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The "o" in "coke" is what linguists call a diphthong: two vowel sounds pronounced in quick succession. Pronounce it slowly and notice how your tongue moves as y
by blackshaw 6y ago
The "o" in "coke" is what linguists call a diphthong: two vowel sounds pronounced in quick succession. Pronounce it slowly and notice how your tongue moves as you say it. In IPA it's written /oʊ/, it's a combination of the vowels /o/ and /ʊ/. The "o" in "cock" is a single vowel that's pronounced quite differently in British vs. American English.
The French "o" isn't like any of these; I believe in the case of "coq" it's pronounced /o/, i.e. the first half of the English /oʊ/. Your tongue shouldn't move while you say it. Pronouncing this single vowel like the English /oʊ/ is a very common mistake that English speakers make in French (or Spanish, Portuguese etc.) - it's a distinctively English sound that gives you away as a native English speaker.
- dgellow 6y agoJust curious, did you learn the IPA in school? I always find it surprising how familiar people online seem to be with the system, I personally have no idea how to read those notations. Edit: I found out there is a chart with sound on the IPA website[0]! [0]: https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa-chart-with-sounds/ https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa...
- blackshaw 6y agoNope, wasn't covered in school at all. I taught myself from Wikipedia, it's a slow process but you don't need to learn it all at once.
- dragonwriter 6y ago> The French "o" isn't like any of these; I believe in the case of "coq" it's pronounced /o/ The sources I find mostly say /ɔ/, which is one step more open than /o/
- blackshaw 6y agoCould be; my French is rusty as hell. /o/ is how the written "o" is pronounced in Spanish.