Pronunciation

How to pronounce “peripheral

“peripheral” is pronounced /pɚˈɪfɚəl/ (puh-I-fuh-uhl) in American English and /pəɹɪfəɹəl/ in British English, and /pɚˈɪfɹəl/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ip”.
The sound

Say “peripheral” in 4 beats

Say it like this

peripheral

/pɚˈɪfɚəl/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pəɹɪfəɹəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

4 beats
  1. per
  2. ipɪstress
  3. her
  4. aləl
IPA (American)
/pɚˈɪfɚəl/
IPA (British)
/pəɹɪfəɹəl/
Also accepted
/pɚˈɪfɹəl/
Respelling
puh-I-fuh-uhl
Syllables
4 — per-IP-her-al
Stress
Stress the second syllable: per-IP-her-al. “ip” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɚˈɪfɚəl/

British

/pəɹɪfəɹəl/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “peripheral” means

  1. noun

    (computer science) electronic equipment connected by cable to the CPU of a computer

    disk drives and printers are important peripherals

  2. adjective

    on or near an edge or constituting an outer boundary; the outer area

    Russia's peripheral provinces

  3. adjective

    related to the key issue but not of central importance

    a peripheral interest

Say it in a sentence

The printer is the only peripheral still plugged in.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

peripheral”, answered

How do you pronounce “peripheral”?

“peripheral” is pronounced /pɚˈɪfɚəl/ (puh-I-fuh-uhl) in American English and /pəɹɪfəɹəl/ in British English, and /pɚˈɪfɹəl/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ip”. Build it as per-IP-her-al, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “peripheral” have?

4: per · ip · her · al. The beat lands on the second, “ip”.

Is “peripheral” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɚˈɪfɚəl/ (puh-I-fuh-uhl); British English says /pəɹɪfəɹəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “peripheral” mean?

As a noun: (computer science) electronic equipment connected by cable to the CPU of a computer For example: “disk drives and printers are important peripherals” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “peripheral”?

Stress the second syllable: per-IP-her-al. “ip” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “peripheral” 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.