pronunciation
noun
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Is it 'pronunciation' or 'pronounciation'?
We’ve received quite a few letters and emails from correspondents asking for pronunciation help—but in some of these letters and emails, pronunciation is spelled pronounciation. The confusion is understandable: the verb is pronounce, so why shouldn’t the noun be pronounciation? Both the noun and verb come ultimately from the Latin verb pronuntiare. But when the Latin verb was taken into Anglo-French and later entered Middle English, that second vowel was sometimes rendered as -u- and sometimes rendered as -ou-. This meant that, from about the 1500s onward, we have evidence of both pronounciation and pronunciation in the written record. Eventually the noun standardized to pronunciation, but because of influence from pronounce, we do occasionally see pronounciation in print, and we also have evidence of a corresponding pronunciation for pronounciation (\\pruh-nown-see-AY-shun\\). The spelling pronounciation and the pronunciation that goes with that spelling are not considered a part of standard English. Using them could result in criticism or questioning.
Example Sentences
Devan Coggan, EW.com, 22 July 2022 The dictionary, at https://dictionary.hochunk.org, contains more than 11,000 entries, each accompanied by audio pronunciation of the word or phrase. Sarah Volpenhein, Journal Sentinel, 30 Aug. 2022 Learning the Iñupiaq language in Nikaitchuat involves more than learning new words, grammatical structures and pronunciation. Alena Naiden, Anchorage Daily News, 1 May 2022 Grasping its meaning requires crossing differences in alphabet and pronunciation, thinking our way into the experience of a bilingual society at war with a fascist empire. New York Times, 22 Apr. 2022 While growing up, Ashanti was questioned about the pronunciation and meaning of her name. Sam Gillette, PEOPLE.com, 12 July 2022 Each dictionary entry will include quotations from real-world examples of language in use and meaning, pronunciation, spelling, usage and history. Melissa Noel, Essence, 21 June 2022 To be fair, both to those modern advocates of decorum and to Bode, the original British pronunciation (and the original original Greek) are much closer to the former than the latter. Kiona N. Smith, Forbes, 1 May 2022 Ryan and Deja Vu may have gotten the pronunciation of The Masked Singer contestant's name right. Adrianna Freedman, Good Housekeeping, 7 July 2022 See More Word History
Middle English pronunciacion, from Anglo-French pronunciation, from Latin pronuntiation-, pronuntiatio, from pronuntiare
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing pronunciation
Kids Definition
pronunciation
noun
- cut into
- cut island
- cut it
- cut it close
- cut it fine
- cut loose
- cut man
- cut money
- cut nail
- cut no ice
- cut of one's jib
- cut off
- cut off from
- cut off one's nose to spite one's face
- cut oil
- cut on
- cut one's losses
- cut one's own throat
- cut one's teeth
- cut out
- cut out for
- cut out of
- cut out to be
- cut out to do
- cut plug