Consonant Sound / h / as in 'home' – American English Pronunciation

This may come as a surprise, but the /h/ consonant is one of the sounds that make your foreign accent stand out. Why? Because the American /h/ is quite different from the similar sounds in other languages. And we're not even talking about spelling… So, it's a long video, but we think it's absolutely worth watching.
As usual, all the pronunciation instructions and exercises are recorded by a professional speech therapist.

Quick Links:
• Consonant sound /h/, as in "home:" 00:00
• A brief overview of fricative consonants: 0:47
• Fricative consonants definition: 01:41
• How to pronounce the /h/ sound: 03:27
• Typical mistakes: 06:42
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 08:18
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 10:05
• Pronunciation exercise 3: 11:46
• Letter 'H' representing other sounds: 13:10

Related Videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #FricativeSounds
► Consonant Sound /f/ as in "fun"
► Consonant Sound /v/ as in "very"
► Consonant Sound /s/ as in "sun"
► Consonant Sound /z/ as in "zoo"
► Consonant Sound /ʃ/ as in "show"
► Consonant Sound /ʒ/ as in "vision"
► Consonant Sound /θ/ as in "think"
► Consonant Sound /ð/ as in "this"
► Consonant Sound /h/ as in "home" – this video

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, VIETNAMESE, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT

Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the American consonant sound /h/, as in the word "home."
You can also hear this sound in words like "head," "who," "perhaps" or "hero."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /h/ - for this sound.
As usual, let's begin with some phonology. Don't worry, it's not complicated :).
The /h/ belongs to a category of consonant sounds called the fricatives.
This is the largest group of consonants in American English: it consists of nine different sounds!
So, why are they called the fricative consonants?
All these sounds are made by partially blocking the air moving through your mouth, which creates audible friction.
Speaking about the /h/ consonant, - this sound is slightly different as it's made by constricting the air flowing between the vocal cords in your throat.
So, let's find out how to make this consonant.
To make the /h/ sound correctly, pay attention to how and where the friction from the air flow is created.
Ok. Slightly open your mouth; for now, leave your lips and your tongue in a neutral position.
Next, breathe out while you partially bring your vocal cords together. It'll create some noise, like this: /h/.
Note that the /h/ is a voiceless sound. Even though it's created between your vocal cords, you shouldn't add your voice. So, don't vibrate your vocal cords, just let the air out as if you're exhaling it: /h/.
Also note that even though the /h/ belongs to the fricative consonants, it's not made with much friction. Let's say it's a 3 on a scale from 1 to 10.
However, as with all the other fricatives, the /h/ is a continuous sound. So you should be able to stretch it out. This may sound a little creepy, but let's give it a try. Ready? /h-h-h-h-h/
Now, let's try saying it: /h/, /h/, /h/

Now get ready for the tricky part. Don't say we didn't warn you.

In English, the /h/ consonant is always followed by a vowel sound. Therefore, when you pronounce the /h/, your lips and tongue take the position of the vowel that comes next.
When the /h/ consonant is followed by a low vowel, such as the /ɔ/ sound, your tongue is placed very low. So, the friction from the airflow happens low in your throat, as we just discussed.
But when the /h/ sound is followed by a high vowel, such as the tense /i/, your tongue is raised high. So the friction from the airflow shifts higher, somewhere between your tongue and your palate.
If it doesn't seem simple enough just yet, don't worry. We'll practice words with the /h/ sound in a minute.
[Pronunciation exercise 1]
• hello
• hand
• whole
• anyhow
• behave
• hall
• hat
• hail
• hair
• behind
• head
• horse
• heart
• hard
• health
• habit
• hawk

[Pronunciation exercise 2]

• hear
• hiccup
• hood
• hoop
• heal
• hook
• heap
• hulk
• hunger
• history
• hunt
• who
• hint
• hiss
• whose

[Pronunciation exercise 3]

• ghost
• rhyme
• bright
• what
• vehicle
• dough
• delight
• neighbor
• whale
• fought
• honest
• eight
• weigh
• honor
• light
• hour

[syedjaffer]

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[prajaktapatkar]

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[DuongVu_DTH]

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I always click and watch all the ads in your videos.
You are one of my favorite teachers.
Thanks for everything!
Thanks to your team! <3

[bowenwang]

I have commented so many times here to appreciate your hard work and again thank you so much from the bottom of my heart

[polos]

Thanks for put your time to create this video. The explanation is the best. The drawing of how to put the tongue, the lips and the mouth helped me a lot. All your videos have helped me a lot!

[benjaminbao]

Concise, informative and clear, best lessons about pronunciation I have seen in the youtube.

[stephennn]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this video, it helps a lot with my pronanction thank you again .

[travelbonne]

Your channel is incredible! Thanks for being so awesome 👏

[rodrigoalcantara]

Intresting video. The funny thing is that this sound /h/ exist in my native language, brazilian portuguese, so I don't have trouble pronouncing it, however the letter that represents this sound in my language spelling is the letter R in the beginning of words like rato /'ha.tu/ (rat), recado /hɛ.'ka.du/ (message), rio /'hi.u/ (river). And the sound /h/ also can be represented in portuguese spelling by the double R = RR which is called a diagraph ( the combination of two letters that represent one single sound), for example in words like barra /'ba.ha/ (bar = steel bar or chocolate bar), burro /'bu.hu/ (donkey), barriga /ba.'hi:.ga/ (belly).
We have the letter H in portuguese alphabet in many words like homem (man), honestitade (honesty), hora ( hour), etc. but phonetically it's a silent letter, it doesn't represent any sound in Portuguese just like in English, where in many words the H is silent like, for example, the words hour or honesty.

[aldomatus]

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[nbd]

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[МаріяОрлецька]

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[tupurdim]

The best lessons ever, thanks so much for your great work

[marquitomd]

Spanish speakers might make the /x/ sound because it's highly used when speaking Spanish. I realized this by listening to my own pronunciation, when I compared the sound I was making to the one I was listening to in English movies/series. There are no words pronounced with /x/ in English, right?

[ursuladomingos]

Thanks for everything. I love your channel.

[pedroguevara]

Usted si que sabe de lo (h)abla. Thanks for the video :)

[DENich]

A harsh version of /h/ as in 7:45 sounds similar to Russian sound /х/ .
As usual, thanks for your job!

[ramzy-]

13:19 for th, ch, sh and ph combination is the h changed the sound or the previous sound t, c, s, p. thank you.

[ramzy-]

11:29 hello, you said ( Next, we suggest you practice words in which the letter 'h' is actually NOT pronounced.
) is that mean the h silent. Thank you.

[alekseiromanov]

It's the sound that we make when we warm our hands 🙂