Pronunciation · Everyday language

How to pronounce buffet

Buffet has two forms in CMUdict, BUF-it (B AH1 F AH0 T) and buh-FAY (B AH0 F EY1); the first is the verb used for battering winds.

Buy $49 Download free for Apple SiliconIntel Mac? Download here.Not sure? Apple menu > About This Mac shows your chip.

Free plan with Kokoro voices, 3,000 characters a day · 3-day Pro trial, then $49 once

The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

B AH1 F AH0 T

Syllable estimate: 2 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

B AH0 F EY1

Syllable estimate: 2 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Check buffet 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 buffet in context

Buffet the meal and buffet the verb share one spelling. Restaurant copy and wedding plans want buh-FAY, while weather writing such as "winds buffet the coast" uses BUF-it with a sounded t. The dictionary lists both, so pick by meaning, not by habit.

The hotel breakfast buffet opens at seven.
Strong winds buffet the small planes on approach.

Read the sound tokens

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

Bsound in beconsonant

AHsound in hutvowel

Fsound in feeconsonant

Tsound in teaconsonant

EYsound in atevowel

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 buffet

Word: buffet
Dictionary variant: 1 of 2
CMUdict ARPABET: B AH1 F AH0 T
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 2
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
The hotel breakfast buffet opens at seven.
Strong winds buffet the small planes on approach.

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: Read the two examples back to back and switch forms between them. If you catch yourself saying buh-FAY in the weather line, slow down and land on the t.

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/buffet

Copying and downloading happen in your browser. No script upload or audio generation is needed.

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

Build a pronunciation test suite for local TTS · Browse all word references