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Animal names

Animal names arrive from Greek, Latin and indigenous languages, giving spellings English never regularised. Chameleon takes a hard k and stress on the second syllable. Note that squirrel differs sharply between American and British English, one syllable versus two.


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The words

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Keep practising

Browse every practice list or the word index, hear two accents back to back on Compare, or test your ear with the listening quiz.

To read the rules behind these words, see the pronunciation guides — including silent letters, word stress and American vs British. Or hear each accent on its own page: American, British, Australian.