/ɑʊ/

LISTEN

/ɑʊ/…/ɑʊ/…/ɑʊ/…/ɑʊ/

cow…loud…found…tow​el

WHAT IS IT?

Pronunciation:
The sound /ɑʊ/ is a diphthong. This means your mouth should move from one position to another.

  • Lower your jaw and tongue, and make your lips very open and wide (as for /ɑ/). Your tongue should be low, tight, and pulled backwards.
  • Breathe out and let your vocal cords vibrate.
  • As you do this, quickly raise your tongue and move your lips into a small circle (as for /ʊ/).

This vowel is usually stressed, as in these words:

  • power
  • loudly
  • about

However, /ɑʊ/ can also be unstressed, as in these words:

  • doghouse
  • turnout
  • outside

Spelling:

  • “ow” – cow, brown
  • “ou” – about, found
  • “ough” (less common) – bough, drought

COMPARE

Compare /ɑʊ/ with /ɑ/:

/ɑʊ/…/ɑ/…/ɑʊ/…/ɑ/…/ɑʊ/…/ɑ/

The sound /ɑ/ is a low, central vowel. The sound /ɑʊ/ starts as /ɑ/, but it moves quickly into a high, back vowel.

You can hear the difference between /ɑʊ/ and /ɑ/ in these words.

1. ​A. mouse, B. moss
2. A. mouth, B. moth
3. A. tower, B. tar​
4. A. bound, B. bond
5. A. pout, B. pot
6. A. our, B. are

Practice recognizing words with /ɑʊ/ and /ɑ/ by taking the quiz here (external site).

Now compare /ɑʊ/​ with /ow/:

/ɑʊ/​…/ow/…/ɑʊ/​…/ow/…/ɑʊ/​…/ow/

The sound /ow/ is a mid, back vowel. The sound /ɑʊ/ starts as a low, central vowel but moves into a high, back vowel.

You can hear the difference between /ɑʊ/ and /ow/ in these words.

1. A. out, B. oat​
2. A. rouse, B. rose
3. A. couch, B. coach
4. A. bowel, B. bowl
5. A. drown, B. drone
6. A. found, B. phoned

Practice recognizing words with /ɑʊ/ and /ow/ by taking the quiz here (external site).

PRACTICE

Listen and repeat these words:

1. now
2. mouse
3. crowd
4. couch
5. outer
6. allow
7. brown
8. count
9. sound
10. vowel

11. shower
12. lou​dly
13. lounge
14. renowned
15. doghou​se
16. doubtless
17. pronou​nce 
18. powerful
19. coward
20. roundabout

Now, practice /ɑʊ/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences.

1. how – about – now 
​How can you think about food right now?
2. encountered – crowd – outside
We encountered a large crowd outside.
3. scout – down – mountain
The scout led us down the mountain.
4. our – flowers – brown
Our flowers are turning brown.
5. allowed – loud – house
You’re not allowed to play loud music in the house.
6. found – couch – lounge
I found him on the couch in the lounge.

​To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:

Male – US Midwest (St. Louis)

Male – US Midwest (Iowa)

Male – US Midwest

Female – US Northeast

Female – US Southeast

USE IT

Practice the task below. Then, record yourself completing that task. Give your recording to a teacher or an English-speaking friend for feedback.

​Prepare:
Which of these things do you do when you need to figure out ​(solve) a problem?

  • Outline what you know and don’t know 
  • Pout about it
  • Sit and think about it for an hour
  • Allow other people to help you
  • Calm down
  • Imagine the worst possible outcome
  • Think aloud
  • Write about it in a journal​
  • Leave your house and walk around
  • Doubt your ability to solve the problem

​Record:
​Imagine you’re giving advice to a friend about how to solve a problem. In your recording, explain 2 things your friend should do and 1 thing your friend should not do.

Home

©2024, Christine Wingate

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.