w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
How to pronounce weatherstripping in American English
WEH·dher·strih·puhng
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Americans pronounce weatherstripping as WEH-dher-strih-puhng (/ˈwɛðərˌstrɪpəŋ/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "I applied weatherstripping around the door to prevent drafts".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "weatherstripping".
4 syllables, 11 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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.
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.
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.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
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.
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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 WEH — keep everything else short and quick.
weh·DHER·STRIH·PUHNG→WEH·dher·STRIH·puhng
02
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the third syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
WEH·dher·strih·PUHNG→WEH·dher·STRIH·puhng
03
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 "weatherstripping" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "WEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "WEH-dher-strih-puhng" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the fourth syllable in "weatherstripping" 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 "WEH-dher-strih-puhng" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "weatherstripping"?
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 "weatherstripping" 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 "WEH-dher-strih-puhng" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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