Slova
Vocabulary is pronounced voh-KAB-yuh-lair-ee in American English and vuh-KAB-yuh-luh-ree in British English. It has five syllables with the stress on the second, KAB. The u after the b is said yuh, as in regular.
vocabulary
noun · all the words a person knows or uses; the words of a language or subject
Also said: US /vəˈkæb.jə.ler.i/.
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Oxford gives vuh-KAB-yuh-lair-ee for American English, with vuh at the start. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/voʊˈkæb.jə.ler.i/
voh
KABstressed
yuh
lair
ee
UK British English/vəˈkæb.jə.lər.i/
vuh
KABstressed
yuh
luh
ree
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Tip. Put the stress on KAB, the second syllable. The first syllable stays light: voh or vuh.
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What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say voh-KAB-yuh-lair-ee.
NotVOH-kab-yuh-lair-ee
Stressing the first syllable, as in vocal. Keep voh light and put the beat on KAB.
Notvoh-kab-yuh-LAIR-ee
Stressing the fourth syllable, as in Spanish vocabulario. The stress is on KAB.
Notvoh-KAB-uh-lair-ee
Dropping the y sound. The u after b is yuh, as in regular: KAB-yuh.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
Reading every day is the best way to build vocabulary.
Her vocabulary is huge for a six-year-old.
This app helps you learn new vocabulary.
Vocabulary came into English in the 1500s from the Medieval Latin vocabularium, a list of words, from the Latin vocabulum, a word or name. It goes back to vocare, to call, which also gives us vocal and vocation.
Many learners stress the first syllable, as in vocal, or the fourth, as in Spanish vocabulario and Italian vocabolario. In English the stress sits on KAB, and the other syllables are short.
The two accents differ at the end, as with other -ary words. American English says lair-ee, as in dictionary. British English shortens it to luh-ree. Oxford also gives vuh at the start for American English.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
In Slova you say new words out loud in every lesson, at your level, in lessons built around what you love.