How to pronounce “diaphragm”
Say “diaphragm” in 3 beats
diaphragm
/ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈdaɪəfɹam/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- daɪdaɪstress
- əə
- fɹæmfɹæm
- IPA (American)
- /ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈdaɪəfɹam/
- Respelling
- DY-uh-fram
- Syllables
- 3 — DAꞮ-ə-fɹæm
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: DAꞮ-ə-fɹæm. “daɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/
/ˈdaɪəfɹam/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “diaphragm” goes wrong
- Often heard
“dy-uh-FRAG-um”
the g is silent: DY-uh-fram
What “diaphragm” means
- noun
a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens
“the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically”
- noun
(anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration
- noun
a contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix
Say it in a sentence
“Singers learn to breathe from the diaphragm, not the chest.”“diaphragm”, answered
How do you pronounce “diaphragm”?
“diaphragm” is pronounced /ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/ (DY-uh-fram) in American English and /ˈdaɪəfɹam/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “daɪ”. Build it as DAꞮ-ə-fɹæm, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “diaphragm” have?
3: daɪ · ə · fɹæm. The beat lands on the first, “daɪ”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (dy-uh-FRAG-um), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.
Is “diaphragm” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/ (DY-uh-fram); British English says /ˈdaɪəfɹam/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “diaphragm” mean?
As a noun: a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens For example: “the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “diaphragm”?
Stress the first syllable: DAꞮ-ə-fɹæm. “daɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “diaphragm” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.