--- title: "How to pronounce phlegm | Murmur" description: "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." canonical: "https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/phlegm" --- [Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/)/[Pronunciation](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)/phlegm 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. [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 **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](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phlegm). 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. 1. A warm drink can loosen phlegm during a chest cold. 2. The doctor asked whether the cough brought up any phlegm. ### A practice cue Say flem, as if it were spelled that way. Then say phlegmatic, where the g does come back, to keep the two apart. ## 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)](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aria/Papers/MastersThesis.pdf#page=115). `F`sound in **fee**consonant`L`sound in **lee**consonant`EH`sound in **Ed**vowel`M`sound in **me**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. 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