American Accent

Rolling the R

R the roller

rrrrrrrr rrr.. rrr

Peters runnin

The Rolling Rs
like a vowel because it does not touch anywhere in the mouth. Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Greek

R is a consonant because it touches behind the teeth.

The American R is produced deep in the throat.

Lets compare ah and r sounds Hold your hand out in front of you with your palm up up, , like you are holding a tray on it. Slightly drop your hand down, and say ah, like you want the doctor to see your throat. curl your fingers up slightly, and say r. Your tongue should feel in about the same position as your hand.

r at the end
Runner helper worker player brother singer

My mother, father, sister, and brother thank you. The runner staggered away. Esther was a talker who never wrote letters.

Lets roll the Rs.

Error erase morning print record Right wrong harbor

reach Rome are Sir Master product profit

Now lets look at some words from your script

Manufacturer October November Considered Purchased September December Confirmation Order Record Standard Warranty

Reminder America American Were number Year confirm before product Career Certificate

r with ea sound
Ear; jeer; weird; clear; here; appear Never fear; the wheel to steer is near gear box. Be sincere, my dear; its a queer world. I sincerely want the deer to appear.

r with o:uh sound

Tour; sure; cure; poor Youre sure you can endure the long tour? Im secure the velour will lure him.

r with aa sound
March; heart; scarf; bar; guard He disembarked from the sparkling car. Charles argued with the guard. Park the car in Harvard yard. yard.

The American T
The American T is influenced very strongly by intonation and its position in a word or phrase

It can be a little tricky if you try to base your pronunciation on spelling alone.

The American T
There are 4 basic T rules: T is T T is D T is N T is Held

T is T
If the T is at the beginning of a word it is a strong, clear Tuh sound. table take tomorrow teach ten Turn Thomas tried two times

Examples from your script

Today Ticket Taxes Telephone Tomorrow Texas

Tims telephone will tinkle today and tomorrow for the taxes on the tickets from Texas. Tiery took ten tickets from Texas through the telephone for todays show.

T is D
If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation changes the sound to a soft D.
For example: Bett Be tty y bought ught a bit bit of bett better er butt butter er = (Beddy Bd Bd bida bedder budder) Pat ought to sit on a lap = (Paedd sidn laep)

Examples
 Pu Put t it in a bottle.  Wri Writ te it it in a le ett tter. er. Set et it on the met metal gutt gutter. er. Insert nsert a quart quarter in the met meter. Pu Put t all the dat data in the compu mput ter. Ge Get t a bett better er wat ater heat heater.  Let et her put put a sweat eater on. Be Bett tty ys at at a meet meeting.

Examples from the script

Located Department Bottom Contact Quality Item

Please contact the quality department for Betty who is located at the bottom of all the items.

D is T
In the past tense D sounds like T after an unvoiced consonant sound f -s k - ch P - th (but not T). sh picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wcht], washed [wsht]

The Silent T
T and N are so close in the mouth that the T can simply disappear.
Interview Internet Interrupt Interactive Advantage Twenty Printer Enter inn nnervie erview ernet inn nnernet inn nnerrupt errupt inn nneractive eractive dvaenj y twenn enny pri prinn nne e er / ender enn nner

T=N
interface interstate interfere International Percentage printout winter inn nnerface erface erstate inn nnerstate erfere inn nnerfere ernational inn innernati percenj pri prinn nnout er winder, winn inner

T=N
He had a great interview. Try to enter the information. Finish the printing. Shes at the international center. Its twenty degrees in Toronto.

MORE PRACTICE
They dont even want it. She invented it in Santa Monica. Whats the point of it? Wont he? Hasnt he? He cant even do it. Isnt he? I dont understand it. Arent I?

Examples from your script

Currently Department

T is Held
With -tain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held. The "held T" is, strictly speaking, not really a T at all. Remember, [t] and [n] are very close in the mouth.

If you have [n] immediately after [t], you don't pop the [t] the tongue is in the [t] position but you release the air for the [n] not the [t]. An important point to remember is that you need a sharp upward sliding intonation up to the "held T," then a quick drop for the N.

Now Practice..

Written, certain, forgotten, sentence:

He's forgotten the carton of satin mittens. She's certain that he has written it. Martin has gotten a kitten.

The Silent T: Numbers

38 73 89 43 80 1987 1976 1962

Y-Glide before Long oo

Tuesday Substitute newspaper newspaper duke Pursue the duke

Wed like to introduce you to a great promotional offer

Words where s before tion is pronounced

Suggestion Congestion Indigestion

The suggestion from the doctor was that he was suffering from indigestion.

Words where the ai sound changes to i

Mobile; sterile; servile; virile

The mobile phone was ringing. The sterile man was virile after having his dose of Viagra.

The sound
Drop your jaw and Make the a sound Now make the e sound Mster Pl Pl ster Gl Glss St Stndard beh beh lf Pst

Could you repeat the l lst 4 numbers In the p pst 3 years

Reductions
Reducing of
The word of is usually reduced to a schwa when it comes before a consonant nant. . For example: One of them is a lawyer. coffee. I need ten of these. money. I want a cup of

He spends a lot of

Reductions
Reducing of
I want five of those systems. Order three of the new ones. Id like a cup of tea. He makes a lot of money. Id like a cup of soup I need one of those manuals.

The word of is usually reduced to a schwa when it comes before a consonant. nant.

Reductions
Reducing of
When of comes before a vowel it sounds like ev For example:

Give me a can ev oil. apple juice. I want a carton ev eggs. lot ev effort.

I want a drink ev

It takes a

Reductions
Reducing of How many shares of Apple do you own? I need three of each. The ribbon is out of ink. They have lots of orders for their new product. She has a lot of energy. He knows a lot of artists.

When of comes before a vowel it sounds like ev

American States

American States
A la aBA BAma ma NebRASka ARkansas New MExico ConNEcticut North CaroLIina GEORgia ORegon ILlinois South CaroLIna KANsas TENnessee Maine VirG Vir GInia MIchigan WisCONsin MisSOUri MonTAna AriZOna New JERsey ColoRAdo New York FLOrida OklaHOma Idaho Rhode ISland Iowa TEXas

RECAP