IPA phoneme /aʊ/

In English the IPA phonetic symbol /aʊ/ corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "mouth", "how" and "out". In some parts of the English speaking world this sound is more similar to [ʌʊ]. Other alternatives are [aw] and [ʌw]. See IPA phonetic symbol [w].

Whatever the actual sound, /aʊ/ is used as broad notation.

In strict IPA diphthongs need an inverted breve under their less prominent vowel: /aʊ&#815;/. However the notation we are using does not have the symbol /a/ by itself, and therefore we know that a vowel after /a/ has an implied inverted breve.

Common words
Some common words which practice the pronunciation of /aʊ/ include the following:
 * with "ou":
 * with "ow":

Exceptions
Exceptions (i.e., words which are not spelled with "ou" or "ow") are uncommon words:
 * Maori /ˈmaʊriː/
 * McLeod /məˈklaʊd/
 * sauerkraut /ˈsaʊərkraʊt/
 * umlaut /ˈʊmlaʊt/

Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1
Preconceived ideas and other interferences from L1 obviously interfere in many cases with how students perceive - and pronounce - sounds/words in English. The following sections aims to point out some of the most typical difficulties teachers and students may encounter regarding pronunciation.