--- title: "How to pronounce debt | Murmur" description: "The b in debt is silent: CMUdict gives DET (D EH1 T), one syllable that rhymes with \"bet\"." canonical: "https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/debt" --- [Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/)/[Pronunciation](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)/debt Pronunciation · Work and business # How to pronounce debt The b in debt is silent: CMUdict gives DET (D EH1 T), one syllable that rhymes with "bet". [Buy $49](https://murmur-licenses.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/checkout)[Download free for Apple Silicon (3-day Pro trial)](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/latest)Intel Mac? [Download here](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/intel).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 this North American English pronunciation for **debt**. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: **1** primary, **2** secondary, **0** unstressed. Dictionary variant 1 `D EH1 T` **Syllable estimate** 1 vowel nucleus **Primary stress** 1st vowel position [Check debt in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debt). 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 debt in context Debt runs through finance articles, budgeting videos and news about loans. The b was added to the spelling to echo Latin and is not sounded. Only three sounds remain, d, e and t, and debtor keeps the b silent too. 1. They paid off the credit card debt in eighteen months. 2. Student debt came up in every interview we recorded. ### A practice cue Bet with a d in front is all it takes. Read debt and doubt together, since both hide a b the same way. ## Read the sound tokens Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of debt. 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`EH`sound in **Ed**vowel`T`sound in **tea**consonant 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 finance](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/finance)[How to pronounce indict](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/indict)[How to pronounce receipt](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/receipt)[How to pronounce subtle](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/subtle) [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) Murmur for Mac and Windows ## 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. [Buy $49](https://murmur-licenses.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/checkout)[Download free for Apple Silicon (3-day Pro trial)](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/latest)Intel Mac? [Download here](https://murmur-updates.tarunyadav9761.workers.dev/download/intel).Not sure? Apple menu > About This Mac shows your chip.[Explore Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/?utm_source=pronunciation&utm_medium=pseo&utm_campaign=wave1&utm_content=debt#product)[Get Murmur free by sharing it](https://www.murmurtts.com/free?utm_source=pronunciation&utm_medium=pseo&utm_campaign=wave1&utm_content=debt)