Slova
Hierarchy is pronounced HY-rar-kee in American English and HIRE-ah-kee in British English. The stress is on the first syllable, hi sounds like high, and the ch is a K sound.
hierarchy
noun · a system where people or things are arranged in levels of importance
Also said: US /ˈhaɪ.ə.rɑːr.ki/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford gives a four-syllable American form, /ˈhaɪ.ə.rɑːr.ki/. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈhaɪ.rɑːr.ki/
HYstressed
rar
kee
UK British English/ˈhaɪə.rɑː.ki/
HIREstressed
ah
kee
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Tip. The last syllable is kee. The ch is a K sound, as in monarchy.
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hierarchy
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say HY-rar-kee.
NotHY-er-ar-chee
Saying ch as in chair. In this Greek word it is always K.
Nothee-er-AR-kee
The first syllable is high, not he, and the stress goes there, not on AR.
NotHAIR-ar-kee
Squashing the first syllable into hair. Start with high.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The company has a flat hierarchy with only three levels.
There is a strict hierarchy in the kitchen.
She moved quickly up the hierarchy.
Written, hierarchy has four syllables: hi-er-ar-chy. Cambridge gives three: HY-rar-kee in American English and HIRE-ah-kee in British English, where the first part sounds like the word hire. Oxford also lists a four-syllable American form, HY-uh-rar-kee. All of these are correct.
The word is Greek: hierarkhia, the rule of a high priest, from hieros, holy, and arkhein, to rule. In Greek words the ch is a K sound, as in monarchy, anarchy and chaos.
Medieval English spelled it ierarchie, without the H. Writers added the H back around 1500 to match the Latin hierarchia, and today the H is always said. Begin with high, end like the -archy in monarchy, and keep the stress at the front.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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