pronouncing the o letter

[thepharmacist]

Hello community,
I have a question concerning the pronunciation of the "o" later. English is not my first language. I currently live in California. It seems to me that Californians pronounce the "o" later as an "a". For example, the word "stop" sounds to me like "stap" when native pronounce it. This is causing me all sort of problems when I try to spell words that has the letters "o" or "a". I would appreciate any advise you could provide me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello community,
I have a question concerning the pronunciation of the letter "o"​. [STRIKE]later.[/STRIKE] English is not my first language. I currently live in California. It seems to me that Californians pronounce the letter "o" [STRIKE]later[/STRIKE] as an "a". For example, the word "stop" sounds to me like "stap" when native speakers pronounce it. This is causing me all sorts of problems when I try to spell words that [STRIKE]has[/STRIKE] have the letters "o" or "a". I would appreciate any [STRIKE]advise[/STRIKE] advice you could provide me.

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Unfortunately, there are lots of regional differences in pronunciation of vowel sounds. With time and practise, and context, you will learn which word is being said. Usefully for you, the word "stap" doesn't exist so if you hear it, it's almost certainly "stop"!

Note my corrections above. Take care with the spelling of the word "letter". It is very different from the word "later" in spelling, meaning and pronunciation. You spelt it correctly in your title but not in your post. Also notice that the name of the letter comes after the word "letter" so your title should have been Pronouncing the letter "o".

"Advise" is a verb. "Advice" is the associated noun.

 

[teechar]

You might also want to listen to the BrE and AmE pronunciation of words on dictionary websites.

For example, you can click on the speaker icons in the link below to listen to the pronunciations of the word "stop."

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stop

 

[emsr2d2]

Forvo is a great website for listening to pronunciations of individual words, recorded by native speakers all over the world. If you click here, you will find 9 recordings of the word "stop". Press the little blue arrow before the words "Pronunciation by" next to each one to listen to it.

 

[andrewg927]

I have been to California and I don't think I have ever heard someone say "stap". I also tried Forvo, it sounds to me like "stop". Not sure why you felt it was pronounced like "stap".

 

[GoesStation]

In many languages, an A is pronounced like the O in "stop". Perhaps thepharmacist is hearing that.

 

[GoesStation]

In many languages, an A is pronounced [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] the way most Americans pronounce the O in "stop". Perhaps thepharmacist is hearing that.

Note my amendment above.

 

[Tdol]

This is causing me all sort of problems when I try to spell words that has the letters "o" or "a".

Spelling can be difficult in English because it is not always consistent- we can use different letters for the same sound and one letter or group of letters can have different sounds.