coughed
• crawl
• cross
• dawn
• dog
• Don's
• draw
• fall
• fault
• fog
• fought
• frog
• frost
• gall
• golf

You're done! Congratulations!

By the way, did you know that the /ɔ/ sound is represented by the letter 'o' in only 30% of cases?
More on the spelling:
most often, the /ɔ/ sound is written as the letter 'o,' as in the word "on."
In the rest of the words with this sound, it's written as the combination of letters 'au,' as in the word "cause," as a single letter 'a,' as in the word "water," and also as the following combination of letters:
'al,' as in the word "call,"
'aw,' as in the word "saw,"
'ou,' as in the word "thought," and
'oa,' as in the word "broad."

Thanks for watching! Hope you find it useful.
Stay tuned on our Sounds American channel!