Pronunciation · Science and learning

How to pronounce diaphragm

The g in diaphragm is silent: CMUdict gives DY-uh-fram (D AY1 AH0 F R AE2 M), stressed on the first syllable.

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

D AY1 AH0 F R AE2 M

Syllable estimate: 3 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 1st vowel position
Secondary stress: 3rd vowel position

Check diaphragm 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 diaphragm in context

Diaphragm is taught in anatomy, singing lessons and breathing exercises for speakers and narrators. Readers often sound the g or stress the second syllable. As with phlegm, the g makes no sound and the ph is an f.

Breathe in slowly and feel your diaphragm move down.
The singer warmed up with exercises for the diaphragm.

Read the sound tokens

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

Dsound in deeconsonant

AYsound in hidevowel

AHsound in hutvowel

Fsound in feeconsonant

Rsound in readconsonant

AEsound in atvowel

Msound in meconsonant

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 diaphragm

Word: diaphragm
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: D AY1 AH0 F R AE2 M
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 3
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
Breathe in slowly and feel your diaphragm move down.
The singer warmed up with exercises for the diaphragm.

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: Break it into DY, uh and fram. Let the word stop on the m. Phlegm and paradigm hide a g the same way, so practice all three.

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/diaphragm

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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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