pronunciation

plural pronunciations · alternative obsolete pronuntiation · alternative misspelling nonstandard pronounciation

1. countableThe way in which a word, phrase, letter, character etc. is made to sound when spoken.

   What is the pronunciation of "hiccough"?

   3 more examples

   In English, there are two pronunciations of the digraph 'th': voiced and unvoiced

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

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

   In spite of the vague evidence, I think that we may conclude that ME ǭ, like ME ę̄, had two pronunciations during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a more advanced pronunciation with close [oː], and a more conservative one with the ‘intermediate vowel’ [ɔː] […]

   1957, E[ric] J. Dobson, English pronunciation 1500-1700, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 145, page 673

2. uncountableThe characteristic sounds of a particular language, accent, or individual's speech.

   His Italian pronunciation is terrible.

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   Being a good newsreader isn't just about having clear pronunciation.

   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.

   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

3. countableThe act of making a pronouncement or uttering a vocable.

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

   1831, Thomas Oughton, James Thomas Law, Forms of Ecclesiastical Law, page 62