{"id":4438,"date":"2021-04-08T11:10:10","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T18:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/english-speaking\/?p=4438"},"modified":"2021-04-12T08:54:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:54:01","slug":"the-cow-diphthong-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/english-speaking\/the-cow-diphthong-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"The “OW” Diphthong, Like in “Cow”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diphthongs are sounds that contain two sounds within one syllable. If you were to clap for each syllable while you say these words, the diphthong would be part of just one clap. Let’s learn how to pronounce the “ow” diphthong, as heard in words like cow<\/em> and around<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Pronounce the “ow” Diphthong<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n

To make the “ow” (or phonetically \/a\u028a\/) diphthong sound, you will need to know how to make the separate sounds of \/a\/ as in \u201cstart<\/em>\u201d and \u201carm<\/em>\u201d, and \/\u028a\/, as in \u201cwolf<\/em>\u201d and \u201cbull<\/em>\u201d, shortly after each other. In a diphthong, the sound slides from the one sound, in this case the \/a\/ to the \/\u028a\/. You may notice that your lips start to form a tight circle as you move from the \/a\/ sound to the \/\u028a\/ sound.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This sound is commonly used in both <\/span>American<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>British English<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples of the “ow’ sound<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You can find the “ow” (or \/a\u028a\/) sound in many words that have an “ou” and “ow” spelling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n