PRONUNCIATION / Science and learning

How to pronounce criterion

Check criterion pronunciation with CMUdict sound tokens and stress, then practise two original sentences and download a voiceover audition worksheet.

The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

K R AY0 T IH1 R IY0 AH0 N

Syllable estimate: 4 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Check criterion 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 criterion in context

Criterion names a standard used to judge or select something. Academic, hiring, and product-evaluation narration should identify the standard and explain how it applies. Since evaluations often compare several requirements, listeners benefit from clear grammatical and numerical distinctions between a single criterion and a larger set.

Durability was the main criterion for choosing the material.
The committee added one criterion concerning accessibility.

Read the sound tokens

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

Ksound in keyconsonant

Rsound in readconsonant

AYsound in hidevowel

Tsound in teaconsonant

IHsound in itvowel

IYsound in eatvowel

AHsound in hutvowel

Nsound in kneeconsonant

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 criterion

Word: criterion
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: K R AY0 T IH1 R IY0 AH0 N
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 4
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
Durability was the main criterion for choosing the material.
The committee added one criterion concerning accessibility.

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: Test criterion beside the standard being named and any numbered requirements. Listen for the singular form remaining clear in your sentence, and audition the whole comparison if the passage also uses the plural form for multiple standards.

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/criterion

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