w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
How to pronounce wealth in American English
WEHLTH
Start here
Americans pronounce wealth as WEHLTH (/wɛlθ/). The L in "wealth" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's why Americans sound more relaxed than the textbook. It comes out as WEHLTH. You'll hear it in sentences like "Wealth is not the only measure of success" or "This website provides a wealth of information" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "wealth".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "wealth" in the wild.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Treating every L the same.
The L in "wealth" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
wealth→WEHLTH
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "wealth" 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 "WEHLTH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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