Edinburgh pronunciation
Edinburgh has 4 syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, "eh". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Edinburgh syllables
Edinburgh has 4 syllables: EH-duhn-bur-oh.
- EHɛ
- duhndən
- burbɚ
- ohoʊ
ED-in-bur-uh, four syllables. The "-burgh" ending is "bur-uh", not "burg" — the same ending as "thorough". Saying "burg" marks you as a visitor instantly.
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.
The er vowel
American er (as in her) is a single vowel with the tongue bunched back. Keep the r quality through the whole vowel.
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.
Edinburgh in a sentence
- The festival fills every hall in Edinburgh for the whole of August.
- Edinburgh Castle sits on the plug of an extinct volcano.
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.
- Stress placed on the wrong syllableMake the correct syllable longer, clearer and more prominent.
- 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 edinburgh?
Edinburgh is pronounced /ˈɛ.dən.bɚ.oʊ/, or EH-duhn-bur-oh in plain letters. It has 4 syllables and the stress falls on the first syllable, "eh".
How many syllables are in edinburgh?
4: EH-duhn-bur-oh. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use edinburgh in a sentence?
The festival fills every hall in Edinburgh for the whole of August. Edinburgh Castle sits on the plug of an extinct volcano.
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