Minimal pairs

Question

what are the differences between /ou/ and /):/ sounds? include a description of the placemennt of the tongue, and the formation of the lips and mouth to produce them.

Raindoctor · Accepted Answer

I don't know what phonemes you are referring to. It is even hard to figure out what /ou/ is.

Use either IPA or some lexical set to refer what you have in your mind.

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

I think that one obvious difference to be pointed out here is that:

/??/ is a monophthong while /o?/ is a diphthong (that is, if you were in fact referring to these symbols)

The first one (monophthong) mainly consists of only one sound, whereas the second one (diphthong)is actually a combination of two sounds produced with different tongue/mouth settings, connected with a movement of the tongue (tongue glide) – so two different sounds, basically.
Both sounds require the lips to be more or less rounded, and feel as if they're produced in the back of your mouth.

(Also, in the future, I think you'd better include some form of 'please', 'thank you in advance' or at least a less imperative way of asking your question). There are a lot of outstanding teachers available on this forum who are most willing to help you -- for free. But it's all based on respect.) Try it and you'll see that you will be helped much more promptly next time.

Kind regards

Dokterjokkebrok

Minimal pairs

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