k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce compound in American English
KAHM·pownd
Start here
Americans pronounce compound as KAHM-pownd (/ˈkɑmpaʊnd/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He patched the holes in the wall with spackling compound" or "He synthesized a new compound in the organic chemistry lab" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "compound".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
ow/aʊ/
Start with a dropped jaw and flat tongue. Glide into a relaxed, slightly rounded lip position as the back of the tongue stretches up.
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.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "compound" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He patched the holes in the wall with spackling compound."
hee PACHT dhuh HOHLZ ihn dhuh WAHL wihth SPA·kuh·luhng KAHM·pownd
"He synthesized a new compound in the organic chemistry lab."
hee SIHN·thuh·sahyzd uh noo KAHM·pownd ihn dhee or·GA·nuhk CHEH·muh·stree LAB
"She learned about compound interest and started investing early."
shee LURND uh·BOWT KAHM·pownd IHN·truhst and STAR·duhd ihn·VEH·stuhng UR·lee
"The compound interest helped grow my investments significantly over time."
dhuh KAHM·pownd IHN·truhst HEHLPT GROH mahy ihn·VEHST·muhnts suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee OH·ver TAHYM
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "compound", the "d" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
compound→KAHM·pownd
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KAHM — keep everything else short and quick.
kahm·POWND→KAHM·pownd
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "compound" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KAHM" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KAHM-pownd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "compound" 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 "KAHM-pownd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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