How to pronounce [ʌ] in "Cut"?

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keannu

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HOw do you pronounce /ʌ/ as in cut, hut, gut, suck?
Do you pronounce /ə/ as in agenda, alive, address first and make a quick sudden change to /ɑ/ as in got, god to make this sound?
Can you notice your lip and mouth change?
This ʌ sound doesn't exist in many languages, so many foreigners are having a hard time understanding it.
As far as I know, to make /ʌ/ sound, you make your lip shape same as /ə/ and push air like when you make /ɑ/ sound. It's like a small /ɑ/. Am I right?

I heard a theory that you shoud make a quick change from /ə/ to /ɑ/ with a lightening speed, so do you ever make a mouth shape change for this sound or just push at /ə/ shape?

Your advice will be highly appreciated.
 

Tdol

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My mouth opens wider to say /ʌ/
 

thatone

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The easiest way for a non-native speaker to say /ʌ/ would be to try to say something like /ɑ/ while the mouth is in the /ə/ position. It's important note though that there is a lot of variance among dialects.

First of all, while conventionally used to represent the standard vowel of words like cut and nut, the /ʌ/ vowel is actually usually found only in some dialects, namely Newfoundland and Philadelphia. [1]

In in RP (and Californian English) it's actually often a central near-open vowel, /ɐ/[2], while in southern American dialects it sounds like
/ɜ/[3], the vowel in British English bird /bɜ:d/ or /ɘ/, which is very close to /ə/[4].

In the American Inland North dialect it's more backed and sounds like trying to say /ɔ/ while the mouth is in a /ə/ position.

[1]-Open-mid back unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2]-Near-open central vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3]-Open-mid central unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[4]-Close-mid central unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

keannu

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My mouth opens wider to say /ʌ/
Thank you, but your explanation is not enough for me to understand, could you be more specific?
 
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mara_ce

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“The short vowel RP /ʌ / is articulated with a considerable separation of the jaws and with the lips neutrally open; the centre of the tongue (or a part slightly in advance of centre) is raised just above the fully open position, no contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars.” Gimson´s Pronunciation of English (Revised by Alan Cruttenden).

BBC Learning English | Pronunciation Tips
 
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