(Video Transcript)
Hi, I’m Julie with San Diego Voice and Accent, and in this video, you’ll learn how the nasal consonants can change the pronunciation of the vowels in American English.
Listen to these three words. Do they have the same vowel sound...or do they have a different vowel sound?
sit
sin
sing
These three words all contain the same vowel sound - the IH /ɪ/ as in bit vowel. But you might have noticed that the vowel didn’t sound the same in all three words. I’ll say them again, and listen carefully to the vowel sound.
sit
sin
sing
The IH vowel sounded like the pure IH vowel in the first word, sit.
sit
But in the other two words, the IH vowel sounded...different.
sin
sing
Nasalization of the IH /ɪ/ vowel
Why did the IH vowel sound so different in sit and sing? Look at the IPA transcription of these words, and you’ll see that sin and sing contain the nasal consonants N and NG. These nasal consonants influence the way the IH vowel is pronounced. The muscles in the mouth and nose anticipate that a nasal sound is coming, so they prepare for the nasal consonant while you pronounce the vowel. This causes the IH vowel to become nasalized, which means a little bit of air comes out of the nose as you say the vowel.
This happens anytime a vowel comes before a nasal consonant in the same syllable. But the effect of nasalization can vary depending on the vowel and the nasal consonant. Sometimes it is very noticeable, like in the example of sit and sing.
sit
sing
It almost sounds like two different vowels!
And sometimes the effect of nasalization isn’t as noticeable, like in the example of tone and toad.
tone
toad
Those sound like the same vowel to me!
I first want to discuss the vowels that are impacted the most by nasal consonants. Some of this will be a review for some of you, but practice along with me anyway so you can be sure that you sound as natural as possible to a native speaker.
IH /ɪ/ before NG /ŋ/
Let’s start with the IH /ɪ/ as in bit vowel.
When IH comes before the NG consonant /ŋ/, like in the word sing, it sounds like a combination of the IH and EE vowels.
IH + EE
IH + EE
IH + EE
sing
Here is the word sing without the effects of nasalization:
sing
sing
It doesn’t sound right.
Here it is with nasalization:
sing
Here are some additional practice words:
bring
cling
fling
king
ring
sling
spring
sting
string
thing
wing
AA /æ/ before N or M consonants
Next, the AA /æ/ as in cat vowel. When AA comes before the N or M consonants, like in the words hand and ham, it sounds like a combination of AA and UH. The back of the tongue relaxes as you progress through the vowel to the nasal consonant.
AA + UH
AA + UH
AA + UH
hand
ham
Here is the word hand without the effects of nasalization:
hand
hand
Hmm. It doesn’t sound right! Here it is with nasalization:
hand
Here are some additional practice words:
can
demand
began
ran
plan
lamp
example
man
stamp
stand
answer
AA /æ/ before NG /ŋ/
When the AA vowel comes before the NG consonant /ŋ/, like in the word sang, it sounds closer to the AY /eɪ/ diphthong.
AY /eɪ/
sang
Here is the word sang without the effects of nasalization:
sang
sang
Hmm - that doesn’t right! Here it is with nasalization:
sang
Here are some additional practice words:
ankle
tank
thanks
anger
bank
drank
Hank
Vowels: Non-nasal consonants and nasal consonants
Now, you’ll hear examples of vowels when they come before a non-nasal consonant and a nasal consonant. The vowels that come before a nasal consonant are nasalized, but the effect of nasalization isn’t as noticeable as it was in the earlier examples. But listen for the nasality and repeat after me.
seat/seen
pit/pin
bed/Ben
zoot/zoom
tot/Tom
shut/shun
hope/home
I hope this video helped you to understand how nasal consonants can influence the pronunciation of American English vowels. Thanks for watching! And I'd love to hear from you - contact me to learn how we can work together to perfect your American English pronunciation!
