Slova
Pronunciation is pronounced pruh-nun-see-AY-shun, with nun in the second syllable, not noun. It has five syllables and the main stress falls on AY. American and British English say it the same way.
pronunciation
noun · the way a word or a language is spoken
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
USUK American and British English/prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
pruh
nun
see
AYstressed
shun
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Tip. The second syllable is nun, as in none. There is no noun sound in pronunciation.
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pronunciation
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say pruh-nun-see-AY-shun.
Notpruh-nown-see-AY-shun
Copying the vowel of the verb pronounce. The noun has the u of cup: nun, not noun.
Notpruh-nun-shee-AY-shun
Turning ci into a sh sound, as in special. Here the c is a plain S: see.
Notpruh-NUN-see-ay-shun
Putting the main stress on nun. Nun gets only a light stress; the strong beat is on AY.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
Her English pronunciation has improved a lot this year.
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The dictionary shows both the British and American pronunciation.
The verb is pronounce, with the ow of now. The noun is pronunciation, with the u of cup, and its spelling has no o after the n. Both go back to the Latin pronuntiare, to announce, but English spells them differently, and each one is said the way it is written.
The same split shows up in other pairs: announce and annunciation, denounce and denunciation, renounce and renunciation. In every pair the verb has ow and the noun has the short u.
Saying pruh-nown-see-AY-shun is common, but Cambridge and Oxford list only pruh-nun-see-AY-shun, in both accents. Think of the word nun inside it, and put the main stress on AY.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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