Producing /ɑ/

How to produce /ɑ/

Before anything else, get the articulation right. The right mouth position makes the sound effortless.

/ɑ/
open back unrounded
Lips: neutral
Tongue: low-back
Voicing: voiced
💡 Open mouth wide, tongue low and back.

Key production cues:

Open mouth wide, tongue low and back.

Practice the sound in isolation

Before trying words, practice the sound on its own. Record yourself. Does it match?

1. Say /ɑ/ in isolation — hold it for 2 seconds.
2. Say /ɑ/ quickly, 5 times in a row: /ɑ-ɑ-ɑ-ɑ-ɑ/.
3. Compare your recording to a native reference.

Try a few isolated words

These words all contain /ɑ/ in different positions — beginning, middle, and end:

• Beginning: on, odd, hot
• Middle: box, job, shop
• End / in clusters: rock, wash, want

/ɑ/open back unroundedArticulator diagram · regional variants · drill ↗