How to pronounce autoimmune in American English

IPA /ˌɑɾoʊɪˈmjun/ Syllables 4 · ah·toh·ih·myoon Stress 4th syllable
ah·toh·ih·MYOON
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Americans pronounce autoimmune as ah-toh-ih-MYOON (/ˌɑɾoʊɪˈmjun/). The T between vowels softens into a quick D-like flap, so it sounds closer to a D than a crisp T. Stress falls on the fourth syllable — keep everything else short and quick.

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Common mistakes

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

In "autoimmune", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the fourth syllable, not the others. Stretch MYOON — keep everything else short and quick.

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Why it sounds different

Why "autoimmune" sounds like AH·toh·ih·MYOON.

In "autoimmune", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. It comes out as AH·toh·ih·MYOON.

In real conversation

Hear "autoimmune" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"The autoimmune disease causes the body to attack its own tissues."
dhee ah·toh·ih·MYOON duh·ZEEZ KAH·zuhz dhuh BAH·dee tuh uh·TAK ihts ohn TIH·shooz
Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

01

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

In "autoimmune", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.

ah-toh-ih-MYOONAH·toh·ih·MYOON
02

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the fourth syllable, not the others. Stretch MYOON — keep everything else short and quick.

AH·TOH·IH·myoonAH·toh·ih·MYOON
Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "autoimmune" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the fourth syllable — say "MYOON" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "ah-toh-ih-MYOON" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "autoimmune"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "autoimmune" sounds closer to "ah-toh-ih-MYOON" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Is the American pronunciation of "autoimmune" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "ah-toh-ih-MYOON" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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