Pronunciation · Everyday language

How to pronounce turmeric

Turmeric keeps the first r in CMUdict, T ER1 M AH0 R IH2 K, so "too-mer-ic" without that r is not the reading listed here.

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

T ER1 M AH0 R IH2 K

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

Check turmeric 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 turmeric in context

Health articles and recipe narration mention turmeric constantly, and the spoken form often loses the r in the first syllable. The CMU entry starts with "tur", stresses that syllable, and carries a light secondary stress on the final "ik". This page shows only that form because it is the only one the dictionary lists.

Add a pinch of turmeric to the rice for color.
The turmeric stained the wooden spoon bright yellow.

Read the sound tokens

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

Tsound in teaconsonant

ERsound in hurtvowel

Msound in meconsonant

AHsound in hutvowel

Rsound in readconsonant

IHsound in itvowel

Ksound in keyconsonant

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 turmeric

Word: turmeric
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: T ER1 M AH0 R IH2 K
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 3
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
Add a pinch of turmeric to the rice for color.
The turmeric stained the wooden spoon bright yellow.

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 with "tur" as in "turn", then let the next two syllables fall away quickly. Listen for the first r in your recording, since it is the sound most voices drop.

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/turmeric

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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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