If you want more information on the photos in this video, which have parts of the mouth drawn in, see this video on the parts of the mouth.

How to make this sound:

Video Text:

The 'oh' as in 'no' diphthong. The first sound of this diphthong is one that does not exist on its own as a vowel in American English. You can see the lips round quite a bit for this sound. The tongue raises, a little bit more in the back than in the front. And the tip of the tongue is pulled back so it's not touching anything within the mouth. The second sound: the 'uh' as in 'pull' sound []. Now. when this sound occurs in a diphthong, the lips tend to round more than they do when this sound is on it's own as a vowel. They come a little bit tighter, sort of like the 'oo' as in 'boo' []. Oh. Also in this second sound, the tongue pulls up more towards the back. And as I'm sure you can see, the jaw drops more on the first sound than in the second sound. Oh, oh. Also here, in this 'uh' as in 'pull' sound, the tip of the tongue is not touching anything, just like in the first sound of this diphthong. Oh, no.

Here we see both sounds of the diphthong. In the first sound, you can see the jaw is dropped more. In both sounds the lips are rounded, but they are more rounded in the second sound. Here are the two sounds in profile. Again, note that the jaw has dropped more in the first sound. Here, parts of the mouth are drawn in. In the first sound, the tongue is pulled slightly back and up. In the second sound, it stretches up even more towards the soft palate. In both sounds, the tongue tip is not quite touching the bottom front teeth.

Sample words: lonely, owner, telephone. Sample sentence: The window of the hotel was blown out and broken. Now you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this diphthong.

The. Tongue through the teeth for the TH sound []. Window, lips together for the W shape, tongue up for the N. Teeth together for the D. And here a quick 'oh' as in 'no' diphthong. Of, bottom lip for the V, the hotel, again, 'oh' as in 'no', 'eh' as in 'bed' [], and the tongue up for the L. Was blown, the 'oh' as in 'no', you can see the lips rounding more at the end. Out, with the 'ow' as in 'now' diphthong []. And broken. Lips together for the B, R [], and here is the 'oh' as in 'no' diphthong. Broken.

And from an angle. Tongue through the teeth for the TH. The window, lips make the W. Tongue up for the N and D. And here is an 'oh' as in 'no'. You see the lips round more at the end. Of the ho-, again 'oh' as in 'no', you see the tongue move back, hotel. Lips together for the T. 'Eh' as in 'bed' and the tongue comes forward for the L. Was blown, lips together for the B. Tongue up for the L and down, 'oh' as in 'no', again you see the tongue moving back. Tongue up for the N. Out. Teeth together for the T. And broken, lips together for the B, again an 'oh' as in 'no' diphthong, forming a tight circle at the end. Broken. Tongue tip up to make the N.

International Phonetic Alphabet symbol: []

This sound comines the closed oh, which in American English does not occur outside of this diphthong, with the 'uh' as in 'pull' [] sound.

Miss the old sound video? See it here.