Pronunciation · Everyday language

How to pronounce aunt

Aunt can rhyme with "ant" (AE1 N T) or use a broader "awnt" vowel (AO1 N T); CMUdict lists both as accepted forms.

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The dictionary sound sequence

CMUdict lists these 2 North American English pronunciations for aunt. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

Dictionary variant 1

AE1 N T

Syllable estimate: 1 vowel nucleus
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

AO1 N T

Syllable estimate: 1 vowel nucleus
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Check aunt in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio.

Syllable counts come from vowel tokens; CMUdict does not supply syllable boundaries here. Variant order follows the dictionary and does not rank correctness. This lexicon does not represent every accent or context.

Use aunt in context

Family stories, audiobooks and children's narration use aunt often. CMUdict lists AE1 N T, which matches the insect word, and AO1 N T, a broader vowel heard in some US regions and other varieties of English. Match the narrator's voice and keep the vowel consistent.

My aunt mailed us a box of letters from the attic.
Her aunt runs a bakery on the corner.

Read the sound tokens

Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of aunt. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A).

AEsound in atvowel

Nsound in kneeconsonant

Tsound in teaconsonant

AOsound in oughtvowel

Take it to your next recording

Make an audition worksheet

Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. The two original sentences retain their normal spelling; this worksheet helps you review a recording rather than forcing a speech engine to use phonemes.

Worksheet pronunciation variant

Your plain-text audition worksheet

How to pronounce aunt

Word: aunt
Dictionary variant: 1 of 2
CMUdict ARPABET: AE1 N T
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 1
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
My aunt mailed us a box of letters from the attic.
Her aunt runs a bakery on the corner.

REVIEW CHECKLIST
[ ] Read both sentences naturally; keep the source wording.
[ ] Compare the intended pronunciation with the selected dictionary variant.
[ ] Listen for vowel sounds, consonants, and word stress in context.
[ ] Check with a speaker or another dictionary when accent or meaning matters.
[ ] Generate and listen to a short Murmur sample before exporting the full script.

Practice note: Give each speaker in dialogue a vowel that fits their background. Keep the narrator's own vowel fixed for every mention.

CMUdict is a North American English lexicon, not a recording or a complete accent guide.
Variant order is dictionary order; it is not a ranking of correctness.
Source: https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict
Source commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690
License: https://www.murmurtts.com/downloads/cmudict-license.txt
Reference: https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/aunt

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Dictionary source

The phonemes on this page come from CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters.

CMUdict README · Included dictionary license

Source version and checksum

Commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690

Dictionary SHA-256: 81917843c7f44ce2b094ac63873c2c7a4cf802040792c455ba3ca406891c3d22

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