The Problematic "O"

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The Problematic "O"

Words spelled with the letter "o" can cause many frustrations for students of the American accent. You have already learned that the pronunciation of a vowel does not necessary correspond to the spelling of the vowel. This is especially true of the letter "o". The letter "o" in the words job, love, and only are all pronounced differently.

The letter "o" is often represented by vowel sound /ʌ/, /oʊ/, and also by the vowel sound /ɑ/.

The Neutral Sound /ʌ/

First, let's look at the most problematic sound with an "o" spelling. It's the neutral sound /ʌ/, as in love /ˈlʌv/, other /ˈʌðɚ/, and Monday /ˈmʌnˌdeɪ/. which non-native speaker frequently mispronounce as /ˈlɑ:v/, /ˈɑðɚ/, and /ˈmɑnˌdeɪ/. The wrong pronunciation occurs because the /ʌ/ doesn't exist in some language and also because learners are used to this sound usually being spelled with the letter "u" as in up /ˈʌp/, fun /ˈfʌn/, and Sunday /ˈsʌnˌdeɪ/. You will improve your American accent if you simply memorize some very common words with the neutral /ʌ/ sound that are spelled with an "o", or "ou" or even "oo". Start by studing the pronunciation exceptions in the lists below.

Words spelled with "o" but pronounced as /ʌ/:

above		done		money		once		somewhere
another		dove		month		one		son
brother		from		mother		other		ton
color		love		nothing		some		won
come		Monday		of		something		wonderful
does

Words spelled with "ou" but pronounced as /ʌ/:

double		couple		Douglas		enough		rough
country		tough		cousin		touch		southern

Words spelled with "oo" but pronounced as /ʌ/:

blood

flood

The Sound /oʊ/

The vowel sound /oʊ/ is a close-mid back vowel. The vowel sound /oʊ/ is a 'rounded' vowel. It is pronounced with the lips rounded.

Words spelled with "o" but pronounced as /oʊ/:

comb		home		lone
coat		boat		load
chose		clothes		nose

The Sounds /ɑ/ and /ɔ/

In contrast to the /ʌ/, the vowel sound /ɑ/ as in father /ˈfɑ:ðɚ/, and /ɔ/ as in saw /ˈsɔ:/, require the mouth to be open. The sounds /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ are very similar, except that for the /ɔ/, the lips are a bit more oval in shape and the tongue is slightly tense. However in many parts of the United States the /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ are pronounce the same way. For example, many Americans pronounce hot /ˈhɑ:t/ and tall /ˈtɑ:l/ with the same vowel sound. Here we use /ɑ/ because it was decided not to indicate the contrast between words with /ɑ/ and /ɔ/.

Words spelled with "o" but pronounced as /ɑ/:

cot		hot		Tom		lot		rod
lost		boss		stop		job		office
modern		confident		clock		dollar		doctor