You can use the knowledge of phonetics to try and guess how a new word is pronounced.

1. Your Phonetics
Coach
Joseph Wong
Lesson
17
1

2. 2
When you master phonetics,
you will be able to say every
word correctly, even if you
are looking at it for the first
time.

3. 3
abomasum
…the fourth stomach of a ruminant, such as
a cow or sheep.
With a new word like this, you apply the
following steps:
1. It has 4 syllables, so I must guess where
the primary stress is.
2. The vowel “o” in “bo” should be soft, so
I’d use the /ə/ instead of /əʊ/.
3. The vowel “a” in “ma” should be the
longer /æ/ because of the spelling of a.

4. 4
abomasum
…the fourth stomach of a ruminant, such as
a cow or sheep.
4. Similarly if the stress is on the first
syllable, the vowel “a” in “ab” should be
the longer /æ/ because of the spelling of
a.
5. So, phonetically, this word ought to look
like /əbəmæsəm/. Let’s consider our
options.

5. 5
abomasum
…the fourth stomach of a ruminant, such as
a cow or sheep.
6. Judging by the structure of this word, I
would say it is pronounced as either
/ˈæbəmæsəm/ or /æbəˈmæsəm/*.
* Although the dictionary says this is pronounced /əbəʊˈmeɪsəm/, I regard
the /eɪ/ pronunciation as American, not British. So I’m sticking with /æ/.

6. 6
borborygmus
…a rumbling or gurgling noise in the intestines.
Here’s another word. Let’s apply the same
steps as earlier:
1. It also has 4 syllables, so I must guess
where the primary stress is.
2. The spelling “or” tells me these are the
longer vowel /ɔː/ at least for the first
syllable, instead of the shorter /ɒ/.
3. The “ryg” should be /rɪg/ because of
similar words like “pygmy” and “cygnet”.

7. 7
borborygmus
…a rumbling or gurgling noise in the intestines.
4. Also, because words like “pygmy” and
“cygnet” stress the “pyg” and “cyg”, I
suspect this word also stresses the “ryg” .
5. Phonetically, this word ought to look like
/bɔːbərɪgməs/. So, with I have guessed,
the correct pronunciation should be:
/bɔːbəˈrɪgməs/.

8. Write to tell me about your own
experience with learning to say
a new word.
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