/ɔ/

The /ɔ/ is a mid-low back rounded vowel found in words like "thought," "law," and "all." Here's how to make it:

1. Position your tongue low and back in your mouth - it should feel relaxed toward the back of your throat.

2. Open your jaw moderately - not as wide as for /ɑ/, but noticeably open.

3. Round your lips into an oval shape. This rounding is the key feature that distinguishes /ɔ/ from the unrounded /ɑ/.

4. Keep the sound sustained - this vowel naturally has some length to it.

Here's something important: roughly half of American English speakers don't distinguish /ɔ/ from /ɑ/. This is called the "cot-caught merger." For these speakers, "cot" and "caught," "stock" and "stalk," and "Don" and "dawn" are perfect homophones.

If you're targeting General American or Western/Midland accents, using /ɑ/ for both sounds is perfectly acceptable. However, speakers from New York, the Northeast, and the Mid-Atlantic regions typically maintain the distinction - for them, "caught" has rounded lips while "cot" doesn't.

• au: caught, taught, August
• aw: law, raw, saw
• o (before r, l, or in certain words): or, all, coffee
• ou: thought, bought, brought
• a (before l): ball, fall, tall

Mirror check: Watch your lips while saying "cot" versus "caught." If you're making the distinction, "caught" should show visible lip rounding, almost like you're about to whistle. If your lips stay relaxed for both - you're merged, and that's totally fine!