pronounce

1 speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can the child sound out this complicated word?" [syn: articulate, enounce, sound out, enunciate, say]

2 pronounce judgment on; "They labeled him unfit to work here" [syn: label, judge]

English

Pronunciation

• /pɹəˈnaʊns/, /pr@"naUns/

• Rhymes: -aʊns

Etymology

From pronuncier, from pronunciare, from pronuntiare.

Verb

1. To read aloud.
2. To sound out a word.
3. To officially declare.

   I hereby pronounce you man and wife.

Related terms

• pronoun
• pronounceable
• pronouncement
• pronunciation

Translations

Pronunciation refers to:

• the way a word or a language is usually spoken
• the manner in which someone utters a word

A word can be spoken in different ways by various individuals or groups, depending on many factors, such as:

1. the area in which they grew up
2. the area in which they now live
3. if they have a speech defect
4. their ethnic group
5. their social class
6. their education

Linguistic terminology

People are counted as units of sound (phones) that they use in their language. The branch of linguistics which studies these units of sound is phonetics. Phones which play the same role are grouped together into classes called phonemes; the study of these is phonemics or phonematics or phonology.

See also

• International Phonetic Alphabet - notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages
• Language
• English pronunciation
• List of words of disputed pronunciation
• Mispronunciation
• Initial-stress-derived noun
• Back-chaining

External links

• Sounds Familiar? — Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
• Howjsay — Enter a word to hear it spoken. About 100,000 words in British English with alternative pronunciations.

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