pronounce

Pronounce is a verb with several related meanings centered on producing or declaring sounds. In its primary sense, to pronounce a word or phrase means to utter its sounds in a way that other speakers can recognize and understand. The act of pronunciation involves articulation, intonation, and the distribution of stress within a word or sentence.

The word derives from Latin pronunciāre "to declare or announce," via Old French prononcer, into English. The related noun, pronunciation, refers to the manner in which a word is spoken, including its phonemes, syllables, stress, and rhythm. Spelling often differs from pronunciation, and there is a common distinction between how a word is pronounced and how it is written.

Pronounce also has formal senses. To pronounce a verdict, sentence, or judgment is to declare it officially, typically by an authority such as a judge. To pronounce someone dead means to declare that life has ceased. These uses share the core idea of making a formal or public statement based on speech.

Usage notes and language learning: pronouncing a word correctly is a central task for learners of a language. Dictionaries and language guides provide phonetic transcriptions or audio pronunciations to aid accuracy. The word pronounced can describe a strong, noticeable feature (a pronounced accent) or a clearly defined difference (a pronounced shift). The common misspelling pronunciation often appears as pronounciation in informal writing; the correct form is pronunciation.

In linguistics, pronunciation is studied as a component of phonetics and phonology, reflecting how speakers produce and perceive sounds, and how dialects influence spoken form. Pronounce, pronunciation, and related terms are widely used in education, lexicography, broadcasting, and language policy.