British English Pronunciation of the Vowel in Horse - Learn English

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In this video, we'll take a look at the open-mid back rounded vowel /ɔ:/ on our British English IPA chart.
There are eleven ways of spelling the /ɔ:/ sound.
It can be spelt with the letter combinations ar or or, as in the words war, quart, cork, horse, sword, sport, chord, and born.
/wɔ:/ /kwɔ:t/ /kɔ:k/ /hɔ:s/ /sɔ:d/ /spɔ:t/ /kɔ:d/ /bɔ:n/
It can be spelt with the letter combination ore, as in the words ore, before, more, and store.
/ɔ:/ /bɪˈfɔ:/ /mɔ:/ /stɔ:/
It can also be spelt with the letter combination our, as in court and four.
/kɔ:t/ /fɔ:/
oar and oor make the /ɔ:/ sound in the words oar, boar, door and floor.
/ɔ:/ /bɔ:/ /dɔ:/ /flɔ:/
The words fault, cause, pauper and daughter, ought to show that we can spell the /ɔ:/ sound with the letter combinations au and augh.
/fɔ:lt/ /kɔ:z/ /ˈpɔ:pə/ /ˈdɔ:tə/ /ɔ:t/
And the letter a on its own can make the /ɔ:/ sound, as in all, chalk, salt and water.
/ɔ:l/ /ʧɔ:k/ /sɔ:lt/ /ˈwɔ:tə/
The letters aw, in the words awl, saw, bawd, lawn, jaw, yawn and awful make the /ɔ:/ sound, too.
/ɔ:l/ /sɔ:/ /bɔ:d/ /lɔ:n/ /ʤɔ:/ /jɔ:n/ /ˈɔ:fʊl/
And finally, the letters ou, in the words bought and ought, also make the /ɔ:/ sound.
/bɔ:t/ /ɔ:t/
Just remember that the letter combinations we've just looked at do not always make the /ɔ:/ sound.
Like all the long vowels, the /ɔ:/ vowel has both a long and a reduced form.
We find the long form in the word saw and the reduced form in the word sort.
/sɔ:/ /sɔ:t/
Likewise, the word war has the long form, but the word walked has the reduced form.
/wɔ:/ /wɔ:kt/
The word saws has the long form, while the word sauce has the reduced form.
/sɔ:z/ /sɔ:s/
One problem with the /ɔ:/ sound for students is when the spelling involves the letter r.
As we saw, the letter combinations ar, or, ore, our, oar and oor can make the /ɔ:/ sound.
But remember that in British English we do not say the /r/ sound in a word unless it is the linking r.
A linking r is heard when a word ending in the letter r is followed by a word beginning with a vowel.
For example, four has no /r/ sound.
/fɔ:/
Followed by the word apples, which begins with a vowel sound, we hear the linking r.
/æplz/
Four apples
/fɔ:rˈæplz/
Likewise, the word more has no /r/ sound in it.
/mɔ:/
Follow it by a word beginning with a vowel, however, and we hear the linking r sound.
More English, please.
/mɔ:rˈɪŋglɪʃ,pli:z/
Did you also hear the linking r in the words, for example, a few moments back?
/fɔ:regˈzɑ:mpl/
There is also a tendency for students to try to pronounce the /ɔ:/ sound with two vowels when it is spelt with the au, aw or ou letter combinations.
But listen to the words, taught, saw, ought. They all have the monophthong sound /ɔ:/.
/tɔ:t/ /sɔ:/ /ɔ:t/
I have prepared an Interactive Quiz to help you learn to correctly pronounce the /ɔ:/ sound.
The quiz contains listening and writing exercises that will help you to perfect your British English pronunciation.
It's available now at http://linguaspectrum.com/do_the_quiz.php?id=172 If you are serious about improving your English, then perfecting your accent should be an important part of the process. Visit my pronunciation website at http://soundsbritish.com where you can download free sample copies of my eBook, An Interactive British English IPA Chart, and the 2000+ question Practice Pack that goes with it. Invest in your future today. If you are serious about improving your English, then perfecting your accent should be an important part of the process. Visit my pronunciation website at http://soundsbritish.com where you can download free sample copies of my eBook, An Interactive British English IPA Chart, and the 2000+ question Practice Pack that goes with it. Invest in your future today.