j/dʒ/
Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce jazz in American English
JAZ
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Americans pronounce jazz as JAZ (/dʒæz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "We went to a jazz club to hear some improvisation live" or "He appreciates various genres ranging from jazz to classical music" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "jazz".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "jazz" in the wild.
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "jazz" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "JAZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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