k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce coastline in American English
KOHST·lahyn
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Americans pronounce coastline as KOHST-lahyn (/ˈkoʊstˌlaɪn/). In "coastline", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. This is called the Silent T in Clusters, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as KOHST·LAHYN. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The coastline is rugged and dangerous for ships".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "coastline".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
t/t/
DroppedThe T is skipped entirely. Your tongue doesn't make contact at the T position.
l/l/
Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Pronouncing the T in a consonant cluster.
In "coastline", the "t" is squeezed between other consonants and drops out — the surrounding consonants flow together without it — most natural in flowing, casual speech; in careful or formal speech, the T may be lightly present. /t/ is dropped entirely — the surrounding consonants flow together without the T.
coastline→KOHST·LAHYN
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KOHST — keep everything else short and quick.
kohst·LAHYN→KOHST·LAHYN
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "coastline" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KOHST" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KOHST-lahyn" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "coastline" 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 "KOHST-lahyn" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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