s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce stakeholders in American English
STAYK·hohl·derz
Start here
Americans pronounce stakeholders as STAYK-hohl-derz (/ˈsteɪkˌhoʊldərz/). The L in "stakeholders" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. This is called the Dark L vs Light L, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as STAYK·HOHL·derz. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The stakeholders have approved the budget for the upcoming quarter" or "We need to coordinate with stakeholders before finalizing the proposal" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "stakeholders".
3 syllables, 10 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
h/h/
Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.
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.
l/l/
DarkKeep the tongue tip down and pull the back of the tongue up toward the throat. The 'dark' sound comes from the back.
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.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "stakeholders" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"The stakeholders have approved the budget for the upcoming quarter."
dhuh STAYK·hohl·derz huhv uh·PROOVD dhuh BUH·juht fer dhee UHP·kuh·muhng KWOR·ter
"We need to coordinate with stakeholders before finalizing the proposal."
wee NEED tuh koh·OR·duh·nayt wihth STAYK·hohl·derz buh·FOR FAHY·nuh·lahy·zuhng dhuh pruh·POH·zuhl
"We need to ensure that information flows freely between all stakeholders."
wee NEED tuh ehn·SHUUR dhuht ihn·fer·MAY·shuhn FLOHZ FREE·lee buh·TWEEN AHL STAYK·hohl·derz
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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
Treating every L the same.
The L in "stakeholders" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
stakeholders→STAYK·HOHL·derz
02
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "stakeholders", 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.
stakeholders→STAYK·HOHL·derz
03
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch STAYK — keep everything else short and quick.
stayk·HOHL·DERZ→STAYK·HOHL·derz
04
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "stakeholders" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "STAYK" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "STAYK-hohl-derz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "stakeholders"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "stakeholders" 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 "STAYK-hohl-derz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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