pronunciation: LAW

Status
Not open for further replies.

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
Hello friends.

I'd be most grateful if native speakers could listen to this recording http://vocaroo.com/i/s1GMabhmmTIw of me saying the following:

"law enforcement"
"break the law"
"in a court of law"
"the letter of the law"
"lawsuit"
"lawful"

What do you think of my pronunciation of the word LAW? (Note that I'm only aiming for American English).
 
Last edited:

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
It's very good.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
It's very good.
Hi, GoesStation.
Thank you so much. I'm so happy to hear that. I just want to say that I'm in the process of changing my pronunciation, so this is really important to me. In the recording, I pronounced all the LAWs with the Ah vowel sound as in FATHER and I'm planning on always pronouncing the word LAW like that. Would it be acceptable to do that in American English?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Hi, GoesStation.
Thank you so much. I'm so happy to hear that. I just want to say that I'm in the process of changing my pronunciation, so this is really important to me. In the recording, I pronounced all the LAWs with the Ah vowel sound as in FATHER and I'm planning on always pronouncing the word LAW like that. Would it be acceptable to do that in American English?

Actually you're doing better than that: you're pronouncing law with the same vowel as caught or dawn -- in my pronunciation, anyway. Many Americans use the same vowel in caught, cot, law, lot, and father, but I don't. Those who merge those vowels don't use the one you're producing; they use a vowel with less-rounded lips for both sets of words.

I don't think merging the two will impede understanding. This distinction is much less important than the difficult one (for Russophones, anyway) between the vowels in ship and sheep.
 
Last edited:

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
Actually you're doing better than that: you're pronouncing law with the same vowel as caught or dawn
Just to clarify. You're saying that the way I pronounced all the LAWs in the recording sounded to you like I pronounced them with this vowel [ ɔ ], the one that people who do not have the caught-cot merger pronounce "caught" with?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Just to clarify. You're saying that the way I pronounced all the LAWs in the recording sounded to you like I pronounced them with this vowel [ ɔ ], the one that people who do not have the caught-cot merger pronounce "caught" with?

Yes. I couldn't find the IPA symbol in a form I could paste in here.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
If you don't mind listening to another recording of me saying the same words but this time I'm pronouncing them with what I consider to be this vowel sound [ ɔ ]. Please tell me what you think of it. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1GLCRv7lvmv
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
You're pronouncing the sound very well. Congratulations.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
You're pronouncing the sound very well. Congratulations.

Thank you very you much.:)

But did you hear any difference in the pronunciation of the word LAW between the first and the second recordings?
 
Last edited:

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Thank you very you much.:)

But did you hear any difference in the pronunciation of the word LAW between the first and the second recordings?

The second is even better than the first. You have a little trouble with law enforcement. It's probably harder to get the vowel right when the following word begins with a vowel. Try putting a very brief pause between the words.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
I'm just curious. In the first recording, you told me that it sounded to you like I pronounced the LAWs with this vowel sound [ ɔ ].

Then what vowel sound did you hear in the second recording?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I'm just curious. In the first recording, you told me that it sounded to you like I pronounced the LAWs with this vowel sound [ ɔ ].

Then what vowel sound did you hear in the second recording?

The same. It's just a little more open in the second.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
What do you think of my pronunciation of the word LAW? (Note that I'm only aiming for American English).

The sound is fine, but you seem to be overemphasising the word, though this is probably a consequence of the recording.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
The same. It's just a little more open in the second.


Would you say that I pronounce the LAWs in the first recording with a sound that is something in between [ɑː] as in FATHER and [ ɔ ]?
 
Last edited:

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Would you say that I pronounce the LAWs in the first recording with a sound that is something in between [ɑː] as in FATHER and [ ɔ ]?

Yes, perhaps. Honestly though, you pronounce the vowel well enough in both samples that you'll be easily understood, except maybe in law enforcement.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
Yes, perhaps. Honestly though, you pronounce the vowel well enough in both samples that you'll be easily understood, except maybe in law enforcement.

Thank you for replying. The thing is that I don't want to be simply understood, I want to sound like a native American speaker.
Could you please tell me if I sound like one in the first recording?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Adult learners can hardly ever sound like native speakers, no matter how hard they try. I appreciate the ambition, but I think your efforts will be better placed on gaining fluency, learning natural usage, and having as mild an accent as possible.

Your accent is very good in both recordings except for law enforcement. Your letter of the law is the closest to native; you've mastered the American pronunciation of letter and the unstressed of the following it. Remember that Americans pronounce the vowel in suit like the one in boot and don't usually fully articulate a final t.
 
Last edited:

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
Adult learners can hardly ever sound like native speakers, no matter how hard they try. I appreciate the ambition, but I think your efforts will be better placed on gaining fluency, learning natural usage, and having as mild an accent as possible.

Your accent is very good in both recordings except for law enforcement. Your letter of the law is the closest to native; you've mastered the American pronunciation of letter and the unstressed of the following it.

I very much appreciate your comments, GoesStation. It really means a lot to me.:) I'll keep your advice in mind but I will still try my best to sound as closest to a native speaker as possible.:-D

I just want to say that even though you said that my pronunciation of the sound was better in the second recording, to be honest, I don't feel very comfortable pronouncing the word LAW with this sound [ ɔ ] and I'm leaning towards the first kind of pronunciation which is close to this one [ɑː].

So could you please tell me if I sound like a native American speaker in the first recording?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I very much appreciate your comments, GoesStation. It really means a lot to me.:) I'll keep your advice in mind but I will still try my best to sound as closest to a native speaker as possible.:-D

I just want to say that even though you said that my pronunciation of the sound was better in the second recording, to be honest, I don't feel very comfortable pronouncing the word LAW with this sound [ ɔ ] and I'm leaning towards the first kind of pronunciation which is close to this one [ɑː].

So could you please tell me if I sound like a native American speaker in the first recording?

No, you don't. You sound like a Russian speaking English with a pretty good accent that's closer to an American than an English one.

You pronounce the vowel in law closer to a typical American pronunciation in the second recording, except in law enforcement.

Not all Americans pronounce law the same, so you don't have to hit one precise pronunciation.
 

andi harper

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Azerbaijan
You sound like a Russian speaking English with a pretty good accent that's closer to an American than an English one.

Sorry, just to clarify, here you're talking about the first recording, right?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top