Data pronunciation
Data has 2 syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, "day". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Data syllables
Data has 2 syllables: DAY-tuh.
- DAYdeɪ
- tuhtə
DAY-tuh is the usual form; DAH-tuh is also accepted and common in British and Australian English. What matters is treating it as two syllables with a clear first vowel, not "dat-uh".
Sounds to watch
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Gliding vowels
The ay and oh vowels glide: start on one sound and slide into a short ee or oo. Cutting them short makes them sound like eh and aw.
Data in a sentence
- The data shows a clear drop in sales after the price rise.
- We need three more months of data before we can say anything.
Read either sentence into the recorder above. The check judges only the target word, so the rest of the sentence can be rough.
What Speakeroo listens for
These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.
- Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
- Diphthong flattened into one vowelMove smoothly between both vowel positions.
- Every syllable stressed equallyEmphasise one main syllable and reduce the others.
Questions
How do you pronounce data?
Data is pronounced /ˈdeɪ.tə/, or DAY-tuh in plain letters. It has 2 syllables and the stress falls on the first syllable, "day".
How many syllables are in data?
2: DAY-tuh. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use data in a sentence?
The data shows a clear drop in sales after the price rise. We need three more months of data before we can say anything.
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