Producing /ɑː/

How to produce /ɑː/

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

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

Key production cues:

Open mouth wide, tongue low and back, hold long.

Practice the sound in isolation

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

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

Try a few isolated words

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

• Beginning: ah, arm, far
• Middle: palm, bath, class
• End / in clusters: path, glass, laugh

/ɑː/long open back unroundedArticulator diagram · regional variants · drill ↗