How to Pronounce “emphasis”

American (US)

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/

British (UK)

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/

noun — Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.

Example: He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.

Where the stress falls. “emphasis” has 3 syllables, and the transcription /ˈɛmfəsɪs/ puts the primary stress mark (ˈ) before the first one — so the first syllable is the longest and loudest. The others are said quickly and lightly.

An unstressed vowel reduces to schwa. /ˈɛmfəsɪs/ contains a schwa /ə/ — the short, neutral “uh” that English unstressed syllables collapse into. Saying /ə/ there, instead of the vowel the spelling suggests, is most of what makes the word sound native.

What does "emphasis" mean?

emphasis (noun): Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important. For example — He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.

How do you pronounce "emphasis" in American vs British English?

Both accents use the same sequence of phonemes for "emphasis", /ˈɛmfəsɪs/, so the difference you hear is in how the vowels are coloured rather than in which sounds are used. Play both on this page to compare.

What is the IPA transcription of "emphasis"?

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/ in American English, /ˈɛmfəsɪs/ in British English.

Which syllable is stressed in "emphasis"?

“emphasis” has 3 syllables, and the transcription /ˈɛmfəsɪs/ puts the primary stress mark (ˈ) before the first one — so the first syllable is the longest and loudest. The others are said quickly and lightly.

Contrastive Stress — How Emphasis Changes Sentence Meaning

Stressing a different word changes what a sentence means. The rules of emphasis, correction and contrast, with the classic seven-meanings sentence.