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pronunciation

Pronunciation is the way you say a word or the way in which a language is usually spoken. Think accents, silent vowels, upside-down e's, and that sort of thing.

The word pronunciation is pronounced "pruh-nuhn-see-EY-shuhn." The English language is notorious for the irregularity of its pronunciation. Take, for instance, book and look, which have a different pronunciation from spook and kook; or doll and loll, which have a different pronunciation from toll and roll. What's with the upside-down e (ə)? It's called a schwa, and it's the symbol for the "uh" sound.

DEFINITIONS OF: pronunciation

1

n the manner in which someone utters a word

“they are always correcting my pronunciation”
Types:
show 16 types...
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assibilation, sibilation
pronunciation with a sibilant (hissing or whistling) sound
mispronunciation
incorrect pronunciation
homophony
the same pronunciation for words of different origins
accent, speech pattern
distinctive manner of oral expression
articulation
the aspect of pronunciation that involves bringing articulatory organs together so as to shape the sounds of speech
affrication
the conversion of a simple stop consonant into an affricate
aspiration
a manner of articulation involving an audible release of breath
epenthesis
the insertion of a vowel or consonant into a word to make its pronunciation easier
nasalisation, nasalization
the act of nasalizing; the utterance of sounds modulated by the nasal resonators
drawl
a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
retroflection, retroflexion
an articulatory gesture made by turning the tip of the tongue back against the roof of the mouth
diction, enunciation
the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience
syncopation, syncope
(phonology) the loss of sounds from within a word (as in `fo'c'sle' for `forecastle')
sandhi
the articulatory process whereby the pronunciation of a word or morpheme changes when it is followed immediately by another (especially in fluent speech)
thickness
indistinct articulation
trill
the articulation of a consonant (especially the consonant `r') with a rapid flutter of the tongue against the palate or uvula
Type of:
utterance, vocalization
the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication

n the way a word or a language is customarily spoken

“the pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners”
“that is the correct pronunciation”
Synonyms:
orthoepy
Types:
Received Pronunciation
the approved pronunciation of British English; originally based on the King's English as spoken at public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities (and widely accepted elsewhere in Britain); until recently it was the pronunciation of English used in British broadcasting
Type of:
language, oral communication, speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication
(language) communication by word of mouth
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