English Words

One Hundred Most Commonly Mispronounced English Words

Jaku b M arian

Second Edition, March 2 0 1 5

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The image of the head on the front cover is copyrighted by Andrey Ospishchev a n d lic e n s e d fr o m fo to lia .c o m . BEFORE YOU START READING

If y o u h av e fo u n d th is b o o k fre e ly av a ila b le o n th e In te rn e t (fro m a n ille g a l so u rce ), p le a se co n - sider ob taining a legal version at

http://jakubm arian.com /hundred-words/

You can get the most up-to-date legal version of th e b o o k e ith e r in th e a u th o r’s E n g lish B u n d le o r fo r fre e w ith su b scrip tio n to h is e d u ca tio n a l m a ilin g list.

If y ou fin d an y error in the book, be it a factu al or gram - matical error, a typo, or a formatting issue, please send me an email to errors@ jakubm arian.com WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BOOK

This little booklet is based on my much larger book called Im p rov e y ou r E n glish p ron u n ciation an d learn over 500 com m only m ispronounced w ords which, apart from hundreds of additional words, describes also typical error patterns in English and contains an introduction to English phonology (w hich w ill help you read English words correctly in general). I h av e se le cte d 100 w ords from the original book that I consider to be the m ost im portant ones and com p iled them here in alph abetical ord er so that my readers can easily review them. This book also utilizes a sm aller page size and is better suited for read ing on e-book read ing devices. Pronunciation is denoted using a simplified version of IPA (In tern ation al P h on etic A lph ab et; th e notation used in the aforem entioned book is a bit more sophisticated). If you can’t read IPA yet, don’t worry; pronunciation is written also in a pseudo- English notation which will be explained before you start reading the list. If you want to learn m ore about the IPA , there is an appendix explaining all IPA sym bols a t th e v e r y e n d o f th e b o o k . TABLE OF CONTENTS

Before you start reading ...... 3

What to expect from this book ...... 4

The notation ...... 6

The list ...... 8

Appendix: IPA ...... 3 2 Vowels ...... 3 3 Consonants ...... 3 7

Alphabetical Index ...... 4 4 THE NOTATION

In order to be able to read the pseudo-English notation used here, you will have to rem em ber just three IPA characters; the rest shou ld be p ronou nced as you w ould intuitively pronounce it as an English word. The characters you have to remember are: [ə] is p ron ou n ced as “a” in “a book” (i.e. as th e in - definite article). It is a neutral sound, as if you were ju st releasing air throu gh you r vocal chord s. If you som etim es think th at th ere’s an “0” used in a place where you would expect “i” as in “pit” (o r co n - versely), don’t w orry; these tw o sounds are often in te rc h a n g e a b le . [æ] is a sound approximately between “a” in “fath e r” a n d “ e” in “ b ed”. The sym bol is used to rem in d yo u th at E n g lish “a” (as in “cat” = “ k æ t” , “bad” = “bæ d”, “sad” = “sæd” etc.) is pronounced som ew h at differen tly than you are used from you r mother tongue. [ʌ] is th e so u n d o f “u ” in “b ut” (bʌt) an d “o ” in “come” (kʌm).

There are also a few groups of letters used con- sisten tly in th e p seu d o-E n g lish notation , bu t d on’t worry about them too much; you will remember them naturally as you start reading the list and if 7 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS you skip to the next section rig h t n o w , y o u w ill p ro b a b ly do just fine. In ca se y o u a re in te re ste d : “ aw” is pronounced as in “law ”, “oo” as in “cool” , “ oo” (italicised) as in “good” (the sam e as “u” in “put”), “ee” (italicised) is used to denote the sam e sound as in “s ee” but sh ort, an d “oh” is used to denote [oʊ] w h ich is h o w Americans pronounce “oh”; in British English, “oh” is pronounced as “əu”. The pseudo-English notation uses dashes to di- vide each word into simpler parts, for exam ple “po- lic e ” = “ pə-lees”. The stressed part is bold. These parts often correspond to the syllables of the word, but they do not if this could lead to a wrong pronunciation, so don’t pronounce the dashes as any kind of pause. For exam ple “recipe” is denoted as “res-ip-ee”, although the syllables are in fact “res-i- pee”, but this would mislead som e people to pronounce the “i” as “aay”. If th e A m e rica n p ro n u n cia tio n d iffe rs fro m th e British one, the one just explained is marked by the sym bol UK o r US after th e g iv e n p r o n u n c ia tio n . THE LIST

There is not much more to say; I hope you will enjoy the process of reading and learning som ething new .

ability [əˈbɪləti] (ə-bil-ə-tee); ev e n th o u g h a n a b ility is s o m e th in g y o u a re able [ˈeɪbl] (ey-bl) to d o, th e re ’s n o “ey ” a t th e b e g in n in g o f “a b ility ” . albeit [ɔ:lˈbi:ɪt] (aw’l-bee-it); th is fa irly fo rm a l w o rd , meaning “although”, is not used much in sp eech , bu t is still q u ite com m on in literatu re. Once you remember that it is actually a combin- ation of three w ords “all be it”, you w ill no lo n g e r h a v e a n y p ro b le m w ith its c o rre c t p ro - nunciation. alien [ˈeɪliən] (ei-li-ən); a lio n w o u ld ce rta in ly b e a n unw elcom e alien at your hom e, but don’t pronounce them the sam e. Just rem em ber that an alien is not your ally [ˈælaɪ] (æ-laay). angel [ˈeɪndʒəl] (eyn-dzhəl); u n lik e m a n y o th e r words beginning with “ang-”, “angel” is pronounced with [eɪndʒ] (eyndzh) at th e b eg in n in g . Nevertheless, a derived word angelic [æn 9 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

ˈdʒelɪk] (æn-dzhe-lik) is stressed on th e secon d syllable an d the vow els are p ron ou n ced d iffer- ently.

Arkansas [ˈɑ:kənˌsɔ:] (aak-ən-saw) UK, [ˈɑ:rkənˌsɔ:] (aark-ən-saw) US; th e n am e o f o n e o f th e U S states so u n d s like a sy m b o l for a n ew religiou s movement: “ark and saw”. However, this is how it is re a lly p ro n o u n c e d . ballet [ˈbæleɪ] (bæ-lei) UK, [bæˈleɪ] (bæ-lei) US; som ew h at surp rising ly, the final “t” rem ains sile n t in E n g lis h . beige [beɪʒ] (beyzh); th is w o rd is o f F ren ch o rig in and inherits its French pronunciation. The “g” is pronounced the sam e as in “m assage”. bomb [bom] (bom) UK, [bɑ:m] (baam) US; th e “ b ” in “m b” in English is usually silent. This w ord is perhaps even more confusing than the others in th a t it a lso e x ists in m o st o th e r la n g u a g e s in th e sam e w ritten form bu t w ith the “b” pron ou n ced . The sam e pronunciation is used also for bomb- ing [ˈbomɪŋ] (bom-ing) UK, [ˈbɑ:mɪŋ] (baam-ing) US. THE LIST 10 bull [bʊl] (bool, with short “u”); so m e p e o p le p ro - nounce the “u” wrongly as [ʌ], a s in “ cu t” , b u t it is th e s a m e “ u ” a s in “ p u t” . bullet [ˈbʊlɪt] (boo-lit, with short “u”); a s in th e p re v i- ous case, “u” is pronounced as [ʊ] (oo). bury [ˈberi] (ber-ri); a burial [ˈberiəl] (ber-ri-əl) is a sad an d im p ortan t even t. D on’t sp oil it by pro - nouncing it wrong. It is pronounced exactly the sam e as “berry” (i.e. th ere is n o “u h ” or “ ʌ” sou n d ). caffeine [ˈkæfi:n] (kæ-feen) is, a fte r a ll, in co ffee , so it w o u ld b e m o re lo g ic a l to c a ll it “ c o ffe e n ” , wouldn’t it? As a compromise between the two, at least “ei” is pronounced as “ee”. calm [kɑ:m] (kaam); E nglish d oesn’t seem to like th e co m b in a tio n “ a lm ” , so th e “ l” re m a in s sile n t in m ost dialects (how ever, there are som e A m er - ic a n o n e s in w h ic h it is p ro n o u n c e d ). change [tʃeɪndʒ] (tcheyndzh); th e w o rd is p ro - nounced with “ey”, not with “æ ” or “e”. 11 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS chaos [ˈkeɪos] (kei-oss) UK, [ˈkheɪɑ:s] (kei-aas) US; th e p ro n u n cia tio n o f th is w o rd is a ctu a lly q u ite reg u lar, b u t p eo p le ten d to p ro n o u n ce it as th e sam e w ord in their ow n lan gu age, w h ich usu ally differs from its English pronunciation. chic [ʃi:k] (sheek); w h a t is ch ic is fa sh io n a b le o r e l- egant. The w ord is borrow ed from French and retain s th e origin al pro n u n ciation . climb [klaɪm] (klaaym); a s in “ b o m b ” , th e “ b ” in “m b” is silent. This is true also for “clim bing” [ˈklaɪmɪŋ] (klaay-ming), “ clim b e d ” [ˈklaɪmd] (klaaymd), a n d “ clim b e r” [ˈklaɪmə] (klaay-mə) UK, [ˈklaɪmər] (klaay-mr) US. colonel [ˈkə:nl] (kə’ə-nl) UK, [ˈkərnl] (kər-nl) US; is there a kernel inside a colonel (a m ilitary of- ficer)? W ell, at least in p ron u nciation, there is (th ey a re p ro n o u n ce d th e sa m e ). column [ˈkoləm] (koll-əm) UK, [ˈkɑ:ləm] (kaal-əm) US; w h e th e r it is a c o lu m n o f te x t o r a c o lu m n in architecture, the pronunciation still retains som e in flu e n c e o f its F re n c h o rig in . It is not [ʌ] as in “colour”, and there is also no [ju:] (yoo) as in volume. THE LIST 12 comb [kəʊm] (kəum) UK, [koʊm] (koh’m) US; th e toothed device used for styling hair is pro - nounced without the “b” at the end. Rem em ber: th e “ m ” a lre a d y lo o k s lik e a co m b , so n o “ b ” is needed. comfortable [ˈkʌmfətəbl] (kʌm-fə-tə-bl) UK, in th e US a ls o [ˈkʌmftəbl] (kʌm-ftə-bl); if y o u “ co m e fo r a table” to a furniture shop , it w ill hopefully be com fortable, althou gh it doesn’t rhym e w ith it. company [ˈkʌmpəni] (kʌm-pə-nee); a co m p a n y is a group of people who in a sense “com e” together, and the “com ” in “com pany” is pronounced exactly the sam e as in “com e”. The sam e is true for accompany [əˈkʌmpəni] (ə-kʌm-pə-nee).

(of) course [kɔ:s] (kaw’s) UK, [kɔ:rs] (kaw’rs) or [koʊrs] (koh’rs) US; although the word is of French origin, the “ou” is not pronounced as [u:] (oo) as is com m on in French w ords. court [kɔ:t] (kaw’t) [kɔ:rt] (kaw’rt); h o p e fu lly y o u will never have to deal with a court, but if you do, rem em ber to pronounce it with “aw”, not with “oo”. 13 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS cupboard [ˈkʌbəd] (kʌ-bəd) UK, [ˈkʌbərd] (kʌ-brd) US is indeed derived from the w ords “cup” and “board”; nonetheless, the “board” in it is pronounced with [ə] and “p” is not pronounced at all. debris [ˈdebri:] (deb-ree) UK, [dəˈbri:] (də-bree) US; this w ord retained its original French pronunciation, so the final “s” is silent. debt [det] (det); a w ord that has becom e abundant in m e d ia a fte r th e re c e n t fin a n c ia l crisis [ˈkraɪsɪs] (kraay-sis). If y o u p ro n o u n ce th e “ b ” , people will likely understand it as “dipped”. despicable [dɪˈspɪkəbl] (dis-pik-ə-bl), ra re ly a lso [ˈdespɪkəbl] (des-pik-ə-bl); w hen you despise [dɪ ˈspaɪz] (dis-paayz) som ething, you find it “despicable”, w hich is pronounced w ith [k] for som e reason . T h e w ord “d esp isable” [dɪ ˈspaɪzəbl] (dis-paay-zə-bl) (sp elled w ith an “s”) th e o re tica lly ex ists in so m e d ictio n a rie s, b u t n o - one really uses it in practice. dessert [dɪˈzə:t] (di-zə’ət), [dɪˈzərt] (di-zərt) is a sw eet cou rse th at con clud es th e m eal. D on’t con - THE LIST 14

fu se it w ith desert [ˈdezət] (de-zət) UK, [ˈdezərt] (de-zrt) US w h ic h is a la rg e a r e a o f d r y la n d . dove [dʌv] (dʌv); th e b ird o f th e p ig e o n fa m ily is o f- ten used as a sym bol of love, perhaps because the w ords are so sim ilar. H ow ever, the w ord “dove” is becom ing increasingly w idespread as the past tense of “d ive” (w hose stand ard form is “dived”), and in this sense it is pronounced [dəʊv] (dəuv) UK, [doʊv] (doh’v) US.

Edinburgh [ˈedɪnbərə] (ed-in-bə-rə) or [ˈedɪnbrə] (ed-in-brə) UK, [ˈedənbʌrə] (ed-ən-bʌ-rə) or [ˈedənbərə] (ed-ən-bə-rə) US; th e n am e of th e cap ital of Scotlan d is kn ow n w ell en ou gh to slip in to m a n y o th e r la n g u a g e s in a n a lm o st u n - ch an ged w ritten form , bu t its correct cou n ter-in - tuitive pronunciation is usually know n only to native speakers. elite [ɪˈli:t] (ih-leet), so m e tim e s a lso [eɪˈli:t] (ey-leet); elite people are certainly not a “lite version” of th e p o p u la tio n . D o n ’t rh y m e th e m w ith it. epitome [ɪˈpɪtəmi] (ih-pit-ə-mee); th is so m ew h a t less com m on w ord m eans “som eone w ho is a prototypical exam ple of a class of people”. Al- 15 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

th o u g h y o u co u ld fill a to m e w ith a list o f e p i- tom es, you cannot rhym e it w ith them . exercise [ˈeksəsaɪz] (ek-sə-saayz) UK, [ˈeksərsaɪz] (ek-sr-saayz) US; m an y d o cto rs w ill d isco u rag e you from eating too m any eggs if you w ant to lead a healthy lifestyle. Whether they are right or not is a matter of discussion, but one thing is for su re: d on’t m ix eggs an d (th e w ord ) “exercise”; after all, it’s “exercise” not “eggsercise”. finale [fɪˈnɑ:li] (fin-aa-lee) UK, [fɪˈnæli] (fin-æ-lee) US is th e la st p a rt o f a s h o w o r a p ie c e o f m u s ic . And the only English word in which “ale” at the end is pronounced w ith “lee”. front [frʌnt] (frʌnt); is pronounced w ith [ʌ], i.e. “ron” in it doesn’t sound like the nam e “Ron”. The sam e is true for “confront” [kənˈfrʌnt] (kən- frʌnt). fruit [fru:t] (froot); sim p ly ig n o re th e “ i” . T h e w o rd is pronounced exactly as if it w ere w ritten “froot”. THE LIST 16 fuchsia [ˈfju:ʃə] (fyoo-shə) is a sm all bush w ith flo w ers o f a ch a ra cteristic co lo u r w h ich is a lso referred to as “fu ch sia“. garage is pronounced in the UK either as [ˈgærɑ:ʒ] (gæ-raazh) o r [ˈgærɪdʒ] (gæ-ridzh), in th e US it is usually [gəˈrɑ:ʒ] (gə-raazh). gauge [geɪdʒ] (geydzh); th is w o rd is e sp e cia lly u se - ful to guitarists w ho speak about string gauges (i.e. h o w th ick th ey a re ). It is p ro n o u n ce d a s if th e “ u ” w e re n o t th e re . genre [ˈʒonrə] (zhon-rə) UK, [ˈʒɑ:nər] (zhaa-nr) US; a very French word indeed. It is even pronounced with a nasal vowel in some variations of British English, i.e. with squeezing of the back of one’s th ro a t in ste a d o f say in g [n].

Greenwich [ˈgrenɪtʃ] (gren-itch) o r [ˈgrɪnɪdʒ] (grin- idzh); y o u p ro b a b ly k n o w th is w o rd fro m th e Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) standard. Just remember that there is no green witch in Green- wich. grind [graɪnd] (graaynd); th e re a re o n ly 4 E n g lish words that end with “rind”: rin d , g rin d , re g rin d , 17 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

and tam arind. Tam arind is a tree, and it is the only one of those in which “rind” is pronounced as one w ould expect: [rind]. In th e o th e r th re e , it is p ro n o u n c e d a s [raɪnd] (raaynd). (“ Rind” is the outer skin of som e types of fruit, for exam ple “lem on rind”.) height [haɪt] (haayt); the p ron u nciation is as if it were written “hight”. The “e” is there just to con fuse foreign ers. heir [eə] (eə) UK, [er] (er) US; a p e rs o n w h o in h e rits som eth ing from som eon e else. It com es from Old French, so the “h” remains silent; it sounds exactly the sam e as “air” and “ere” (m eaning “before long”). hotel [həʊˈtel] (həu-tel) UK, [hoʊˈtel] (hoh-tel) US; “ho ho ho, tell m e w hy you are not at hom e” is som eth ing San ta C lau s cou ld ask you if you stayed in a h otel over C h ristm as. It is m o st cer- ta in ly n o t th e re a so n w h y it is ca lle d “ h o te l” , b u t it w ill h o p e fu lly h e lp y o u re m e m b e r th a t th e stress is actu ally on th e seco n d syllab le (th ere is not [tl] a t th e en d ). THE LIST 18 hour [ˈaʊə] (aau-ə) UK, [ˈaʊər] (aau-rr) US (b o th th e sam e as “ou r”); th e “ h ” a t th e b e g in n in g is s ile n t, as it should be also in the nam e of the letter H [eɪdʒ] (eydzh). S o m e n a tiv e sp e a k e rs sta rte d to pronounce H as “heydzh” lately, but such pronunciation is regarded as uneducated by many. houses [ˈhaʊzɪz] (haauziz); the singular form , house, is pronounced with [s] at th e en d : [haʊs] (haaus). T h e p lu ra l o f it, h o w e v e r, is p ro n o u n ce d with [z]. hyperbole [haɪˈpə:bəli] (haay-pə’ə-bə-lee) UK, [haɪ ˈpərbəli] US (haay-pər-bə-lee); d o n ’t co n fu se th is word with a hyperbola, a geometric shape. Hy- perbole is a form of exaggeration, and it doesn’t rh y m e w ith a bo w l. infamous [ˈɪnfəməs] (in-fə-məs); a lth o u g h th e word is just “famous” with the prefix “in-” stuck in th e fron t, it is n ot p ron ou n ced so.

Ireland [ˈaɪələnd] (aay-ə-lənd) UK, [ˈaɪərlənd] (aay-r- lənd) US; ironically, “ire ”, pronounced [ˈaɪə] (aay-ə) UK, [ˈaɪər] (aay-r) US, is a w o rd m e a n in g “anger” or “w rath”. H ow ever, the “Ire” in “Ire- 19 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

la n d ” c o m e s fro m “ É riu ” , a m y th o lo g ic a l Iris h being. iron [ˈaɪən] (aay-ən) UK, [ˈaɪərn] (aay-rn) US; th is word is mispronounced by almost 100% of beginning English learners w ho pronounce it as aay-rən o r aay-ron, b u t n o n e o f th e se p ro n u n c i- ations is correct. The sam e is true also for “ironed” [ˈaɪənd] (aay-ənd) UK, [ˈaɪərnd] (aay- rn’d) US an d “iro n ing ” [ˈaɪənɪŋ] (aay-ə-ning) UK, [ˈaɪərnɪŋ] (aay-ər-ning) US. island [ˈaɪlənd] (aay-lənd) w as w ritten “ilan d ” be- fo re th e 1 6 th cen tu ry. A lth o u g h islan d in d eed is land surrounded by w ater, the w ord is not w ritten so becau se it “is land ”, bu t becau se there is an etym ologically unrelated w ord isle [aɪl] (p ro - nounced the sam e as “I’ll”) which also m eans “island”, and so people during the 16th cen tu ry thought it w ould be fun to insert “s” into the sp elling of “ilan d ” as w ell. laugh [lɑ:f] (laaf) UK, [læf] (læf) US; th e le tte r c o m - bination “augh” is usually pronounced [ɔ:] (aw), as in “taught”, “caught”, “naught”, but not here. THE LIST 20 launch [lɔ:ntʃ] (law’ntch); a s in m o st E n g lish w o rd s, “au” here is pronounced as [ɔ:] (aw). D o n ’t co n - fu se th e w o rd w ith lunch [lʌntʃ] (lʌntch); y o u can lau n ch a rocket [ˈrokɪt] (rokk-it) UK, [ˈrɑ:kɪt] (raa-kit) US and you can have a lunch w ith your friend s, bu t hop efu lly not otherw ise. lettuce [ˈletɪs] (let-is) UK, [ˈleɾɪs] (led-is) US; re m e m - ber that lettuce doesn’t grow on a spruce; and it also doesn’t rhym e w ith it. lieutenant [lefˈtenənt] UK (lef-te-nənt), [lu:ˈtenənt] US (loo-te-nənt); the A m erican pronunciation poses no problem here; just notice the British one. lingerie [ˈlænʒəri] (læn-zhə-ree) UK, [ˌlɑ:n(d)ʒəˈreɪ] (laan-(d)zhə-rei) or [ˈlɑn(d)ʒəri] (laan-(d)zhə-ree) US; in B r itis h E n g lis h , p r o n u n c ia tio n o f th is w o rd rem ain s close to th e o rig in al F ren ch o n e; th ere are several other options in Am erican English. lozenge [ˈlozɪndʒ] (lozz-indzh) UK, [ˈlɑ:zɪndʒ] (laa- zindzh) US; a d iam ond -like figu re: I. T h e last “e” is s ile n t a n d th e re is n o “ o h ” in it. maple [ˈmeɪpl] (mei-pl); y o u ca n m a k e a m a p (mæp) out of its wood, you can eat an apple (æ-pl) w ith 21 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

its s y ru p , b u t d o n ’t p ro n o u n c e it w ith [æ]. B y th e w ay, th e w o rd “ syrup” is pronounced [ˈsɪrəp] (si-rəp), n o t “ saay-rəp”. margarine [ˌmɑ:dʒəˈri:n] (maa-dzhə-reen) UK, [ˈmɑ:rdʒərɪn] (maar-dzhə-rin) US; in m o s t d ia le c ts , the “g” is pronounced as [dʒ] (dzh) (p erh ap s it will help you to remember that margarine is also colloqu ially called “m arge” [mɑ:dʒ] (maadzh) in th e UK). A lso n o tice th e d iffe re n ce in stre ss p o si- tion betw een A m erican and British English. miscellaneous [ˌmɪsəˈleɪniəs] (mis-ə-lei-nee-əs); le a rn e rs m a k e m isc e lla n e o u s m ista k e s ; e v e n th e word “miscellaneous” is often one of them. mischief [ˈmɪstʃɪf] (mis-tchif); m isch ie f is a b a d b e - haviour w hich does not cause serious harm . Don’t pronounce it with “k”. The adjective derived fro m it is mischievous [ˈmɪstʃɪvəs] (mis- tchiv-əs); mishap [ˈmɪshæp] (mis-hæp); th e w o rd is m is-h a p , meaning mis-happiness, i.e. misfortune or bad lu c k . THE LIST 22 mortgage [ˈmɔ:gɪdʒ] (maw-gidzh) UK, [ˈmɔ:rgɪdʒ] (maw’r-gidzh) US; th e “ t” is s ile n t, a s it s h o u ld b e in th e n a m e o f L o rd V o ld e mort according to J.K .R o w lin g (a lth o u g h m o st M u g g le s w h o d a re say the nam e pron ou n ce the final t). niche [ni:ʃ] (neesh) UK, [nɪtʃ] (nitch) US; th is w o rd , originally m eaning a shallow recess or sim ply a nice place or position, is also often used to mean a particular narrow field of interest (especially in business). Its pronunciation can be som ew hat unexpected. oasis [əʊˈeɪsɪs] (əu-ey-sis) UK, [oʊˈeɪsɪs] (oh-ey-sis) US; im a g in e y o u a re o n a d esert w ith a frien d nam ed Asis and you are almost dying of thirst. When you cannot go any further, you say “oh, Asis...” after which your friend starts running forw ard in a burst of happiness. To solve the puzzle, find out why. The plural of “oasis” is “oases” [əʊˈeɪsi:z] (əu-ey-seez) UK, [oʊˈeɪsi:z] (oh-ey-seez) US. onion [ˈʌnjən] (ʌn-yən); o n e o f a co u p le o f w o rd s in which “o” is pronounced as [ʌ] (a s in “ co m e ” ). 23 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS owe [əʊ] (əu) UK, [oʊ] (oh) US; if y o u re m e m b e r th a t the phrase “I ow e you” is often abbreviated IO U , it w ill h e lp y o u re m e m b e r th a t th is w o rd is p ro - nounced just as the letter “o”. The abbreviation has even becom e a noun m eaning “a written prom ise to pay a debt” (you can give som eone “an IO U ”). owl [aʊl] (aaul); it m ay b e a silly w ay, b u t if y o u re - member that an owl looks like ʌ(O O )ʌ, it w ill perhaps help you rem em ber that it is pronounced with som ething close to “ʌoo”. photograph [ˈfəʊtəgrɑ:f] (fəu-tə-graaf) UK, [ˈfoʊtə- græf] (foh-tə-græf) US; the w ord is synonym ous to a photo; it is not the person w ho takes the photo as in many other languages. The person is a photographer [fəˈtogrəfə] (fə-togg-rə-fə) UK, [fəˈtɑ:grəfər] (fə-taag-rə-fr) US; notice that the stress is n ow on th e seco n d syllab le, w h ereas it was on the first syllable in “photograph”. To make the confusion complete, the stress in the word photographic [ˌfəʊtəˈgræfɪk] (fəu-tə-græf- ik) UK, [ˌfoʊtəˈgræfɪk] (foh-tə-græf-ik) US is o n th e th ird sy lla b le . THE LIST 24 pour [pɔ:] (paw) UK, [pɔ:r] (paw’r) o r [poʊr] (poh’r) US; a lth o u g h th e w o rd lo o k s lik e h a v in g a F r e n c h origin and “ou” in French words is usually pronounced [u:], e .g . ro u te [ru:t] (root), in th is ca se th e o rig in is n o t F re n ch , a n d so is n o t th e p ro - nunciation. On the other hand, the word “poor” can be pron ou n ced either w ith [ʊ] (oo) or w ith [ɔ:] (aw) (b o th are eq u ally valid ). If yo u u se th e form er, you can rem em ber not to use the “poor” pronunciation for “pour”. pudding [ˈpʊdɪŋ] (poo-ding, with short “u”); if y o u drop a bow l of pudding, it form s a puddle [pʌdl], but when it is still in the bow l, it is, well, with “poo”. purchase [ˈpə:tʃəs] (pə’ə-tchəs) UK, [ˈpərtʃəs] (pər- tchəs) US; it is tru e th at m an y p eo p le literally “chase discounts” w hen purchasing goods, but there is no “chase” in the p ronu nciation of “p u r- ch ase”. pyramid [ˈpɪrəmɪd] (pir-ə-mid); th e “ p y r” in th e word “pyramid” has nothing to do with the prefix “pyro-” w hich com es from G reek and is used in th e w o rd pyromania [ˌpaɪrəʊˈmeɪniə] (paay- 25 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

rəu-mei-nee-ə) UK, [ˌpaɪroʊˈmeɪniə] (paay-roh- mei-nee-ə) US. queue [kju:] (kyoo); if y o u w a n t to p ro n o u n ce th is word correctly, just think of the Q at the beginning; “ueue” is not pronounced at all. recipe [ˈresɪpi] (res-ip-ee); “ cip e ” in th is ca se doesn’t rhym e with “ripe”; it consists of two sep- arate syllables. salmon [ˈsæmən] (sæ-mən); th e re ’s so m e th in g fishy about this w ord. Perhaps the pronunciation. sandwich [ˈsænwɪtʃ] (sæn-witch) or [ˈsænwɪdʒ] (sæn-widzh); w o u ld y o u lik e to e a t a sa n d w ich with sand? If you wouldn’t, don’t pronounce the “d”. schedule [ˈʃedju:l] (shed-yool) UK, [ˈskedʒu:l] (skedzh-ool) US; I a m n o t su re w h ic h o f th e tw o variants is m ore confusing. Anyw ay, if you learn a certain dialect, you should stick to the pronunciation used in that dialect. THE LIST 26 schizophrenia [ˌskɪtsəˈfri:niə] (skits-ə-free-ni-ə); a German heart will skip a beat when seeing this word; not just because schizophrenia was originally described and researched by Germ an scient- ists , b u t a ls o b e c a u s e its p ro n u n c ia tio n re - sem bles to a certain deg ree th e original G erm an one. It is one of very few English words contain- ing the “ts” sound w here “t” and “s” are pro - nounced almost simultaneously. since [sɪns] (sins); s o m e p e o p le , m is le d b y th e “ e ” at the end, pronounce this word as “saayns”. subtle [ˈsʌtl] (sʌ-tl) UK, [ˈsʌɾl] (sʌ-dl) US; “btle” sim p ly doesn’t sou n d good . D on’t pron ou n ce th e “b”. suit [su:t] (soot), in th e UK a lso [sju:t] (syoot); a s in th e ca se o f “ fru it” , th e “ i” is sile n t. suite [swi:t] (sweet); m e a n in g a se t o f ro o m s (in a hotel), a set of m atching pieces of furniture, a certain typ e of m u sical com p osition , or a set of related co m p u ter p ro g ram s, th is w o rd is p ro - nounced exactly the sam e as “sweet”. 27 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS surface [ˈsə:fɪs] (sə’ə-fis) [ˈsərfɪs] (sər-fis); y o u ca n wipe your face using the surface of your towel, but you cannot rhym e it with it. sweat [swet] (swet); have you ever tasted sw eat? It’s not exactly sw eet. D on’t pronounce it this way. sword [sɔ:d] (saw’d) UK, [sɔ:rd] (saw’rd) US; th e “w ” is silent, and the word is pronounced as if it were written “sord”. However, it is not true that in “ s w ” th e “ w ” w o u ld a lw a y s b e s ile n t; fo r e x - am ple “swan” is pronounced [swon] (swonn) UK, [swɑ:n] (swaan) US. target [ˈtɑ:gɪt] (taag-it) UK, [ˈtɑ:rgɪt] (taarg-it) US; it would certainly be possible to “get some tar” in order to mark a target. Although “target” is ety- mologically related neither to “tar” nor to “get”, it is a w ay to rem em ber that the “g” is as in “get”, not as “j” in “jet”. tear; th is w o rd m a y c a u s e s o m e c o n fu s io n , b e c a u s e it has two completely unrelated meanings. When it denotes a w ater drop com ing out of som eone’s eye, it’s pronou nced [tɪə] (ti’ə) UK o r [tɪr] US (tir). When it denotes the process of “ripping” some- THE LIST 28

th in g , it is p ro n o u n ce d [teə] (teə) UK o r [ter] (ter) US. ton [tʌn] (tʌn); don’t let your m other tongue m isle a d y o u ; th e re is re a lly a n [ʌ], a n d so is in “ son ” and “won”. What may be even more confusing than the pronunciation is the fact that “ton” refers to th e u n it u sed in th e U S th at is d efin ed as 1 ton = 2,000 pounds = 907 kg. It can also refer to the ton used in the U K w here 1 ton = 2,240 pounds = 1,016 kg, but which is no longer offi- cially used (since 1985). If you w an t to refer to th e so ca lle d “ metric ton”, the w ord you are lo o k in g fo r is p ro n o u n c e d th e s a m e b u t is sp elled “ton n e”, i.e. 1 ton n e = 1000 kg. vegan [ˈvi:gən] (vee-gən); th e city o f Las Vegas [ˈlɑ:s ˈveɪgəs] (laas vei-gəs) is co n sid e re d to b e a place of indulgence—a quality despised by ve- gans. D on’t pronounce the “veg” in the two words the same. village [ˈvɪlɪdʒ] (vil-idzh); it is n o t ca lle d so b e ca u se its in h a b ita n ts a re o f h ig h e r a g e o n a v e ra g e ; in fact, there is no connection betw een the w ords “village” and “age” w hatsoever, and there is also none in the pronunciation. The sam e applies to a 29 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

villager [ˈvɪlɪdʒə] (vil-idzh-ə) UK, [ˈvɪlɪdʒər] (vil- idzh-rr) US. vinegar [ˈvɪnɪgə] (vin-ig-ə) UK, [ˈvɪnɪgər] (vin-ig-rr) US is used to m ake food m ore sour [ˈsaʊə] (saau-ə) UK, [ˈsaʊər] (saau-rr) US. A lth o u g h th e word is related to vine [vaɪn] (vaayn), it is n o t pronounced so. And when we are at it, don’t con fuse pron u n ciation of “vine” an d “w ine”; a “vine” is a plant on w hich grapes grow and is pronounced with “v” at the beginning (as in “very”), and “w ine” is the liquid you can m ake out of the grapes and is pronounced with “w ” at th e b e g in n in g (a s in “w o w ” ). pear [peə] (peə) UK, [per] (per) US; th e fru it, a s w e ll as bear, th e a n im a l, a n d wear—all of them are pronounced with the [e] so u n d . In o th er w o rd s, if you’ve heard a story about som eone’s grandpa being attacked by a beer while eating his peer, you can be pretty sure the storyteller hadn’t read th is b o o k . wolf [wʊlf] (woolf); th is is o n e o f a fe w w o rd s in which a single “o” is pronounced as [ʊ] (a s “o o ” in “ g o o d ” ). O th e r e x a m p le s in c lu d e woman [ˈwʊmən] (woo-mən), a n d sim ila r w o rd s womb THE LIST 30

[wu:m] (woom), th e o rg a n in w h ich a ch ild b e - fo re b irth is, a n d tomb [tu:m] (toom), a p la ce in which remains of dead people are stored. “Tombstone” is p r o n o u n c e d “ toom-stone”. womb [wu:m] (woom), tomb [tu:m] (toom); p e o p le tend to pronounce “o” as in “lot”. Think about “tom b” as about “to”+“m b”. “M b” m ay sound nice in Sw ahili, but not so much in English, so th e “ b ” is sile n t. T h e sa m e a p p lie s to a ll o th e r words in which “m” and “b” belong to the same syllable, such as numb [nʌm] (nʌm) an d plumb [plʌm] (plʌm). T h e “ b ” is sile n t ev e n in “ n u m b e r” when it means “more numb” and in “plumber”.

Xerox [ˈzɪəroks] (zi-ə-roks) UK, [ˈzɪrɑ:ks] (zi-raaks) US; p e rh a p s a s a g re a t d is a p p o in tm e n t to a ll fa n s of a dubbed version of Xena: W arrior Princess com es the fact that “x” at the beginn ing of any word is not pronounced as [ks] b u t a s [z].

Yosemite [joʊˈsemɪti:] (yəu-sem-it-ee) UK, [joʊ ˈsemɪɾi:] (yoh-sem-id-ee) US; Y o sem ite N atio n al Park is well know n around the Globe. Although th e re ce rta in ly is a t le a st o n e m ite so m ew h e re in th e p a rk , th e re is n o n e in th e n a m e . 31 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS zealot [ˈzelət] (zel-ət) is a p erso n w h o is very en - th u sia stic a b o u t so m e th in g , i.e. a p e rso n h av in g a great am ount of zeal (a great energy or enthu - siasm ) w h ich is, su rp risingly, p ron ou n ced [zi:l] (zeel).

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errors@ jakubm arian.com APPENDIX: IPA

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) has becom e standard w hen denoting English pronunciation, and proper know ledge of it is essential for any learner w ho w ants to further im prove his or her pronunciation. It is based on the Latin alphabet (the stand ard E nglish alp habet); each letter of the alphabet is assigned a particular sound, and m any other characters (e.g. ʃ, ʒ, ɔ) are ad d ed to th e alp h a - bet in order to be able to, theoretically, denote any sou n d th at occu rs in any lan gu age in the w orld to quite a high degree of precision. Unlike some other phonetic alphabets, there is no way to recognize what exact sound an IPA sym - bol represents just from its sym bol. On the other hand, the sym bols are usually chosen so that sim - ila r s y m b o ls d e n o te sim ila r s o u n d s , s o , fo r e x a m p le , [ɔ] so u n d s sim ila r to “ o ” , w h ich h e lp s y o u a sso cia te the sym bol w ith the correct pronunciation. W e shall take a look only at the sym bols used to d enote E ng - lis h p ro n u n c ia tio n . Remark: When I write “most languages”, I mean “m ost languages that use the Latin alphabet”. 33 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

VOWELS

We will take a look at the symbols for vowels first because they usually cause m ore problem s:

[x:] long vowel When the symbol “:” follow s a vow el sym bol, it means that the vowel is pronounced longer.

[ˈxy] stressed syllable This sym bol, which looks similar to an apo- strophe, m eans that the follow ing syllable is stressed (it is pro n o u n ced lou d er).

[ˌxy] secondary stress This sym bol, which looks similar to a com m a, is basically the sam e as the above, only the stress is weaker.

[æ] cat, bad, sad, sand, land, hand Among all the English vowels, the greatest problem for m ost learners poses “æ ”. It is som ew here in between of “a” in “father” and “e” in “bed”. It is usually pronounced slightly longer and closer to “e” in “bed” in A m erican English, w hereas it is of- VOW ELS 34 ten shorter and closer to “a” in “father” in B ritish English.

[ɑ:] bra, calm, palm, father, start, dark This vow el is the closest one to the sound of the letter “a” in m any other languages and as such is also denoted [a] in som e d iction aries. T h ere is n o reliab le gen eral ru le w h ich w o u ld tell yo u w h en th e letter “a” is p ron ou nced as [ɑ:] in ste a d o f [æ].

[ɒ] (o) god, pot, top, spot (British English only) This vow el is quite similar to the sound of “o” many other languages (and we also denote it as [o] in th is b o o k ). A m e ric a n s d o n ’t u se th is v o w e l a n d say [ɑ:] in ste a d .

[ʌ] but, cut, gun, come, some, glove This vow el very similar to [ɑ:], b u t it’s n e v e r p ro - nounced long in English.

[ɛ] (e) get, bed, set, sell, fell, men This vow el is the closest one to the sound of the letter “e” in m ost other languages and is som etim es denoted by [e] in d ictio n a ries (a n d in th is b o o k ) fo r sim p licity. 35 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

[ɪ] pit, bin, fill, will, village, bullet If y o u fin d [ə] (see below ) in a d iction ary in a word for which you are almost sure that [ɪ] is co r- rect (o r co n versely), d o n ’t w o rry ; in m o st cases th e tw o p ossibilities are interchangeable and u sage can vary even am ong different occurrences of the sam e word pronounced by the same speaker.

[i], [i:] he, she, see, keep, family, hyperbole This is just a softer [ɪ]. It is u su a lly lo n g w h e n it is in a stressed syllable an d sh ort w hen it is n ot, bu t not necessarily.

[ɔ:] saw, straw, dawn, fall, call, wall A similar sound to the British [ɒ], b u t so m e w h a t “darker”.

[ʊ] put, full, good, wood, could, would The sound most similar to the sound of “u” in most other languages.

[u:] you, who, chew, shoe, cool, tool [ʊ] w o u ld so u n d stra n g e if it w ere lo n g , so w h e n there is a long “u” sound in English, it is pro - nounced som ew hat “darker” than [ʊ]. VOW ELS 36

[ə] a, syllable, moment, terrible, felony, papyrus Most learners of English learn very fast how to pronounce “a” when it means an indefinite article (su ch a s in “ a b o o k ” ), a n d th is is e x a ctly th e p ro - nunciation of [ə]. Many dictionaries (and this book) use the nota- tio n [ə] (i.e. “ 0” in th e su p e rscrip t) o r [(ə)] to d e n o te [ə] th a t m ay b e p ro n o u n ced b u t d o esn ’t h av e to b e. For exam ple “visible” is pronounced [ˈvɪzɪbəl] which means that some speakers would pronounce it a s [ˈvɪzɪbəl] an d oth ers as [ˈvɪzɪbl]. T h e tw o p ro - nunciations are equally acceptable, and even one sp eaker cou ld use eith er of them in d ifferen t situ - ations.

[ɚ], [ər] mister, standard, editor (American English only) This vow el is formed by saying [ə] an d at th e sam e tim e pu tting you r ton g u e to th e position as if you w ere saying the English “r” (listen to the re- cord ings). It is d en oted [ər] in som e dictionaries (a n d in th is b o o k ), w h ich is n o t e n tire ly p re cise ; it is more like a long “r”. In all cases where it is used (m ost notably “-er” at the end of a w ord), a Brit would say just [ə]. 37 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

[ɜ:] (əː), [ɝ:] (əːr) curve, purge, herd, serve, bird Don’t confuse the symbol with [ɛ]. [ɜ:] is p ro - nounced the sam e as [ə:] in so m e d ia le cts w h ile it is sligh tly “d arker” in oth ers, an d som e d iction aries don’t use it at all and write simply [ə:] (an d w e d o to in this book). T he d ifference betw een [ɜ:] a n d [ɝ:] is the sam e as betw een [ə] an d [ɚ]. T h e fo rm e r is used chiefly in British English, the latter chiefly in American English (listen to the recordings). Dic- tio n a rie s w h ich d e n o te [ɜ:] a s [ə:] w o u ld d e n o te [ɝ:] as [ə:r], [ər] o r [ɚ:].

CONSONANTS

A few technical terms: voiced consonants are those in w hich the vocal chords are active w hile pronouncing them (e.g. b, v, z, d, g), and unvoiced con son an ts a r e th e o th e r s (e .g . p , s , t, k , s h ).

[b] buy, bet, big, hub, knob, superb This sound exists in most languages and is also usually denoted by the letter “b”. One thing to pay attention to is that it doesn’t becom e “p” w hen it is at the end of a w ord (unless it follow s an unvoiced conson an t). CONSONANTS 38

[d] do, deal, dust, odd, prod, cod Also a common sound, denoted by “d” in most la n g u a g e s , in c lu d in g E n g lis h . A g a in , it d o e sn ’t b e - com e “t” w h en it is at the en d of a w ord (un less it follow s an unvoiced consonant).

[ð] that, though, there, father, breathe A common source of problems for English learners. It is pronounced as if you w anted to say “d” but only slightly touched the back of your teeth by your tongue instead. In particular, it is not pronounced as [d] o r [dz].

[dʒ] jet, joke, giant, purge, huge, banjo A sound approximately like [d] an d [ʒ] (see b e- low ) pronounced at the sam e tim e.

[f] fast, fat, philosophy, off, stuff, cough Again, a sound that usually causes little trouble, since it is presen t in m ost lan g u ages.

[g] go, get, grass, big, dog, fig The sound similar to “k” but voiced, i.e. with an alm ost uninterrupted stream of sound com ing out of your vocal chords. 39 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

[h] high, how, hot, somehow, ahead Native speakers of French and Russian beware! This sound may require som e practice. Try to make a neutral sound just by letting air flow through your vocal chords, and then try to “squeeze’ the stream of air at th e very bottom of yo u r th ro at.

[j] you, yet, yawn, pure, cure, few The sym bol can be slightly confusing, especially for speakers of French and Spanish. In the IPA it rep resen ts w h at is u su ally w ritten as “y ” in E n g lish at the beginning of a syllable. N otice: in w ords like buy [baɪ] an d h ey [heɪ], th e so u n d a t th e e n d is in fa ct n o t [j], b u t th e v o w e l [ɪ] as a p art of a d iph - th o n g .

[kh], [k] keep, cat, character, sock, bloc When [k] is at th e beginn ing of a stressed syl- la b le , it is a lw a y s a s p ira te d (th e re is a lw a y s a sh o rt “h” after it w hich is som etim es denoted by a super- script “h ”). In m any d ialects, esp ecially in B ritish English, this aspiration can be heard almost for all occurrences of [k] (it d o e sn ’t m a tte r b y w h a t le tte r it is represented (such as “k”, “c”, “ch”), only that th e re is [k] in p ro n u n cia tio n ). If y o u say [k] in p la ce where [kh] is exp ected , it can lead to a m isu n d er- CONSONANTS 40 stan d ing ; for exam p le if yo u p ro n o u n ce “call” just [kɔ:l] in stead o f [khɔ:l], so m e p e o p le w ill th in k th a t you said “gall” [gɔ:l]. It is, h o w e v e r, n ev e r a sp ira te d after “s”, e.g. in skin [skin], sk y [skaɪ], sk a te [skeɪt]. Nevertheless, for simplicity, virtually all dictionaries w rite just [k] and su p p ose that the read er im - plicitly understands that it is in fact [kh].

[l], [ɫ] low, let, like, owl, cool, well The sound [ɫ] is called “th e d ark l”. Som e d ictio n a rie s u se [l] to d en o te p ro n u n ciatio n o f th e letter “l” that precedes a vow el and [ɫ] otherw ise. However, there are some dialects in which an “l” is alw ays dark w hile in others it is never dark, irre- sp ective of its position . Th e differen ce is m inor, an d it is p o in tle ss to w o rry a b o u t it m u c h .

[m] man, my, more, some, doom, seem This sound is present in almost every language in th e w o rld a n d s h o u ld n ’t p o s e a n y p ro b le m .

[n] no, new, nose, ban, soon, keen Again, no problem here. 41 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

[ŋ] thing, long, sang, singer, longing This sound is produced as if you wanted to say “n” but w ith the back of your tongue (the part w ith which you say [g]).

[ph], [p] pit, pale, poke, top, hip, cap The very sam e sam e rules (in term s of aspira- tio n ) th a t h o ld fo r “ k ” h o ld a lso fo r “ p ” . It is a lw a y s aspirated w hen it is at the beginning of a stressed syllable an d in m any d ialects also alm ost every - where else, except after “s”, e.g. spit [spɪt], sp e a k [spi:k].

[r], [ɹ] red, rich, rake, boar, care, tour The correct IPA sym bol for the typical English “r” is [ɹ], u n le ss y o u m e a n th e ro lle d S co ttish [r]. However, the vast majority of English dictionaries denote the sound by [r] (a n d th is b o o k fo llo w s th is conven tion ).

[s] sit, soap, same, boss, kiss, house Most people have no problem with the sound (b u t d o n ’t co n fu se it w ith [θ]). CONSONANTS 42

[ʃ] shy, shot, chef, posh, bush, douche This sound is created by saying [s] b u t b en d in g your tongue further to the upper palate.

[th], [t] two, tall, tea, hot, bat, put The very sam e rules about aspiration that hold fo r “ k ” a n d “ p ” h o ld a lso fo r “ t” , i.e . it is a lw a y s a s - pirated when it is at the beginning of a stressed syl- la b le (tw o , ta ll, te a ) a n d in m a n y d ia le c ts a ls o a l- most everywhere else, except after “s” (e.g. step, still).

[θ] think, thigh, thesis, both, math, froth [θ] is to [t] as [ð] is to [d]. It is p ro n o u n ce d lik e “t”, but instead of putting your tongue on your up - per palate, use it to gently touch your upper teeth.

[ɾ] letter, better, written (Am. En. only) Where a Brit would say [th], a n A m e rica n o fte n say s som eth ing th at sou n d s like a fast tou ch of [d]. It is ca lle d “ a lv e o la r fla p ” a n d is u su a lly re p re se n - ted by a d ouble “t”. H ow ever, m any d ictionaries ig - nore the distinction and denote it also by [t]. 43 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS

[tʃ] chat, China, choose, rich, catch, much This sound sounds approximately like [t] an d [ʃ] pronounced together.

[v] van, very, vile, stove, leave, save This sound is the “v” sound of most languages (also represented by “w ” in som e, e.g. G erm an and Polish).

[w] we, wow, wax, dwell, swine, twain This sound m ust be distinguished from [v]; “w ary” and “vary” don’t sound the sam e.

[z] zoo, xenon, zoom, is, has, booze This sound usually causes few pronunciation problem s.

[ʒ] genre, version, measure, massage This sound is a softer version of [z]. Its re la tio n to [z] is th e sam e as th at o f [ʃ ] to [s].

Now you have finished reading even the appendix! If you would like to learn more about the IPA and English pronunciation in general, see my book “Im p rov e y ou r English pronunciation and learn over 500 comm only mispronounced words”. ALPHABETICAL INDEX ability ...... 8 debris ...... 1 3 isle ...... 1 9 accom pany ...... 1 2 debt ...... 1 3 la u g h ...... 1 9 albeit ...... 8 desert ...... 1 4 la u n c h ...... 2 0 alien ...... 8 despicable ...... 1 3 le ttu c e ...... 2 0 ally ...... 8 dessert ...... 1 3 lie u te n a n t ...... 2 0 angel ...... 8 dove ...... 1 4 lin g e rie ...... 2 0 angelic ...... 8 Edinburgh ...... 1 4 lo z e n g e ...... 2 0 Arkansas ...... 9 elite ...... 1 4 lu n c h ...... 2 0 ballet ...... 9 epitom e ...... 1 4 maple ...... 2 0 beige ...... 9 exercise ...... 1 5 margarine ...... 2 1 bom b ...... 9 fin a le ...... 1 5 miscellaneous ..... 2 1 bull ...... 1 0 fro n t ...... 1 5 mischief ...... 2 1 bullet ...... 1 0 fru it ...... 1 5 mischievous ...... 2 1 bury ...... 1 0 fu c h sia ...... 1 6 mishap ...... 2 1 caffeine ...... 1 0 garage ...... 1 6 mortgage ...... 2 2 calm ...... 1 0 gauge ...... 1 6 niche ...... 2 2 change ...... 1 0 genre ...... 1 6 num b ...... 3 0 chaos ...... 1 1 Greenwich ...... 1 6 oasis ...... 2 2 chic ...... 1 1 grind ...... 1 6 onion ...... 2 2 clim b ...... 1 1 height ...... 1 7 ow e ...... 2 3 colonel ...... 1 1 heir ...... 1 7 ow l ...... 2 3 colour ...... 1 1 hotel ...... 1 7 pear ...... 2 9 colum n ...... 1 1 hour ...... 1 8 photograph ...... 2 3 com b ...... 1 2 houses ...... 1 8 photographer ..... 2 3 com fortable ...... 1 2 hyperbole ...... 1 8 photographic ...... 2 3 com pany ...... 1 2 in fa m o u s ...... 1 8 plum b ...... 3 0 course ...... 1 2 ire ...... 1 8 pour ...... 2 4 court ...... 1 2 Irelan d ...... 1 8 pudding ...... 2 4 crisis ...... 1 3 iro n ...... 1 9 purchase ...... 2 4 cupboard ...... 1 3 isla n d ...... 1 9 pyram id ...... 2 4 45 100 COM M ONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS pyrom ania ...... 2 4 su it ...... 2 6 village ...... 2 8 queue ...... 2 5 su ite ...... 2 6 villager ...... 2 9 recip e ...... 2 5 su rface ...... 2 7 vine ...... 2 9 rin d ...... 1 6 sw an ...... 2 7 vinegar ...... 2 9 Rind ...... 1 7 sw eat ...... 2 7 volum e...... 1 1 salm o n ...... 2 5 sw o rd ...... 2 7 wolf ...... 2 9 san d w ich ...... 2 5 syru p ...... 2 1 woman ...... 2 9 sch ed u le ...... 2 5 targ e t ...... 2 7 womb ...... 2 9 p . sch izo p h ren ia ..... 2 6 te ar ...... 2 7 Xerox ...... 3 0 since ...... 2 6 to m b ...... 3 0 Yosemite ...... 3 0 so u r ...... 2 9 to n ...... 2 8 zealot ...... 3 1 su b tle ...... 2 6 vegan ...... 2 8