Learn how to pronounce the words DIGEST & DIGEST with this American English heteronym pronunciation lesson. Heteronyms are words that are spelled exactly the same. They just have a different pronunciation and a different meaning.
Pronunciation:
-a compilation or summary of material or information
-to break down (food) in the alimentary canal into substances that can be absorbed and used by the body
Definition:
/ˈdaɪʤɛst/
/dɪˈʤɛst /
Transcript:
Hi everyone! Jennifer from Tarle speech with your heteronym lesson. Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but they have different pronunciations and different meanings. Our words today are:
digest which is a collection of published materials and
digest which means to absorb information or nutrients
So these words have the same sounds in them. I love this lesson because this really highlights word stress. So we’re going to talk more about word stress than the sounds today. So each of these words has two syllables die and jest die jest
But what’s the difference? The difference is the stressed syllable is going to be longer, louder, and higher; and the unstressed syllable will be shorter, lower, and softer. And that’s key! You really need to have both. You need to have one stressed and one unstressed. A common mistake that I see is people stress a syllable but then they forget to un-stress the others. A general rule of thumb here is that we are going to stress syllable number one in nouns and syllable number two in verbs. And this holds true here. So let’s work on stressing syllable number one – die jest and we’re un-stressing syllable number two. It’s softer shorter and lower. Digest Digest digest digest digest
Now let’s flip that for Digest. Syllable number one is going to be shorter – die and syllable number two is going to be longer – jest. digest digest Digest digest Digest digest digest
And now for a sentence:
I read Reader’s Digest and now I need to digest all of the information.
So give it a try people are going to notice the difference. I hope you found this helpful. Let me know what you think because this last thing was a little different than some of my others. And if you need more help, check out our link tree below.
Thanks everyone have an amazing week!