Sound | Tongue | Lips | Jaw | Teeth | Air | Vocal Chords |
---|
/ˈ/ | | | | | | |
/p/ | Place the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth, or slightly below them, so that the air is completely blocked in the oral cavity. | Round your lips tightly, creating a seal to prevent any air from escaping through your mouth. | Keep your jaw relatively tense and stable, without any movement. | The teeth should not be involved in the production of this sound. | Build up air pressure behind the blockage created by your tongue and lips, and then release the air suddenly by popping open the lips, causing a burst of air to be expelled. | Do not use your vocal cords to produce this sound, as it is an unvoiced sound. |
/j/ | The mid and front part of the tongue raises and presses against the roof of the mouth. The tip of the tongue comes down and touches behind the bottom front teeth. | | | | The throat compresses the airflow. | The vocal cords vibrate. |
/u/ | The back part of the tongue stretches up towards the soft palate. The front part of the tongue remains down, touching, or behind, the bottom front teeth. | The lips relax while forming a rounded shape. | | | | The vocal cords vibrate. |
/t/ | The tongue will come up. The front part will touch the roof of the mouth behind the top teeth. Then it will pull down to release the air. | | | The teeth are together. Then they separate. | Air passes through the mouth. First, the air stops. Then, it flows. | The vocal cords do not vibrate. |