The ‘ar sound’ /ɑr/ is an r-controlled vowel. Technically, this sound is two distinct sounds (vowel sound+’r sound’ /r/). It is presented with the name ‘ar sound’ /ɑr/ to distinguish the fact that the vowel portion of the sound differs from the various pronunciations commonly used for the letter ‘a’ spelling.
The ‘ar sound’ /ɑr/ begins with the tongue in the position of a ‘short o’ /ɑ/ sound. The tip and center of the tongue are set low, inside the bottom teeth. The top of the tongue is nearly even with the top of the bottom teeth.
To transition to the ‘r’ portion of the sound, the body of the tongue moves upward. The mid-section of the tongue rises so the sides of the tongue touch the middle teeth. The air travels over the body of the tongue to create the /r/ portion of the sound. (NOTE: The secondary method of producing the /r/ may be used to produce the second portion of the ‘ar sound’ /ɑr/ instead of this technique.)
Listen to the ‘ar sound’
‘ar sound’
I hope you learned something of value. If you enjoyed learning this, you’ll love the other sounds too.
- Click here to learn How to pronounce the ‘S Sound’ /s/?
- Click here to learn How to pronounce the ‘Th Sounds’ /ð,θ/?
- Click here to learn How to pronounce the ‘L sound’ /l/?
Now that you have learned these difficult sounds, you should also consider mastering different tongue twisters.
- Click here to learn Tongue Twisters with ‘R Sound’
- Click here to learn Tongue Twisters with ‘Th Sound’
- Click here to learn Tongue Twisters with ‘L Sound’
- Click here to learn Tongue Twisters with ‘S Sound’
- Click here to learn Tongue Twisters with ‘R and L Sound’