pronunciation

English

Alternative forms

• pronuntiation (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English pronunciacioun, from Middle French prononciation, pronunciation, from Latin prōnūntiātiō, noun of action from perfect passive participle prōnūntiātus, from verb prōnūntiāre (“proclaim”), from prō- (“for”) + nūntiāre (“announce”). Doublet of pronuntiatio.

Pronunciation

• enPR: prə-nŭn'-sē-ā′-shən, IPA^(key): /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, [pʰɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃn/
• enPR: prə-noun'-sē-ā′-shən IPA^(key): /pɹəˌnaʊn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ (common but proscribed, corresponding to the misspelling pronounciation)
• (obsolete) enPR: prə-nŭn'-shē-ā′-shən, IPA^(key): /pɹəˌnʌn.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/, /pɹəˌnʌn.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃʌn/
• Hyphenation: pro‧nun‧ci‧a‧tion
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

pronunciation (countable and uncountable, plural pronunciations)

1. (countable) The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.

   What is the pronunciation of "hiccough"?

   • 1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] ‎^[2], London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 211:

     ☞ This word [earth] is liable to a coarſe vulgar pronunciation, as if written Urth; […]

2. (uncountable) The way in which the words of a language are made to sound when speaking.

   His Italian pronunciation is terrible.

   • 1687, Chriſtopher Cooper, “Chap. XIX: Of Barbarous Speaking”, in The Engliſh Teacher, London: John Richardſon, for the Author, pages 77-78; republished Menston: Scolar Press, 1969:

     He, that would write exactly, muſt avoid a Barbarous Pronunciation, and conſider for facility, or thorow miſtake, many words are not ſounded after the beſt dialect. Such as […] Wun, one.

3. (countable) The act of pronouncing or uttering a vocable.
   • 1831, Thomas Oughton, James Thomas Law, Forms of Ecclesiastical Law, page 62:

     The second part is the sentence, which is the judge's pronunciation upon a cause depending between two in controversy.

Antonyms

• mispronunciation

Hyponyms

• Received Pronunciation
• spelling pronunciation

Derived terms

• Old National Pronunciation
• pronunciational
• pronunciation dictionary
• pronunciation respelling

 

Related terms

• pronounce
• mispronounce

Translations

sound of a word

• Afrikaans: uitspraak (af)
• Albanian: shqiptim (sq) m
• Amharic: አነጋገር (ʾänägagär)
• Arabic: نُطْق m (nuṭq), لَفْظ (ar) m (lafẓ), تَلَفُّظ m (talaffuẓ)

  Hijazi Arabic: نُطق m (nuṭg)

• Armenian: արտասանություն (hy) (artasanutʻyun)
• Asturian: pronunciación (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: tələffüz (az)
• Bashkir: әйтелеш (əyteleş)
• Belarusian: вымаўле́нне n (vymaŭljénnje), вымо́ва f (vymóva)
• Bengali: উচ্চারণ (bn) (uccaron)
• Bikol Central: sawod, sayod (bcl)
• Breton: distagadur (br) m
• Bulgarian: произноше́ние (bg) n (proiznošénie), и́зговор (bg) m (ízgovor)
• Burmese: အသံထွက် (my) (a.samhtwak)
• Carpathian Rusyn: высло́вность f (vŷslóvnostʹ)
• Catalan: pronunciació (ca) f, pronúncia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 發音 / 发音 (faat³ jam¹)

  Dungan: куйин (kuyin)

  Eastern Min: 發音 / 发音 (huák-ĭng)

  Hakka: 發音 / 发音 (fat-yîm)

  Hokkien: 發音 / 发音 (zh-min-nan) (hoat-im)

  Mandarin: 發音 / 发音 (zh) (fāyīn)

  Wu: 發音 / 发音 (⁷faq-in)

• Corsican: prununzia (co) f, prununcia (co) f
• Czech: výslovnost (cs) f
• Danish: udtale (da) c
• Dutch: uitspraak (nl) f
• Esperanto: elparolo
• Estonian: hääldus (et)
• Finnish: ääntämys (fi)
• French: prononciation (fr) f
• Galician: pronunciación (gl) f
• Gamilaraay: dhaalan
• Georgian: წარმოთქმა (c̣armotkma), გამოთქმა (gamotkma)
• German: Aussprache (de) f
• Greek: προφορά (el) f (proforá)
• Hebrew: הגייה \ הֲגִיָּה f (hagiyá)
• Hindi: उच्चारण (hi) m (uccāraṇ), तलफ़्फ़ुज़ (hi) m (talaffuz), तलफ्फुज (hi) m (talaphphuj)
• Hungarian: kiejtés (hu), ejtés (hu)
• Icelandic: framburður (is) m
• Indonesian: cara baca, pelafalan
• Interlingua: pronunciation (ia)
• Irish: fuaimniú m
• Italian: pronuncia (it) f, pronunzia (it) f
• Japanese: 発音 (ja) (はつおん, hatsuon)
• Kapampangan: agkas
• Kashmiri: وۄشژار (ks) (vọśċār)
• Kazakh: айту (kk) (aitu)
• Khmer: របៀបបន្លឺសូរ (rɔbiəp bɑnlɨɨ sou)
• Korean: 발음(發音) (ko) (bareum)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گۆ کردن (go kirdin)

  Northern Kurdish: bilêvkirin (ku), telafûz (ku)

• Kyrgyz: айтуу (ky) (aytuu)
• Lao: ການອອກສຽງ (kān ʼǭk sīang)
• Latvian: izruna f
• Lithuanian: tarimas (lt) m
• Macedonian: изговор m (izgovor)
• Malay: sebutan (ms)
• Malayalam: ഉച്ചാരണം (ml) (uccāraṇaṁ)
• Maori: whakahua
• Marathi: उच्चार (mr) m (uccār)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дуудлага (mn) (duudlaga), дуудахуй (duudaxuj)

• Northern Sami: báhkkodit
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uttale (no) m

  Nynorsk: uttale m or f

• Ottoman Turkish: تلفظ (telaffuz)
• Pashto: تلفظ (ps) m (talaffoz)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: تَلَفُّظ (talaffuz)

  Dari: تَلَفُّظ (talaffuz)

  Iranian Persian: تَلَفُّظ (talaffoz), آوایِش (âvâyeš)

• Polish: wymowa (pl) f
• Portuguese: pronúncia (pt) f
• Romanian: pronunție (ro) f, pronunțare (ro) f
• Russian: произноше́ние (ru) n (proiznošénije)
• Samogitian: tarėms
• Sardinian: pronuntzia f
• Scots: pronunciation
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏згово̄р m

  Roman: ȉzgovōr (sh) m

• Sinhalese: උච්චාරණය (si) (uccāraṇaya)
• Slovak: výslovnosť f
• Slovene: izgovorjáva (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wugronjenje n, wugrono n

  Upper Sorbian: wurěkowanje n, artikulacija f, wurěč f

• Spanish: pronunciación (es) f
• Swahili: matamshi (sw)
• Swedish: uttal (sv) n, ^{(please verify)} frambörd
• Tagalog: bigkas (tl)
• Tajik: талаффуз (tg) (talaffuz)
• Tamil: உச்சரிப்பு (ta) (uccarippu), பலுக்கல் (ta) (palukkal)
• Tatar: әйтелеш (tt) (äyteleş)
• Thai: การออกเสียง (th) (gaan-ɔ̀ɔk-sǐiang)
• Turkish: telaffuz (tr), okunuş (tr)
• Turkmen: aýdylyş, käýinç
• Ukrainian: вимо́ва (uk) f (vymóva), вимовля́ння (uk) n (vymovljánnja)
• Urdu: تَلَفُّظ m (talaffuz)
• Uyghur: تەلەپپۇز (teleppuz)
• Uzbek: talaffuz (uz), aytilish (uz)
• Vietnamese: cách phát âm (vi) (發音), cách đọc (vi)
• West Flemish: uutsproake
• West Frisian: útspraak
• Yiddish: אַרויסרעד m (aroysred)

way in which words are pronounced

• Afrikaans: uitspraak (af)
• Albanian: shqiptim (sq) m
• Amharic: አነጋገር (ʾänägagär)
• Arabic: لَفْظ (ar) m (lafẓ), نُطْق m (nuṭq), تَلَفُّظ m (talaffuẓ)
• Armenian: արտասանություն (hy) (artasanutʻyun)
• Asturian: pronunciación (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: tələffüz (az)
• Bashkir: әйтелеш (əyteleş)
• Basque: ahoskera
• Belarusian: вымаўле́нне n (vymaŭljénnje), вымо́ва f (vymóva)
• Bengali: উচ্চারণ (bn) (uccaron)
• Bikol Central: pagsayod
• Bulgarian: произноше́ние (bg) n (proiznošénie), и́зговор (bg) m (ízgovor)
• Carpathian Rusyn: высло́вность (vŷslóvnostʹ)
• Catalan: pronunciació (ca) f, pronúncia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 發音 / 发音 (faat³ jam¹)

  Hokkien: 發音 / 发音 (zh-min-nan) (hoat-im)

  Mandarin: 發音 / 发音 (zh) (fāyīn)

• Czech: výslovnost (cs) f
• Danish: udtale (da)
• Dutch: uitspraak (nl) f
• Esperanto: prononco (eo)
• Estonian: hääldus (et)
• Finnish: ääntämys (fi), ääntäminen (fi)
• French: prononciation (fr) f
• Georgian: წარმოთქმა (c̣armotkma), გამოთქმა (gamotkma), აქცენტი (akcenṭi)
• German: Aussprache (de) f
• Greek: προφορά (el) (proforá)
• Hebrew: ביטוי \ בִּטּוּי m (bitúi), הגייה \ הֲגִיָּה f (hagiya)
• Hindi: उच्चारण (hi) m (uccāraṇ), अनुलेखन (anulekhan), तलफ़्फ़ुज़ (hi) m (talaffuz), तलफ्फुज (hi) m (talaphphuj)
• Hungarian: kiejtés (hu)
• Icelandic: framburður (is) m
• Indonesian: lafal (id), cara baca, ucapan (id), pengucapan (id)
• Interlingua: pronunciation (ia)
• Irish: fuaimniú m
• Italian: pronuncia (it) f
• Japanese: 発音 (ja) (はつおん, hatsuon)
• Kannada: ಉಚ್ಚಾರಣೆ (kn) (uccāraṇe)
• Kazakh: айту (kk) (aitu)
• Khmer: របៀបបន្លឺសូរ (rɔbiəp bɑnlɨɨ sou)
• Korean: 발음(發音) (ko) (bareum)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bilêvkirin (ku)

• Kyrgyz: айтуу (ky) (aytuu)
• Lao: ການອອກສຽງ (kān ʼǭk sīang)
• Latin: prōnuntiātiō f
• Latvian: izruna f
• Lithuanian: tarimas (lt) m
• Macedonian: изговор m (izgovor)
• Malay: sebutan (ms)
• Malayalam: ഉച്ചാരണം (ml) (uccāraṇaṁ)
• Maltese: pronunzja (mt) f
• Marathi: उच्चार (mr) m (uccār), उच्चारण (mr) n (uccāraṇ)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дуудлага (mn) (duudlaga), дуудахуй (duudaxuj)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uttale (no) m

• Pashto: تلفظ (ps) m (talafoz)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: تَلَفُّظ (talaffoz), آوایِش (âvâyeš)

• Polish: wymowa (pl) f
• Portuguese: pronúncia (pt), pronunciação (pt) f, prolação (pt) f
• Romanian: pronunție (ro) f, pronunțare (ro) f
• Russian: произноше́ние (ru) n (proiznošénije), вы́говор (ru) m (výgovor), акце́нт (ru) m (akcént)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏згово̄р m

  Roman: ȉzgovōr (sh) m

• Sinhalese: උච්චාරණය (si) (uccāraṇaya)
• Slovak: výslovnosť f
• Slovene: izgovorjáva (sl) f
• Spanish: pronunciación (es) f
• Swedish: uttal (sv) n
• Tagalog: pagbigkas (tl)
• Tajik: талаффуз (tg) (talaffuz)
• Tamil: உச்சரிப்பு (ta) (uccarippu)
• Tatar: әйтелеш (tt) (äyteleş)
• Telugu: ఉచ్ఛారణ (ucchāraṇa)
• Thai: เสียงอ่าน (sǐiang-àan), การออกเสียง (th) (gaan-ɔ̀ɔk-sǐiang)
• Tibetan: སྒྲ (sgra)
• Turkish: söyleyiş (tr), telaffuz (tr)
• Turkmen: aýdylyş, käýinç
• Ukrainian: вимо́ва (uk) f (vymóva), вимовля́ння (uk) n (vymovljánnja)
• Urdu: تَلَفُّظ m (talaffuz), طَرْزِ اَدا f (tarz-i adā), لَب و لَہْجَہ (lab o lahja)
• Uyghur: تەلەپپۇز (teleppuz)
• Uzbek: talaffuz (uz)
• Vietnamese: cách phát âm (vi) (發音)
• Welsh: cynaniad (cy)
• Yiddish: אויסשפּראַך f (oysshprakh), אַרויסרעד m (aroysred)
• Zhuang: fatyaem

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} pronimag (vo)

See also

• orthoepy
• phoneme
• Pronunciation

Further reading

• pronunciation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pronuntsjaˈtsjon/

Noun

pronunciation (plural pronunciationes)

1. pronunciation
2. pronunciation proclamation, manifest

Synonyms

• (proclamation): pronunciamento

Middle French

Alternative forms

• prononciation

Noun

pronunciation f (plural pronunciations)

1. oration; speech; talk (act of expressing a message verbally)
2. pronunciation; pronouncement (of a verdict)
3. pronunciation

Descendants

• French: prononciation
• → Middle English: pronunciacioun, pronunciacion
  • English: pronunciation
  • Scots: pronunciacione