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I’m glad you are finding my channel useful. Thank you for your question. You are the second viewer to ask about the cot-caught merger. I am from the East Coast and I don’t merge these vowel sounds. On this channel, the vowel sound in COT is the same vowel sound in the first syllable of the words OLIVE and FATHER. The vowel sound in the word CAUGHT is the same vowel sound in the first syllable of the words AUBURN and LAW. You can read more about this in the comment section of this video: /ɑ/ vs /ɔ/ Minimal Pairs czcams.com/video/QFL-6u93LrM/video.html

No it's not AI, it's me! My name is Maggie Hamble and I'm a real ESL instructor and Accent Reduction coach. You can learn more about me by clicking the links at the top of the homepage. I'm glad you found this minimal pair video helpful and I encourage you to check out additional videos on the Vivid English channel. You are also welcome to post questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for watching!

P.S. Be sure to read the Video Descriptions for pronunciation tips.

@@VividEnglishUS Thanks! Will it be possible to make other minimal pairs videos? For example I find this one quite tricky: /ʌ/ vs /ʊ/

Also, another tricky pair, especially when the vowel is followed by a Dark L is /ʊ/ vs /oʊ/, like in pull vs pole

Thank you for the suggestion; I’ll look into that. Note that this channel uses the same symbol (/ə/ - the schwa) to represent both the stressed and unstressed versions of the UH sound - as the phrase A CUP OF MUSTARD contains both versions of the UH sound. In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the unstressed UH sound is represented by /ə/ while the stressed UH sound is represented by /ʌ/.

Not sure what this emoji means …. thanks for watching!

@@VividEnglishUS just found your channel and it is the exact one I need

@protin2627 So happy to hear that! I also have a sister channel called @VividLyrics - which is devoted to practicing listening and pronunciation skills with lyric videos. If you check that out, be sure to read the video descriptions. Enjoy!

You are very welcome. Thank you for watching!

It’s tricky for sure - but not impossible! Feel free to ask any questions you have.

Per day?!?!

Thank you for your enthusiasm. I plan to continue posting a Word of the Week on Wednesdays. I would like to start creating and posting new and different videos as well.

Thank you for watching!

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Yep! The word of the day has a Greek origin once again.

@@VividEnglishUS I think most medical words....also...!!💝

Google translates this as: Athlete...!!!athlete Sport Do sports Are you requesting the word SPORTS as a word of the day? Do you think this is a difficult word to pronounce in English?

@@VividEnglishUS no,it's not difficult..and we pronounce it the same We use the term sports for all athletic activities....

Google Translation of this comment from Greek: Phenomenon.....!!! Freddie Mercury was a real PHENOMENON in rock music...!!! Another Greek word.....!!❤🇬🇷 You look great..!! My response: I love that you are so excited about these shorts. Since you are studying English vocabulary, I highly encourage you to post your comments in English. There is no better way to learn English than to use English. :) Thank you again for watching and for your enthusiasm. (Enthusiasm....from the Greek enthousiasmos) :)

Thank you for watching and thank you for this question. Yes, this video represents the standard pronunciation of these words in General American English; however, you are correct to point out that there are areas of the US in which the /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ sounds merge in certain words, like cot and caught. If a speaker were to merge the sounds in the pairs ODD/AWED or FOND/FAWNED, I would consider that person to have a strong regional accent. Marisa Tomei's character in the film "My Cousin Vinny" comes to mind, as does the Mike Meyers "Coffee Talk" character, Linda Richman. In fact "Coffee" is great word to think about in relation to your question. The standard American accent gives the first syllable in this word the AH as in OLIVE SOCK sound. If the first syllable of coffee were to be pronounced with the AW as in AUBURN DOG sound - that would undoubtedly be considered a regional accent. Here's an excerpt from a Wikipedia page on this topic referencing resistance to the merger. According to Labov, Ash, and Boberg,[17] the merger in North America is most strongly resisted in three regions: The "South", somewhat excluding Texas and Florida. The "Inland North", encompassing the eastern and central Great Lakes region (on the U.S. side of the border) The "Northeast Corridor" along the Atlantic coast, ranging from Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York City to Providence. However, the merger is common in Boston and further northern New England. Here's a link to the full Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot%E2%80%93caught_merger Note --- I'm from New Jersey -- so count me in as someone who is resistant to the merger!

Glad you enjoy these words of the day! Here's the Google Translation from Greek to English: Exaggeration...! Undue..! Greek too..... I am very overreacting... THE Don't be exaggerated..!!❤🤗 It's a word we use a lot....the new thing for me is that it also exists in the English vocabulary...❤🤗

Glad you are enjoying these words of the day. English words come from lots of other languages...but certainly a lot of Greek and Latin! Here's a translation of your comments from Greek to English: You'll teach me English and I'll tell you which words are Greek...I hope I'm not annoying!! "Emphasis".....so ..another very beautiful word ...with a Greek accent too...! Thank you very much my friend.....❤🤗 That's why I also have to emphasize the pronunciation of English words...!

Interesting! According to Google Translate this comment is Greek for: Greek word. Damn it! (and the phonetic spelling for Ανάθεμα is ANATHEMA!

@@VividEnglishUS θέλω πολύ να μάθω αγγλικά...όταν όμως συναντώ Ελληνικές λέξεις...νιώθω πολύ περήφανη.... Πάντως κάνετε εξαιρετική δουλειά και σας ευχαριστούμε πολύ...φιλιά από Ελλάδα...!!!💝🇬🇷

Google translates this comment from Greek as follows: I really want to learn English...but when I come across Greek words...I feel very proud....Anyway, you are doing an excellent job and thank you very much...kisses from Greece...!!! My response in English: Thank you very much for your kind words and thank you for watching. Keeping listening and repeating what you hear and your English will improve....just like you learned Greek as a child listening to the sounds around you and repeating what you heard. My response translated into Greek by Google: Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ για τα καλά σας λόγια και σας ευχαριστώ που παρακολουθήσατε. Συνεχίζοντας να ακούτε και να επαναλαμβάνετε αυτά που ακούτε και τα Αγγλικά σας θα βελτιωθούν....όπως ακριβώς μάθατε ελληνικά ως παιδί ακούγοντας τους ήχους γύρω σας και επαναλαμβάνοντας αυτά που ακούσατε.

@@VividEnglishUS 💝💝💝

Glad you like the Word of the Day shorts. Be sure to check out the weekly compilation videos. I’ve already made tomorrow’s video but I will add HUMAN and HUMOROUS to my list and I’ll do one of them for Friday 3/8. It may be helpful to think of the phonetic spelling for the first syllable in both as HYOO - with the BLUE MOON vowel sound. When practicing, it can be helpful to slow down the video speed to listen for reductions and linkages (particularly when imitating the Sample Sentences.)

@judithirizarry2256 I made a video for HUMONGOUS.

Glad you like it. Thanks for watching!

C2 meaning Advanced Level Vocabulary? I don’t think so. It’s a very common word in the US. That said, I’ve watched the Great British Bake-off and have noticed the use of some different terminology….maybe it’s not as common in other English-speaking countries? I really don’t know.

Glad you like it. Thanks for watching.

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I'm glad you found this video useful. Thank you for watching. As for your minimal pair request, is it safe to assume that you are having trouble with these sounds in the initial position of a word - such as THERE / LAIR and THEY / LAY?

Yes, exactly. And I have found many people from my country- East Asian confuse “l“ and “th”.

OK --- When I have time to make this video, I will and I will post on this thread to let you know it's up. Thank you for the suggestion.

⁠@@VividEnglishUSand I have found that the most misleading sound could be “ther” such as mother, father, together, other, another. East Asian just simply pronounce them as “le”

Interesting. In that case, a Minimal Pairs video wouldn't work as well since words like moller, faller, and oller don't exist. Hmmm.....I will need to give some thought to this. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

I’m glad you find my videos helpful. I recently had a question from a viewer about the IPA symbols /ə/ (the schwa) and /ʌ/ and explained that this channel uses the schwa symbol for both the stressed and unstressed version of the UH sound - represented by the color MUSTARD and contained in each word of the phrase A CUP OF MUSTARD. That said….check out this video: czcams.com/video/J8OMSBhhco0/video.htmlsi=rwtgdjQ71GkfJKbw I will create a WOODEN HOOK vs A CUP OF MUSTARD minimal pairs video and will post again here when it’s up. Thank you for the suggestion and thanks for watching!

Great question. Some consider the IPA symbols /ə/ and /ʌ/ as representations of, respectively, the unstressed and stressed versions of the sound UH. Others (like "Mastering the American Accent" author Lisa Mojsin) use the same symbol, /ə/, for both the stressed and unstressed version of the UH sound. The Color Vowel Chart uses the phrase “A CUP OF MUSTARD” for the sound - capturing both the unstressed and stressed versions. The words within the phrase containing the unstressed UH sound are A and OF. The words within the phrase containing the stressed UH sound are CUP and MUSTARD (in the 1st syllable).

It's an important poem. Thank you for watching/listening.

Glad you think so! Thank you for watching.

Yes, when these sounds are at the end of words, the level of energy in the sound drops off. Listening to these words in isolation (for example LEDGE/LETCH) it seems I’ve given the /ʤ/ ending sound more vocal energy and the /tʃ/ sound more breath than would typically occur when these words appear in sentences. You are inspiring to make videos with full sentences! Thank you for your great observation.

@@VividEnglishUS Thank you for your reply! Does it mean in sentences, LEDGE/LETCH can be pronounced same sound (voiceless)? As I know, voiced sound uses more energy and time to vibrate vocal cords and native English speaker lazy vibrate vocal cords for sounds 'ʤ' and 'd' when they are at the end of words, so we hear them similar 'ʧ' and 't'. Is is right?

My original response has been edited in an attempt to clarify. While the two words may be very difficult for a non-native speaker to distinguish in sentences, the ending sounds are different. The following video link from Rachel's English explains that voiced ending sounds can sometimes be so weak the voice is taken out of them and they end up sounding like weak unvoiced sounds. She uses the word FLOWERS as an example of a word that has neither a strong Zzzzzz nor Ssssss sound. HOWEVER, when the word that follows "flowers" begins with a vowel sound, the voiced /z/ ending sound is much more distinct. For example in the sentence, "Put the flowers on the table" the words "flowers on" sound like "flowerzon." A word pair in the video that correlates with LEDGE and LETCH is BADGE and BATCH. Hope you find this helpful! czcams.com/video/IG95Nc_KV5g/video.htmlsi=LVzAYZu039Qc4cCd

​@@VividEnglishUS Thank you so much for your comment and link! It is clear now, the voiced ending consonants are usually pronounced as weak unvoiced sounds.

....depending on the sound that follows! :)

Glad you like it. Thanks for watching!

Thank you!

Glad it is helpful. Thanks for watching!

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. This system (developed by Karen Taylor and Shirley Thompson) is used to teach the General American English accent. Agreed that the vowel sounds of English vary from country to country and from region to region within those countries. In the US, depending on where you are, you may hear the first syllable of the word COFFEE pronounced with the AH as in OLIVE sound or the AW as in AUBURN sound. Thanks for your feedback and thanks for watching!

@@VividEnglishUS You're welcome. The idea of using colours as more practical reference words would assist many learners. As such, I support the general concept. I comprehend all your examples because I'm familiar with the accents you're talking about. If you know, is the situation you mention in regards to the word 'coffee' a product of the cot-caught merger or is it a result of how some accents have always retained the THOUGHT vowel (what you call 'AW') in words which other accents have shifted to the LOT vowel? By the way, I'm Australian. For us, and also the British, there is no 'AH' sound in 'olive' at all. The second vowel in 'olive' is the KIT vowel. The first vowel in 'olive' is the LOT vowel, whereas the 'AH' sound is the first vowel in FATHER. We use the latter vowel for words in the lexical sets of BATH and PALM, whereas I believe the General American accent would use the TRAP vowel for words in the BATH set. The fact that you gave the example of 'AH' in 'olive' indicates that your own accent merges the first vowels in the words 'father' and 'bother'. As you said you're teaching the General American accent, that makes sense. If you interests you though, that merger doesn't exist in the Boston accent. Instead, the LOT vowel remains part of the THOUGHT lexical set, i.e. the sound of the vowel in THOUGHT is used in the word LOT (and also in CLOTH).

Interesting! For me, LOT and FATHER have the same /ɑ/ sound! Based on your message, it would appear that a clear comparison of accents (whether by country or by region) would best involve use of the IPA! Well, since my focus is on teaching the American accent, I guess the Color Vowel Chart still holds water! Regarding the Boston accent (as well as that of New York, England, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, etc) check out this great video entitled, "Is R a Vowel?" The most relevant content begins at 4:21. I think you'll enjoy this! czcams.com/video/Tjf_MOyB0K4/video.htmlsi=sSIStKkNheIK4luD

@@VividEnglishUS Thanks for the link. Have you heard of how L is realised as a vowel in some accents too?

Makes sense --- particularly since the Dark L sound at the end of words like fool and school has a schwa-like quality, at least in American English!

Glad you like it. Thanks for watching!

Hi there. I don’t know of a book specifically devoted to minimal pair exercises. However, you will find many such exercises in pronunciation textbooks. Check the video description for a link to the pronunciation text I recommend, Mastering the American Accent. Good luck with your assignment and thanks for watching. 😊

Cheers to you too! Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!

Glad you like it. Thanks for watching!

Hello again! Thanks for your comment and your continued viewership! I just re-did this video to make it more read-able (darkened the background and cut down the number of words on each page, enlarging the font size). The old version is still up for the time being...but is unlisted.

I’m glad you like the video! Thank you for watching. Your question is a great one because, in American English, the Schwa (/ə/) and Wedge (/ʌ/) have the same sound: UH as in A CUP OF MUSTARD. The difference is that the Schwa occurs in unstressed syllables and the Wedge occurs in stressed syllables. Many dictionaries (and this channel!) merge the transcription of the two sounds and strictly use /ə/. I’m pasting a link to a great article on this topic. Let me know if you have further questions. wstyler.ucsd.edu/posts/difference_schwa_wedge.html

You are not alone in having trouble hearing the difference between these two sounds. If you haven’t yet read the video description for this video please do. All the Minimal Pair videos on this channel contain detailed descriptions of the target sounds. For the Voiced TH and /d/ sounds, the mouth positions differ. For the TH, the tongue tip is gently held between the teeth while, for the /d/ sound the tongue tip taps the bony gum ridge behind and above the front teeth. Additionally, the TH sound can be held as long as there is breath in the lungs while the /d/ sound cannot be held. Listen again with these points in mind and see if you can better hear and produce the difference. By the way, your comment is very helpful to all who are reading this exchange because the first step in improved pronunciation is improved listening. We cannot produce what we can’t hear; ear training is key! Thank you very much for your comment and best wishes as you work on your English pronunciation skills.

If you can't hear the difference, it's because your phonological awareness is low in that area. If your native language does not distinguish these two sounds, then that would be normal for you. The good news is that you can improve your phonological awareness with practice. It's easier when you're younger. For older people, it can vary how long it takes them to develop an awareness of the distinction between the sounds. For some, they are never able to learn it, and thus they will always speak with a noticeable accent. But practice helps most people to improve.

Thanks for your input! Yes, practice is important....both listening practice and speaking practice. :)

@@VividEnglishUS You're welcome :) Don't know if you've heard but if you put your timestamps in your description, YT will automatically create chapters in your video for you.

Thanks. You may have noticed that a number of my videos have timestamps within a comment pinned to the top. I just reviewed a bunch of videos and added timestamps to video descriptionsl. HOWEVER, in one case, adding the timestamps to the video description caused CZcams's automated "Key Moments" to disappear. So I removed the timestamp list from the description and left only the timestamps as a pinned comment. Take a look at the video in the link that follows and let me know if you see the "Key Moments" featuring each word pair. I have no idea how to replicate that/encourage CZcams to do that again. It's a /f/ vs /v/ video: czcams.com/video/aWw6k_tmGOU/video.html

The words TRAVEL and TROUBLE have the /æ/ vs /ə/ (BLACK and MUSTARD) vowels sounds AND they differ in the consonant sounds that begin the second syllable in each word: /b/ and /v/. Check out the following video to train your ear to hear the difference between the /b/ and /v/ sounds: czcams.com/video/RErA2OquW6Y/video.html

Thank you so much ❣️, I learned the American pronunciation of these two words yesterday , when I saw your video, it reminded me of these two words pair, thank you so much for telling me the pronunciation in details again , I really appreciate it, your videos are amazing ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

Thank you very much for your kind words. It means a lot to me to know that you find the videos useful. If you have suggestions for future videos or have questions about pronunciation or any questions about the English language, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm eager to help! :)

Thanks for watching!