Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ and /ʌ/

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ketogene
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:09 pm
Status: Learner of English

Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ and /ʌ/

Post by ketogene »

Hi there,
It seems to me that I am not at all confident that I can distinguish /ʊ/ and /ʌ/.
To me they sound very similar.
There are no minimal pairs on englishclub for /ʊ/ and /ʌ/
(At least, I don't think so).
And so far i haven't found any minimal pairs for /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ elsewhere on the internet either.
(But i haven't spent long looking, maybe i just need to keep looking).

But i wonder how some common words would sound if they had the opposite vowel.
So, for example.
up is /ʌp/ what would it sound like if it was /ʊp/ ?
bun is /bʌn/ how would it sound if it was /bʊn/ ?
thunder is /ˈθʌn.dər/ how would it sound if it was /ˈθʊn.dər/ ?
lunch is /lʌntʃ/ how would it sound if it was /lʊntʃ/ ?

and vice versa...
wool is /wʊl/ how would it sound as /wʌl/
foot is /fʊt/ how would it sound as /fʌt/
book is /bʊk/ how would it sound as /bʌk/
pull is /pʊl/ how would it sound as /pʌl/

Does anyone know if there is an english IPA speaker utility somewhere on the internet ?
Ideally, it would be a utility where you could enter the IPA like /ˈθʊn.dər/ and get
to hear the resulting word. As I imagine it now, perhaps a little like a yorkshire accent.
Is there an IPA speaker utility out there on the internet ? Does such a think exist ?

The alternative IPA utility would take spoken speech and turn it into IPA transcription.
That way, you might persuade a Yorkshire person to say Thunder, and see how it comes out.

Thanks to anyone who replies :)

Ketogene
ketogene
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:09 pm
Status: Learner of English

Re: Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ and /ʌ/

Post by ketogene »

Minimal Pairs for /ʊ/ and /ʌ/
/ʊ/ /ʌ/
book buck
bookie Buckie
could cud
crooks crux
foot phut
look luck
put putt
rook ruck
shook shuck
stood stud
took tuck
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