---
title: "How to pronounce data | Murmur"
description: "Data opens with either \"day\" or \"da\" in CMUdict, D EY1 T AH0 or D AE1 T AH0; switching vowels partway through a script is the real error."
canonical: "https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/data"
---
[Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/)/[Pronunciation](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)/data

Pronunciation · Work and business

# How to pronounce data

Data opens with either "day" or "da" in CMUdict, D EY1 T AH0 or D AE1 T AH0; switching vowels partway through a script is the real error.

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## The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

`D EY1 T AH0`

**Syllable estimate**

2 vowel nuclei

**Primary stress**

1st vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

`D AE1 T AH0`

**Syllable estimate**

2 vowel nuclei

**Primary stress**

1st vowel position

[Check data in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data).

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 data in context

Data appears in almost every product demo, report and tutorial, often several times a minute. Both CMU forms stress the first syllable and end in a light "tuh"; they differ only in the opening vowel. Listeners rarely mind which one a narrator chooses, but they do notice when it changes.

1. The dashboard refreshes its data every five minutes.
2. We cleaned the survey data before running the analysis.

### A practice cue

Pick a vowel and note it in the script header. In a long technical read, spot-check a few later instances to make sure fatigue has not pulled you to the other form.

## Read the sound tokens

Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of data. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the [CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A)](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aria/Papers/MastersThesis.pdf#page=115).

`D`sound in **dee**consonant`EY`sound in **ate**vowel`T`sound in **tea**consonant`AH`sound in **hut**vowel`AE`sound in **at**vowel

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.

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](https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict). The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters.

[CMUdict README](https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/README) · [Included dictionary license](https://www.murmurtts.com/downloads/cmudict-license.txt)

Source version and checksum

Commit: `74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690`

Dictionary SHA-256: `81917843c7f44ce2b094ac63873c2c7a4cf802040792c455ba3ca406891c3d22`

## Keep practising

[How to pronounce statistics](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/statistics)[How to pronounce finance](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/finance)[How to pronounce archive](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/archive)[How to pronounce route](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/route)

[Build a pronunciation test suite for local TTS](https://www.murmurtts.com/blog/pronunciation-test-suite-local-tts) · [Browse all word references](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)

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## Check the word in a real voiceover.

Murmur generates speech locally on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 as a beta. Try your audition sentences with your chosen model and voice, listen for pronunciation, and review the result before exporting. A dictionary sequence does not guarantee a model’s output.

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