r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
How to pronounce rising in American English
RAHY·zuhng
Start here
Americans pronounce rising as RAHY-zuhng (/ˈraɪzɪŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The glacier is melting due to rising global temperatures" or "Wage growth has not kept pace with the rising cost of living" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "rising".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
ng/ŋ/
Lift the back of your tongue to the soft palate. Lower your soft palate to let air flow through your nose.
In real conversation
Hear "rising" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Rising inflation has affected commodity prices across the global market."
RAHY·zuhng uhn·FLAY·shuhn huhz uh·FEHK·tuhd kuh·MAH·duh·tee PRAHY·suhz uh·KRAHS dhuh GLOH·buhl MAR·kuht
"Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities around the globe."
RAHY·zuhng SEE LEH·vuhlz THREH·duhn KOH·stuhl kuh·MYOO·nuh·teez uh·ROWND dhuh GLOHB
"The glacier is melting due to rising global temperatures."
dhuh GLAY·sher ihz MEHL·tuhng DOO tuh RAHY·zuhng GLOH·buhl TEHM·pruh·cherz
"Small businesses are struggling with rising operational costs."
SMAHL BIHZ·nuh·suhz er STRUH·gluhng wihth RAHY·zuhng ah·puh·RAY·shuh·nuhl KAHSTS
"Wage growth has not kept pace with the rising cost of living."
WAYJ GROHTH huhz NAHT KEHPT PAYS wihth dhuh RAHY·zuhng kahst uhv LIH·vuhng
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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 RAHY — keep everything else short and quick.
rahy·ZUHNG→RAHY·zuhng
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
RAHY·ZUHNG→RAHY·zuhng
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "rising" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "RAHY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "RAHY-zuhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "rising" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "RAHY-zuhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "rising" 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 "RAHY-zuhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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