Pronunciation · Science and learning

How to pronounce mnemonic

The first m in mnemonic is silent: CMUdict gives nih-MAH-nik or nee-MAH-nik, with the stress on "MAH".

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

N IH0 M AA1 N IH0 K

Syllable estimate: 3 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

N IY0 M AA1 N IH0 K

Syllable estimate: 3 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Check mnemonic 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 mnemonic in context

Mnemonic comes up in study guides, medical school notes and memory tips such as rhymes for the planets. The mn opening has no English pattern, so readers try to sound both letters. CMUdict starts on the n and lists two vowel choices for the first syllable.

Students use a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets.
The nurse taught us a mnemonic for the cranial nerves.

Read the sound tokens

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

Nsound in kneeconsonant

IHsound in itvowel

Msound in meconsonant

AAsound in oddvowel

Ksound in keyconsonant

IYsound in eatvowel

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 mnemonic

Word: mnemonic
Dictionary variant: 1 of 2
CMUdict ARPABET: N IH0 M AA1 N IH0 K
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 3
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
Students use a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets.
The nurse taught us a mnemonic for the cranial nerves.

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: Begin on the n and act as if the m is not there. Then stress the middle: nih-MAH-nik.

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/mnemonic

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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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