Vowel breaking

Okay kiddo, let's talk about something called "vowel breaking." Have you ever noticed that sometimes when we say a word, a vowel sound changes or "breaks" into a different sound? Like when we say the word "boat," the "o" sound starts like "oh" but then changes to "ow" like when you hurt yourself. This is vowel breaking!

When we speak, our mouths need to make different shapes to make different sounds. Sometimes, when we say a word, our mouths have trouble making the exact shape for the vowel sound. So instead of saying the regular sound, the vowel "breaks" or changes to a different sound.

This happens most often when there are two vowel sounds together in the same word, like in "boat." The "o" and "a" are right next to each other, so our mouths have to make a really quick switch from one sound to another. This can be hard to do, so sometimes we end up breaking the vowel sound into something different.

Vowel breaking is a natural part of how we speak, and it makes language more interesting and diverse!