R-Colored Vowel Sound / aɪr / as in "fire" – American English Pronunciation

Описание: The /aɪr/ vowel is different from other r-colored vowels in American English.
First, it consists of three sounds merged together so it may be harder to pronounce. Second, the spelling for this vowel seems simple, but if you consider nouns made from verbs ending with the /aɪ/ sound, it gets complicated: "flyer," "liar" and "denier."

In this video, you'll learn how to make the /aɪr/ sound correctly and find out how to avoid typical pronunciation mistakes. There's a pronunciation exercise recorded by a professional speech therapist to help you practice this sound in most commonly used words.

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

Quick Links:
• R-Colored vowel /aɪr/, as in "fire:" 00:00
• Recap from the R-colored vowels overview: 00:32
• How to make the /aɪr/ sound: 01:16
• Typical pronunciation mistakes: 03:19
• Pronunciation exercise: 04:55
• Spelling for the /aɪr/ sound: 08:46

Related Videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #VowelSounds #RColoredVowels
► R-Colored Vowel Sounds Overview:
   • R-Сolored Vowel Sounds Overview - American...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɝ / as in "first":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɝ / as in "first" ...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɚ / as in "after":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɚ / as in "after"-...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɪr / as in "hero":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɪr / as in "hero" ...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɛr / as in "chair":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɛr / as in "chair"...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɑr / as in "car":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɑr / as in "car" –...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɔr / as in "for":
   • R-Colored Vowel Sound / ɔr / as in "sport"...  
► R-Colored Vowel Sound / aɪr / as in "fire": this video

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, VIETNAMESE, JAPANESE, CHINESE, KOREAN, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES]
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Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the American R-colored vowel /aɪr/, as in the word "fire."
You can also hear this sound in words like "hire," "wire," "flyer," or "liar."
We'll be using special phonetic symbols — /aɪr/ — for this sound.
Let's recap what we've learned in the R-Colored Vowels Overview video:
• The /aɪr/ is one of the seven American R-colored vowel sounds.
• The /aɪr/ is an R-colored triphthong...
• ...and it's made by merging the /aɪ/ diphthong and the /r/ sound.
• As with all R-colored vowel sounds, the /aɪr/ is often distorted by non-native English speakers.
• The spelling for R-colored vowels could be confusing.

Now, let's find out how to pronounce this R-colored vowel.
Since the /aɪr/ vowel is a triphthong, you need to pronounce three different sounds making a smooth connection between them.
This is how you do that.
Start with making the /ɑ/ sound.
Open your mouth as wide as possible. Relax your lips and allow them to rest in a neutral position.
Now, let's move your tongue into the correct position for the /ɑ/ vowel.
Place your tongue very low in the center of your mouth and make it flat.
The tip of your tongue should be touching the back of your bottom front teeth.
Next, connect the /ɑ/ to the /ɪ/ sound.
Smoothly move your jaw up, until your mouth is almost closed and push your tongue forward, raising it high in your mouth.
Next, connect the /aɪ/ to the /r/ sound with a long gliding movement.
Slightly round your lips.
Curl back the tip of your tongue.
Now, slightly lower the center of your tongue and raise its back.
Your tongue should be tensed.
Now, let's color the diphthong /aɪ/ with the /r/ and blend the two sounds together: /aɪr/, /aɪr/, /aɪr/.
Let's talk about the most typical mistakes that people make when pronouncing the /aɪr/ sound.
1. Many non-native English speakers reduce the /r/ sound in the /aɪr/ vowel.
This would be fine in British English, but an American accent requires the /r/ to be pronounced.
So, if you reduce the /r/, your American /aɪr/ sound will be distorted and it may lead to misunderstandings.
Compare:
"hire" - "hire"
"liar" - "liar"
2. Some non-native speakers pronounce the /r/ in the /aɪr/, but they trill it. Remember, Americans never trill their R-colored vowel sounds.
Compare:
"hire" - "hire"
"liar" - "liar"
How do you avoid trilling? The tip of your tongue should never touch the alveolar ridge when you pronounce the R-colored sounds.
[Pronunciation exercise]
Now, let's practice the /aɪr/ sound in some words.
Let's begin.
• entire
• tired
• hire
• wire
• tire
• desire
• require
• admire
• retire
• inspired
• acquire
• inspire
• expire
• fireplace
• requirement
• squire
• inquire
• conspire
• desired
• dire
• firewall
• tiresome
• wiretap
• vampire
• empire
• sapphire
• satire
• denier
• dryer
• dyer
• flyer
• fryer
• identifier
• intensifier
• magnifier
• modifier
• multiplier
• purifier
• qualifier
• supplier
You're done! Congratulations!