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EyeSeeYou Posted 20 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Need tips to distinguish between the two 'U' sounds

Are there any rules or tips to know beforehand when a word has the /u/ sound (like in would, look, wolf) and when it has the /u:/ sound (like in fool) ?

I mean, if I hear somebody pronounce words with the different 'U' sounds, I can immediately realize which is which but if I were to be given a passage to read that's a different story.
  

Top answer

/u/ is to /u:/ as /i/ is to /i:/; that is, the first named is the lax version, the second is the tense version. In both cases, there is barely any difference in the position of the jaw, lips, tongue, and throat. This makes these pairs particularly difficult for many non-native speakers.

— CalifJim

  • /u/ is to /u:/ as /i/ is to /i:/; that is, the first named is the lax version, the second is the tense version.
  • In both cases, there is barely any difference in the position of the jaw, lips, tongue, and throat.
  • This makes these pairs particularly difficult for many non-native speakers.
  • However, as the names imply, all of these anatomical regions are more lax in the lax version and more tense in the tense version.
  • Start with the tense variant.
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8 Answers
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/u/ is to /u:/ as /i/ is to /i:/; that is, the first named is the lax version, the second is the tense version.

In both cases, there is barely any difference in the position of the jaw, lips, tongue, and throat. This makes these pairs particularly difficult for many non-native speakers. However, as the names imply, all of these anatomical regions are more lax in the lax version a
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On second thought, I may have misinterpreted the question. You wanted to know which spelling configurations signal the /u/ sound, maybe? In that case I'm afraid you are in for some memorization!

Here are some examples of spellings that yield the /u/ sound.

oo in words ending in -ook (except spook) and -ood (except food, mood).
(c
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Yes, CalifJim, your second post was what I had asked for. I'd glady want to get a hold of your notes on Phonetics! Lol! I'm gathering all of the explanations to then print them to study as a complement to my lessons.

Thanks again.
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your notes on Phonetics
Sorry, I can't get my brain through the Internet wires!
Other than my brain, all I have is disorganized notes scattered about here and there.
I try to organize them the best I can when I need to compose a post.
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Could it be that in some regions in the USA (and maybe in the UK too) the /u/ is pronounced differently? The other day I was watching a film wit Julianne Moore and she pronounced 'book' and it sounded as if she was saying it bt stretching the /o/ sound. Like "booook", if you know what I mean.
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EyeSeeYouCould it be that in some regions in the USA (and maybe in the UK too) the /u/ is pronounced differently? The other day I was watching a film wit Julianne Moore and she pronounced 'book' and it sounded as if she was saying it bt stretching the /o/ sound. Like "booook", if you know what I mean.
I'm not sure if that varies in the U.S., but in Scotland fo
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Insofar as I can determine what the symbols used by the original poster mean, I always try to continue with the same symbology through the thread, if at all possible.

In this thread I use /u/ for "oo" in "book" and /u:/ for "oo" in "moon", heedless of what symbolic system is being used, and even of whether the symbols are totally made up by the poster.

CJ
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Could it be that in some regions in the USA (and maybe in the UK too) the /u/ is pronounced differently?
Yes. There are several dialects of US English. Also, individuals may pronounce certain sounds in their own particular way or may have particular ways of bending the rhythm of phrases, sometimes even dependent upon mood. As native speakers, we learn to ignore
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