Prodigal pronunciation
Prodigal has 3 syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, "prah". Capital letters in the respelling show where the stress falls.
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Prodigal syllables
Prodigal has 3 syllables: PRAH-dih-guhl.
- PRAHprɑ
- dihdɪ
- guhlɡəl
Stress "prod": PROD-ih-gul.
Sounds to watch
The r sound
Pull the tongue back and up without touching the roof of the mouth. American r is never rolled or tapped.
The l sound
Touch the tongue tip to the ridge behind your top teeth. At the end of a syllable the l is darker and the back of the tongue rises.
Weak syllables
The unstressed syllables use a short, relaxed uh (schwa). Rushing through them lightly is correct; giving them a full vowel sounds unnatural.
Short i versus ee
The short i (as in sit) is shorter and more relaxed than ee. Many learners stretch it into ee, which changes the word.
Prodigal in a sentence
- The prodigal son returned after years abroad.
- The prodigal spending of the last government emptied the reserves.
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.
- /r/ and /l/ confusedTouch the ridge behind the teeth for /l/ but avoid tongue contact for /r/.
- Final /l/ unclearKeep tongue-tip contact while raising the back of the tongue for a clear final /l/.
- Final consonant omittedHold the final mouth position briefly without adding another vowel.
- Schwa not reducedRelax unstressed vowels toward a short neutral sound.
Questions
How do you pronounce prodigal?
Prodigal is pronounced /ˈprɑ.dɪ.ɡəl/, or PRAH-dih-guhl in plain letters. It has 3 syllables and the stress falls on the first syllable, "prah".
How many syllables are in prodigal?
3: PRAH-dih-guhl. The capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
How do you use prodigal in a sentence?
The prodigal son returned after years abroad. The prodigal spending of the last government emptied the reserves.
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