How to pronuonce the R , L , T and D

Question

hi there .when you say the R , what condition your mouth and toung should be ?
I always tries to act like the americans by holding my toung but it deosnt sounds right.
and how do u say WORLD .do u say it like ..WORD....or WOLD..or do u say the whole thing ..WORLD?
what is the difference between word and world..they sound the same!
also the T and the D ..eg-- BETTER sounds like BErrER ..and TEDDY sounds like TErrY.
do most of americans speaks from the throat? and should i speake fast or go slow?
and what about the long vowles and the short vowles..i mean when and how to use'em!!
and when u sat the D at the end of the word like I MISSED YOU ..do u say it as I MISSET U ..i mean do u change it in to T?
1 more question..
when i feel good , i speake like an influent speaker , people think that i was born in the usa..but when im mad or sad or in a bad mood i just mess everything up!
THANX 4 YOUR TIME
by the way i moved to usa since 6 yrs ago , 23 years old male , and i heared that girls got more ability to speake the american english better than men , is it true?
bye!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

when you say the R , what condition your mouth and toung should be ?

DRAW THE BASE OF YOUR TONGUE TOWARD THE BACK OF YOUR MOUTH-- THE TONGUE IS NOT INVOLVED IN THE 'R' SOUND. AT FIRST, PRACTICE BY PUSHING YOUR TONGUE BACK AND OUT OF THE WAY WITH A PENCIL.

and how do u say WORLD .do u say it like ..WORD....or WOLD..or do u say the whole thing ..WORLD?

I SAY THE WHOLE THING. TAKE YOUR TIME: FIRST AN 'R' SOUND, THEN AN 'L' SOUND.

what is the difference between word and world..they sound the same!

LISTEN CAREFULLY; THEY SHOULD NOT SOUND THE SAME.

also the T and the D ..eg-- BETTER sounds like BErrER ..and TEDDY sounds like TErrY.

THERE IS INDIVIDUAL VARIATION, BUT A REASONABLY CLEAR PRONUNCIATION OF 'BETTER' WILL BE /BEDER/, USING A 'D' SOUND BETWEEN VOWEL SOUNDS. SOME SPEAKERS MAKE THIS 'FLAP-T' VERY SHORT.

do most of americans speaks from the throat? and should i speake fast or go slow?

DON'T GO TOO FAST. TAKE TIME TO ENUNCIATE, AT YOUR OWN SPEED.

and what about the long vowles and the short vowles..i mean when and how to use'em!!

YOU'LL HAVE TO CONSULT YOUR TEXT BOOK FOR THE SET OF RULES, A LOT OF WHICH ARE BROKEN. ALWAYS CHECK THE PRONUNCIATION WHEN YOU LOOK UP A NEW WORD IN THE DICTIONARY.

and when u sat the D at the end of the word like I MISSED YOU ..do u say it as I MISSET U ..i mean do u change it in to T?

IT CHANGES TO A /T/ SOUND WHEN THE PREVIOUS SOUND (HERE, THE /S/ SOUND) IS A VOICELESS CONSONANT OR SIBILANT (/S/, /F/, /K/, /P/, /CH/, /SH/, /TH/)

when i feel good , i speake like an influent speaker , people think that i was born in the usa..but when im mad or sad or in a bad mood i just mess everything up!

SO RELAX.

i heared that girls got more ability to speake the american english better than men , is it true?

FEMALE STUDENTS SEEM TO BE MORE OPEN TO THE RISK OF EMBARRASSMENT, LESS INHIBITED BY THE POTENTIAL FOR FAILURE. HENCE THEY GENERALLY LEARN FASTER; THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXCEPTIONS THOUGH.

Nona the brit · Answer

I understand that this is about American pronounciation so I won't stick my oar in.

I am intrigued by the idea of not using your tongue to form the letter R though. I've been sitting here making all kinds of weird noises trying to say R without my tongue. True, I think there is a different between Brit and American versions of R, and Americans sound many Rs that Brits leave completely unvoiced. But how on earth do you do it without your tongue?

When I say R the tip of my tongue flips up and touches the roof of my mouth and back down again at the start of a word i.e. red. It is only not used in the middle of something when it is a British unsounded R i.e. armour.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Well, now you have me with my finger down my throat, Nona-- but my tongue does not seem to be involved in my rhotic efforts, except in trying to get out of the way. The tongue base draws back in the direction of the soft palate, its sides curl upward away from the molars, and its tip tries (with varying success-- it's gettting a little crowded back there) not to touch anything.

In my post I mentioned my basic technique for getting a Japanese student to quit making /l/ when they want to say /r/: roll the tongue back out of the way and use a pen or pencil to hold it down back there away from the teeth, to keep it from flapping against the back of the upper incisors or against the hard palate when they say 'red ripe rutabagas'.

Guest · Answer

nona incognito here.

Now I've been sitting here making odd noises that sound like a dog trying to growl but getting choked!

I cannot do it without using my tongue. Your pencil trick was even worse.

I suspect that our R sounds are made completely differently! Mine is made in a similar way to L, except for L the tongue touches just behind my top front teeth, and for the R it is a lot futher back on the roof of my mouth and my mouth is almost closed.

See if you can do mine.

Mister Micawber · Answer

If I try yours I sound like I suffer from cleft palate.  I had come to the same realisation, Nona.  There must be some research data on this somewhere.

Nona the brit · Answer

Ooh ooh I can do yours, but only if I try and imagine I am John Wayne! Yours is more 'throaty' though.

King · Answer

Anyone who says the english "r" doesn't use the tongue needs to get their facts straight. You couldn't MAKE the sound without your tongue... The only advice I can give is to try and find an english speaker or recordings...

Mister Micawber · Answer

Yes, I do sound a little like John Wayne, pardner.

No need to get in a twist, King-- my tongue is obviously doing something back there: it is all tensed up, controlling the air flow and who knows what-all. The discussion, however, is intended to get foreign students to differentiate their /r/ and /l/ sounds, the former of which (in AmE) requires drawing the tongue tip back and out of the vicinity of the teeth and hard palate. I am a perfectly competent native speaker who is sitting here as we speak saying 'r-r-r-r-r-r-' and risking cartage to the loony bin at my wife's behest, with my tongue curled back and touching nothing at all.

Here is one discussion:

Rhotic consonants, or "R"-like sounds, are non-lateral liquids. This class of sounds is difficult to characterise phonetically, though most of them share some acoustic peculiarities, most notably a lowered third formant in their sound spectrum. However, "being r-like" is a strangely elusive feature, and the very same sounds that function as rhotics in some systems may pattern with fricatives, semivowels or even stops in others. The most typical rhotic sounds found in the worlds languages are the following:

* Trill (popularly known as rolled r): The airstream is interrupted several times as one of the organs of speech (usually the tip of the tongue or the uvula) vibrates, closing and opening the air passage. If a trill is made with the tip of the tongue against the upper gum, we speak of an apical (tongue-tip) alveolar trill. If it is made with the uvula against the back of the tongue, we speak of a uvular trill. In the English-speaking world, the stereotyped (if not actually very common) Scottish rrrrolled r is famous.

* Tap or flap (these terms refer to very similar articulations): Not unlike a trill, but involving just one brief interruption of airflow. In many languages taps are used as reduced variants of trills, especially in fast speech. Note, however, that in Spanish, for example, taps and trills contrast, as in pero ("but") versus perro ("dog"). In some English dialects (eg. American, Australian) flaps do not function as rhotics but are realisations of intervocalic apical stops (t or d, e.g. in city or butter).

* Alveolar or retroflex approximant, as in most accents of English (with minute differences): The front part of the tongue approaches the upper gum, or the tongue-tip is curled back towards the roof of the mouth ("retroflexion"). No or little friction can be heard, and there is no momentary closure of the vocal tract.

* Uvular or velar approximant or fricative: The back of the tongue approaches the soft palate or the uvula. Standard French, German or Danish r's are variants of this type of rhotic. If fricative, the sound is often impressionistically described as harsh or grating.

Anita_a · Answer

Well, after all the discussions so far, I just would like to add on ething here. The 'r' is not pronounced for certain when it is in the 'end' of a word and certainly not when it is in the middle of a word and follows a vowel. So, the word 'world' is pronounced as 'wold'. Similarly, some more examples, 'heard' ,'curl'. In words 'butter', matter', the 'r' is not pronounced. And whenever there is a word with a double 't' as in the above two words 'butter' and 'matter', it is always pronounced as 'd'.All this in the grammatically correct British English( no offence meant to others). Well, in America, you can talk as you like and get away with it.

How to pronuonce the R , L , T and D

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