--- title: "How to pronounce zeitgeist | Murmur" description: "Zeitgeist opens with \"ts\" in CMUdict, TSYTE-gyst (T S AY1 T G AY2 S T); the z is a ts and the g is hard." canonical: "https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/zeitgeist" --- [Murmur](https://www.murmurtts.com/)/[Pronunciation](https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation)/zeitgeist Pronunciation · Creative work # How to pronounce zeitgeist Zeitgeist opens with "ts" in CMUdict, TSYTE-gyst (T S AY1 T G AY2 S T); the z is a ts and the g is hard. [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 **zeitgeist**. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: **1** primary, **2** secondary, **0** unstressed. Dictionary variant 1 `T S AY1 T G AY2 S T` **Syllable estimate** 2 vowel nuclei **Primary stress** 1st vowel position **Secondary stress** 2nd vowel position [Check zeitgeist in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zeitgeist). 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 zeitgeist in context Zeitgeist means the spirit of a time, and it shows up in culture writing, trend reports and marketing decks. English readers often start it with a plain z. The German-style ts opening is what CMUdict lists, and both halves rhyme with "night". 1. The film captured the zeitgeist of the early nineties. 2. Her column tracks the online zeitgeist week by week. ### A practice cue Start with the ts at the end of cats, then add "ite". The second half sounds like the English word geist with a hard g. ## Read the sound tokens Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of zeitgeist. 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). `T`sound in **tea**consonant`S`sound in **sea**consonant`AY`sound in **hide**vowel`G`sound in **green**consonant Take it to your next recording ## Make an audition worksheet Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. 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