Pronunciation · Work and business

How to pronounce machination

Machination has two CMUdict forms, MAK-uh-NAY-shun and MASH-uh-NAY-shun; the ch can be a k or an sh, and the stress falls on "NAY".

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

M AE2 K AH0 N EY1 SH AH0 N

Syllable estimate: 4 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 3rd vowel position
Secondary stress: 1st vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

M AE2 SH AH0 N EY1 SH AH0 N

Syllable estimate: 4 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 3rd vowel position
Secondary stress: 1st vowel position

Check machination 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 machination in context

Machination usually appears in the plural, as in political machinations or boardroom machinations. Readers unsure about the ch often freeze on the first syllable. The dictionary accepts both the k and the sh, so the bigger task is landing the stress on the third syllable.

The book follows the machinations of a family fighting over a company.
Nobody saw the machination behind the sudden vote.

Read the sound tokens

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

Msound in meconsonant

AEsound in atvowel

Ksound in keyconsonant

AHsound in hutvowel

Nsound in kneeconsonant

EYsound in atevowel

SHsound in sheconsonant

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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 machination

Word: machination
Dictionary variant: 1 of 2
CMUdict ARPABET: M AE2 K AH0 N EY1 SH AH0 N
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 4
Primary stress: 3rd vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
The book follows the machinations of a family fighting over a company.
Nobody saw the machination behind the sudden vote.

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.
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Practice note: Choose k or sh for the opening and keep it through the script. The main beat sits on NAY, not on the first syllable.

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/machination

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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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