The correct pronunciation of PSY

The correct pronunciation of PSY

/ January 31, 2013 / Leave a comment / Pronunciation, Speak Well, Vocabulary

written by Lilian Ndongmo. ESL Teacher

Words that begin with PSY are often very troublesome for many English learners to pronounce. People whose first or native language is French find this particularly difficult. If this is your case, do not despair. The solution is just a few words away.

In 2012, a South Korean singer created a new way of dancing called “gangnam style” which went viral over the internet and took the world by storm. This singer’s name is PSY. Do you know how to pronounce it?

How to pronounce PSY

Words that begin with PSY belong to the family of words known as silent letters. I have explained in detail about the silent letters of English in a previous post.

Whenever you see PSY at the beginning of a word, please do not pronounce the letter P.  Forget that the P exists. Hide it, sit on it, throw it away, do whatever you want with it, but please never ever pronounce it.

PSY is pronounced /sai/    sai

Luckily, not many words in English begin with PSY. The most common are:

Psyche   psyche

Psychology   psychology

Psychologist    psychologist

Psychological   psychological

Psychiatry    psychiatry

Psychiatrist   psychiatrist

Psychic   psychic

Psychoanalysis   psychoanalysis

Psychopath   psychopath

Keep practising until you can pronounce these words perfectly. If ever you forget, think of the singer, Psy.  Visit us again for more silent letters.

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