p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce pathway in American English
PATH·way
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Americans pronounce pathway as PATH-way (/ˈpæθˌweɪ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She landscaped the backyard with native plants and a stone pathway".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "pathway".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
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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 PATH — keep everything else short and quick.
path·WAY→PATH·WAY
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "pathway" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PATH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PATH-way" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "pathway" 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 "PATH-way" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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