Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of prononci
Coloured illustration of prononci
#1892 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to pronounce

Word origin

From Latin pronuntiare, 'to proclaim', from pro- 'forth' plus nuntiare 'to announce', from nuntius 'a messenger'. It reached Esperanto through French prononcer, which is also where the doubled n of the spelling comes from.

Origin
Latin, via French
Root
pronuntiare
English cognates
pronounce, announce, nuncio

Examples

?

How do you pronounce this word?

.

In Esperanto you pronounce every letter.

.

He could not pronounce my name.

The verb a beginner needs least, in the language that needs it least. Esperanto's spelling is fully phonemic: one letter, one sound, always, with no silent letters and no digraphs. The stress is on the second-to-last syllable of every word without exception, so is pro-NON-tsas. Once you know the alphabet there is nothing left to ask, which is why is a question you can stop asking after the first week - a fair claim to make about no other language on this site.

Two spelling notes on the word itself. The c is ts, not s or k: pron-ON-tso. And the noun is prononco, the pronunciation, while elparoli is the commoner everyday alternative to the verb. Where speakers differ is not in which sounds a letter makes but in habit: a French Esperantist and a Korean one will still sound different, and the movement's long-standing rule of thumb is to aim at being understood by everyone rather than at any national model.

Where this fits

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Esperanto · Free printables

prononci: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "prononci" (to pronounce): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 38.