sound of the letter O of the English alphabet

[TaiwanPofLee]

Does the pronunciation of the alphabet letter O start with the sound of 'aw' as in the word law and end with the sound of 'oo' as in the word 'foot' (Note: not 'food')? This is a question for both British and American English.

I am aware that the alphabet letter O is a diphthong with two adjacent vowel sounds. What's on my mind is that all British answers would be in the negative but how many American answers could be in the affirmative.

Responses pointing out the two adjacent vowel sounds of the alphabet letter O will be better appreciated.

 

[emsr2d2]

It just sounds like the word "oh", although perhaps a little elongated. It's the same sound as the "o" in "so" or "low". It's a very simple sound. It doesn't start with one sound and finish with another. It is just one sound. The mouth gets smaller as it's spoken from a round "O" shape to a smaller "o" shape.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Not in BrE, as far as I'm concerned.

Edit: (I'm replying to post #1, of course)

 

[Raymott]

As in your other thread, it would good if you could clarify whether you mean the sound of the name of letter 'O', or the sound it makes. The letter 'O' makes various sounds. The letter name is usually referred to as a diphthong.

The sound of 'O' is given in IPA as:
"The letter O is the fourth most common letter in the English alphabet.[SUP][2][/SUP] Like the other English vowel letters, it has associated "long" and "short" pronunciations. The "long o" as in boat is actually most often a diphthong /oʊ/ (realized dialectically anywhere from [o] to [əʊ]). In English there is also a "short O" as in fox, /ɒ/, which sounds slightly different in different dialects."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O

PS: I know you don't believe me, but I hope I've given you enough information to make the decision yourself.
You'd do much better in going to YouTube and looking up "English Alphabet" and hearing these sounds.

 

[Raymott]

It doesn't start with one sound and finish with another. It is just one sound. The mouth gets smaller as it's spoken from a round "O" shape to a smaller "o" shape.

How can you change the shape of your mouth while saying a letter and not start with one sound and end with another. 'O' is a diphthong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphthong

 

[Raymott]

	RP (British)	Australian	North American
GenAm	Canadian
low	[əʊ̯]	[əʉ̯]	[o̞ʊ̯~ʌʊ̯]
loud	[aʊ̯]	[æɔ̯]	[aʊ̯~æʊ̯]	[aʊ̯~æʊ̯]
lout	[ʌʊ̯][SUP][t2 1][/SUP]
lied	[aɪ̯]	[ɑe̯]	[äɪ̯]
light	[ʌɪ̯][SUP][t2 1][/SUP]
lane	[eɪ̯]	[æɪ̯]	[eɪ̯]
loin	[ɔɪ̯]	[oɪ̯]	[ɔɪ̯]
loon	[ʊu̯][SUP][t2 2][/SUP]	[ʉː]	[ʉu̯][SUP][t2 2][/SUP]
lean	[ɪi̯][SUP][t2 2][/SUP]	[ɪi̯][SUP][t2 2][/SUP]	[SUP][t2 2][/SUP]

Standard English diphthongs

[TR]
[TD]leer[/TD]
[TD][ɪə̯][/TD]
[TD][ɪə̯][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][ɪɚ̯][SUP][t2 3][/SUP][SUP][t2 4][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]lair[/TD]
[TD][ɛə̯][SUP][t2 5][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][eː][SUP][t2 5][/SUP][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][ɛɚ̯][SUP][t2 3][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]lure[/TD]
[TD][ʊə̯][SUP][t2 5][/SUP][/TD]
[TD][ʊə̯][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][ʊɚ̯][SUP][t2 3][/SUP][/TD]
[/TR]

 

[Tdol]

Does the pronunciation of the alphabet letter O start with the sound of 'aw' as in the word law and end with the sound of 'oo' as in the word 'foot' (Note: not 'food')? This is a question for both British and American English.

I don't think you'd find many native speakers who would say yes because they would think that you meant saying the two sounds like two syllables, and most would probably see it as a single sound. That does not mean that they are right, though.

 

[Raymott]

Here's a pure vowel chart. A dipthong begins at one pure vowel and ends at another.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_talk:IPA_for_English/Archive_11

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

Thank you all for your responses.

By "the alphabet letter O" I mean O as the 15th letter of the English alphabet. "The alphabet letter O" has only one pronunciaion. I'm not talking about the letter o which can have several different pronunciations in all the words which contain a letter O, such as hope, hot, love, and actor.

Responses pointing out the two adjacent vowel sounds of the pronunciation of the alphabet letter O, such as /ə/ plus /oo/ and /aw/ plus /u/ (as in the word put), will be better appreciated.

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

Thank you, Raymott. By "the alphabet letter O" I mean O as the 15th letter of the English alphabet, which has only one diphthong pronunciaion.

 

[Raymott]

Thank you, Raymott. By "the alphabet letter O" I mean O as the 15th letter of the English alphabet, which has only one diphthong pronunciaion.

Wikipedia would not agree. Nor would I. There are four diphthong pronunciations in the first chart I posted!
Also, I repeat, "The "long o" as in boat is actually most often adiphthong /oʊ/ (realized dialectically anywhere from [o] to [əʊ])".
But I feel I'm wasting my time. Someone else with a knowledge of phonetics might give you the answer you want.