pronunciation

[ pruh-nuhn-see-ey-shuhn ]
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noun
  1. the act or result of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, stress, and intonation, often with reference to some standard of correctness or acceptability: They are arguing about the pronunciation of “forte” again.His pronunciation retains charming traces of his early years in Ireland.

  2. an accepted standard of the sound and stress patterns of a syllable, word, phrase, etc.: He said the pronunciation of “curl” is [kurl], /kɜrl/, not [koil]. /kɔɪl/.

  1. the conventional patterns of treatment of the sounds of a language: the pronunciation of French.

  2. a phonetic transcription of a given word, sound, etc.: The pronunciation of “pheasant” is [fez-uhnt]. /ˈfɛz ənt/.

  3. Rare. an act or instance of declaring publicly; pronouncement: It was but the latest pronunciation of the political double-standard uttered in the course of this scandal.

  4. Obsolete.

    • elocution or delivery.

    • elegant speech; oratory.

    • an act or instance of speaking.

Origin of pronunciation

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English pronunciacion, from Latin prōnūntiātiōn- (stem of prōnūntiātiō) “delivery (of a speech),” equivalent to prōnūntiāt(us) (past participle of prōnūntiāre “to proclaim, announce, utter”) + -iōn- noun suffix; see origin at pronounce, -ate1, -ion

pronunciation note For pronunciation

It may seem odd for the pronunciation of this very word to be an issue; the pronunciation of pronunciation should be evident from its spelling. The vowel in the second syllable is u, said as in the word up. It is not the diphthong ou, as in ouch. However, for some people, the impulse to retain the sound pattern of the familiar verb pronounce is too strong to resist, and we hear this word said as if it were spelled p-r-o-n-o-u-n-c-i-a-t-i-o-n all too frequently. All this is a reminder that the entire subject of “correct” pronunciation is fraught with controversy. Changes from what we heard growing up are often resisted with surprisingly passionate scorn. And yet we know that language is constantly changing, and that many pronunciations once attacked as ignorant are now accepted without question in even the most educated circles. For example, we hear [skiz-uhm], /ˈskɪz əm/, as well as the older [siz-uhm], /ˈsɪz əm/, for schism, and [fawr-tey], /ˈfɔr teɪ/, as well as the historically correct [fawrt], /fɔrt/, for the sense of forte meaning “something that one excels in” (see Pronunciation note at forte1 ). And stress patterns change with new generations: increasingly, [kuhm-pair-uh-buhl] /kəm pɛər ə bəl/ is overtaking [kom-per-uh-buhl] /ˈkɒm pər ə bəl/ for comparable. Language experts seize the opportunity to note and study these changes; language innovation can be fascinating--even exciting. But some deviations from the current norm will not become part of an accepted standard, and as long as the way one speaks remains a marker of one's education, or one's ability to perform well in school or in a prospective job, it is best to avoid misguided pronunciations like [pruh-noun-see-ey-shuhn]. /prəˌnaʊn siˈeɪ ʃən/.

Other words for pronunciation

Other words from pronunciation

  • pro·nun·ci·a·tion·al, pro·nun·ci·a·to·ry [pruh-nuhn-see-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], /prəˈnʌn si əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, pro·nun·ci·a·tive, adjective
  • non·pro·nun·ci·a·tion, noun

Words that may be confused with pronunciation

Words Nearby pronunciation

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British Dictionary definitions for pronunciation

pronunciation

/ (prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act, instance, or manner of pronouncing sounds

  2. the supposedly correct manner of pronouncing sounds in a given language

  1. a phonetic transcription of a word

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