Unstressed syllables often use a Schwa sound rather than a full clear vowel. Listen to the words below, to see if you can hear which vowels are schwa.
adjacent almost asleep
happen hesitate phonetic
prevalent student symbol
The Answers:
adjacent – 2nd syllable strong with two schwas: ədjacənt
almost – 1st syllable strong, and two clear vowels
asleep – 2nd syllable strong with one schwa: əsleep
happen – 1st syllable strong, one schwa: happən
hesitate – 1st syllable strongest, just one schwa: hesətate
phonetic – 2nd syllable strong, two schwas: phənetəc
prevalent – 1st syllable strong, two schwas: prevələnt
student – 1st syllable strong, one schwa: studənt
symbol – 1st syllable strong, one schwa: symbəl
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What is the sound of the vowels in “know” and “how”? Are they the same? Words like these are often mispronounced because, even though they are spelled similarly, their pronunciation is actually different!
Two Options for “OW”
These are the two sounds: >> Long-O (as in “go”) – The word “know” sounds exactly the same as the word “no”! >> Vowel /aw/ (or IPA /au/) – This is like the word “wow” or “house”.
First, the Non-Predictable Groups
These two groups of words are not predictable and simply need to be memorized.
Long-O (as in “go”)
Vowel /aw/ (as in “wow”)
blow bowl crow flow glow grow know low owe
own row show slow snow stow throw tow
allow brow chow cow endow how meow now
owl ow! plow pow prow vow wow yow
When you know the correct sound for those words, then you will also know the correct sound for any words that are built from them, such as: bowling, growth, anyhow, owlet…
Second, the Predictable Groups
All other words follow a clear pattern, depending on whether “OW” is at the end of the word, or in the middle of the word. Here are just a few examples; there are many more that fit these two categories, and are easily predictable.
“-OW” at the end
“-OW-“ in the middle
Long-O (as in “go”)
Vowel /aw/ (as in “wow”)
borrow follow meadow mellow
narrow shadow swallow window
brown crowd frown growl
browse drowsy flower vowel
Again, when larger words are built with these kinds of words, they keep their original sound: follower, shadowy, brownish, flowery…
EXCEPTION! One word, “know” changes sound when it forms the word “knowledge”.
Long-U2 is used after consonants that are made with the front part of the tongue.
For English, these consonants are: T / D / S / Z / L / R / TH / SH / CH / J. Some examples are: tube / duty / clue / suit / rule / enthused / June.
Sometimes this vowel sound has other spelling patterns: >> “EW”, “EU”: dew / chew / blew / flew / deuce / sleuth >> “OO”: choose / soon / zoom / shoot / loose / mood / cool
Long-U1 /yuw/
Long-U1 is used for all other contexts. That means after any consonant sound that is NOT made with the front part of the tongue.
For English, those consonants are: P / B / F / V / M / C (K) / G / H. Some examples are: pupil / bugle / fuel / music / cube / argue / huge.
In addition, “other contexts” also includes when Long-U is the first letter of a word. For example: use / union / unit.
Some alternative spellings are: >> “EW”, “IEW”, “EU”: few / mew / view / feud / eulogy / eucalyptus
NOTE—
Words with “N” are not predictable, so they need to be learned individually. When you see a new word that has “N” before Long-U, just remember to check how to say it.
Some that always use Long-U1 are: annual / continue / genuine / granule / innuendo / January / manual / manufacture / menu / minuet / monument / venue. These all sound odd if they are pronounced with Long-U2.
Some examples with Long-U2 are: avenue / manure / nuance / nude / nucleus / numeric / new / news. (Some of these can also be pronounced with Long-U1, but that makes them sound more old-style.)
Try It!
Using the patterns explained above, you now can figure out how the Long-U should be pronounced in these words, even if some of the words are unfamiliar for you. (You can find the answers are at the bottom of this post.)
Some English textbooks teach you that the way to pronounce the numbers 13 and 30 is like this…
>> 13 – stress the 2nd part: thirTEEN >> 30 – stress the 1st part: THIRty
BUT… is it always true? Definitely not! Well, one part is always true, and one part is only sometimes true.
The True Part
The number 30 is always stressed on the first syllable, so that’s the true part. It is also true for the other numbers such as 20, 40, 50, etc.
The Sometimes-True Part
The numbers 13 through 19 are sometimes stressed on the 2nd syllable, but this is not actually the normal or default way to say them.
Normally, the “-teen” numbers are spoken as two strong parts, almost more like two words. The stress should only go on the 2nd syllable, the “-teen” part, in certain situations.
An important reason to put stress on “-teen” is for clarification. For example, when we want to be sure that we are communicating the correct number, we can say something like,
“Did you say fourTEEN or FORty?”
Otherwise, the normal way to say the number 14 in a sentence, is make both parts strong, such as,
“I only need FOUR-TEEN dollars.”
If you put stress on “-teen” every time that you say a number between 13 and 19, it can sound a bit awkward. I have heard non-native speakers of English who speak this way, and while I am impressed by how carefully they trained themselves to use the pattern that they were taught, I am also a little bit sad that they were misinformed. Sometimes they have excellent English pronunciation overall, but when they say numbers, it can sound a little bit “off”.
The Default Stress Pattern
The normal pattern for the “-teen” numbers is to say them with two strong syllables, almost like two separate words. That is how they should be pronounced for all of these examples:
“The price is $14.95.” “It begins in 15 minutes.” “That’s an 18% increase.” “My son is 19 years old.” “It’s on the 14th of May.” “The temperature is 13 degrees.” Counting: “19, 18, 17, 16…”
The Secondary Pattern
The secondary stress pattern is with the 2nd syllable more prominent, so that the “-teen” part is louder. This is used for clarification (as mentioned above) and also when the number is the final stress point of a phrase or sentence, or when spoken alone.
“He turned 19, yesterday.” “His birthday is May 14th.” “What time is it?” “It’s 11:16.” “Look on page 15.” “The score is 10 to 13.” “How many do we have?” “17.”
Contrastive Stress
However, if there is a need to contrast two different “-teen” numbers, then the emphasis moves to the place of contrast. For example,
“Look on page 16, not page 15.”
In this case, the first part of each number (“SIXteen” and “FIFteen”) is strongest, in order to give emphasis to the part that is being clarified.
Similarly, this sentence has two “-teen” numbers, so the end-of-sentence focal point that normally would put stress on the “-teen” part of 13, is again suspended:
“The score is 17 to 13.”
The Recap
Numbers such as 20, 30, and 40 are always stressed on the first syllable. The “-teen” numbers normally have two strong syllables, but the stress shifts to the 2nd part if the number is the last strong word in a phrase. Additionally, the “-teen” part is emphasized when we need to clarify, as in, “My son is thirTEEN, not THIRty.”
This is Part 2 on the topic of English dark-L. The main points from Part 1 are:
It is totally possible to speak excellent English without learning about dark-L, and
Incorrectly pronouncing dark-L can sometimes cause less clear speech.
Plus, some easy advice for correcting dark-L and light-L pronunciation.
Part 2 provides additional clarification about:
Why dark-L does not really need to be viewed as a separate sound for the purposes of language learners.
How to explain dark-L to students in a simple, learner-friendly way, and avoid making it too complicated.
Because of some of the conflicting advice about dark-L, my purpose is to help English learners who have been confused about it, and to also provide helpful insights for English teachers.
But first, a fun little detour…
Have you seen the British show “Wallace and Gromit”? If so, have you noticed how the characters speak? The articulation for “L” has always caught my eye. The tongue tip is very visible between the teeth for “L”, just like for “TH”. The speech of these characters may be a bit exaggerated, but some native speakers sometimes do articulate “L” this way. These characters exemplify the importance of the tongue tip for English “L”, and it is also kind of fun to watch!
Back to Dark-L – Is it necessary to teach this?
For many learners of English, focusing on dark-L is generally not time well spent, especially if there are other more serious pronunciation problems that need improvement. However, if we do want to teach it, it may be better to not view it as a separate distinct sound or a completely different kind of “L”, because the difference between light-L and dark-L is actually pretty small.
On A Spectrogram
On a spectrogram, light-L and dark-L look pretty similar. The primary differences are that dark-L tends to have a longer time duration (in milliseconds), and that the 2nd formant (frequency band) tends to be a bit higher, somewhat similar to a high-back vowel, such as /u/. These are fairly minor differences and not exactly two different sounds.
The Native-Speaker Perspective
Native speakers are not aware of it! Native-speakers of English do not consciously make two different kinds of “L”, and young children are never taught to use different sounds. If you ask a typical native speaker – someone who is not a linguist, language teacher, or language learner – about the two different “L” sounds, they may just think that you are confused about English.
In contrast, it is not unusual for a native speaker of English to notice that there are different kinds of “T” sounds. For example, many are aware that the “T” in “butter” is often different for Americans compared to British speakers, or that the word “mitten” often has a different kind of “T”. However, the “L” sound is not something that English speakers typically talk about.
So, the difference is pretty small on a spectrogram, and it’s not enough to catch the attention of native speakers. And the reason it is not noticed by native speakers is because they regularly shift back-and-forth between light-L and dark-L very fluidly and very naturally.
Naturally, How?
For native speakers of English, shifting between the “dark” or “light” versions of “L” happens naturally based on the position of an “L” in a syllable.
Light-L: At the beginning of words/syllables. At the beginning of a word or syllable, the articulation of “L” is brief because it has the task of simply initiating the syllable. It has a short duration because the tongue tip needs to contact the top of the mouth just briefly and then immediately move on to the vowel that follows. Excess tension in the tongue body would be less conducive to this quick, brief movement. Therefore, the tongue has a medium amount of tension and the result is a basic light-L.
Dark-L: At the ends of words/syllables. The English language tends to have relatively strong endings for syllables. So, at the end of a syllable, “L” automatically has a slightly longer duration and a higher level of tongue tension, making it sound a bit stronger, which is suitable for the ending (or coda) of the syllable. The extra tongue tension is generated at the back of the tongue and it gives the “L” a heavier, fuller sound.
Shifting: Dark-L Reverts to Light-L
In spoken English, syllable boundaries shift in order to streamline articulation. Any syllable that starts with a vowel will typically borrow a preceding consonant when it has the opportunity. So, for example, a phrase such as “watch us”, when spoken in conversation, sounds more like “wa-chus”. Language teachers refer to this syllable-boundary-shifting as “linking”. This kind of linking is a very basic feature of spoken English, and it frequently causes a shift for “L”.
Because of linking, dark-L often reverts to light-L. For example, the word “call” has dark-L. But if a vowel follows it, such as in the phrasal verb “call off”, then the “L” is borrowed or “linked” in order to initiate the next part (“off”) and so it reverts to light-L. So, the verb “call off”, typically sounds like “ca-lloff”. Likewise, if a suffix which begins with a vowel is added, such as “-ing”, dark-L reverts to light-L so it can be the start of the second syllable, and it sounds like “ca-lling”.
Shifting: Light-L Converts to Dark-L
If a native-speaker makes a prolonged “L”, they end up with dark-L, because their tongue naturally tenses up when the sound is sustained. This can happen in speech, for example, when someone says “Oh, pllllllease!!!” emphatically (to express annoyance, disapproval or disagreement). Normally the word “please” has a light-L because the “L” is part of the beginning of the syllable, however, it becomes dark-L when it is held for a longer period of time.
Reframing Light-L vs. Dark-L: The Front End and the Back End of the Same Sound
Switching from light-L to dark-L is so natural and fluid, that it can be viewed as “2 sides of the same coin”. But I actually like to view it as two ends of the same sound. That is, a prolonged “L” sound initiates with a light-L tongue movement, but since it doesn’t move directly to another sound, the back of the tongue tenses to sustain it and makes dark-L. Thus, light-L is the beginning, or the front end of the sound, and dark-L is the back end. It is essentially one sound, not two different sounds, yet dark-L is sometimes oddly over-emphasized.
A Simplified Approach for Teaching
It is true that native speakers make dark-L in different ways and that it is not crucial for the tip of the tongue to make contact, etc. However, too many extra details are usually not helpful for the average non-native speaker of English, with a busy life, who wants to improve their English quickly. So, here is a de-complicated, more efficient way to explain light-L and dark-L which also helps avoid accidental mispronunciations that can sometimes happen.
1. Explaining the Location: “Where Does Dark-L Occur?”
Explanations for where dark-L and light-L occur are often fairly complicated and not easy to learn or remember. For example, the context is frequently explained something like this:
Light-L happens: > At the beginning of a word, OR > The middle of a word before a vowel OR > In a beginning cluster such as ‘CL’ or ‘PL’.
Dark-L happens: > At the ends of words, OR > After a vowel, OR > Preceding a consonant at the end of a syllable such as ‘LD’ or ‘LP’.
That is definitely NOT easy to learn or remember. However (good news!)… it can be described much more simply, like this:
Light-L: Whenever “L” precedes a vowel sound. Dark-L: Anywhere else. (Whenever ‘L’ does not precede a vowel sound.)
Here are some examples:
light-Lbefore a vowel sound
dark-Lelsewhere
left
file (e=ø)
please
apple (e=ø)
belong
filter
willing
will
caller
holder
A caution to English learners: Remember to watch out for silent “-E”. Light-L happens whenever “L” precedes a vowel sound, but not every vowel letter. For example, the word “silly” has light-L because the “L” precedes the vowel sound of the “Y”, but the word “uncle” has dark-L because “L” is the last sound in the word since the “-E” at the end has no sound.
Test Yourself!
Which words have dark-L? (The answers are at the bottom of the article.)
airflow / children / clear / example / explain / fall / follow / goal / light longer / only / simple / spell / spell out / vowel / vowel sounds / while
2. The Back of the Tongue Quandary
The other main reason why dark-L can be confusing is because there are so many different explanations about the back of the tongue. Some teachers say the back of the tongue is raised, some say it is lowered, some say it moves forward, some say it moves back, and some say the throat tenses up, like for choking. (I even read a description that said the back of the tongue goes up to touch the soft palate at the back of the mouth… but, besides being almost physically impossible, that would cut off the airflow and not work at all!) So… which is right?
The truth is that it can be different for different native speakers, and at the same time, there is also a somewhat flexible range for the place of the tension. So for example, I previously explained (in Part 1) how to produce a very good quality dark-L by starting with an “O” sound, then unrounding the lips and raising the tip of the tongue to touch the top of the mouth, while maintaining the “O” position in the back. On the other hand, the tension in the back of the tongue can be produced farther back than the “O” position. This often happens in words that have /u/ followed by /l/, such as “cool”. For a native speaker, the tongue tension that initially starts at the position of the /u/ will then often move a bit further back for “L”.
That explains why different descriptions of dark-L seem to be contradictory (and why there is disagreement among linguists about whether it is velarized or pharyngealized or uvularized). The factor that they all have in common is the additional tension in the back part of the tongue muscle. So once again, we can simplify things for the learners with an explanation like this:
Dark-L is similar to light-L but the back of the tongue needs to be more tense – the tension can occur wherever it feels most comfortable and natural.
That’s it! Some additional tension created anywhere in the back of the tongue will make a successful dark-L, and keeping the tongue tip at the light-L position will avoid the inadvertent “O” sound that some non-native speakers unintentionally make.
The Summary
Since English pronunciation and spelling patterns are very complex, it is always my goal to find less complicated ways to explain things and help make learning English more clear and efficient.
The key points for English “L” are:
light-L and dark-L are really just 2 slightly different versions of the same sound
the average native-speaker of English is not aware of them
they naturally and regularly alternate based on the position within a syllable
light-L happens before vowel sounds and shifts to dark-L if it is not before a vowel
dark-L simply has more tension at the back of the tongue and is slightly longer or slower
Again, since dark-L is not crucial for excellent pronunciation, I rarely talk about dark-L with my students — our time is usually better spent on other aspects of pronunciation. However, if someone who has a very high level of pronunciation wants to tweak and perfect their English, then dark-L may be something they want to work on.
If I were coaching a non-native speaker who wanted to improve this detail of pronunciation, I would have a tendency to skip the term “dark-L” and just say that any time that an “L” does not precede a vowel sound, it sounds nicer and more similar to a native speaker if it has a little bit more tension in the back of the tongue and goes just a little bit slower.
P.S. Silent “L”!… Sometimes I have students who have not learned about words with silent “L”. So, in case you didn’t know, in all of these words, the “L” is silent (it has no sound): could, would, should, walk, talk, chalk, half, calf, folk, yolk.
Answers: Which words have dark-L? (in bold)
airflow / children / clear / example / explain / fall / follow / goal / light longer / only / simple / spell / spell out / vowel / vowel sounds / while
You can find additional advice and practice for some common difficulties related to English “L” on my Patreon page! My Patreon has a supplementary article (with audio) on English “L” and includes practice on these areas:
“L” vs. “R” (often a problem for Korean, Japanese and other Asian language speakers)
“L” vs. “N” (often difficult for Chinese speakers)
Correcting Ultra-Light-L (common for French and Spanish speakers)
Avoiding Dark-L at the beginning of English words (an issue for some Russian speakers)
Patreon tiers range from $2 to $100 USD per month, and support my goal of creating a comprehensive online English pronunciation learning platform!!
In Vowel Sequences 1 and Vowel Sequences 2, we learned about the strategy of using the end part of a Long-vowel (the off-glide) to create a transition to another vowel after it. This creates a clear boundary between two vowels and also serves as a bridge to help your tongue move from the first vowel to the second.
NOTE: If you have not yet seen Vowel Sequences 1 or Vowel Sequences 2, it will probably help to start there first, so that you can see some examples and better understand this topic.
We can use the same vowel-sequence strategy, to help us more clearly and easily say words that have a Long-vowel followed by “R” or “L”. This is because the “R” of English has some phonetic properties that are similar to vowels, and this is also why “R” can sometimes even act as a vowel. For example, in the word “never” the second syllable is just an R-sound, and the “E” is silent. (See more examples in: The Power of R). Likewise, the “L” can also sometimes be a substitute for a vowel sound, for example, in the word “buckle” the second syllable is just an L-sound, and the “E” is silent.
Example 1: The word “more”
I have noticed that many students have difficulty clearly saying words with a Long-O followed by “R”, such as, “more”, “form”, “course”, or “board.” For example, the word “or” sometimes sounds more like the word “are”, or “all”, or “owe” or even “awe.”
Using the vowel-sequence strategy for “O+R” can make these words easier to pronounce and sound better. Let’s look at how this works with the word “more”:
looking at the IPA symbol for Long-O (/ow/) reveals the off-glide that we need
the off-glide, /w/, will be used for the transition — so we make it a little bit stronger
so for the word “more” the lip and tongue movements actually follow the same sequence as the word “mower”
in fact, when the word “more” is spoken emphatically, it does sound just the same as “mower,” for example, when somebody is expressing a strong desire and says “But I want more!”
Example 2: The word “fair”
The word “fair” has a Long-A followed by “R”:
the IPA symbol for Long-A (/ey/) shows us the off-glide we need
the off-glide, /y/, gets strengthened a bit to be used for the transition
the word “fair” is really more like saying “fayer” (rhymes with “prayer”)
an unhappy child will often emphasize the /y/ part when they say “That’s not fair!”
More examples
Here are words with each of the long vowels followed by an “R” or “L.” Listen for the /y/ transition after Long-A, Long-E, and Long-I, and the /w/ transition after Long-O and Long-U.
Words with a long-vowel + “R”: scare / here / fire / core / lure
Words with a long-vowel + “L”: nail / feel / pile / stole / mule
All of the words shown here are just one syllable, and they would never be split apart for writing purposes. However, when you are speaking, it almost feels a little bit like they are two syllables for your mouth, so thinking of it that way, can be a helpful strategy as you train your mouth to say these sequences.
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