标准美语发音的13个秘诀 CD 3 Track 42

Chapter 6. The American R    CD 3 Track 42 

American English, today—although continually changing—is made up of the sounds of the various people who have come tosettle here from many countries. All of them have put in their linguistic two cents, the end result being that the easiest way to pronounce things has almost always been adopted as the most American. R is an exception, along with L and the sounds of [æ] and [th], and is one of the most troublesome sounds for people to acquire. Not only is it difficult for adults learning the language, but also for American children, who pronounce it like a W or skip over it altogether and only pick it up after they've learned all the other sounds.

The Invisible R 

The trouble is that you can't see an R from the outside. With a P, for instance, you can see when people put their lips together and pop out a littlepuff. With R, however, everything takes place behind almost closed lips—back down in the throat—and who can tell whatthe tongue is doing? It is really hard to tell what's going on if, when someone speaks, you can only hear the err 1 sound, especially if you're used to making an R by touching 2 your tongue to the ridge 3 behind your teeth. So, what should your tongue be doing?

This technique can help you visualize 4 the correct tongue movements in pronouncing the R. (1) Hold your hand out flat, with the palm up, slightlydropping the back end of it. That's basically the position your tongue is in when you say ah [ä], so your flat hand will represent this sound. (2) Now, to go from ah to the er, take your fingers and curl themup slightly. Again, your tongue should follow that action. The sides of your tongue should comeup a bit, too. When the air passes over that hollow in the middle of your tongue (look at the palm of your hand), that's what creates the er sound.

Try it using both your hand and tongue simultaneously 5. Say ah, with your throat open (and your hand flat), then curl your tongue up (and your fingers) and say errr. The tip of the tongue should be aimed at a middle position in the mouth, but never touching, and your throat should relax and expand. R, like L, has a slight schwa in it. This is what pulls the er down so far back in your throat.

Another way to get to er is to go from the ee sound and slide your tongue straight back like a collapsing accordion 6, letting the two sides of your tongue touch the insides of your molars; the tip of the tongue, however, again, should not touch anything. Now from ee, pull your tongue back toward the center of your throat, and pull the sound down into your throat:

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Since the R is produced in the throat, let's link it with other throat sounds.