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  • In this American English pronunciation video, were going to go over the difference between

  • the wordsmanandmen’.

  • These two words are similar, but not the same. Thanks to those out there in the Rachel’s

  • English community who have suggested this comparison.

  • These words have a different vowel sound. ‘Manhas the AA, andmenhas the

  • EH. But it’s actully not quite as simple as just comparing these vowel sounds. When

  • the AA vowel is followed by a nasal consonant, like N, the sound changes a little bit. Well

  • get to see that when we watch these words up close and in slow motion.

  • Formen’, the lips start closed and we engage the vocal cords for the M. Mmmm. Then

  • we open into the EH vowel, me-. The jaw drops a good bit for this vowel. The tongue tip

  • is forward and down, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth. The middle/front

  • part of the tongue lifts towards the roof of the mouth, but it doesn’t get too close.

  • Make the middle of the tongue wider as it lifts. Eh, men. Then the front of the tongue

  • simply goes up to the roof of the mouth for the N, men. It stays wide and flat, the back

  • is relaxed. Men, men.

  • Manstarts the same way, with the lips closed, mm. Now we have the AA vowel, which

  • changes into the UH vowel before we get to the N. So for the AA vowel, the jaw drops

  • and the tongue tip stays forward, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth.

  • The back part of the tongue stretches up, aa, maa-, maa-, maa-. Lift the top of the

  • lip just a little bit. If we were making this a pure vowel, it would sound like this: AA,

  • man. But that’s not how we say it. Even though that’s what it says in the dictionary,

  • Americans relax it before making an N. So it sounds and looks like this: ma-uh-n. Did

  • you see how every thing relaxed? My lips relaxed, and my tongue relaxed down, ma-uh-n. We do

  • this with the AA vowel when it’s followed by N. Then, to make the N, the front part

  • of the tongue simply goes up to the roof of the mouth, ma-uh-n. It stays wide and flat,

  • the back is relaxed.

  • So the difference between these two words is: ‘menhas a pure EH vowel. Andman

  • has a modified AA vowel, where we start with the AA but relax into the UH sound.

  • Let’s compare these two words up close and in slow motion.

  • Here, the tongue position is almost the same. For the AA vowel, the back of the tongue is

  • a little higher. Now were just going to play the EH vowel. Notice how the tongue flips

  • up to the roof of the mouth for the N. Now well play theman’. See how the tongue

  • relaxes down in the back before the N.

  • Now well watch the two together. The wordmantakes a little longer because the

  • vowel changes.

  • Here, the tongue position is almost the same. For the AA vowel, the back of the tongue is

  • a little higher. Now were just going to play the EH vowel. Notice how the tongue flips

  • up to the roof of the mouth for the N. Now well play theman’. See how the tongue

  • relaxes down in the back before the N.

  • Now from the front. Again, the tongue position looks almost the same here. But the tongue

  • does look a little higher in the back foraa’. Now watch howmantake a little

  • longer as the tongue relaxes in the back.

  • Men. Man. [2x]

  • I hope this video has made the difference in these two words clear. If there’s a word

  • comparison you’d like to see, put it in the comments below.

  • Also, I’m very excited to tell you that my book is now on sale. If you liked this

  • video, there’s a lot more to learn about American English pronunciation, and my book

  • will help you step by step. You can get it by clicking here, or in the description below.

  • That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

In this American English pronunciation video, were going to go over the difference between

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