Pronunciation · Science and learning

How to pronounce phlegm

Phlegm is one syllable, FLEM (F L EH1 M) in CMUdict: the ph is an f and the g is silent, as it is in diaphragm.

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

F L EH1 M

Syllable estimate: 1 vowel nucleus
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Check phlegm 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 phlegm in context

Phlegm shows up in health advice, cold and flu articles and older writing about temperament. Both ends of the spelling mislead: the ph is an f and the g makes no sound. Said correctly, it rhymes with hem.

A warm drink can loosen phlegm during a chest cold.
The doctor asked whether the cough brought up any phlegm.

Read the sound tokens

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

Fsound in feeconsonant

Lsound in leeconsonant

EHsound in Edvowel

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 phlegm

Word: phlegm
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: F L EH1 M
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 1
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
A warm drink can loosen phlegm during a chest cold.
The doctor asked whether the cough brought up any phlegm.

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: Say flem, as if it were spelled that way. Then say phlegmatic, where the g does come back, to keep the two apart.

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/phlegm

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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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