Pronunciation

How to pronounce “periphery

“periphery” is pronounced /pɚˈɪfɚi/ (puh-I-fuh-ee) in American English and /pəɹɪfəɹi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ip”.
The sound

Say “periphery” in 4 beats

Say it like this

periphery

/pɚˈɪfɚi/

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

4 beats
  1. per
  2. ipɪstress
  3. her
  4. yi
IPA (American)
/pɚˈɪfɚi/
IPA (British)
/pəɹɪfəɹi/
Respelling
puh-I-fuh-ee
Syllables
4 — per-IP-her-y
Stress
Stress the second syllable: per-IP-her-y. “ip” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɚˈɪfɚi/

British

/pəɹɪfəɹi/

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

Meaning

What “periphery” means

  1. noun

    the outside boundary or surface of something

Say it in a sentence

Wild garlic grows on the periphery of the little wood.
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

periphery”, answered

How do you pronounce “periphery”?

“periphery” is pronounced /pɚˈɪfɚi/ (puh-I-fuh-ee) in American English and /pəɹɪfəɹi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ip”. Build it as per-IP-her-y, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “periphery” have?

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

Is “periphery” said differently in British English?

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

What does “periphery” mean?

As a noun: the outside boundary or surface of something For example: “Wild garlic grows on the periphery of the little wood.”

Where is the stress in “periphery”?

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

Practise this word

Now say “periphery” 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.