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.
How to pronounce discount in American English
DIH·skownt
Start here
Americans pronounce discount as DIH-skownt (/ˈdɪˌskaʊnt/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The final offer includes a significant discount on volume orders".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "discount".
2 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
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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
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch DIH — keep everything else short and quick.
dih·SKOWNT→DIH·SKOWNT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "discount" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "DIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "DIH-skownt" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "discount" 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 "DIH-skownt" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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