0

I can hear a difference between the pronunciation of the /ɔ/ sound in words like "audio" and "law." In the former, the vowel in question sounds more like the /ä/ in "car" (other words containing this same sound are "automobile" and "audience"), while in the latter, it sounds more like /ɵ/ (more like the vowel sound in "dog" or "raw").

My understanding is—and I might be wrong—that there are two different sounds involved in the pronunciation of the two aforementioned words, and that they are allophones of the phoneme /ɔ/ (at least in American English).

Could you please explain to me the difference between the /ɔ/ sound in words like "audio" and "law," and how to pronounce these two different sounds correctly in American English?

Improve this question
4
  • Interesting. Do you have any links to people pronouncing these words in the way you describe (for example, on Forvo)?
    – herisson
    Oct 21, 2015 at 7:14
  • 2
    Also, /ä/ for "car" and /ɵ/ for "dog" is not standard either notationally or phonetically in my experience. The usual transcriptions for "General American" are /kɑr/ and /dɔg/ respectively.
    – herisson
    Oct 21, 2015 at 7:17
  • @sumelic I agree. Then I would say that the /ɔ/ in "audio" sounds more like an /ɑ/ in "car," but it also sounds like a more rounded vowel, as in British English pronunciation, in both "dog" and "law."
    – Luke
    Oct 21, 2015 at 7:35
  • To me, the sounds in "audio" and "law" are the same, but they differ a lot from the one in "car".
    – Andreas Blass
    Oct 21, 2015 at 12:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

I sort of agree with you, in that in my (American) speech there is a substantial difference in the pronunciation of /ɔ/ in different words. But I definitely disagree on the details; for me, audio, raw, and law are the same, but moth and dog are much closer to the vowel in north and store. (And caught is somewhere in-between.)

I think the details of the pronunciation of /ɔ/ vary substantially depending on the dialect and speaker in AmE, and you're not going to get a definite answer to this question unless you specify a specific regional American dialect, and maybe not even then. We don't all speak the same. And because they're allophones, we don't even notice the difference between various pronunciations of /ɔ/ (unless we're listening for it).

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.